Chapter 18-
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Nathan.
He's not acting like his usual self which scares me. When he licked the crumbs off my lip, I expected someone like Rider to do that. Shivers go down my spine every time I think about it. Not only that, but he's trying to get closer to me than before. He always wraps his arms around me, plays with my hair, and he sat on me once! That's just a little too much, really.
Working at the Donovan's is calm and peaceful......only when Natalie isn't around. She's the total opposite of Blake. Blake is nice, kind, sweet and innocent, while Natalie is crazy, rude, and a screamer. She always wants something that I can't get for her, and she throws a tantrum because of that. I guess she only acts nice around Blake.
The only person who doesn't act weird or rude around me is probably their father. He's always calm, and has a smile on his face. He tells me stories about his high school days with Tony, which actually surprises me.
Occasionally, Tony would come over at the Donovan's for dinner with my mom. And of course, her being a mom, she tells embarrassing stories about me in front of Nathan and his family. And just to get her back, I told Tony embarrassing stuff about her, but he laughs it off and says that it's "cute".
I sigh as I got walked out of Nathan's house. He asked if I wanted a ride to school, but I refused his offer.
I started to walk past Rider's house, but I stopped and saw a little boy watering the flowers by the gate. My heart starts to pound harder, and I felt a lump in my throat. Blake turns around and stares at me with his big round eyes. "Amelia?...." He starts to tear up and runs towards me with a big hug. "Amelia!"
My mind was only focused on the little cute boy in front of that I used to work for, but then, standing three feet away from me was Rider. Blake keeps on hugging me while saying something, and he says something that makes my eyes go wide, "Are you coming back to work for us?" Blake! Why do you have to ask right now!
I gulp, this isn't really the time to say this right now, especially in front of Rider. I push him away lightly. "I have to go Blake..." He looks at me, waiting for an answer. Blake isn't stupid, I know he's not. He's smart enough to know exactly what I'm trying to do. It really hurts to know that he knows what I'm thinking right now. He smiles sweetly at me, which literally just stabs my chest. "Alright..." He says quietly, "Bye Amelia."
I bite my lip and pat his head. Rider starts to walk towards us, but I started to run away. Blake really wanted me to come back, but I already decided that I wanted to start over. Start over again....that's going to be hard since memories keep popping in my head all the time.
My legs start to slow down as I reached the parking lot of the school after 5 minutes. I bend down as I try to catch my breath after all the running I just did.
Footsteps approach me as I look up. Nathan stands in front of me with his arms crossed. "And that's why I asked you for a ride to school." He says. He holds his hand out and I reached out to him as he pulls me up. "Sorry," I mutter. We make our way inside the building while we heard people talking uncontrollably. Everyone starts surrounding something that I couldn't see.
"What's going on?" I asked. A girl with short brown hair turns around and smiles, "The school is having their annual Competition of the Years and everyone from every grade level is signing up!" Nathan furrows his eyebrows, "What's so great about it?" He asks. The girl starts jump excitedly, "The winning group gets a paid trip to Hawaii!" My mouth drops open, along with Nathan, who looks excited for this.
"What?! The school actually has money for this?" I said. "I know right? But it's still something everyone wants to do." The girl reaches out for my hands, "Hey! You should join! Aren't you like a clean freak or something?" I cock my head to the side and look at her in shock. No one knew I like to clean except for Rider, Nathan, and Taylor..."Well you see," she started, "there's actually a category for cleaning because the principal wants the janitors to take a break. And you know, I heard Taylor saying that you like to clean, and I was thinking if you're willing to join my team?"
Taylor.
My eyes wander off into the crowd and I immediately find her. She was handing out papers to crowds of students, probably for the competition. I clear my throat and smile sweetly at the girl, "Sorry, but I--" "We'll join."
I shoot a look at Nathan, who's smiling at the girl. The girl claps her hands together and starts to jump up and down. "This is great!" She says, "You'll be a great advantage for the group and I'm sure we'll win!"
I cheer awkwardly with her as she hands us a piece of paper with names on it. The Muffin Killers......that's a nice team name. Team leader: Emma Stephens, which is probably the girl who just talked to Nathan and I.
I look through the 5 names that were in the group, some of those people sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure who they exactly were until I saw Taylor's and Rider's name on it.
I'm pretty shocked to see Rider's name on there, mainly because he would rather be hanging out with girls instead of doing this. But he's not at school yet....or is he? He couldn't have made it to school before me. Unless he went by car. Or, someone could have written his name down...because his handwriting does not look like the one on the paper.
Seeing Taylor's name on the paper made me freeze a little. Just about a few days ago, I kept on telling myself to become her friend again and forget that stupid night. It wasn't her fault.....and it's not like I was dating Aaron at the time either. But then again, I did tell myself that I wanted to start all over, and by doing that I have to forget about the past and keep on moving on....like not being Taylor's friend.
I bit my lip and return the paper Emma. "I'll join," I say quietly. A huge smile spread across Emma's baby face as she starts to jump up and down again, "Awesome! We're actually going to meet up today in the art room after school, so please come!" Emma skips away into the crowd of people without changing the happy expression she had on.
Nathan sighs loudly and slaps my back. "Well," he started, "we better get going to class or else we'll be late." I touch my back which stung just a little bit where Nathan slapped me and followed him to class. As we walked to class, someone bumps into me accidentally. "Ah--sorry." We both say at the same time.
Taylor stares at me for a while and quickly hands me a paper. "Um--here's the information on what categories are in the competition." She bites her lip and tries not to look away from me. I nod my head and and got the paper off her hand, "Thanks Taylor."
A little sparkle twinkled in her eye when I finally spoke back to her. She had a small smile form on her face, wanting to say more, but Nathan pulled me away just in time before she said anything.
"We can't be late for class, remember?"
He holds my arm while making a cold face to Taylor. She shoots a dirty look to him and walks away into the crowd. I shoved Nathan away from his grasp, "What the hell was that for?" He widens his eyes and stared at me in shock. "I thought you hated Taylor? Because, you know, she did that...."
"NATHAN." I groan in frustration and put one hand on my head. "Look, I.....I'm trying to forget that. So please don't ever bring that up. And I'm trying to talk to her again so....don't stop me." Nathan folds his arms across his chest and and squints his eyes, "Fine, but don't come crying back to me if she does something as horrible than that." I roll my eyes and headed back to class with him.
Taylor looked pretty sorry for why she's done, and I'm sure she wouldn't do something worse than that. I know her, if she feels bad about something, she'd do anything to make them forgive her and that's what she's trying to do now.
My head was hurting like crazy, just thinking through everything. I walk into class and see Rider sitting at a table with his group of friends.
Ooooo how can I forget that he's in my art class!
He notices me looking at his direction, which makes me turn my head to the side quickly. I rush over to my table, where Taylor and I usually sit. She sat here in her usual spot which was next to me, while Nathan sat in front of us uncomfortably.
They both keep on shooting each other with dirty looks, and they don't stop. My eyes starts to wander off at Rider, who's not talking at all, he's just staring blankly at the teacher who's trying to explain our next art project.
Is he mad at me?
I mean, I just broke his little brother's heart, I would probably be really mad if I were him, which---I kinda am.
"....and so, I'm hoping you all have an idea for what you're going to paint, right everyone?" Everyone muttered "yeah" "whatever" "sure" to whatever the art teacher said. Taylor finally turns her gaze at me with a smile.
"So," she started, "do you know which flower your going to pick and how you're going to paint it?" She's talking to me normally....which is good--right?
"Umm, maybe just a cartoon version of a sunflower." I responded back. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to do something extravagant like trying to draw it realistically. Too much work isn't my thing." To my surprise, I chuckled at her response, because I know Taylor more than anyone else, and that she's very lazy. I stopped chuckling when I looked up at Nathan who seemed annoyed. Why do I care?
I struggled out a smile at her and she returns it back. We all went right to work with our projects, while Taylor and I started to have a conversation. It's like....it never happened. We're talking to each other like we would normally do, we laugh, frown, giggle. We're friends again....
My eyes glance up at Nathan, who stayed quite this whole time. I want to include him in our conversation, but he'll probably respond back harshly to Taylor. So, I made the stupidest mistake, "Hey Nathan, why don't you invite Rider over here." Immediately, Nathan gives me a surprised look, including myself. But, he smirks at me and calls Rider over anyways. Taylor notices me shift uncomfortable and pokes me on the should and mouthes, don't worry.
Rider excused himself from his group of friends who stared at us while giggling and whispering to each other. He right across from Taylor and I with an expressionless face. "What did you need?" He asked. Nathan smacks his back, which makes Rider jerk forward. He looks at Nathan with a sour look, "Nothing, just wanted to talk with you, that's all." Rider rolls his eyes and puts his project on the table.
I almost drop my paint brush.
We all look at Rider's painting in amazement as he looks at us with a confused face. "What? Is it that bad?--"
"No!" I said, a little too loudly. I clear my throat and talked in a low tone, "I-I mean, Rider, this is....amazing."
Nathan looked pretty shocked, "Ok, I've known you for a long time, but I never knew you could draw this good."
Rider scoffs and leans back on his chair, "Well I'm actually trying this time, ok? My parents are forcing me to bring up my grades so wah-lah! I magically made this." Taylor looks at her painting and his and her eyes start to widen. "Rider," she started, "you know, with your really shockingly amazing art skill, you could maybe join the art category for the competition."
Rider stares blankly at Taylor, who seemed very excited. "Emma already assigned me to do the essay category and she said it loud and clear that I'm not changing spots."
"Don't worry," she says, "Emma didn't give me a category yet so just trade with me for now." Rider slowly nods his head and says fine after a few minutes of thinking. Instead of working on our projects, we observed Rider's painting and see him painting every little detail in. From different shades to making it look even more realistic.
Just by looking at him, he somehow seemed uncomfortable every time he glanced up at me, so I looked away and went back to work.
"Oh Sage," says Rider, "your friend called, Ethan I think, and said he had to tell you something important."
Ethan? It's been awhile since I last talked to him so I probably should go and meet him. "Alright, thanks for telling me." I responded back.
He nods his head and started to paint his flower. Rider is unusually quiet, it kinda scares me a bit. I thought he would talk about how he met some new girl or whatever, but he hasn't said a single word regarding anything. Taylor seemed uncomfortable, sitting in front of two guys that probably don't like her at the moment. I could see the worry in her face, like she doesn't want to be in this situation anymore. I guess I'm not the only one who's thinking the same thing.
•••
It was after school, and I rushed my way to the arcade where Ethan works at. The arcade is pretty far, but I knew that if Ethan called me unexpectedly, that something is happening. After the 20 minute run from the school to the arcade, I had to stop and catch my breathe, again. I got up and started to head inside the arcade. The arcade was filled with for teenagers than kids today, which was pretty odd.
I start to make my way to the front counter where Ethan is usually at and I spot him. He was giving a boy five packs of fun dip and a huge Hershey bar. Ethan looks at my direction and smiles at me. I rush towards him lay my hands down on the counter. "Water." Was the first thing I said to him. He nodded his head and reached down for a water bottle and handed it to me so I could drink it.
After the refreshing drink, I started to act more serious, "What happened?"
Ethan hesitates a bit, but then turns around and gets a box. He opens it, takes out an iPad and a note and hands me the note.
Happy early birthday Ethan,
-M.G
I bite my lip and as he sees my expression, "Don't tell me you got something like this too." He says. I lay my book bag on the counter and rummage through it and laid the phone on his hand. Ethan's left eye twitch as he sighs loudly. "What do you think about all of this?" I asked. "Are they coming here that soon? Did something happen?" Ethan shakes his head, "I'm not sure, but I really don't want him to come here."
"Neither do I..." I mutter. We stay there in silence until Ethan clears his throat. "Hey, I'll call you if anything happens, ok? I have to go clean the storage room." He grabs my phone and starts to type in it and returns it back. "You should really put a lock in this." He says while smiling. "And I will." I responded back. I wave and said bye to him as I head out the arcade.
A phone and now an iPad? This isn't my dad or Ethan's dad.....someone is messing with us somehow. There's no way our fathers could afford these kind of stuff.
The way everything is right now...my mom is happy again with her new boyfriend. I'm really hoping for my dad not to visit now, not now when my mom is finally happy again.
I sigh and pull out my phone. 4:22.
It's already time to work! My feet start to move faster and faster so I could get to Nathan's house on time. After minutes have passed, I started to slow down and walk because I was getting too tired. I step on the sidewalk and started to walk straightforward to where Nathan's house is. Bushes and trees cover the fence to Rider's house as I walked down.
"Hey! C'mon, I know you want to."
I freeze and crouched down by the bushes. That voice....I push the bush gently and was able to see a redhead and Rider talking.
.....Kira!!
Rider scratches the back of his neck and starts to look away. "Sorry, I'm not really feeling it today." Kira's mouth drops open in shock, including me, when he said that.
"Daniel 'Rider' Masterson, you, the playboy of the school doesn't want to have sex with the hottest girl at school? What, do you like someone now? I doubt it." Rider frowns and starts to walk away. Kira starts to run towards him and wraps her arms around his waist. "Kidding! Kidding...I'm just joking." He grabs her arms and puts it against her sides, "Just go home, I'm not feeling well, okay."
Kira scoffs and crosses her arms in disbelief, "Fine, whatever. Just don't come back to me without an apology before we even do anything." She walks away while standing straight, her arms swaying side by side. "Don't worry, I won't."
She freezes right where she stands and stares blankly at the street. For some reason, she had a pained look, like she wished he hadn't said that.
"Tch, whatever Masterson!" Kira hurries off and starts to run to the other side of the street, where she can't see me. I sigh in relief, that she didn't see me. "You can get out now."
I jump and scramble up to my feet as I see Rider standing right in front of me. "H-how'd you know--"
"I saw your face through the gate and bushes, you're not really good at hiding."
I try to smile, but it felt too awkward to do that. We stand there, saying nothing at all, until I see him frown. "You have a phone?" He looks at my hand, which is where my phone was at. "Aha, yeah....just got it a few days ago." Rider nods his head, then cocks his head to the side, "So where you headin'?"
I clear my throat and point at the house next door to his. "Just gonna go study with him for a bit."
Rider's eye twitched, and he saw me notice it so he turns away quickly. "Cool.", was the only thing he said to me before he started to walk away from me. He so.....distant now. Rider doesn't even try to start a conversation with me, or at least makes fun of me. It kinda feels....lonely without all those rude remarks.
But I already made my decision, to not work at the Mastersons even if it means not talking to them at all.
When I couldn't see him at all, I started to head off to Nathan's house, and went right to work.
•••
"Are you guys ready?!" Emma hops up and down, waiting for us to respond back cheerfully, and none of us did that. She makes a pouty face while crossing her arms, "How are we going to win if you guys aren't excited for it? At least show a little enthusiasm!" We all quietly cheered as Emma's smiling face came back. "Great!" She says while clapping her hands, "Let's do this!!"
She holds her small hand out in the center, and I automatically put my hand on top of hers, along with Rider's, Taylor's, Nathan's and the other team members' hand. "Gooo Muffin Killers!!" Emma skips away and hands the information sheet to the class president, makes a stale face at her while snatching the paper away from her hand. The class president taps on the microphone and quiets everyone down.
"Good morning everyone, this is your beautiful class president, Cassie Fuay here, ready to announce the beginning of the Competition Of The Years. Now remember, this is not just a friendly competition, but a nice way to introduce yourself to other, blah blah blah! So yeah, let the competition begin!!" The gym room was filled with screams of excitement as the first category, Essay topic stepped right up to the center.
I quickly reach for Taylor's shoulder. She turns around and looks at me in surprise, "Good luck." Taylor gives me a warm smile and nods her head while walking with the others.
".....your topic is, best T.V show with valid reasons why it is the best, including an argument why it isn't." And then, everyone in the center went right to work. Rider pokes my shoulder which makes me flinch. I turn to look up at him, "I need to tell you something later." he says seriously. I raise my eyebrows but just nodded my head, knowing that this might be something important.
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Hiiaa!
I think this chapter was pretty long tbh :P
Anyways,....remember to
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Thanks for reading it! :)