big thanks to @JessicaMxMahon for making the new cover! so cute!
Asher's friends on side ~>
"Tucker, don't do that!"
Seven.
I've been counting how many times Asher has had to say that on our drive to school.
When he first texted me if I needed a ride to school, I was already in the car with Wren. I basically jumped out of the moving car to be ride with Asher instead.
I mean, how was I to know that he asked me to come with just to control Tucker?
"Riley, Tuck, and Asher too! We're sucky students and we'll hate school!" Tucker sings to the beat of the Wonder Pets theme song.
Yes, he is actually on drugs.
Asher convinced him to come to school today, a place he hasn't been since freshman year. To say he's nervous to re-enroll would be an understatement.
I guess Asher is just fed up with Tucker not doing anything all day, everyday. He wants him to do something with his life, but Tucker's only talent is pogo-sticking.
I didn't want to wreck Asher's explanation mojo by telling him that my uncle is a professional pogo-sticker who makes millions.
"I'm sorry about this," he apologizes, smacking Tucker's hands away from the air conditioner settings.
"It's okay." I mean, it's actually kind of amusing.
But not amusing at all because drugs are bad and he shouldn't be doing them as a junior in high school.
I'm feeling a little conflicted.
"What's that?" Tucker asks and presses his finger to my neck.
"According to my parents, it's a hair straightener battle wound," I say.
They bought the story. Wren, on the other hand, wasn't that gullible. The protective brother thing was cute for the first minute, but now he needs to back off.
"Battle wound? Looks like a hickey to me," he laughs- a bit too hard might I add. "Did Asher give it to you? Did you give it to yourself? Is that possible?"
He then attempts to get his lips on his neck.
"Hey, bud, that's not possible," Asher says gently.
"Screw you! You don't know what I can and can't do! Some best friend you are! Aha, best friend my ass!"
We arrive at the school with about five minutes before the bell. I guess I should be worried about being late to first period..or I could just live in this moment with Asher and his high best friend.
"You ready, Tuck?" Asher asks.
"Hell yeah!" He claps his hands together excitedly. "I'm as high as a kite on a breezy day and nothing can bring me down!"
We get out of the car, and I'm stopped by Tucker's grip around my wrist. I smile kindly, not really knowing how else to handle this.
"Yes, Tucker?"
"We need a group hug."
"Tuck, let's just get-"
"I'm not going in that hellhole without a damn group hug!" he yells obnoxiously loud.
Sighing, Asher opens his arms wide for Tucker, who graciously cuddles against his friend. It's so cute, I could die.
"Riley, we're waiting," Asher sings teasingly.
Tucker makes an opening for me and pouts his lip. "It's not a group hug without you. Right now it's just a man hug."
I laugh and take a step forward into the hug. To describe the experience in this hug would be to describe my vacation to Canada. Foreign yet just like home. So, confusing really.
"Imagine if we were all naked," Tucker giggles.
"You made it weird!" Asher backs out of the hug immediately and smacks the back of Tucker's head. "You always do this."
"I'm sorry, man. I can't help it sometimes," he mumbles in embarrassment.
"Let's just go inside."
It was almost as if we were walking in slow-motion, wind blowing for that added effect. Walking with Asher and Tucker just makes a person look cooler, like they belong in a hip teen movie.
"I'll go get everything set up with Tucker. You go to class. See you at lunch," he promises quickly before kissing my cheek.
"Dude!" I hear Tucker say in a high-pitched voice as they head into the office.
My mouth hangs open in shock. I just didn't expect PDA from Asher Westfield. I'm not complaining or anything, I'm just frozen with my hand on my cheek in the middle of the hallway.
"Get to class," a teacher snaps.
I nod and rush down the hallway to the classroom. I make it before the bell rings, luckily. Though sadly I don't have enough time to talk to Dexter.
"Take out your textbooks to page 758."
I cringe. Since we were so late, I didn't have time to go to my locker to get my stuff. When in need, call a friend.
"Dexter! Pssst!" I whisper-scream.
He ignores.
"Dex! Help! This is your calling!"
"Ah, Ms. Green. Why don't you start reading for us?" my teacher suggests.
"Uh.." I hesitate. "I'd rather not."
Dexter pulls through once again, placing his textbook on my desk and pointing to the sentence I have to start reading.
"Jk," I say apologetically. "I'll read."
From the corner of my eye, I catch Dexter smiling. That's right, buddy. I caught you.
When I'm finished reading, I hand the textbook back to him with a knowing look.
He rolls his eyes. "That doesn't even count."
Class drags on for a long time. Dexter even falls asleep at one point, though Georgia takes matters into her own hands to wake him up. She drew on his arm.
He broke her pen.
"You know, Dex," I say as we're exiting the classroom, "I think you need a girlfriend."
"Please stop talking to me, Riley."
I continue walking with him in the hallway. "No, I'm serious. Imagine how happy you'd be! Let's see. Do looks matter to you? Because if not then I know the perfect girl and-"
"Goodbye," he huffs and spins around to walk in the opposite direction.
I put my hands on my hips, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "Oh, c'mon! Don't be like this!"
People give me weird looks as they shuffle around. I sigh and follow the flow of students to my locker. Oddly, Wren is standing there.
"Hello, brother. I thought you had a rule against acknowledging each other in public," I say while unlocking my locker.
"I do, but in times of emergency I'm allowed to break it."
"Did your fish die?" I ask, holding a hand to my heart. "We have to leave school immediately!"
"Okay, first of all, I want more respect from you if Martin actually does die- but he won't because he's immortal. And secondly, I actually came to ask you who drove you to school."
"I told you already. Zander drove me."
He squints his eyes. "Then explain to me why when I spoke to Sam-"
"You spoke to my friend?" I ask in fake horror.
"Riley, shut up. She was all angry with me for not answering my phone. Apparently, Zander is sick and couldn't drive her to school. I said, 'hm that's interesting considering Riley got a ride from him today'. And then Sam was like 'oh' and ran away."
I smile innocently before patting his shoulder. "Great talk. See you at home."
He grabs on to my wrist before I can get away. "Not so fast. Tell me who drove you. And then maybe you can tell me how you really got that mark on your neck."
"Yeah.." I trail off. "Did you get a haircut?"
His jaw clenches. "Just tell me the truth!"
"Fine. I'm not into the sideburns," I admit.
His face changes instantly to one of deep worry. "Are you being serious? Do they really look that bad?"
I shrug before quickly run through the halls to get to my next class.
Again, he needs to back off.
"Hey, Ry," my friend Rachel says as I sit down.
"Hey," I breathe. "We're just watching the movie, right?"
"Sweet! What movie? Is it action packed?"
I glance behind me in the direction the question came from, surprised to see Tucker sitting there with a huge smile.
"Actually, it's on the life cycle of a fly."
He frowns. "I thought this was English."
"It is English," I assure with a laugh. "We're reading Lord of the Flies."
"I'd recommend Bugs Life."
The class chuckles, everyone listening in on our conversation. The teacher shakes her head slowly, a smile on her face as well.
"What's your name?" Danny Owens asks, tapping on his desk.
"Tucker," he answers simply.
"Mother Tucker," Danny laughs.
Danny Owens is that type of kid who just says whatever he's thinking. I mean, once he told our teacher that her nose was too big for her face. Harsh, but it wasn't a lie.
"Haven't heard that one before," Tucker mumbles.
I don't really know what to think of Tucker. He seems really friendly, maybe a bit too friendly. I don't approve of his habit of being high whenever I see him. It's not like I'm in any place to say anything nor to judge.
He's definitely not as mysterious as Asher and the rest of his friends. I feel like Tucker is open, his heart on his sleeve.
That's definitely a risky way of living.
At lunch, I sit with Sam and a few of her film friends. Asher said we'd see each other at lunch, but so far he is nowhere to be seen.
"Are you upset about Zander not showing up again?" I ask, taking a bite of my sandwich.
Sam sighs. "I don't know. He always used to do this, you know? I guess now that we're dating it just bugs me more."
"I get it," I say. "But this better not lead to a breakup thus splitting Riley Green in two."
"Don't worry about that. Honestly, even if we do breakup there's no way we won't stay friends. I've been loving him as a friend a hell of a lot longer than as a boyfriend."
"You're right. Just in case, keep on loving him as a boyfriend as of now."
She rolls her eyes. "I'll try my hardest. But speaking of boyfriends and lovers, incoming.."
I open my mouth to respond in confusion but stop when someone sits next to me on the bench.
"Hey, Riley," he says casually and then turns to the rest of the table. "Hey, girls."
Sam and her friends all wave with wide eyes. It's actually comical to watch, mostly because I was the same way not even two weeks ago.
"Hi, Asher." I glance at Sam who is waiting for me to say more. "Where's Tucker?"
"Uh.." He looks around the cafeteria. "Sitting with Dan something, I think."
I nod. I'm a bit shocked, however. Tucker seemed to hate Danny during English for cracking that mother Tucker joke. I don't get boys...but then again who really does understands boys.
"Does Wren not like me?"
"Wren? My brother? The one who walked in on us almost kissing and then saw my hickey? I don't know.." I say sarcastically.
Asher laughs. "Okay, okay. I saw him in the hallway and waved, but he flared his nostrils intimidatingly."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of Wren," I warn. "He's a twig!"
"Twigs can attack people too, Riley," he says all knowingly.
"On the bright side, my parents love you. Well, it's more that my dad loves your dad. He idolizes him."
Asher laughs once, a frown on his face. "Isn't my dad just the greatest guy ever?"
That wasn't the reaction nor response I was looking for. There was so much sarcasm mixed with anger that I kind of want to cry.
I look to Sam for help, not knowing how to respond to this. She just continues eating from her bag of popcorn with wide eyes just like a kid at the movies. Oh, Samantha.
Asher coughs after realizing how awkward he made things. "Sorry."
"I-It's okay," I assure. "Uh, have you met Sam?"
"I have not." Asher sticks his hand out for Sam to shake. "I'm Asher."
She glances at his hand, a new found confidence and sass as she doesn't shake his hand. "I know who you are."
Asher nods and pulls his hand back uncomfortably. "Right."
Looking him up and down, Sam raises her eyebrows skeptically.
I give her a "what the hell are you doing" look. I swear, I can't go a day without either Sam or Zander embarrassing me.
"You're Sam, right?" he asks to keep the conversation going.
"Bitch, you guessed it," she answers harshly.
I cover my face with my hands, resting my head on the lunch table and letting out a muffled scream.
Though much to my surprise, Asher starts laughing. I lift my head from the table to watch him. He applauds Sam, and she accepts it with a bow.
Almost all at once, it becomes bedlam in the cafeteria. Kids are screaming 'fight' and creating a large circle. Asher curses under his breath before running over to the scene. Sam takes my hand and we run after him.
I try to make out the faces, jumping over the sea of students to see what is happening. The crowd let's out a set of 'ooo's as the sound of a punch is heard. The first person I catch a glimpse of is Tucker, which really wasn't a surprise after the way Asher ran to help.
The second person I see is Edward Cunningham, the so-called-perfect-boy here Ventura. Perfect grades, perfect body, assumed perfect personality.
I, in the minority, strongly dislike him, for I got to see his true colors in seventh grade. The little jerk face called Zander a fag because Sam and I were his two best friends.
Don't worry, Sam beat him up right after.
By the looks of it, Tucker got a few solid blows to Edward's face. His nose was bleeding, along with his split lip and a cut under his cheek. Tucker looks relatively fine, only a little tired out.
A few teachers come to break up the fight, succeeding in getting the large crowd back to their lunch tables. I stay close by, watching as one teacher takes Tucker out of the cafeteria and the other takes Edward. Asher doesn't get a personal escor, but stays near his best friend.
"Oh my gosh..who does that new kid think he is? Edward Cunningham is the sweetest, most down to earth boy ever," the girl sitting at the table I'm standing next to says to her friends.
Sam and I share a look of annoyance. She takes my arm and leads us in the direction that they all went. The only person in the hallway is Asher, his back against the wall.
"We shouldn't bother him," I say.
I suddenly feel a harsh push into the hallway. "I'll call you after school! Love you!"
Asher turns his head in my direction, a small smile on his face. "Hey, Riley."
I smile awkwardly and walk over to join him on the wall, slightly out of breath from the push. "Hi. Hey. Hello."
"Hi," he finishes for me, a smirk on his face.
"You okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Tucker's first day back and he's already facing a possible suspension." He shakes his head and bangs his fist against the wall lightly. "I just wanted him to do something with his life."
I watch him carefully. He seems more disappointed in himself than in Tucker. I could tell how much he wanted this day to be successful.
"You're a great friend, Asher," I say.
He looks down at me, his eyes on mine. "You think so?"
I nod. "Definitely."
"Asher, the prinici-not-such-a-pal wants to talk to you," Tucker mumbles.
He nods. "Alright, man." Turning back to me, Asher leans his lips to my ear before whispering a soft, "thank you."
~~
AN:
longer chapter for you punks
mother Tucker, do you like Tucker? and don't just say yes because I picture him as Dylan O'Brien!
because I'd say yes just for that reason too sigh sigh Dyl O'Bri
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