Lea
Hesitantly, I step out of the car; trying to be as discreet as I can and draw as little attention to myself as humanly possible. River and Georgia are engaging in a stare off right now. Just watching them stare each other down is making me feel extremely uncomfortable.
Has she guessed? Does she know? Do bitches know when their boyfriends have cheated on them? Can they smell it?
"What's going on here?" She asks, her eyes now dart towards me.
I do my best to adjust myself, flattening out my – more like Georgia's – creased shirt. Oh shit, Georgia's shirt.
"Wait...Are those...My clothes?" She says, her tone repulsed that I'm wearing them. Carefully, she scans my outfit; a venomous glare cuts every inch of my skin as she does so. "They are aren't they?"
In response, I open my mouth and want to speak, but what do I say to her? I have nothing to say to her.
'Yes, Georgia, these are your clothes that River gave me because all I had to wear were my rabbit-print pajamas, sorry. Oh, and also, I just kissed your boyfriend – see ya!' Yeah, that is never going to happen.
"Are you two like mute or something? Speak!" She finally screeches after several moments of silence.
I don't know what to say; I don't know what to say.
"Yes, those are your clothes, Lea had nothing else to wear, so I gave her your clothes." River speaks, anticipating what she has to say next.
"I knew they looked familiar! You wore them to school on Friday, didn't you? You little..." Georgia steps forward, her face crinkled in disgust as she glares at me. Baring all her teeth in a very unappealing way, I now know what a girl looks like when she's imitating a grizzly bear.
What makes this so funny in the most nerve-wracking way, is the fact that she's this angry over her clothes. I wonder what her anger levels would be like if she discovered that I kissed her boyfriend.
"Hey, woah! woah!" River steps between Georgia and I, restricting Georgia's movements towards me – and thank God because I do not want to get into a catfight.
"What? Why are you defending that?" She snarls at me – attractive (not). "She's wearing my clothes!"
Oh yay, I have a new nickname: 'that'.
"Because you're being unreasonable, she needed clothes and yours were the only ones that fitted her!" River retaliates, staring her down again.
She sighs, glowering at River and me. "Whatever..." She mutters under her breath.
I swear, if looks could kill, I'd be six feet under right now.
"Why is she still here?" She asks River, but without waiting for a response, she turns to me. "Don't you have a house to go back to?" She questions rudely.
"Not unless it's been rebuilt over night," I reply wittily, which I definitely shouldn't have done.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" She snarls once again and dodges around River to take a few quick steps closer to me.
"Oi! Georgia, would you calm down." River grabs her by her waist, and drags her back to where she originally was.
Due to Rivers height and broad physique, I can't see Georgia behind him anymore, so I take slow and steady steps, nearing the front door of the house. I'm attempting my escape now before she kills me.
However, River starts talking to her in a hushed tone, and my curiosity spikes; I can't help but eavesdrop.
"What are you doing here?" He whispers to Georgia.
"You texted me like half an hour ago, to come. Remember? But I guess you have more important business to take care off." She whispers harshly back into his face.
What?
He texted her?
He'd asked Georgia to come to his house?
And he kissed me?
If he texted her before he kissed me, then he never should have kissed me, and if he texted her after we kissed, then he is just a sick. Either way, he still cheated.
We never should have kissed.
You never should have kissed him back.
It was a mistake.
The guy is a player, no matter what lie he tells you.
I shake my head in disbelief, then turn on my heel and rush up the large garden stairs to the front door. They still haven't noticed I've left them to rant away at each other until I knock on the door.
You could've been a little quieter and just pressed the doorbell you idiot!
I press the doorbell and wait impatiently at the door, never looking back at them. My hands curl into tight fists glue to my sides. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure they would start throwing punches at the door in front of me. I swear I can punch River right now, I can even punch myself.
Why do such a stupid thing?
"Where are you going with my clothes?" Georgia calls after me.
"I'll put them in the wash tonight and give them to you first thing on Monday. Happy?" I shout back her, not bothering to turn and face them.
Take a breath in, and exhale out. Keep your cool, and you'll be fine.
I press the doorbell again, twice, until finally, I hear a shuffling noise on the other side, assuming someone is walking towards the door. After a few seconds, the doorknob twists. Carefully, the door edges open, and hidden behind it is Brenda, River's mother.
"Oh, hi sweetie! How was lunch?" Brenda greets me, opening the door even wider to let me into the beautiful hallway.
I do my best to wear my brightest smile, after all, I'm not angry at Brenda herself, but I'm pissed off that she raised such a vile boy like River.
"It was good, thanks." I lie, taking off Georgia's jacket and perching it on my arm.
Note to self – try and put some itching powder into this thing.
You're not going to do that, be the bigger person and leave the bitchiness for Georgia to handle.
"Well, where's River?" Brenda frowns, expecting to see him step into the house after me.
"Outside, with Georgia," I tell her, keeping my facial expression to a minimum because I don't want Brenda to know that I'm angry at her son. That would mean I'd need to explain why I'm mad at him, and that means mentioning the...kiss.
Stop thinking about how beautiful and magical and enticing and wonderful and amazing it was. Just stop.
See, even my inner voice thinks the kiss was good; it's not just me.
"Oh..." Brenda's frown deepens at the mention of Georgia, and I want to laugh and say 'I feel the exact same way'. She glances out at the fountain, where River and Georgia stand, still bickering away.
I hope they aren't arguing about me, or anything to do with me, or the kiss.
Maybe River is telling her?
No, I don't think he's a 'kiss and tell' kind of person. That's why he's a stinking cheater.
You're not any better yourself. You know he has a girlfriend, yet you still kissed him.
"I'm just going to have a shower, see you later Brenda," I tell her kindly, heading towards the staircase.
After she's finished watching River and Georgia's heated argument from the doorway, she closes the door to stop any more cold air from whirling into this spacious house.
"No problem darling, just make sure you're down for dinner at six." She calls to me as I step onto the first step of the golden staircase.
"Okay." I nod politely towards her, before lunging up the stairs towards the landing, missing two steps at a time.
Out of the corner of my eye, I realise I've passed what I guess is River's room on the way to the guestroom, and the door is slightly open, revealing a fraction of the mystery room that lies behind it. I pause in my tracks, eyeing what is available to my vision from where I'm standing. While squinting, I can tell that there is a bedside table, part of a bed and a wall that are all white – too white. On the bed side table sits a black alarm clock that's facing the pillows piled near the headboard. I tiptoe a step closer, bending forward to see more of his room.
Now, I can see more of his white bed, and the balcony at the other side of the room. Even though it still isn't dark outside, the sun is showing signs of hiding away, from the yellows and reds that are infecting the blue colour of the sky. I don't know why, but I want to see more of his room. I wonder whether it's messy, like a typical teenage boy's room. I wonder if he has a corner dedicated to his fancy gadgets and video games, like some average teenage boy's.
So, I take the final step towards his bedroom door, and push it open with my fingers. My heart is beating so fast right now, knowing that I probably shouldn't be intruding on unknown property – especially if it's River's room. But I really don't care at the moment; I want to know more about this boy.
The boy who kissed me.
The boy that I'm starting to dislike.
You only dislike him because you can't have him.
No, I dislike him because he's a cheater.
And you're a homewrecker.
I sigh, shaking my head at the fight that I'm having with myself. Instead, my eyes lift to examine River's room. Whoa, is it bright.
Almost everything is white – his bed, his bed sheets and pillows, his rug, his fitted wardrobes, his desk, his bookshelves, even his white apple mac that blends into the white wall. The only colours that aren't white originate from the objects he's placed in the room. For example, to my left is a huge blue beanbag, that's sat before the black widescreen television hung on the wall. Placed against the far end wall is a gigantic white California king bed, and above it dangles a crystalline chandelier. The first thing I spot on the white wall behind the bed, are several different polaroids. To my right is the white desk where the computer is and above it are a couple of shelves, each carrying masses and masses of books that seem to be mostly fiction. I never knew River Parker liked to read.
Hesitantly, I walk towards the large desk, noticing the different photographs that are sprawled all over it; a cannon camera is sat on a pile of photos that have captured our city centre. To my surprise, they are actually pretty good.
I never knew River liked photography either.
Some have fallen to the floor so I bend down to examine them as they lie face up on the white rug. One picture in particular captures my attention the most, and I unconsciously reach for it, placing it carefully in my palm.
It's a picture of River, Jake, Ky, Conner, Emily, Nick, and another girl, who seems extremely familiar.
They all have their arms around each other's shoulders, with large grins on their faces and happiness in their eyes. It must have been taken before Emily's accident, but they all look pretty grown up, so I'm guessing it wasn't that long ago. But, wait, hold on...Nick is in this picture...
How come Nick is in the picture?
He's got his arms around Emily and the other girl, who I really can't remember. It's bugging me that I know who she is but can't put a name to her face.
Florence Brine! That's who the girl is! I finally recognise the face, and how couldn't I at the first glance? That's insane, anyone can remember Florence Brine! Florence – or Flo, as she liked everyone to call her – was the prettiest, most down-to-earth, most polite girl at our school almost a year ago. Everyone loved her, and not only because she was popular, but everyone liked her because of how friendly she was. Their was a charm that she carried, which made every person want to get to know her more.
Then she disappeared.
No one knows why. All everyone knows is that she fell out of school to help her father's business in Australia and that it's unlikely she'll ever come back. I smile at the photo, taking in each joyous faces, and a part of me wants to join into the picture.
"What are you doing?"
I bolt upright, jumping slightly at the sudden break of silence. Slowly, hesitantly, nervously, I turn to face him, discreetly dropping the photograph back onto the floor.
"Uhm...I was..." I fail to reply, looking up at River who stands in the doorway of his bedroom.
Woah, Lea.
His face carries an expression of annoyance that I'm pretty sure was built when he was arguing with Georgia outside, yet I think me being in his room emphasises it a tad. Crap. His eyes dart from mine, to the floor where all his photographs are, then back up to me.
"What have you been doing?" He questions, his eyebrows furrowed, glancing back at the photographs on the floor.
"I...I was just..." I sigh, not finding an excuse. "Your door was open, I was curious, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come in." I say guiltily, walking towards the door to exit his bedroom in shame.
As I get to the door, he steps aside to allow me through the door way and into the second floor hallway. However, he gently grabs my arm before I can walk away any further. I glance down at his hand in surprise, then twist to look at him directly in the eye – he's showing no emotion. Whereas earlier, in the hospital, I could see what he feels.
"You can't say anything about what happened between you and me today, to anyone. Not even Marissa." He says, his eyes a dark, dark brown, not their usual chocolate colour.
"So you haven't told Georgia?" I question quite harshly.
"No, unless you want her to kill you." He replies as if he's stating the obvious.
"I don't care if she kills me or not. As her boyfriend, you have to tell her." I state, pulling my arm away from his hold.
"Since when do you care about Georgia?" He inquires, knitting his eyebrows together.
"Since you kissed me, then texted her to come over so that you can do whatever you were going to do. That's fucked up." I retaliate, turning away from him to stride towards the guestroom.
Tears start to prick at the back of my eyes. Why am I crying?
River Parker is making me cry, what the fuck has happened to this world?
"Wait!" He calls after me. He sprints to stand in front of me, discontinuing my tracks. "Lea, hold on." He holds his hands out in the air in front of him, in an attempt to stop me from walking. However, I ignore him and continue to walk around him.
"Would you just hold on?" He blocks my paths once again by jumping in front of me.
"What?" I snap.
"I texted her before we...kissed." He explains with an expression of guilt. "I would've never texted her afterward, I wouldn't have done that, I swear."
"Whatever," I say, the tears on the verge of spilling.
Why are you crying, Lea?
Trust me; he isn't worth it.
Stop crying Lea.
I dodge around him, but he catches up again.
"Why are you angry?" He insists, his eyes are now pleading, instead of having the dull darkness that he always possesses.
"Because it doesn't matter when you texted her, you still kissed me, you still cheated. You have no respect for your relationship." I blurt, blinking away the tears that have built.
Don't cry in front of him.
This time, I push past him and run towards the guestroom, slamming the door shut after me. River kissed me, and I kissed him back. I helped him cheat.
I never in a million years thought I'd say this, but I'm sorry Georgia. I'm truly sorry.
***