When I woke up the next morning and sat up in bed, I felt a slight headache. Probably a hangover. But I didn't remember drinking that much. Then again, I rarely drink.
I got off my bed and catiously walked over to the bathroom, trying not to fall. When I reached there, I gripped onto the countertop for support, not positively sure I was safe even though the hangover was slight. I had never really had a hangover before and I didn't really plan on having one anytime soon. I opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and took out a bottle of pain reliever.
I then filled a cup with water and swallowed the pain reliever waiting for it to work its magic. After a while, I slowly started to feel better and went downstairs for breakfast after making sure I looked presentable. I didn't want my mom to see me and know I'd had a hangover.
I made a loud "Ouf" noise as I fell over on the bottom step. I groaned and got back up to find my mom staring at me. I quickly yawned and rubbed my head acting as if it was no big deal.
"You okay, sweetie?" She asked. "Did you drink at that party last night because-" she started. Gosh, she was really good at this. Or maybe it was just my clumsiness that gave it away.
I shook my head but then stopped because it began to hurt again.
"No, Mom! Gosh! You know how I don't like drinking anyways! And if I wanted to, I could've without your permission," I said trying to make it sound believable as I scanned the fridge for something to eat. Failing, I closed the fridge door and walked over to where we kept the bread on the counter. I took two slices and popped them into the toater decided to make cinnamon and sugar toast.
My mom, deciding to ignore my comment, changed the subject. "After you eat, go get dressed."
"Why?" I said harshly as I pushed down the toaster button that transformed my bread into toast.
"Because we're going out," she said as it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I rolled my eyes. "Well, where are you planning to go?"
"Back to my friend's house. You know the one-" she started.
I cut her off by choking on my own spit.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" she asked.
"Wait, you mean Asher's house?" I yelled with wide eyes.
"Yes," she answered calmly.
"Then no. I am nowhere near okay," I said as I took a sip of her apple juice trying to recover from my choking incident.
"Why what's the matter?" she asked.
"I'm not going back there. That dude is a jerk!" I screamed.
"Riley! Jerk is not a nice word!" she exclaimed.
Pshh. I've said and heard and probably seen worst.
"Yea well so aren't the actual people. They're not nice and certainly do not say nice words. And no thanks, I'll just stay at Eliza's," I said as I grabbed the phone off the kitchen counter and started dialing the number I knew by heart.
My mom grabbed the phone away from me and gave me a stern look. I stared back at her with my mouth open.
"You know, I'm pretty sure there's a law that says you can't force people to do stuff. It's kind of like peer pressure... or not," I stated, cocking my head to the side.
"Well I'm sure there's a law that says you can't just go to your neighbor's house every time you want to escape from somewhere," she answered back with the same stern look.
"But mom, I already promised her I'd babysit Drew today," I lied.
"And when did you 'promise' this?" she asked using air quotes around the word 'promise'.
"The other day when I was babysitting," I lied again. Man I was good at it.
"I don't know, sweetie. I don't think Asher will be happy about this," she said as she got up and started clearing her dishes.
I jumped at a ping! sound and realized it was my toast. I headed towards the toaster, took my bread out, and applied butter before sprinking cinnamon and sugar all over my toast. I smiled.
"Well last time I checked, my plans don't include or revolve around Asher," I stated matter-of-factly.
"Whatever," my mom said with a huff as she walked out of the room.
I grinned. I won.
****************
I took a shower and let the warm water race down my back and relieving me of all my pain.
Ahh! If only I could stay in here forever, I thought.
I sighed as I shampooed my hair twice and then put on conditioner, running a comb through my hair, before rinsing the conditioner out. I reluctantly turned the shower off before grabbing my towel and slipping it around me.
I twisted the bathroom doorknob and walked across the hallway into my room. I padded over to my dresser grabbing a cropped top that said "BeYOUtiful" on it, shorts, and my favorite pair of hightops. After slipping them on, I grabbed the 'believe' necklace that my grandma had given me before she passed away. I fought back tears as I put it on. I then grabbed a bracelet that my aunt had given to me for christmas last year. I also slipped on a pair of hoop earrings. I decided to leave my hair just the way it was, seeing as though it looked decent before heading down the stairs. (check external link for her outfit!)
" Mom, I'm heading over to Eliza's!" I yelled to her. I wasn't exactly sure where she was.
" Okay, stay safe," she yelled back from wherever.
I shrugged before steping out into the warm sun and shutting the door behind me. I strutted across the lawn to Eliza's house, getting a few perverted glances and whistles from boys passing by.
That's when I remembered Tyler. I wasn't sure what we were now. He had said last night I was his girlfriend but he never officially asked me. Plus, I think he just said that to get Asher mad. I don't know. It all happened to fast. I made a mental note to ask him later before knocking on Eliza's door.
When she opened and saw it was me, she sighed. "You know, you could use your key that I gave you," she said teasingly.
I laughed as I gave her a big hug. A while ago, Eliza had given me the keys to her house. "Yea, but I don't want to scare you or make you feel uncomfortable," I admitted.
"Riley, if I didn't want you to use it, I wouldn't have given it to you," she answered.
"Fine then," I said with a smirk. "Just don't be too surprised at my ideas."
She laughed before closing the door and walking into the kitchen to clean the dishes.
I walked into the living room where Drew was on the couch looking at a book. When he noticed me, he smiled and clapped his hands together before getting down from his comfy seat on the couch and running over to me.
"Hey!" I said picking him up.
He laughed as I spun him around and swung him onto the couch.
After he was done laughing, he took my hand and lead me into the play room, back into the corner. I froze. No, I couldn't play piano again. No way. I mean it just reminded me of happy times that I'll never be able to have anymore. Because I lost them. And it was my fault. And I owed them. But how I'll ever repay them, I'll never know.
I sighed when Drew looked at my with puppy dog eyes. I had taught him that but lately that face had just been working against me. I reluctanlty walked over to the piano bench and sat down before pressing on a key. I then turned to Drew and clapped.
"Yay, I'm finished," I said.
"Swong," he said.
"That was a song," I said smiling.
"Swong," he said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Can I do it later?" I asked with puppy dog eyes.
He slumped his shoulders in defeat and walked out of the room.
"Want to watch a movie?" I asked him.
"No, owswide," he said.
"Okay but you have to put some shoes on," I said propping him onto the couch. I found his shoes, slipped them onto his tiny little toes, laced them up, and then we were out the back door.
We played on the swings and the slide for a while until we got hungry. Drew insisted on having peanut butter sandwhiches so I made some for us. We sat on the couch and watched some show, (I'm not sure what it was called) and ate.
Halfway through eating, the door rang.
"Stay here," I told Drew.
He nodded and continued staring at the screen. I didn't think he was ging to move anyways. I guess the dumb show actually appealed to him. Then again, there was a big difference in age.
I opened the door to find none other than the biggest jerk in the world.
"You can't be here," I said plainly as I shut the door.
Right as it was about to slam, he stuck his foot out.
"Damn it," I cursed under my breath.
"Let's go," he said grabbing my arm.
"Asher! I can't leave! Are you kidding me? I'm babysitting. Plus, I wouldn't want to go anywhere with you anyways," I screamed at him before storming back into the house.
He followed in after me and I spun on my heel to face him. I pointed to the door.
"Out," I spat.
When he didn't move, I continued.
"You can't be here. My neighbor doesn't like strangers in her house!" I said. And that, was true.
"Wait! Your mom wanted me to come pick you up for lunch so I came here and she said you have to. No exceptions," he said staring at me with the same stern look my mom had given me earlier.
"Asher, I'm babysitting," I said.
Just then Drew came and wrapped him arms around my legs.
"It's okay, buddy," I said picking him up into my arms. "He was just about to leave."
"No, I wasn't," Asher protested.
"Yes, you were. Plus, me and Drew are eating right now anyways. I don't have time for my mother's plans," I said.
"Fine then, I'll be a rebel too," Asher said as he closed the door and walked into the living room, plopping himself on the couch.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Relaxing," he said calmly.
"I said to leave. Not relax!"
"Chill, Riley," he said reaching for the remote and changing the channel to some basketball game.
"Asher! Ugh, you know what? Never mind. Let's go Drew," I said picking him up as we walked across the kitchen and down the hall to his play room.
The room was a bit of a mess with toys scattered all over the floor and some pencil marks on the wall and whatnot. I decided to clean up in order to distract myself. I walked into the kitchen, grabbed a towel, wet it, and then began cleaning the pencil marks off the wall. I then threw all the toys on the floor into the toy bucket while Drew was drawing a picture. I sighed as I sat down and watched him. After a few minutes, the back of his hand hit the box of crayons and the contents spilled onto the floor. I crawled over to where he was already picking some up and helped him.
After we finished picking up the crayons and put them away, Drew handed me his piece of paper.
"You want me to hang it?" I asked while looking around the room at all the other drawings of his all hung up.
He shook his head.
"In your room?" I asked him.
He shook his head again before pointing at me.
"You want me to keep it?" I asked, a smile forming on my lips.
Drew nodded his head and smiled back.
"Thank you," I said to him as I pulled him in for a hug.
When I pulled away, he immediately said, "Swong."
"FIne," I said reluctanly. I wandered over to the piano just like I had earlier and sat down. I thought of what to play and suddenly a song came to mind. I began to play 'I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz.
Hmmmm ... Hmmmm ... Hmmmm ... Hmmm ...
When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up
I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not
And who I am
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up.
I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)
God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)
God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
At the end, I smiled as Drew gave me a big hug and a sad look on his face. I then realized that I was crying.
"Sorry, I'm too emotional," I said laughing as I wiped the tears away with my hands.
"No, you're perfect. And 'beYOUtiful," a voice said, mimicking my shirt at the end.
Damn it, I thought. I spun around on the bench to see Asher in the doorway.
"I don't believe you," I said.
"With what?" he asked confused.
"That I'm perfect," I said.
And I'm not perfect, I thought. I put them into danger. And I'll never forgive myself for it.
Tears began to brim my eyes again at the thought but I fought them back.
"Well, you are," Asher said. And he was serious. Then again, he didn't know. But if he did, he wouldn't think that way of me.
"I'm hungry," I said as I walked out of the room.
I found pizza rolls in the freezer and decided to make them. While I did that, Drew and Asher remained in the play room playing with all the toys and whatnot.
After a few minutes, my pizza rolls were done and without thinking, I popped one into my mouth.
"Shit!" I yelled as I spit it out, my tongue already burning. The pizza roll just fell out onto my hand, burning that too. "Ahh!"
Asher came out of the playroom with a worried look on his face as Drew stumbled behind him.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I burnt myself," I said.
"Are you okay?" Asher asked coming around the kitchen island to where I was.
"Well it burns. That's for sure," I said as Asher took my hand and examined it.
"Yea, it's burnt," he said as the color red took over a part on my hand.
"No shit," I said.
"Hey," he said looking up at me, "I'm just trying to help."
"Yea well get me something to drink. I burnt my tongue, too," I said.
"You don't need anything to drink," Asher argued back. "It'll just make it even drier, believe it or not."
"How about not?" I asked.
He chuckled slightly. "I'm happy," he said.
"Oh my gosh, why are you happy? I need to make you unhappy!" I screamed.
"Because I'm holding your hand," he said with a smirk.
I glanced down at our intertwined hands and noticed I still hadn't pulled my hand away from him. But odd enough, or maybe not, it kind of 'healed' my burn. The pain went away and my hand felt better. I felt a blush creep its way onto my cheeks as I pulled my hand away. It began to hurt again.
"Well, now you're not happy," I said with a smile.
"Oh yes I am," he said with another smirk.
"Well, I'm not touching you so I don't see how-" I started.
He cut me off as his lips came crashing on to mine. I was startled at first but then I surprisingly liked the feeling. I let the kiss deepen as his tongue masaged mine. Sure enough, that burn felt healed, too. He cupped my butt as I put my legs around his waist.
He's a really good kisser! I thought. Then when I realized what I just thought, I corrected myself.
Stop thinking about that! Gosh, I have issues!
Oh you know you love it!
Was I seriously fighting with myself? I shut off my thoughts and pulled away from the kiss.
"Can Tyler do that?" Asher asked with a smirk.
"Yes, and much better," I said.
"No, he can't," Asher said.
"I know," I pouted as I rest my head against his shoulder.
"Uhm, Riley," Asher mumbled into my ear.
"Yea?" I said.
"Drew," he mumbled back. I could tell though he was trying to contain his laughter.
"Oh shit!" I thought as Asher put me back on the floor.
The good thing was that he was in the TV room, watching that same boring show we had watched earlier.
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Hey, so I hope you liked that chapter. I know I haven't uploaded in a while but I just wanted to make this really god and long. Anyways, enjoy and check out that cool amazing song on the side please! Love you all! Thanks! Vote, comment, fan!!