Chapter 17
“Hello?” Said a high-pitched voice, seductively.
“Is this Riley?” I asked seductively as well.
“It is. Who’s this?” This time she sounded as though she really didn’t know it was I.
“It’s Jayden.”
“Jayden!” She screamed through the phone, and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t help it, even though I knew it was wrong.
“I just thought I should give you a call.” I said to her, and I couldn’t stop thinking about when I would be able to see her again.
“I’m so glad you did!” She seemed truly happy as we were speaking. I was glad though.
She reminded me so much of Lacey, it was almost unreal. She had that bubbly personality just like her, and she even looked a little bit like her. Not the hair, but both of their eyes would twinkle in the sunlight.
“Me too.”
“Want to get together sometime?” I heard noises in the background, it sounded like a man. He was asking her how to work the toaster, but she was ignoring him.
“Totally! When are you free?” I waited for a response but it went silent for a few seconds.
“What about today?”
I wasn’t so sure, because we were still on the hunt for my mothers’ body. I figured we wouldn’t be in this town for much longer, though.
“Sure.” I was happy I said yes, because I was dying to see her again.
“Coffee house in an hour?” She asked, sounding as though she were in a rush.
I remembered passing the coffee house on our ride here. It was only a couple blocks down from where were we staying.
“Can’t wait!” I said, hanging up the phone.
By then, Tammy had already arrived, dishing about her night. She just went home with some boy, and the usual happened.
“Who was that?” Asked Tammy, sounding just as childish as Ronnie did earlier.
“Some girl.” I said looking away, and I was sure I had been blushing.
“Was it that Riley girl?” Asked Ronnie, making her way over to Tammy and me.
I nodded, and I couldn’t help but let out a smile.
“So does that mean I can officially have Lacey?” She asked, looking as though she really wanted to get with Lacey.
“No!” I yelled at her, “Its just a friendly coffee outing.” I told both of them.
“Outing as in a date?” Said Tammy, nudging my arm with her elbow.
“You guys are hopeless. Can’t a normal lesbian teenager go out and have a friendly coffee outing with some girl?” I asked, laughing.
They both started to laugh too, and I fixed myself up a little bit. I put on a lot of concealer, trying to hide the bags under my eyes from this morning.
I eventually headed out the door, ignoring Tammy and Ronnies childish comments.
* * *
The coffee shop was nothing like I had expected. At each table were either two men or two women at each table. Of course, she had picked a lesbian coffee house. There were many little round tables scattered across the small room. To the left of the entrance was a long countertop with cakes and pies in the windows. A very feminine looking man was perched on a chair right behind the counter.
In the far back I spotted a woman with her back faced towards me. I knew it was Riley because her hair was on fire.
I strolled casually over taking a seat right across from her.
“Jayden, it’s great to see you!” She said excitedly reaching across the table to hug me.
“I’m so happy that we did this! We need to catch up a little bit.” She said, and I was debating on telling her about Frankie.
“So, tell me about yourself?” She asked me, leaning her head on her fists.
“Well, I ran away from home because I got sick of it.” I lied to her, regretting it immediately.
“I met two girls, Tammy and Ronnie, and they let me crash with them. We stuck with each other ever since than.”
She smiled at me sympathetically.
“Me too. I ran away and I have my own crowd now.” She looked confident in them, and I was sure they were nice.
A waitress came over placing two coffees in front of us. Riley handed her some cash, and shooed her away.
“I hope you like lattes.” She said, pushing a cup towards me.
“Thanks. So what is your group of friends like?” I asked her, taking a sip of my latte.
“I could show you, after we’re done.”
I thought about it for a second, wondering if I would fit in at all.
“That would be cool.” I said, swirling around the cup.
“Great. You’re going to love them.” She giggled, and picked up her coffee cup.
I really hope so.