REWRITE VERSION (14/5/2013)
3rd
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They say curiousity kills the cat.
But this time, curiousity definitely killed me.
"Wait! Riley!" I shouted, literally jumping out of the chair before I started chasing the guy named Riley Flynn.
I thought he was going to stop, like, any normal human being would just do every time they hear someone calling (screaming) their names. But my prediction turned out wrong as he didn't even show any sign of interest to stop walking. Riley even sped up his pace, and eventually made his way out of the class door.
"Riley, where are you going?" Ms. Gail asked, her eyes held concerness as he walked pass through the teacher's table without saying a thing. I showed her a quick smile before rushing out of the class.
I turned my head to the right and left, trying to locate him. There were quite a number of students filling in the hallway so I couldn't see where he was. After a couple of seconds, my eyes finally landed on a boy wearing a red shirt—and I was pretty sure that was Riley. I became even more sure when everyone seemed to be creating some sort of an aisle for the boy to walk.
When I was about a foot behind him, I grabbed his arm. "Riley...." My voice trailed as I was attempting to catch my breath. I lifted my eyes to see his face, and boy, it was so obvious he was pissed. I couldn't help but to wonder why. "Why... are .... you running away from me?"
He pulled his arm out of my grab harshly, causing me to stumble slightly. "Who says I'm running away from you?" Riley said, "And even if I am. It's obviously because I don't want to talk to you."
"What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Then why don't you wanna talk to me?"
Riley let out a grunt. "Gosh, you're so annoying. I just don't want to!" he barked, and the people standing and walking near to us were now staring.
"Okay...."
"Okay. Bye." Riley ended our conversation, and he started walking away from there, leaving me behind. I watched him walk a few feets away from me, and I had a feeling he didn't even know where he was at this time.
"Where are you going? I can help you to get there," I offered my help, jogging to catch his fast pace. Riley totally ignored me while he tapped all of the floor using his walking stick, making sure nothing was blocking his way. God, why was he so stubborn? Taking a deep breath, I said, "Riley."
"I don't need your help. I can do this myself," he snapped, but I didn't believe his words even for a second.
"Do you even know where you are right now?"
"Yes."
"Liar."
He stopped in his tracks instantly. "I said I don't need your help, idiot! Is that so hard to be understood? Are you really that dumb?" Riley growled, turning himself to face me.
I blinked my eyes in surprise, and for a couple of moments, he seemed shock too. Sighing, he finally added, "Look, just get lost from here, okay? I don't want any help and I don't want anyone near around me. I told you I hate people."
I didn't say anything and just stood there, watching him as he ranted at me. I wasn't mad at him—annoyed yes, but it was still bearable.
"Stay. There." Riley warned, pointing a finger at the top of my head. Feeling slightly offended, I took his hand and gestured it so that his finger was pointing at my forehead instead.
"I'm not really that tall," I told him when his face scrunched up in confusion.
"Like I care," Riley said. He let out another angry grunt and started walking away from there once again. It was obvious he was trying to walk as far as he could from me, and Riley didn't even seem to be using his walking stick. He just hurried away and luckily for him, most people would give him some space to walk.
When luck was taken away from him, Riley bumped into a guy, and the guy pushed him to the side. "Hey, watch where you're going!" he yelled, and Riley ignored him simply. He kept his face straight, even though I knew he was embarrased and pissed.
It was a few moments before the stupid guy muttered something like, "Freak." and all of his friends laughed. It was loud enough for me to hear it, and it was certainly loud enough for Riley to hear it, too.
Did everyone treat him that way?
It was bad enough no one even volunteered to help, and they were calling him a freak? What was wrong with the people in this school?
Riley bumped into another person, and he was howled once again. Everybody in the hallway were now, laughing at him, mocking him—like they were the most perfect human beings in this world.
And everything that was happening to Riley at this moment reminded me of myself back in Lenoir. This freak girl who lost her parents in a car accident.
That was enough—I couldn't take it much longer. Somehow, it was painful to see him being treated that way. And this was obviously because I'd been through something like that before.
I ran to his side and held his arm just about he almost hit a dustbin. "Watch out," I said, gesturing him to the right way, "See? You need me."
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"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Like, seriously?"
I nodded aggresively, trying to show to her that I wasn't joking. "Yes, I'm serious, Reese," I said, glancing at her. "Why do you seem so surprised, though?"
Reese widened her eyes, shaking her head. "Riley Flynn accepted your help and he even told you what happened to him," she made a point, "Isn't that very surprising?"
I was a little taken aback. "No, not really."
"Ellie, this news is very surprising if you know him since middle school," she said, shrugging. "Even before he lost his sight, Riley didn't really like to share anything with anyone except his best friend."
I thought about it for a moment. "Well, yeah. He isn't the friendliest guy in the world," I said, "but he isn't all bad."
Reese suddenly stopped walking and lowered her bump to sit on a bench. "Sit down and tell me what really happened between you and him."
So then I sat down next to her and started telling her everything.
After I'd saved Riley from hitting the dustbin, he—to put in the right word—was growing on me, I guess. He'd stopped ranting and chasing me away from there. And when I offered to help him to get to his next class, he didn't even protest. Albeit I did make sure I wasn't walking too close to him.
He hated people.
"Where is your class?" I asked, filling in the awkward silence between us. The hallway was getting emptier and emptier since the bell would ring anytime soon. As I was escorting him to class, I'd totally forgotten that I still needed to get to mine on time. And to top things off, I had no idea where my class would be.
Nice.
"It's on the third floor, the fifth room on the left," Riley told me in a completely flat tone. Like one of those lifeless robots.
"Okay...."
I heard him taking a long breath. "Why are you doing this?" he inquired. Not angrily though, more like desperately.
"Doing what?" I asked dubiously.
"This," he said, "helping me."
"Is that so weird?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He heaved a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "Forget it," Riley said, his voice faltered.
I bit my lips, doubting if I should ask him the question that has been bothering for so long. "Was it a car accident?"
Riley snapped his head to look at me as if he was really surprise. I began to feel regret of my stupid action. I shouldn't have asked him that kind of question. I looked down to the floor and played with my fingers.
"Sorry I didn't mean to..."
"Yeah," Riley answered. "It was."
"Oh." I responded, nodding my head. Angriness somehow started to boil inside of me as I lost my parents in a car accident, too. Thousands of people have lost their love ones in a car accident. "Curse the inventor of a car." I muttered, annoyed.
Surprisingly, I heard a weak sound of laughter coming out from Riley. It was just a small, tiny laugh—something between a hearty laugh, and a chuckle.
But it was nice, and it made me want to smile along with him.
"Why did you laugh?" I asked him, and I couldn't help the stupid grin that was crossing my face.
"Curse the inventor of a car?" Riley repeated mockingly.
"Yeah. Think, if only he or she didn't invent the car, there'd be no such thing as a car accident, right? People would still use the bicycle and it's completely harmless. Sure, you'll probably get scratches when first time riding but at least it's not going to kill you. The air will not be polluted too!"
"Woah. This is not a debate competition,"
I blushed at his words. "I'm just saying," I said sheepishly.
When we reached his class, I opened the door for him. "We're here!" I announced cheerfully.
"I think I can take it from here," Riley told me, "and you still need to get to your class,"
I scratched the side of my head. "Yeah, true." I said, smiling sheepishly. I waved a goodbye before I remembered that he couldn't see me. "So .... I'll see you later?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, come on. We're friends. You should say 'yeah, see you'," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Since when are we—" Riley made an obnoxious facial expression. "—friends."
"Since I saved your life!"
"A dustbin wouldn't kill me."
I let out a weak chuckle. "Okay, okay." I said, giving in. "Bye, Riley!"
"Bye."
The bell finally rang and I sighed. Great, I was late for class on my first day of school. I rushed away from there, speeding up and tried not to hit anyone on my way to class.
"Hey, Ellie,"
I spun around again when I heard him calling my name. Why did he like to do this? Calling me at the last minute.
"Yeah?" I practically shouted as we were a few feet away.
"Thanks," Riley muttered, loud enough for me to hear him, "and tell your teacher you helped me. I'm sure he or she will understand."
My lips broke off into a huge grin, it stretched from ear to ear. "You're welcome, Riley."
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"Wow. Just wow." That was Reese's reaction when I'd finally finished telling her everything that happened between me and Riley Flynn.
"What do you mean 'wow'?" I quired, giving her a weird look. We were walking in the hallway to the main entrance when school was over. My first day of senior year went well, I guess. There was nothing bad happened except for the fact Riley had howled at me for a couple of times. Other than that, it was perfectly fine.
"Ellie," Reese said, setting her eyes on me. "A few of us in this school tried to help him but he never did want any help. Riley would either howl them or worst, shove them away. But you—you did it fine. It's like a miracle!"
"I wouldn't say I did it fine." I shrugged, running a hand through my hair. "I got howled too. But I think he's probably growing on me."
"Or ...."
"Or ...?"
Reese stopped walking, and I did the same thing. "He likes you," she told me her hypothesis while smiling hugely.
"God, no way." I said, shaking my head repeatedly. I was pretty sure my cheeks were tinted in pink right now. "He—he couldn't be. I mean, why would he like me? He hates people."
"We never know..." Reese was still giving me that knowing grin. But then she dropped the topic off when she asked, "Anyway, enough about Riley Flynn. Tell me more about you, Ellie Burke."
"There's nothing interesting about me," I said, snorting.
"Oh, come on!" she insisted, bumping her shoulder with mine. "There must be something!" From this moment, I knew Reese was a persistent type of girl. She wouldn't just drop a subject easily.
I hummed. "Okay, if you insist. I came from a small town in Lenoir and I'm awkward, and my social-life is almost nonexistent. I have an annoying older brother and a younger sister. I'm afraid of rats and mices and I was born in August."
"Impressive. Now that is something," Reese said, rubbing her chin. "Okay, my turn. My name is Reese Elizabeth Martin and I was born in June. I hate my name because I'm always mistaken as a boy because of it. I wish my name is Britney or Kate or something. I have an older sister named Natalie and she's a bitch. Thank God she left for college -"
I laughed loudly as she continued telling me about herself. Reese was a funny person and she rambled a lot too.
When we arrived at the main door, I looked around for Aaron's car. I squinted my eyes as the Florida sun was really bright and finally spotted the red Ford Escort. "Hey, I think my brother is already here," I said, waving my hand, "I'll see you tomorrow, Reese!"
She waved back, a grin was decorating across her face. "Bye, Ellie! It was nice knowing you!"
"You too. Bye!" I chirped and made my way towards Aaron car. Sophie was already inside the car, sitting in the front seat. Then there was my brother—looking messy as usual, wearing just a pair of shorts and a white shirt.
"Hey, guys," I said as I got into the backseat of the car. I leaned forward and turned my eyes to Sophie. "How was school?" I asked her, hoping she'd say it was great. The first thing I wanted is for my sister to be happy with her life over here.
Sophie didn't help a rough time back in Lenoir. She was quite okay with everything, being the amazing her as always. Sometimes I just wished I got all her courage and confident. Sophie was way better than me in fitting into a new situation.
So it did not surprise me when she said, "Great! I met a lot of new friends. They're really nice, and they even invited me to go to the beach this evening,"
"Really? That's great." I said, patting her head.
"Can I go?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course. I'll have to go with you though, but I promise I'll be ten feet away from you," I said, raising a hand to make a promise. "And no swimming. You don't know how to swim."
"That's alright with me. Thanks, Ellie!" she chirped, nodding excitedly.
"Right. Ignore your big brother over here and go on with your girly conversations," Aaron said, teasing us. "I'm invisible."
I chuckled. "Don't you have to work today?"
"I'm on leave, but I gotta get back to work tomorrow," he told me, and his car started leaving my school. "So, I need your help to pick Sophie up from school everyday. Only if that's okay with you..."
"Nah, it's alright," I said, and I meant it. Sophie's school was just a few minutes walk from mine so it wasn't really a problem.
At least I'd have someone to walk with me instead of walking alone.
"Thanks, sis," Aaron said gratefully. He turned to a corner, and Crestville High was out of our sight. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. How was your day, Elle? Met any interesting people?" he asked, glancing at me through the rear-view mirror.
I laughed, but the thing is, we all know he was asking the right question—and he was totally right.
"Actually, yeah. I do. I met a very, very interesting person in my class today," I answered, smiling all by myself as I remembered of Riley Flynn.
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