Three's a crowd

27

The morning sun crept through my curtains as I squinted my eyes open. Summer was officially over and I felt like crap. It wasn't just sleeping alone and barely closing my eyes before the nightmares seeped in, but my head was pounding and I felt weak.

Still the first day back was where you chose your seats and got your itinerary for your assignments for the term. I couldn't miss today, sick or not.

I forced myself out of bed and put some shorts and a white tank top on with a light green cardigan over the top. Then I fixed my makeup to hide the sick look I had on my face, and grabbed a quick bite from the kitchen before meeting Riley outside.

We rode in silence, definitely both exhausted from waking up early. When we got to school I got out and wrapped my arms around him.

"I slept like hell without you." I admitted.
"Me too."

He took my hand and together we walked into school. We met Kyle and Ava at the lockers before Riley kissed me briefly and we went to our first classes.

Riley and I only ever had a few classes together, home economics, English, and physical ed - which didn't really count since the guys were separate from the girls.

I did have Kyle and Ava in a bunch of my classes though, and I secretly hoped that I could sit myself between them to keep Carl from sitting with me if he ended up in one of my classes.

Thankfully they didn't complain and before I knew it lunch had arrived. I still felt crappy, but I was determined to get through the day. All that was left was to find Riley.

When we all walked to the cafeteria he was waiting for me by the doors.

"How was your morning?" He asked as he took my hand and frowned slightly.

He didn't say anything but I could tell by his face that something was bothering him. We grabbed some food, Riley grabbing a bunch of greasy fries and nuggets while I opted for some soup.

My stomach was still turning and I was beginning to feel clammy as we sat down and ate. I plastered on a smile in front of our friends as everyone talked about the first day and what they did over the summer.

I was playing with the soup in my bowl when Riley nudged me.

"Huh?" I jerked.
"I was asking what your last class is?" Brett asked from across the table.
"Sorry. I think I have a free period actually. I was just going to study until school was over." I shrugged.

"So I actually need to show Britt something, we will catch up with you guys." Riley announced as he got up and pulled me out of the cafeteria.

I was definitely confused. I didn't think I had done anything out of the ordinary and he was acting weird. When we got to the hallway he pulled me under a set of stairs.

"Are you okay?" He asked letting out a deep breath.
"Yeah, I just woke up a little ill. But I didn't want to risk having a class with Carl and being stuck sat with him so I wanted to come in." I explained as he relaxed and took my hand again.

"Your burning up!" He frowned again as he put a hand on my forehead. "Why don't I take you home now? I'm pretty sure I have a free period too." He brushed a stray hair from my face.

"You don't mind?" I asked.

"Nope. Come on, let's get you home and rested." He smiled leading me out of school to his car.

When we got back to my house I laid my head on his lap as pulled a light blanket over my body as Riley played with my hair and put a movie on.

The last thing I remembered was something wet being placed on the back of my neck before my heavy eyelids closed and I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up it was light outside and my bedside clock said 11:39. "Shit!" I cursed to myself.

I climbed out of bed, my whole body aching so badly that every step I took downstairs to the kitchen hurt. It wasn't until I climbed back into bed that I saw the note on the bedside table.

Hey beautiful,
I'll be over to check on you after school, but your dad said you probably have the flu. I hope you feel better soon.
Love Riley.

I folded the paper back up and set it on the nightstand, gulping down half the glass of water I had just filled. I pulled out my phone to text Riley but the screen kept blurring in and out as my room faded to darkness.

That stomach flu had me out for over a week. Riley had come to check on me everyday, or at least that's what mom told me when I finally emerged from my zombie like state.

"Hey sweetie, you look like you feel better?" She smiled as she folded laundry.
"I do thanks. Anyway I'm going to shower, clearly no one thought to make me while I was sick."

Mom just nodded as I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went back upstairs to shower.

When I entered my room in my towel I jumped, letting out a squeal of surprise. Riley was on my bed, beside him was Kyle. They were both looking at me as my hair dripped down over my collar. I quickly turned back around and closed the bathroom door.

"Riley will you get me some clothes please?" I called through the closed door as he laughed with Kyle.

He knocked on the door a few minutes later handing me some folded clothes, my underwear wrapped up in my shirt, through the small crack I had opened in the door. I quickly got dressed and made sure my face didn't look completely embarrassed.

If it were just Riley I wouldn't have cared, but there was no way I was about to stay almost naked in a room with anyone but him, not even to grab clothes. Especially after all the little comments Kyle had made, whether he thought I remembered them or not.

I walked out and threw my dirty clothes in the hamper, towel drying my hair quickly before asking what they were doing.

"Riley said you were feeling better so I wanted to come check on you." Kyle smiled.
"Thanks I guess. I'm feeling much better." I responded politely.

We left my room shortly after. It was awkward for me to have anyone other than Riley or Ava in here. Of course my family always came in here, but outside of that it was more of a safe space for me, the less people I let in, the safer it felt.

Kyle and Riley sat with me in the middle of them on the couch in the living room as they pulled out a stack of papers - AKA the work I had missed over the last week and a half. I took the stack and thanked them sarcastically, placing them on the end table. I would catch up on that after school tomorrow and probably the rest of the weekend. I couldn't afford to fall behind, not this early in the term, especially with our weekend getaway next weekend.

Once Kyle was done explaining some of the assignments in the stack we all decided to ride back to Riley's house. Kyles car was there and I knew we were all having family dinner night tonight since it was cancelled while I was sick.

Kyle didn't hang around when we got there and I was slightly relieved. Riley didn't know about his comments when I was drunk or the fact that he would stare at me sometimes when he thought I wasn't looking. It made me uncomfortable but not in the way I expected. It wasn't the same as when Carl looked at me, but still awkward.

Kyle did help me with learning self defense and I was grateful for his help, but sometimes the way he looked at me was as if I was a snack he wanted to eat. I wondered if he even knew he was doing it, because it didn't seem like he was afraid of getting caught.

He is a great friend, to me and Riley, but as much as I was trying to forget about what he had said, I couldn't. I wasn't a prize to be won, or a challenge to complete. I just had to find a time and a way to talk to him and explain that we could never be more than friends.

I decided that I would talk to him at school since we shared a lot of the same classes and walked to and from them together. I didn't want to ruin the friendship we had established this summer, but I also knew that I needed to say something.

I wouldn't risk my relationship with Riley for anything, not even Kyle.