Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 20

At school on Monday, people were still crowding around River first thing in the morning like he could give them a key to success as I switched my books out of my locker. Because of the cut on his head, he was garnering even more attention and worry from the people.

"Doesn't that bother you? That he doesn't speak to you in school? I mean, you two are practically dating," Aiden asked as he stood by me, watching River pass us. I only shrugged.

"If he did, all the attention he's getting now would be on me, and there's no guarantee it would be positive attention. Those are all his hardcore fans. If they found out how close I was to him, I worry I would be the object for public scorn. Riv knows that," I answered.

"So he told you he's doing it to protect you?" Aiden asked slowly.

"No, he is protecting me," I corrected him. Aiden sighed in frustration. He obviously wanted me to see something from his perspective that I was missing.

"You never thought that maybe he doesn't want people to know about you because it'll affect his popularity?" Aiden asked.

"Riv isn't like that," I defended him.

"And how well do you really know the guy? Because I've seen him prance around school since eighth grade like that. He's always protected his image, no matter what," Aiden argued. I sighed and closed my locker before putting my bag on my shoulder.

"Have you ever thought that River created that image for a reason? I know he protects his image, but still, his image isn't why he hides me. And you may think you've known River for years, but you've only seen him from afar. You don't really know him at all," I retorted. Aiden sighed in frustration as he ran his hand through his long hair.

"I just worry about you," he gave up.

"You don't need to worry about me. Riv does it enough for everyone," I smiled at him tightly before heading to my class. I sighed as I sat in my seat. Melanie laughed as she looked at me.

"Why do you always look like you just finished fighting when you get in here?" She asked.

"You should ask Aiden that question," I muttered.

"He picked a fight with you?" She asked.

"He's got an axe to grind with River, but takes it out on me," I explained.

"He's jealous. He's been trying to drive a wedge between you two from the start. Are you really surprised?" She asked.

"But why don't you two just go public? You're obviously more than just friends," she asked.

"Why does everyone care so much if we're public or not?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just weird. You two clearly like each other, but you are both so secretive about it," she admitted.

"We're not secretive, we just... don't feel like it's everyone's business," I tried to explain.

"You two are... closer than I've ever seen two people before," Melanie said, tiptoeing around the words she really wanted to use.

"Again, why do you all care so much?" I asked.

"Because you two are so cute together, and you're so in sync. It doesn't make sense that you hide it when you get to school," she explained.

"We're... cute together?" I asked confused. Melanie chuckled as she nodded.

"Absolutely. River pampers and dotes on you. He's practically at your beck and call. I've never seen River care about someone so much. At the carnival, he was watching your every move to make sure you weren't too tired, getting all your favorite foods, carrying you when you got too tired. I say just marry the guy already. You two are that disgustingly adorable couple that everyone would love to hate," Melanie replied. I could kind of get what she was talking about, but again, my relationship with River was no one's business. The day dragged on until it was finally lunch time. By the time I sat down next to River, my head was reeling. It wasn't that I wanted to go public, and I didn't actually put any weight on what Aiden or Melanie said, but that hounding was getting annoying.

"Who pissed you off today?" River asked knowingly as he opened his lunch container.

"Aiden and Mel. They keep trying to tell me we would go public if you cared about me, or something to that degree," I explained.

"Wait, really?" He asked. I nodded.

"I know I didn't have to, but I tried to explain anyway why we leave things between us. Mel called us disgustingly adorable," I replied as I started in on my own food.

"Well, what do you think about it?" He asked.

"You always ask me, but what about you?" I countered.

"I wouldn't mind. I think the royal 'we' is no one's business, but if someone asked, I would never deny you," he answered.

"So you don't find me... troublesome?" I asked cautiously. He chuckled.

"Oh, you're trouble alright," he joked. "But I don't mind," he added. We ate comfortably like we always did, not bothering with formalities or even conversation if we didn't feel like it. I liked that about River. I didn't feel forced to do anything around him. The rest of the school day was weird for me. Being especially tuned in to River like I was lately, I started noticing more and more just how much people fawned over him at school. I also started noticing his obligations as student body president. He seemed busy but always calm. I wanted to push everyone away and tell them to leave him alone. As calm as he was, I could still tell he was getting annoyed. At the end of the day, I couldn't take it anymore. I took a breath before walking through the crowd around River to stand in front of him.

"Riv," I called to him. The girls that surrounded him eyes me in disgust before trying to push me back. River took hold of my arm before pulling me into his side. River's political smile left his face for the first time time today as his frustration showed on his face for the first time at school. He glanced at the girl who was responsible for shoving me back.

"There's no need to shove people... especially not my girlfriend," River said, sticking up for me. I was just as shocked as everyone else as I stared at River. River finally looked at me as he smirked slightly.

"Let's go," he said softly before taking me out of the building by the hand. Originally, I only approached River to save him from the crowd that was obviously starting to irritate him. I never expected it to turn into River claiming me as his girlfriend in front of the entire student body. Thinking about what school was going to be like from now on was already starting to give me a headache.