Too Young

65

Riley

"tonight is going to be great Riley. I thought it was a little soon for you to be dating again but Jackson is a great guy" Emily gushed as she curled my hair for me 
"He's a good guy just like Henry is. Once you get to know him Riles.. Everything last year will seem like a bad dream" She said making me sigh

"Do you ever think that sometimes you could be in the middle of something and have no idea"  I asked making Emily look at me through the mirror a little confused

"What's going on Riles?" She asked making me shrug 
"I'm just thinking out loud" I sighed making her completely oblivious once again 

Growing up, Emily and I were able to tell each other anything and there would never be any judgment but now?
I'm pretty sure if I was to tell her this, we would take 20 steps back and she'd be back to hating me

I needed to get more people on my side before I can tell her what really is going on

--

We make it to the small diner sort of place and as I look around I can see that James and the boys are already here in a booth across the diner, close enough he could see me but not close enough to draw Henry's attention. Or at least that's what I thought

"Trust us to pick a The Next Step Spot" He said glaring at the boys, I looked over before bowing my head
"Yeah, we would always come here for milkshakes after a competition" Emily said making me nod 

It wasn't long before we were separated. I was sat in a booth with Jackson while Emily and Henry were in a booth 4 booths away from us 
I'm sure Jackson is a nice guy but he isn't my James 
he isn't the one I want to be here with

"You know, if you keep looking at him. Henry will notice" Jackson said making my eyes widen as I turned back to him
"What?" I breathed out
"Oh Riley, I know what's going on. More then you do" He said looking at me

"I know all about what Henry has done to you and his plan for Emily. It sucks because this isn't the first time he's done it" Jackson explained making me look at him confused
"what do you mean?" I asked

"About 2 years ago, I was dating a girl. Her name was Alyssa. I honestly loved her with everything I had" He said bowing his head
"What happened?" I asked 
"Henry was single, he didn't like that I was happy with someone else. So he told me if I didn't break it off with her.." He started
"he'd go after someone like your sister?" I asked making him nod

"My sister was 10 at the time and I was not about to drag her into his games" He explained
"Where is Alyssa now?" I asked and Jackson sighed 

"She ended up moving away last year, the whole situation got so toxic, so intense that it ended with both of us hating each other" he explained
"but I don't think I ever did hate her and I don't think I ever could" He sighed

"I really hope you and James don't get to that point either" He whispered making me gaze over at James again 

"Are you two secretly dating yet?" He asked and I nodded biting my lip
"but Henry's already getting suspicious?" Jackson continued making me nod once more 

"How about a proposition?" Jackson offered making me shot him a confused look again
"What is it?" I whispered
"You and James continued to do you thing in secret but when you need an alibi let me know and I'll be your fall guy?" He offered
"Just means if we are ever to meet everyone. We need to put on a good show" I muttered

"Yeah, you might want to clear this with your boy" He chuckled making me smile as I looked over at James

This could be a good temporarily fix?