FLY BOY - Completed

Chapter 5

I uploaded a picture of what Sandra looks like, so feel free to check it out. 

Chapter 5

It took River a few minutes to figure out that she was in her own bed, in her own room. It took another minute to recall what had happened earlier at lunch. The entire time she was trying to focus her scrambled brain, some annoying person, yet definitely persistent person was continually knocking on her door. She wanted to ignore it. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? The longer the knocking continued, the more nervous she became. Then she recognized Sandra's voice calling her name.

River groaned, wishing it were almost anyone other than Sandra. The girl simply would not give up. She just kept knocking and calling River's name with no inclination of ever stopping. River finger-combed her hair, trying to untangle the messy bird's nest that had formed while she had been sleeping. She unwrapped a fruity smelling stick of gum and threw it into her mouth, hoping it would mask anything fowl. Finally when she could not put it off any longer, she opened her door.

Standing in front of her with her fist still raised and ready to knock, was Scotty's girlfriend, Sandra. Her eyes narrowed as she asked if she could come in. River was surprised to see that she looked nervous. Her eyes were still a little red and puffy from crying earlier, but even so there was no doubt that she was very pretty with her long flowing blond hair and big blue eyes.

River stepped back from the door and motioned Sandra into her room with a shaky hand. After closing the door, she pulled the wooden desk chair out for her. Once Sandra was seated, River crawled up the length of her bed, until her back was leaning against the wooden headboard. She pulled her legs up Indian style and clutched her hands together in her lap to hide her own nervousness. She realized she had put as much distance as possible between herself and Sandra, which truthfully wasn't much considering how small her room was.

Sandra watched River's every move. Finally she leaned forward and asked River how she was doing.

River knew that the others must have shared the news about River's father with Sandra. She could see that look in Sandra's eyes, the same look that people always get once they know about her dad. It was pity mixed with nervousness and River hated that look more than anything. It made her feel like everyone had given up on finding him. Since River still believed that he was alive, seeing that look in everyone's eyes only caused her to second-guess herself. Because of this, she refused to look Sandra in the eye as she told her that she was feeling better after having gotten some sleep.

Sandra must have sensed that River didn't want to talk about her father, because her next words went in a completely different direction. "Look River, can you please just tell me if you like Scotty?"

'Whoa!' River thought. 'Where the heck did that come from?' She looked at Sandra and could already see tears forming in her eyes. River frowned as she crawled to the edge of her bed. She dropped her legs over the side, so that she was sitting just a foot away from Sandra. She gently took hold of Sandra's cold hands and held them in her own. "Sandra," she said softly, looking directly into her eyes. "I promise you, I do not like Scotty any more than a friend." Immediately Sandra released a huge breath. Her eyes closed as more tears trickled down her cheeks. River squeezed Sandra's hands as she continued, "I promise you that I do not want to be Scotty's or Dayden's or anyone else's mate." Sandra opened her eyes and stared at River, trying to determine if she was telling the truth. River just smiled as she added, "I am only sixteen. I would make a horrible mate. Trust me."

Sandra finally managed a small smile as she apologized for being so overly emotional. "I've just been so worried," she admitted as River jumped up to go retrieve a box of Kleenex for her. Sandra thanked her and used some to wipe up the last of her tears. "Scotty and I were doing great right up until this whole Fly Boy selection process started," she explained, as she placed the box of Kleenex on the floor beside her chair. "Then suddenly it's like there's all this pressure and added stress and slowly I've lost all my confidence."