Two Ends Meet

Chapter 15: Dinner w/ the Carters ♡

♡♡ Riley Everett's POV ♡♡

We never talked about what happened. The rest of the night was a comfortable silence as we finished watching the sunset and then soon we left. He dropped me off home and that was the end of it.

"Mom! You're back!" I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around her.

"Riley!" Wrapping her arms around me, she said, "I hope my house isn't a mess."

I laughed pulling apart. "You'll have to see for yourself." I teased.

"Madre, you're here!" Jenna grins, giving her hug. "How was the flight?"

"Eh, it could've been better. Didn't really appreciate the kid kicking my seat every two minutes."

I winced, "That's terrible." Jenna agreed.

"Well, now you're home! And you can sit on a seat without someone kicking every two minutes." Jenna says. We chuckled.

"Shall we order Panera and catch up on what we missed?" Mom raises an eyebrow as Jenna and I grin, nodding our heads.

Our food arrived 45 minutes later, we had reruns of Friends on the TV, and we chatted about what we missed.

"Girls, Carrie invited us over for dinner today." Mom tells us over lunch. "We'll be going around 7, seeing as they live right across us." She said.

Jenna nods her head, "Her son is Alex, right?"

Mom nods in confirmation. "Right."

Jenna grins mischievously, "Riley and he have been hanging out since you've been gone..."

I almost spit out my water that I was drinking.

Whenever I told my mom about a crush or someone I like, just a little, she freaks out. For what reason? I don't know and I probably won't ever know. Maybe it's just a mom thing...?

"Really, now?" Mom says, eyes twinkling in curiosity. "This is news. Why didn't any of you tell me early?!"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Never came up."

Mom's mouth dropped, "I asked you every once and awhile if there was another boy in your life!"

I smile innocently. "Whoops, I guess I forgot."

Mom frowns, "I'll let that slide." I grin in return.

"By the way, Riley, you're still grounded. I'll let today slide."

I groaned in response. I hate being grounded.

♡♡

I had on a cute white sweater with a printed scarf and black skinny jeans paired with my black flats which I did not like at all. My feet always hurt when I wore them and by the time I took them off, my feet were covered in blisters. I did my hair in a side braid and put on a minimal amount of makeup, deciding not to go overboard simply because I did not feel like spending that much time getting dressed today.

I put my phone in my back pocket, sprayed perfume all over myself, and left my room.

"Jenna, come on, we're leaving!" Mom shouted, grabbing her purse.

5 minutes later, we were in front of Alex's house, knocking on the door.

"Alicia, welcome!" Mrs. Carter smiles brightly, opening the door wider. "Riley, Jenna, how are you guys?"

I smile, "I'm good, how are you, Mrs. Carter?"

"Oh, call me Carrie! I'm great, come in. Dinner's almost ready." She shuts the door behind us. "Alex!" Mrs. Carter shouts.

I looked around the house, noticing how clean and cute the place actually is. It had a nice homey feel to it.

"I'm coming, mom!" We heard him yell from somewhere.

I suddenly felt nervous because of what happened yesterday.

Is it going to be awkward between us now? Unless you make it awkward.

I let a breath out.

"Why do you look constipated?" Jenna whispered, giving me a strange look.

I shot her a scowl. "Hey!"

Jenna shrugged, "What? Did something happen between you two?" She asked. Her eyes widen as she stared at my pink cheeks. Jenna wiggles her eyebrows, "What happened?"

"We kissed..." I muttered quietly. Jenna's mouth forms into an 'o' shape.

"We'll talk about this when we get home."

"Jeez Louise, Alex, you take forever!" Mrs. Carter exclaimed, letting out a sigh at the end.

Alex's face turned slightly pink. "Hi, Ms. Everett."

Mom smiles, "Hello, dear. How are you?"

"I'm good, how about you? Heard you just got back from your trip..." Alex said with a charming smile that killed me in the inside.

Mom's smile brightens. "It was great, thanks for asking!"

"You kids converse while the two of us chat in the kitchen," Carrie says as she walks back into the kitchen with my mom following behind.

Alex sends me a small smile.

"Hey, Alex," Jenna says first breaking the small silence.

"Hey, Jenna, how're ya?"

I don't know why but every urge in my body wanted to laugh at this...conversation.

"Good, can you tell me where the bathroom is?" Jenna asks.

Alex nods, "Go upstairs, first door on your left." He answered.

Jenna gets up, "Thanks," sending me a sly, not so sly, grin, she leaves.

"Riley," He acknowledges me.

I glance up, staring at his face. "It's not... going to be awkward between us right?" I accidently blurted out, wincing slightly. "I mean... it was just a kiss right?" I winced even harder this time.

It wasn't just a kiss, of course not but he didn't need to know that. I doubt he feels the same.

Good god, why are crushes so complicated?!

I saw something flash in Alex's eye before it quickly changed. "S..sure, yeah. It's not awkward unless we make it, yeah?"

I send him a small smile, "Yeah."

"Oh, yeah, hey, Garrett invited us all over for game night or whatever you wanna call it tomorrow, you wanna go?" Alex asks me.

I thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. "Sure, sounds good." I answered before a thought hit me. "I'm supposed to be grounded, dang it." I sighed, annoyed at the fact.

"Sneak out?"

"And get my ass whooped? No thanks."

"I'll help you sneak out," Alex said, "hey, maybe you'll be lucky and your mom might not even be home."

"We'll see. I'll text you tomorrow then."

"Great, I'll pick you up around 6." He smiles.

"If my mom isn't home, yeah."

♡♡

Author's Note: just casually screaming out lyrics to twenty one pilots, the usual.

hey! what a late update, typical me. ((((: i'm having trouble with this chapter and a few others. I'm going to get this book finished by dec. 31!

so so so glad chapter 16 is half written. It's an...eventful chapter, is all i can say. *winks but fails*

Comment, vote, share, etc. see you soon!

xoxo - Mayyy