My Best Friend's Sister

Chapter 11

Riley's POV

I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater. I hadn't gone back to rehearsal today. I couldn't stand to see James. Emily had gone to Giselle's after dance, which was probably for the better. She would've noticed something was up and would've asked questions. Eldon doesn't pay enough attention. A knock on my door drew me from my thoughts, and I quickly attempted to fix my appearance. "Come in." I called, praying my voice would stay level. Michelle opened the door, her shoulders dropping as she sighed at the sight of me.
"Honey." She said, shaking her head. "What happened?" She asked, walking over to sit beside me. I looked down at my hands, sniffling.
Michelle had been at the studio for about 2 months now. I was sitting with her in studio B, just talking. We were taking a break from rehearsing. The boys had gone to get lunch from some place around the corner. The girls were at Squeezed. Emily had kicked me out of the E-girls a few weeks ago, so I wasn't invited to join them in the juice bar. "How're you liking the studio?" I asked Michelle, taking a sip of my juice. She nodded, thinking for a minute.
"It's different." She answered. I furrowed my brow.
"Different?" I questioned.
"Yeah."
"Different how?" I inquired. Michelle thought again, figuring out how to word her answer.
"Well it's just.... Back in Madison we all got along. Here is......... Different." She repeated. I sighed, shaking my head.
"You can say it. Emily runs the show." I said. She laughed, staring at the ground.
"I didn't want to offend you." She replied.
"My sister won't let me hang out with her and her friends, my brother says I'm 'too young' to hang out with him and his friends, and half the time my parents pretend they don't have kids and escape to the other side of the world, and you're worried about offending me by stating the truth about my sister?" I laughed, causing Michelle to chuckle.
"Well when you put it that way." She responded. I lifted my phone, seeing the time.
"We should head back now. If Emily gets there before us she'll complain we were late and then we'll never hear the end of it." I announced, rolling my eyes.
"Good plan." Michelle replied. We both stood, grabbing our things and heading back to studio A, making small talk along the way. When we got there, only James was in the studio. I placed my juice on the bench, before I placed my dance bag beside it, putting my sweater and homework I should've worked on inside it. James walked over from the dance floor, sweating and out of breath. I did my best to act like I wasn't paying attention to him, so that Michelle wouldn't become suspicious of anything, but I couldn't help sending a few glances at him. He always looked so hot after he did any form of a workout. I was so busy trying to hide my glances from Michelle, it wasn't until James mumbled something that I noticed my now empty juice. James was looking at me sheepishly as he placed the bottle back on the bench. I sighed, crossing my arms.
"I had to promise to do the dishes for the rest of the week to get Eldon to give me $5 for that juice." I told him.
"Sorry Riley. I'll buy you another." James responded.
"You better." I replied, stuffing the empty bottle in my bag. "You owe me, Eldon is not going to let me get out of doing the dishes just because his idiot best friend drank my juice."
"I'll do the dishes for you." James offered. I laughed.
"You're going to come over every night this week just to wash dishes?" I questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"No." James admitted, causing me to sigh. "But I promise I'll make it up to you Riles." He added quickly, tucking my hair behind my ear. He stepped closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him. He kissed the tip of my nose lightly, causing me to look away so he wouldn't see my smile. I love when he does that. It reminds me of my sweet boyfriend, and that he isn't only here for sex.
"Riles?" Michelle asked confusedly, reminding us of her presence. My eyes widened in shock as I pulled away from James. I couldn't believe we'd forgotten she was here. "What's going on?" She questioned, staring at us in confusion. I sighed, glancing at James.
"You have to promise not to tell anyone. We want to be able to tell people when we're ready." I said, glancing between my boyfriend and my new best friend.
"James broke up with me." I whispered, hearing her gasp in shock.
"No!" She exclaimed. I nodded. She pulled me against her, rubbing my back soothingly. We sat for a few minutes, before Michelle pulled away. "You are not sitting in your room being miserable all night." She announced, standing and walking to open my closet. "Let's go have some fun."