"WHAT ARE YOU doing here?" Riley runs a hand through his windswept hair, mid step down the driveway, car keys in hand.
"I, uh... I was just leaving actually," Alex spins on her heel and strides down the sidewalk. Riley stares at her back, dumbfounded for a moment. Then he shakes his head, breaking out of his stupor and jogging towards her, a gentle hand at her elbow pulling her to a stop.
"Alex, what happened?"
She crosses her arms across her chest, still not turning to face him, "It's nothing. I'm sorry for bothering you. I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me the night of the dance."
His eyes narrow, scrutinizing her carefully controlled expression, "Of course. You came all the way over here to tell me that instead of just waiting for school tomorrow?"
Alex nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "I wanted to get it out there. Anyway, I should get going."
"You're a terrible liar."
"I'm not."
"Yes," Riley tilts her chin gently towards him, meeting her eyes with his own, "You are."
Alex can only blink up at him, captivated by the intelligence in his eyes, the slight arch of his eyebrows, the splattering of freckles barely there on his tanned cheeks.
"Come inside."
"Okay."
~*~
"Would you like something to drink?"
"No thank you," Alex follows Riley to his lounge that she is already familiar with, thanks to her parents and their dinner plans.
"Make yourself at home," he gestures to the couch and chairs, "Sit wherever, I'll be right back."
Alex nods, watching him leave, before sinking into an armchair. Sighing through her nose, she leans her head back, stares at the ceiling, and stays that way until Riley returns.
He tosses her a bag of Skittles and rips into his own, opting the sit on the couch.
"What's up?" He asks carefully, after a moment.
Alex stares at the red plastic in her hands, "I just... needed distance." From Dean "From reality. Or normalcy, I don't know." She wrings her hands together.
"Ah," he leans his head back on his hands, a smirk dancing on his lips, "So you came to the most exciting person you know."
"You flatter yourself, Wilson."
"Why would I need to do that when I have you to do it for me?"
Rolling her eyes, Alex walks over to sock him in the arm. He immediately clutches it, "Damn, woman."
Laughing, Alex plops down beside him and relaxes into the cushions. Riley smiles at her. Not one of those smug smirks that he dons at school, but a goofy, full blown, broad grin that makes her catch her breath.
Wow. Alex can't believe she has never seen one of those smiles before. She can't believe that she is privileged enough to see one now.
"Want to watch a movie?"
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Out To Get Her
قصص المراهقين[First place winner of The Cosmoetic Awards Teen Fiction category!] All Alexis Taylor wanted was to get though her senior year unscathed and under the radar. Few knew she existed, and she liked it that way. But all her plans turned to rubble the mom...
