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I watch him walk back to the entrance to the store, and tangle with my emotions. I’m really glad his eyes didn’t change colors today, but at the same time I almost wished they had. That way maybe I could have figured out why I had such problems tearing my eyes away from his last time.
A customer comes up to the counter, and I sigh heavily. It’s going to be a long Saturday.
I was right. It was a long day. It’s about four when my cell rings. I snap it open, “Hello, this is Rae. Who is this?”
“Rae, it’s Ryker. You should look at your caller ID more often.” He laughs softly and I roll my eyes. Who’s got time for that?
“I’m just calling to tell you I’m picking you up in ten, k? Mom wants us to pick up dinner, so we’ll swing by the pizza place on the way home.”
I scoop some papers off into the trash can and sigh. This is the third time this week we’ve had pizza. My mom’s been working late, and ever since the spaghetti incident, my dad has been banned from the kitchen.
“Okay. See you then.”
The line clicks and I shove my phone back in my pocket. The store officially closed thirty minutes ago, so it’s just me in the store. I always love this time of day. It’s just me and thousands of words. One human, yet so many lives shoved between the shelves.
I sigh in bliss and grab my purse as I hear Ryker’s truck pull up outside. I flick off the lights and hightail it to the truck. Ryker’s truck is an old beat up thing, and everyone in my family hates the thing but him. I learned to tolerate it a few years ago, but it doesn’t mean I like riding in it.
I open the passenger door and throw my messenger bag on the floor before hopping in.
“Hey, Rae?”
“Mhm?” I hate the seatbelts in this car. They’re always sticking.
“I’m going out with some people from school tomorrow night.” He pauses, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Yes!” I yell as I manage to get the seatbelt in the clip. “Oh sorry… what were you saying?”
“I was saying, I’m going out with some friends from school tomorrow night. We were going to go to dinner and a movie. I was wondering… well, I was wondering if you wanted to go, Rae.”
My heart drops into my stomach at the same moment we stop at a red light.
“No. We’ve been over this, Ryker. I don’t belong there.” Not to mention I don’t like your friends…
“I just feel bad about you sitting at home by yourself. Why can’t you just come this once?”
This was one of the hard things about Ryker going to school, while I was homeschooled. We were always having this fight. He always wanted me to be social with him and his friends (none of whom impressed me in the slightest), but honestly I wasn’t interested.
“I’m not going. That’s final.” I pull my sunglasses on for emphasis.
“Mom’s going to be mad.” He states, and pulls into the Pizza Hut parking lot.
“And I care because…?” I leave the question open ended. I knew he wouldn’t have an answer. My mom was always mad at me for something. She just wanted her life to be normal, and my eyes wouldn’t let her. Was that my fault? No. Did she see it that way? Yes. Would she ever admit that? Nope.
As it turns out, Ryker was right. My mom was really upset I wasn’t going out. It’s not like it bothered me, we had this fight every time Ryker invited me somewhere. I was over it.
The fight started after dinner, while we were watching the football game. At halftime my mom had asked if I was going. I had said no. Definitely not. She got upset. Her eyes turned an ugly mix of Red, Pink, and Blue. Fury, Frustration, and Concern. It’s her signature color.
She got mad and started yelling. I retreated to my room. Which is why I’m now lying on my bed at a freakishly early time.
I’ve been lying here looking at the ceiling for over an hour, loathing the world. Why couldn’t I have a normal life? Why couldn’t I go to school with my brother? Why couldn’t I have a boyfriend? Or friends in general? Why couldn’t my mom love me for who I was instead of constantly wishing I was someone else?
I groan as I roll over and psyche myself up to walk over to my laptop. I open the Internet, and browse titles of books to make this list for this customer. He said he’d be by tomorrow morning to pick it up. I start with Oscar Wilde books and start from there. I blast music and Eyre squawks loudly.
“Rae?” I start as I hear my brother say my name from the hallway.
“Yeah?” I yell, turning down my music.
“Mom’s coming up the stairs. Brace yourself.” I hear him walk away and probably into his room.
I close my eyes and turn my music back up. My mom never came up to my room unless it was bad. She tended to leave me alone when I would seek refuge up here.
I turn my music down once more as I hear knocking at my door. “Come in,” I say resignedly.
My mom opens the door, and stands uncomfortably in the doorway. “You can sit down.” I gesture to my chair in the corner, but my mom just stands there.
She clears her throat. I panic. “Your father and I have decided, that we think the best thing for you right now, would be to make some friends. We would like for you to go with Ryker tomorrow night.”
I almost laugh at her polite tone. Where was the yelling? The screaming? Of course I wasn’t going! Hadn’t we just had this conversation?
“Mom, I don’t want to go.” I turn back to my computer and continue to scroll through books.
“This isn’t negotiable. You’re going.” I swivel my chair to face her standing with her arms crossed.
“You’re forcing me to go?” I scoff, trying to keep my fury from surfacing.
“Yes. Good night.” And just like that she’s gone. She left, and I’m now sitting, completely confused. I am being forced to spend time with people. This is ridiculous.
I stalk out of my room and bang on Ryker’s door. He opens it tentatively.
“What’s up?” He questions carefully.
“She’s forcing me to go.” I grit my teeth. I need someone to feel my pain, I need someone to realize how awful this is. Apparently my brother was not the person to go to, because his face lights up like the Fourth of July.
“This is great! There’s even a great guy that you could go with! Oh, this’ll be so great!” He starts gushing and I groan again.
“Ugh! Forget it! I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” I slam the door behind me and throw myself on my bed. I cannot believe my luck. Or lack thereof, rather.
YOU ARE READING
Irised
Teen Fiction"That's Knox Parker, Rae." "Thank you Captain Obvious. I know who he is," I roll my eyes and buckle up. "What's wrong?" "That's the biggest jerk at school. He's popular and he knows it, he's good looking and he knows it, he's funny and he knows it...
