"Are you seriously taking her side?!"
My brows knitted in confusion as a voice that I recognized all too well screeched from upstairs. I closed the door shut behind me with my foot and quietly made my way into the living room.
There, I stood in silence, waiting for another chance to recognize the familiar voice I had just heard up in my brother's room.
"Yes, I'm taking her side. What the hell is wrong with you, Riley?"
And that's my cue to head up to my room and block out their problems. I have enough of my own to worry about and the last thing I need is to make a name for myself in the Eavesdropper Awards. I lugged my way to my room, passing the screaming match unfolding in Cash's, undetected by the two semi-lovebirds.
I put on my headphones as I changed into something more comfortable, plucked a book off my bookshelf to distract myself from their back and forth and plopped onto my bed with an oomph, rolling on my back to stare at the ceiling.
After about thirty seconds though, curiousity won over and I hesitantly kidnapped my ears from blissful silence and covertly snaked down my bed. I pressed my ear to the rug and squeezed my eyes shut to hear better, my attention pinned to the argument unfolding in my brother's room.
"...you embarrassed her. You hit her." My brother's voice lowered at the last part and I strained my ears harder to get the gist of their conversation. "She's my sister, Riley and you just...you didn't even careâ"
"So now I'm the bad guy, is that right?" She scoffed, dismissing her obvious anger issues and my blood boiled over. I almost considered stopping my eavesdropping out of anger. Almost. "She's lucky all she got was a few slaps to the face. Do you have any idea the crap my mom put me through because of it? Of course you don't. Your mother can actually stand you, Harvey."
"You can't seriously be playing the victim card right now." Cash said, sounding genuinely flabbergasted. "Apologize to Harley."
"And what if I don't? What are you going to do about it?" I heard shuffling. "Whatâ?"
"Riley, I'm not Hero. Keep your hands to yourself." There was a pause and a bit of pacing before my brother spoke again. "Let's end this...whatever this is. I can't be with someone who thinks it's okay to hit my sister. I won't do it."
Riley's laugh was faint.
"You're kidding." She said. "You're breaking up with me because of the school's mascot? You do realize how stupid that sounds, right?"
Hey, I'm worth getting dumped over! The nerve of this girl to talk down to the face of the school like that. Parents don't pull their kids towards the cheerleaders for photos during school events, I'll tell you that much. I'm the one they come to for that! Never mind that most of them are oblivious to the identity within the hedgehog costume, I was loved, okay?
"Watch it, Riley. I'm not just going to stand here and let you bad mouth Harley."
I...I'm speechless.
"I'm breaking up with you because you're a horrible person. And the worst part is, you think that's okayâhow you treat people. Is that what you want? To have everyone hate you? "
The radio silence was doing numbers on the hyperactive voices in my head. They almost had me giving my input on my brother's little breakup session. Thankfully, Riley swooped in and saved me from the embarrassment of it all.
"You're no different from me. You know that, right?" Riley finally spoke, sniffling through her words. "You're not breaking up with me because of your sister, you're just using that as an excuse because you finally got what you wanted and now you want to get rid of me."
"Oh myâYou know what, Riley? You're right. I betrayed my best friend because I wanted to have a bit of fun with you. That's what you wanted to hear, right? Does it make you feel better now thinking that everyone's just as messed up as you are?"
Should I be listening to this? It sounds kind of private.
"Let's be real, I can get that anywhere and you know it."
"Then why didn't you?!"
"Because I like you!" I drew back from the rug, wincing from the cringe. Cash actually likes someone? That's so gross. "I got with you because I like you, Riley. Even if it meant stabbing my best friend in the back or having to deal with your endless tantrums, I just couldn't help it."
"Couldn't help being with your best friend's girl? Classic Cash. Let me know when you grow a pairâ"
"Take this seriously. I'm really breaking up with you."
"Sure you are, Harvey. Sure you are." Riley's laugh was as dry as the Sahara. "I guess that means you'll tell Hero about us, too?"
"I plan to." Cash responded. "You're arrogant, self-absorbed, and go out of your way to make yourself seen because you're just so insecure all of the time and that shit is draining. But all of that, I believed we could work through together. I really believed that at first. And then you had to go and hit my sister. I can forgive you for everything else but that. You hit her and you don't even regret it because you're just all about you, you, you all the damn time. Other people have problems Riley! You're not the only one. But you don't even care, do you? You're probably not even listening to me right now."
"No, I am." was her cold response. "You're looking for a way to bury this because to you, I'm just a little mistake you made. You don't think I'm worth fighting for."
There was a pause and a bit of pacing before my brother spoke again.
"How did I manage to screw over Hero this bad? I'm so stupid for thinking this could ever work out."
From the sound of it, my brother couldn't hold it together anymore. I felt a pang in my chest at hearing him cry. And, from Riley's response, although she's the most self-absorbed person I know, I could tell she felt the same way.
"You're actually breaking up with me." Her voice was barely audible, as if she was still trying to process their breakup.
My brother had gone quiet, mirroring my bad habit.
"I'm sorry." The words sounded so strange coming out of Riley's mouth that it took me a while to register. Seconds passed with me pressing my ears to the floor and hearing nothing but silence. "I made a mistake. I screwed up again. I was wrongâ"
"Bunnyâ" My brother sniffed, a pained laugh bubbling from his throat. "What the hell are we even doing? I've seriously hurt my best friend."
"Just please give me another chance and I promise I won't act up again."
What in the name of miracles is going on down there? Did Riley just admit that she was on the other end of the judgment pole? The wrong side?
Her apology spurred me from the safety of my room and straight down to the hallway, courtesy of my stripper pole. I tiptoed to my brother's room and cupped an ear to the door, holding my breath so that I could make out what they were saying.
"...my mom and ended up taking my anger out on her. I'm sorry. I screwed up again like I always do but I'm asking you to forgive me. It'll be the last time, I swear, it'll be the last time..."
But Cash wasn't listening. His biggest concern was Hero.
"How am I ever going to make it up to him?" He whispered over Riley's cries.
A crying Riley makes for a better world yet somehow, hearing her break down didn't give me the pleasure I thought it would. I felt bad.
"Please don't leave me. You're the only one who understands...the only person willing to put up with me..."
"Baby, listen to me. This is wrong. What we're doing is wrong." Ew, did Cash really just say baby? I need a memory zapper stat. "I have to tell Hero about us, I have to. I owe him that much, okay?"
"But he'll break up with me." She cried and I couldn't contain my eye roll of annoyance. Of course, he'd break up with her after finding out she's been locking lips with his best friend. "Andâand I don't want to hurt him."
Anymore than you already have?
My inner voices judged me for that one. They started scolding me for even thinking like that but I mean, come on. She just had to go for his bestfriend? No other guy could have filled that role but my brother?
"It'll hurt him even more if he finds out some other way. Be reasonable, Bunny." Who knew Cash had some screws in place up there? Not me, that's for sure. "Let me tell him then. You can just stay home until he cools down and then you both can talk it out. That sound okay?"
"But..."
Then it just got really quiet for some reason. I strained my ear on the door, closing my eyes and going really still to pick up any one of their voices.
Nothing.
My sigh as I pushed off the door was barely audible yet loud with disappointment. I crossed my arms, glaring at the door for a hot minute, all the while wishing they'd just continue the conversation.
Okay, I admit I was bored, alright? And it's not like Riley of all people deserved my respect.
Neither of them did.
I don't know what I did to upset the universe so much but the door flew open just then and out stepped Riley in all her lavender glory, leaving me frozen in shock at the door. She paused,her confusion mixed in with the smudge of mascara on her face.
I began counting the panels on my brother's door, each transparent and showcasing a letter of his name on the wood behind. Same as mine.
"Yeah, that's six, alright." I nodded with a smack on the wood." Mom and dad really took their time with this thing. Oh, hey, Cash. I just got here."
My brother was lying shirtless on his bed, his face turned to the commotion at his bedroom door. He sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose as he groaned in embarrassment.
"Why do you insist on lying when you're so terrible at it?" He asked, unable to meet my eyes. Before me, Riley was doing the same. "JustâJust leave. Please."
"Leaving, leaving." My hands came up in surrender, my mumble of a response barely audible.
I stepped back from them, only turning around when I was a good distance away, resulting in me ramming into the pole. "Ow!" I rubbed at the spot, immediately checking if Riley had seen that despite the pain.
She had.
"Who...who put that there?" I mumbled as I ran up to my room.
I slammed the door shut, my back pressed to it. The voices in my head each lined up, taking turns clicking the replay of what just happened and I crumpled to the floor, hitting the back of my head on the door repeatedly to get them to stop.
Someone, anyone at this point, please put me out of my misery.
My cries of indignant humiliation was put out at the slam of the front door, signaling Riley's dramatic departure. Mom waltzed in sometime later,a box of weirdly shaped metals in hand.
I waited for her to get done washing up so that we could have lunch together. Cash was holed up in his room for the entirety of it. He had refused to come down and mom, being the perceptive beauty that she is, noticed this.
"What's with Harvey?" She asked as she ripped into a chicken leg. "He loves chicken."
"Cash's um...you should talk to him, mom." I whispered, my eyes set on the top of the stairs as I took a sip of my orange juice. We always have orange juice. It's a Smith's special. Like pancakes except I actually like orange juice.
"Oh." She set the chicken down and pushed up from the table, her mom-o-meter going off. "How bad is it?"
"Remember when he wouldn't speak to anyone for a month?"
Mom didn't let me finish. She was already halfway up the stairs, a glass of juice and a plate of chicken in hand. I watched her go, a chicken bone hanging at the side of my mouth.
I couldn't get Riley's words out of my head.
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I slapped myself awake for the third time today, drained after staying up to the early morning hours, editing the last script I had been given by the drama club.
The task had been given to me and four others by Miss Sawyer but, being that they never did their part and always had me running in circles trying to rally them like a shepherd to sheep, I decided to just get it done on my own.
And now I couldn't keep my eyes open.
Hero was next to me, shooting a worried look my way every now and then. So far, he hadn't slept through any of our classes and from the scribbles in his binder, I'd say he had actually been taking notes through the class time instead of sketching in his sketchbook or spinning his pen from boredom.
I think the reason for his extra efforts was because Riley still couldn't come to school and, being one of the top students and all, Hero didn't want her falling behind. He might act like he doesn't care about her at all but I could tell every time he reached for his phone, a glint in his eyes whenever he searched for a text from her, that her absence bothered him to no end. At times, Iâd find him just staring longingly at spots reserved for only Riley at school which he'd cover up with nonchalance the second I nudged him out of it.
Hero really likes Riley. So why in the world is he trying to use me to hurt her? Is that all I am to him, a means to get Riley back on the right track or did he actually want to help me get rid of the bullies?
I didn't want to think about it. The answer to all my questions would have to remain a mystery in order for me to keep my sanity. The less I know, the better. Heâs helping me and that's all the convincing I need to know that Hero wouldn't hurt me. Not on purpose.
My eyes, as usual, traveled to Donovan who was mumbling about something that I really hoped was numerical to Melissa. She was now his deskmate in this class all of a sudden and was happily stacking her books on top of his in a very cute manner. As if Maths class wasn't enough torture already.
My sleep-filled eyes squinted in annoyance.
He never let me be his desk mate.
He had reasoned that we were each other's biggest distractions. Whatever that means. Melissa's the distracting one here. Look, she's even finding every opportunity to touch him.
Maybe she likes him? She's quite pretty and I can actually see them being together. After all, Donovan would love that. He can deny his feelings for her all he wants but you don't just abandon your best friend since childhood for a girl you don't like.
Which is fine, of course. I like that he has an interest in something other than basketball.
The problem here is that Melissa and I aren't exactly twin souls. She would hate to have to talk to me if they were to get together and I don't think I'd be a fan of hers either.
We're too different. She's academically smart and I'm...lacking in that aspect, she definitely wouldn't understand any of my jokes and she's the type to lord her brilliance over others. Especially someone like me who's not particularly gifted in that area. Stack that up with her hatred for me and we got an unsolvable problem.
Melissa and I would never, and I mean never, in this lifetime, see eye to eye.
I would have to stop being around Donovan completely so that their love could blossom. Thanks to Donovan, I now have a way of talking to Hero so not seeing him as often won't be a problem.
But not seeing him at all? And because of a girl that, until he showed up, tormented me every day? I refuse. It's just not going to happen. I really hate to be that person, but it's going to be either me or her.
And it's starting to seem like he's already made his decision.
"Are you okay?" Hero mumbled from beside me and I snapped out of my sulk session. "Cash's the same. Ian has to nudge him awake every five seconds."
Yeah, about that...
I shook the bad thought away. He'll figure it out on his own time.
"Do they seem a little closer than usual or am I overthinking things?" I whispered, getting closer to Hero and nudging my head in their general direction to not be so obvious. Hero turned to where I had pointed in scrutiny.
"Oh, them?" He shrugged. "Melany's like that."
"It's Melissa."
"Close enough." He folded his hands on the desk and rested his head there, curiously looking up at me. Instead of the usual butterflies, moths holding large hammers started a whole drumroll in my stomach. âYou're not jealous, are you?"
"Jealous?" My gasp of indignation was brushed off with a deadpan look from him. "I don't get jealous, Hero. That's what unaccomplished people do."
"Right. That would mean we're both unaccomplished."He mumbled and I frowned in confusion but before I could ask what he had meant by that he asked, " Soâthe whole puking on my girlfriend's pickup thingâhowâs that going?"
"Whatever direction life takes it." I was resigned to my fate. "Not much I can do, is there?"
I had told him Iâd handle it but so far I couldn't think of a single thing to convince the press club to stop posting the darn picture every day and making memes of it.
"I can't think of anything to get them to stop.â I confessed and Hero held up a fist as a solution. I gently lowered it back down. âAnything that doesn't include violence.â
"Does it not bother you?â
"Well, I don't like how it's going to affect you guys."
"Affect us? Like, our friends?"
"Like you and the other Populars." I corrected him. As if any of them would ever consider me a friend.
Well, maybe Hero but I'd rather not delude myself with that possibility just yet. It's more likely that he's just using me for a reason unknown to me. I would be over the roof if he did, though. He nodded in understanding and I continued.
"People are starting to notice your absence from The Populars' table and your presence in my life. I think we're being too obvious."
"And why is that a problem?" He snorted, shifting in his seat, his hand brushing over mine as a result. I really did try to ignore the tingling sensation that shot up my arm from his point of contact. So imagine my reaction to his next words. "It's not like we're secretly hooking up."
"Us? Kissing? That's not...that's not what I was saying. Not that I wouldn't want to kiss youâI heard you're a good kisser, actually but you probably wouldn't want to kiss someone like meâ gosh, I need a gag."
I groaned into my palms. And to think I could be six feet under right now, blessed with the silence that always accompanied death.
Hero was going off script here. His lines did not match the ones I had exchanged with my mirror this morning. I took in a deep breath, noting his slight shift towards meâhe had drawn closer to me, a curious look in his eyesâ as I gathered my thoughts. This was not helping my situation.
I covered his eyes. He chuckled but made no move to escape me blinding him. I blushed as he did the exact opposite, pressing his face into my palm. Heatstrokes aren't common in our mostly cloudy town but I think I might have one very soon.
"I mean, I'm not popularâmore like notorious?âbut I do hang out with you guys now." I stumbled over my words, blocking out his every movement under my palm. "I guess I just think it'll maybe kinda suck if people start hating you all because of me."
"Huh." He drew back and I blew out a sharp breath, relieved for a break from him being so close. "That didn't even cross my mind."
"You're welcome."
His sudden burst of laughter startled me and caught everyone's attention, including the teacher. My eyes wandered over to Donovan's desk as the teacher marched down the row, his vengeful eyes set on me and Hero.
Donovan spared me the trouble of calling out to him, his honey-browns swirling with the exact same emotion rolling in my gut. I mouthed a quick morning to him just as the teacher stepped in between us, blocking my view of him.
"You two again?" Mr. Letcher straightened his glasses. âNow I don't normally do this but these two leave me no choice but to join the other teachers in seating arrangements. Starting next week, you'll all have assigned seats in my class too.â
That didn't get the reaction he was looking for. Usually, everyone would have hated this but with not one, but two of the Populars in this class, this punishment served as more of a lucky chance.
The bell sounded, drowning out the teacher's torturous lecture and granting us an escape from his class.
I jumped, startled again by Hero. He took my hand in his and pulled me up out of my seat, attracting curious as well as judgmental stares from everyone in the room.
"How about we fix that?" His smile was like a ray of sunshine on a dark, cloudy day but all I could think about was our point of contact.
Sweaty hands and Hero make for a bad combo. For the entirety of our handholding, I was praying he wouldn't catch on to my obvious birth defect and that my carbon copy wouldn't bump into us anytime soon.
Never mind Hero's hundreds of bloodthirsty admirers.
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