Homecoming

Chapter 2

Lissa went to school on Monday, but all she could think about was seeing Riley at the party. The day couldn’t end fast enough. When the last bell finally rang at 3:15 she gathered her books and rushed out to her car. She put her favorite mix tape in the player to jam while driving home, taking the short cut on a gravel road.

Home was a small ranch style house in the country, surrounded by farms with corn fields and cow pastures. She loved how peaceful it was.

First order of business when she got in the door: Doritos and Mountain Dew. Her favorite snack while doing homework. By the time she was done with all the assignments, it was already 7:00. She quickly showered, then put a towel around her wet hair while getting dressed. She put on a pair of stonewashed jeans and her favorite light blue t-shirt. A little blush, mascara and lip gloss was all she needed for makeup. Then she was bent over at the waist blow-drying her long mane, scrunching it with gel to encourage the natural wavy curls. She stood back up and stared at her reflection. “Not bad!” she thought, and headed out the door by 7:45.

When she pulled up to Riley’s house, there were already lots of cars parked on the street, and she could hear the music from inside through the open windows.

She found a parking spot then made her way to the door. There were lots of people hanging around Riley, laughing and drinking beers.  When she caught his eye he smiled.

“Hey Lissa! Glad you could make it!” and he gave her a quick hug.

On the other side of the room she noticed another familiar face. Dan smiled and waved at her. She waved back with a grin. Dan was tall with reddish blonde hair, and grey green eyes. He was wearing his glasses tonight instead of contacts. He was quiet and had always been friendly enough, but she was always more focused on Riley.

She hung out for a couple of hours, listening to Riley and Dan telling everyone funny stories about their experience at Basic. Then she really needed to go home. If she didn’t get to bed soon, she'd never wake up on time for school tomorrow. She touched Riley’s arm lightly.

“I’m sorry, but I really need to get going,” she said with a sad smile and stood up from the couch.

“Okay.” He followed her to the door, as some of the people in the party started laughing and teasing them. He ignored their jokes and walked with her down the street to her car. She opened the door then turned around to face him. She opened her mouth to say goodbye, but before she could speak he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

“Good night Lissa,” he said. She smiled back.

“Good night.” Then she drove home happy, excited for the days to come.

***

A couple of days went by and Lissa was busy with school and early morning marching band practice. She kept thinking about the kiss, and couldn’t wait for Riley to take her out on a date. But he didn’t call.

Maybe he just realized she had a lot to do during the week and was waiting to call her over the weekend. Or maybe he tried to call on Friday night when she was stuck at an away football game at another school? Her parents didn’t have an answering machine for anyone to leave a message at the beep.

By noon on Saturday she was just dying to talk to him, so she picked up the phone and dialed his number.  When there was no answer after three rings she was about to give up, but then she heard Riley’s voice.

“Hello?”

She took a deep breath, and tried to sound casual. “Hi.”

“Hey Lissa, I’m glad you called.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you busy today? I was hoping we could hang for a bit.”

“I finished most of my homework assignments this morning, so yeah I’m free.”

“Did you have lunch yet? Wanna get some tacos?”

“Sounds great! Meet you there in 20 minutes?”

“See you then.”