Riley
When we arrived, dinner was already prepared, the smell of roasted chicken filled the kitchen, it was clear that he had already returned home, made dinner like he usually did, before coming to school to pick me up.
I dropped my bag on the chair. “You didn’t have to cook.”
Carl opened the oven without looking at me. “You need to eat.”
I scoffed. “You say that like I’m a stray cat.”
He placed the tray on the counter. “For someone who ‘doesn’t care,’ you complain a lot.”
I bit down my lower lips so hard that it hurt. “Oh, I’m sorry, are we speaking again now?”
I remembered the last three days he wouldn’t even let me see him, always disappearing before I wake up and returning late at night.
He wiped his hands on a towel. “Riley…”
“No, go ahead.” I snapped. “Keep doing what you’v
