CHAPTER FOUR
1240 Words
DIANA
Riley chattered my ears away as I made sandwiches for her, and I could not help but think of how cruel her parents must be, for her to run away.
“...so I got on the stage and made my presentation. I got a standing ovation. Can you believe that?” Her voice floated into my thoughts and I smiled back at her.
She looked so animated, hopping around the kitchen counter as she spoke.
“Of course I do. You're so smart. I bet your classmates were envious,” I teased and she beamed.
It was so obvious that she loved attention so much.
“You bet. Francesca, my number one rival since I was in grade one, looked at me and hissed. And you know what I did? I gave her the middle finger,” she said, so proud of what she did that I laughed.
“That was rude!” I chastised but she only shrugged as she took a seat.
I smiled as I handed her a sandwich.
“Your parents must have been so proud of you,” I said softly and immediately wished I didn't.
Her expression faded into one of hurt and…pain. She dropped the sandwich and looked up at me.
“It was just me.”
I wanted to speak, but she wasn't done.
“My father didn't come. He probably doesn't even know that school I attend. Jackson offered to come, but I didn't want him to,” she said and picked up the sandwich again.
I let her take a few bites before asking.
“What about your mother?”
She shrugged again, but it wasn't nonchalant this time.
It was a shrug that indicated that no matter how much it hurt, it wasn't going to change what she was about to say.
My heart broke for her even before I heard her answer.
“I don't know who my mother is,” her voice was so small that I strained to hear.
“Is she…” I couldn't say the word.
She understood anyway.
“No. She's not dead. I just do not know who she is. I've never seen her before in my life. And I don't even see much of my father to ask what happened.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces at her words.
She was just a kid. What kind of parents abandoned their own child?
I knew what it felt like to live with the care and attention of parental figures, so seeing Riley in a similar situation made me very protective.
I stood up and went over to her, holding my arms open.
“Come here,” I whispered and she hesitated for a while before coming into my embrace.
“I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, sweetheart. I'm terribly sorry. It's okay, mm? I'll be here for you, if you want me to,” my words must have had an effect on her because her hands tightened around me.
We stayed like that for a while, until the doorbell rang, shattering the peace.
Sheila banged on my door.
“Open the goddamn door, Dee. I know you're in there, your head buried in your books,” Sheila yelled and I sighed.
Riley looked at the door curiously and I smiled as I walked over to yank the door open.
“What took you so long, hmm? You were reading a steamy…” she started to say, but stopped short when she saw Riley stuffing her face with sandwiches at my kitchen counter.
“Good evening to you too, Sheila. It's an absolute delight to see you,” I said as I walked over to join Riley.
“Am I seeing things, or is there a small girl behind sandwiches right over there?”
I smiled at Riley who gave no indication that she was interested in my friend.
“Yes. You are absolutely seeing things. There's no kid here. And definitely no sandwiches. What haha you been drinking?” I asked, my voice taking on a mock pitch.
Sheila gave me the stink eye as she walked over and sat opposite Riley.
“Hi there, kiddo. What's your name?” My best friend asked.
I was a little skeptical about Sheila attempting to have a conversation with Riley, but I said nothing as I wanted Riley finish the last of her sandwich before speaking.
“Riley. What's your name?”
“I'm Sheila. Diana's best friend. What are you doing here?” I raised an eyebrow at Sheila for asking the question so bluntly, but Riley just shrugged and told her the truth.
“I ran away from home,” Sheila was stunned, and she looked at me as if to say she was going to pry the information out of me later, but I just smiled and started to clean up the kitchen.
“Ohhh. That's badass. You're badass. Want to tell me more about yourself…” I let their voice fade away as I worked.
Riley might seem like a perfect, normal kid. But something terrible must have driven her from home.
I let my thoughts wander as I did the dishes, and was so engrossed that I didn't see Sheila standing beside me.
“What are you going to do about her?” Her voice startled the hell out of me, and I almost dropped the plate I was holding.
“Jesus, Sheila. Stop creeping up on me,” I snapped.
“I don't know. I don't want to push her, but she looks too young to be out on her own. I don't even know her full name,” I said and glanced at Sheila.
She looked thoughtful, like she was contemplating something.
“Don't push it. Let her talk about it on her own. Just…keep her for the main time,” she said and I gaped.
“I can't. She's someone else's daughter. What if her parents are finding her and they accuse me of k********g? No one would believe she ran away on her own.”
Sheila snorted.
“So what? You're going to take her back to the very people she ran away from?” Her voice was flat as she asked.
I sighed.
“N–no. I can't. I don't think so. I just…I'm so confused. She seems like a good kid.”
“She's a good kid. That's that, by the way. I actually came here to tell you that you have a blind date tomorrow. I forwarded the details to you,” she winked and I groaned.
“Not again. Sheila can you just stop, please? I might die if I go to another blind date,” I whined and she laughed.
“No you won't. You don't have any excuse to get out of this one,” she stuck her tongue out, and a thought immediately occured to me.
“Oh. But I do have an excuse. If you force me to go, I'll just tell the date I have a child. In fact, I think I'll take Riley along, just to prove the fact,” I smiled and Sheila gaped at me.
“You're bat s**t crazy, you know. You can't be outside with the girl.
What if someone sees her?”
“Chill, boo. It's not as if her father would be searching for her in a restaurant, will he?”
- Writer
