Chapter 13: Almost Seventeen
1172 Words
Six years passed faster than Riley expected.
At sixteen, she was no longer the little girl who had once shared her birthday cake with two boys.
Her room had changed.
Her clothes had changed.
Even the way she looked at herself in the mirror had changed.
But some things hadn’t.
Ethan still walked into her room without knocking.
Owen still knew when she was pretending to be fine.
And the three of them still ate dinner at the same table whenever everyone was home.
Riley stood in front of her mirror one Saturday morning, fixing her hair.
Her seventeenth birthday was only a few weeks away.
She picked up a dress from her bed and held it against herself.
Too much.
She threw it aside.
Another one.
Too plain.
Another.
She groaned.
A knock sounded.
Before she could answer, Ethan opened the door.
“Mom wants you downstairs.”
Riley turned around.
“Could you knock?”
“I did.”
“You opened the door immediately.”
“That’s basically knocking.”
She rolled her eyes.
He looked at the clothes scattered across her bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve got enough clothes here to dress an entire class.”
“I’m choosing something.”
“For what?”
She hesitated.
“Nothing.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Riley.”
“I’m almost seventeen. I’m allowed to buy clothes without giving you a report.”
He smiled.
“I didn’t say you weren’t.”
“You were about to.”
“I wasn’t.”
She picked up a pillow.
“Leave.”
He laughed and backed toward the door.
“Mom said breakfast.”
“I’ll come.”
He left.
Riley looked at herself in the mirror again.
Almost seventeen.
The words felt strange.
Seventeen sounded older than she felt.
Yet lately, everyone seemed to notice that she was growing up.
Her teachers spoke to her differently.
Her mother trusted her with more responsibility.
Even Ethan had started treating her less like a child.
Almost.
She went downstairs.
Owen was sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through his phone.
He looked up.
“You’re late.”
“Good morning to you too.”
“You’ve been upstairs for forty minutes.”
“How do you know?”
“Ethan complained.”
Riley looked toward her brother.
“Of course he did.”
Owen smiled.
She sat beside him.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
She reached for his phone.
He moved it away.
“Private.”
Riley laughed.
“Look who’s talking.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You started it.”
She leaned back.
For a moment, she simply watched him.
Owen had changed too.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
He was taller now, quieter, more confident.
The boy who had once followed the twins everywhere was slowly becoming his own person.
Riley wondered when she’d stopped noticing him as simply Owen.
She looked away.
“What’s wrong?”
She glanced at him.
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“Eat your breakfast.”
He smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Riley shook her head.
Across the table, Ethan watched them.
He didn’t think much of it.
To him, they were still Riley and Owen.
His two people.
His family.
Nothing complicated.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing he needed to worry about.
Riley, however, wasn’t so certain anymore.
That evening, she stood outside beneath the porch light, listening to Ethan and Owen argue over something inside.
She smiled.
Almost seventeen.
She knew things were changing.
She just didn’t know how much.
The following Friday, Riley’s mother took her shopping for her birthday.
It was supposed to be simple.
It wasn’t.
Riley held up another dress.
“What about this?”
Mrs. Parker looked at it.
“Beautiful.”
“You said that about the last one.”
“Because the last one was beautiful too.”
Riley sighed.
“I don’t know what I want.”
Mrs. Parker smiled.
“You don’t have to decide everything today.”
Riley lowered the dress.
“Everyone keeps saying I’m growing up.”
“You are.”
“Does that mean everything has to change?”
Mrs. Parker studied her daughter’s face.
“Some things will.”
Riley looked away.
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Her mother took her hand.
“Growing up doesn’t mean losing the people you love.”
Riley nodded.
She wanted to believe that.
After they finished shopping, they returned home to find Ethan and Owen in the driveway.
Owen was leaning against the car while Ethan was checking something beneath the hood.
Riley walked toward them carrying her bags.
Ethan looked up.
“You bought all that?”
“Mom bought some.”
“How many?”
“None of your business.”
Owen laughed.
Riley looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re laughing.”
“I know.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Very funny.”
Ethan reached for one of her bags.
“I’ll take that.”
“I can carry it.”
“I know.”
He took it anyway.
Owen took another.
Riley was left carrying the smallest one.
She looked between them.
“I can carry my own things.”
“We know,” Ethan said.
“Then why are you doing it?”
“Because we want to.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
Inside, Mrs. Parker began putting the groceries away while Riley carried her bags upstairs.
She stopped halfway.
For years, Ethan and Owen had carried things for her.
Opened doors.
Waited for her.
Walked her home.
It had always felt normal.
Now she was beginning to wonder what it would feel like when they stopped.
That thought made her uncomfortable.
She entered her room and placed the bags on the bed.
Her birthday was approaching.
So was the scholarship application deadline.
She had started thinking about university.
About leaving home.
About studying somewhere far away.
The thought excited her.
And scared her.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
For the first time, she understood that growing up wasn’t just about looking older.
It meant making choices that could take you away from the people who had always been beside you.
That evening, the three of them sat outside.
Ethan was talking about university.
Owen listened quietly.
Riley hugged her knees.
“Would you ever leave?”
Ethan looked at her.
“For university?”
She nodded.
“Probably.”
Riley looked at Owen.
“What about you?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe.”
She stared at the ground.
Neither of them seemed worried.
She was.
Because suddenly, seventeen didn’t feel like a birthday.
It felt like the beginning of an ending she wasn’t ready for.
And somewhere in the back of her mind, Riley knew one thing.
Soon, the three of them would have to discover who they were when they weren’t standing side by side.
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