Senior Year

CHAPTER THREE

“A FRIEND”

RILEY’S POV

I was still in my room when I saw him.

Just a flicker at first, caught from the corner of my eye through the window.

I froze.

Then I looked again.

And my heart skipped.

He was back.

Julian.

Without even thinking, I bolted out of my room.

The door barely closed behind me before I was already rushing down the stairs, my heartbeat louder than my footsteps.

He was home.

My best friend. My brother.

I just crashed into him, wrapping my arms around him like if I let go too soon, he might disappear again.

“I missed you,” I murmured.

And I meant it more than I could say.

Ever since Dad died… things had never been the same. I was fourteen, Julian was twelve, and Jake had barely just come into the world. Mom tried… God, she really tried, but grief has a way of settling into the walls of a house.

Aunt Mia had been our lifeline.

Dad’s younger sister, but somehow strong enough for all of us. She loved us like we were her own, maybe because loving us was the closest thing to loving him.

And for a while, she took Julian with her.

Julian had changed.

Not just in the obvious ways, the sharper jawline, the quieter confidence, but in the way he spoke, like he had already lived through things no one else their age had.

It was strange.

He was younger than her, technically still behind her in school, but standing there, it didn’t feel that way.

If anything, she felt like the one trying to catch up.

Now he was back where he belonged.

“Julian, go get changed,” Mom’s voice cut in gently, pulling us apart too soon.

He grabbed his bag and headed toward the stairs, but halfway up, he turned back, eyes sparkling.

“Ryles, you’re telling me everything.”

I laughed, already following him. “You’re not escaping that, don’t worry.”

And just like that, everything felt… lighter.

Yeah.

I really loved my brother.

***

ADRIAN’S POV

The steady beep of the monitor had started to sound like a countdown.

I watched as the nurse adjusted the IV line with practiced precision, her movements calm, almost too calm for the storm building in my chest. She checked my mom’s vitals again, for a moment, everything blurred into something distant, unreal.

How does someone leave home perfectly fine…

…and come back like this?

“Make sure she takes her medication. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Her voice snapped through my thoughts, clinical and detached, like this was just another routine case.

But it wasn’t.

Not to me.

She walked out, and Laura followed closely behind, casting one last worried glance at the bed before disappearing into the hallway.

Mom and Dad had called earlier. Said they’d be back in an hour.

An hour.

Funny how something so small could feel so long.

It had all happened too fast.

Too sudden.

One minute everything was normal…

and the next,

Mom was sick.

I exhaled slowly and stepped closer to her bedside. A loose strand of hair had fallen across her face, and without thinking, I reached out, brushing it gently aside.

She didn’t stir.

Didn’t even flinch.

That scared me more than anything.

I stood there for a second longer… then turned away.

The room felt too tight. Too heavy.

I needed air.

***

Adrian walked along the quiet roads of his estate, his footsteps echoing faintly in the stillness.

He didn’t have a destination.

Didn’t even care where he was going.

He just needed to get away from the house, from the silence, from everything waiting for him inside.

His phone buzzed in his hand, breaking through his thoughts.

Damian.

He hesitated for a second before answering.

“She’s awake.”

That was all it took.

Adrian didn’t say a word. He turned immediately, his pace quickening as he headed back home.

***

Riley had filled Julian in on almost everything, every bit of gossip, every little story he had missed while he was away.

Almost everything.

There was one thing she left out.

Adrian.

She pushed the thought aside as she helped him finish unpacking, laughing at something he said before finally slipping away to her room.

Just as she stepped in, her phone lit up.

A notification.

Her eyes widened.

She was late.

Her appointment with the girls.

Saturdays were hers non negotiable. A break from everything. Shopping, the spa, sometimes just a movie and her own company. It was the one day she allowed herself to breathe… to exist outside school, outside expectations.

And lately?

She needed it more than ever.

First, there was Maths.

Then Maddie.

“M and M,” she muttered under her breath, grabbing her beanie and snatching up her ATM card from the bedside table.

She rushed downstairs, already halfway out the door.

“Be home by six!” her mom called after her.

“Love you!” Riley shot back without slowing down.

And just like that, she was gone.

***

Trisha had bought a bunch of makeup, and the girls giggled as they carried their bags to the car. Just then, from the corner of her eye, Riley spotted him.

Adrian.

She gave him a small smile, her hands too full of bags to wave.

He smiled back, but it wasn’t the same, not calm, not warm like it had been in the hallway. This one felt… off. Distant. Like something was wrong.

She noticed.

“Riley, come on!” Trisha called out.

Riley blinked, snapping out of it. She placed the bags in the backseat where Trisha was already seated, then walked around and slipped into the passenger seat.

***

Later that night, Riley lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as her thoughts refused to settle.

What was wrong?

She reached for her phone and opened i********:. His profile was right there.

After a moment of hesitation, she sent a message:

Hey… you didn’t look okay at the mall earlier. Are you alright?

The reply took forever.

When it finally came, it was short.

I’m good.

Just like that, regret crept in.

Was she too forward?

Was she overthinking it?

Maybe it was nothing.

She sighed, tossed her phone aside, then got up and headed to Julian’s room.

***

Riley had just grabbed her books from her locker when the bell rang.

Science.

The one subject she never really understood.

She slid into her seat, pulling out her notebook before quickly typing a message to her friend group:

See y’all at lunch.

She turned her phone to silent and was about to tuck it away when a tall shadow fell across her desk.

Before she could look up properly, someone dropped into the chair beside her.

“Hey, Ryles. Wassup?”

She turned slightly. “Hey, Adrian… how you doing”

She stopped.

There it was.

That same expression.

The one from the mall.

Her eyes lingered on his face a second longer than usual.

She could feel it.

Something was wrong.

Just then, Mr. Sam walked into the class, cutting off whatever she might’ve said next.

***

They walked out of class together, ignoring the eyes that followed them down the hallway.

“I’m gonna go over to my friends,” Riley said.

She paused, gave him a small, warm smile, then turned and headed toward her table where the girls were already seated.

She had barely reached them when chairs shifted behind her.

Mason. Chad. Liam.

And Adrian of course.

It was obvious he had led them there.

“Yo, yo, girls,” Chad said, dropping into the seat beside Jenna.

They all settled in, laughter and conversation quickly filling the table.

But Riley wasn’t really paying attention.

Her eyes kept drifting back to Adrian.

He wasn’t eating.

Wasn't talking either .

Just sitting there, quiet… distant. Like he was somewhere else entirely.

It was strange.

No more than strange.

Something about it didn’t feel right.

***

They walked down the quiet street, side by side.

No laughter. No chatter.

Just the two of them.

They hadn’t followed their friends.

Jenna had stayed back for some extracurricular after school, and Adrian… he just wanted to clear his head, although his car was back he didn’t feel okay driving, so he was still with Chad and Mason.

Trisha had been with them at first, talking softly to fill the silence, but eventually she turned off toward her house, leaving them alone.

Now it was just Riley and Adrian.

And the silence between them.

It stretched, heavy and unspoken, as their footsteps echoed faintly against the empty road.

Riley glanced at him.

“I’m sensing something’s wrong… you wanna talk about it?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond.

Then, quietly he said,

“My mum’s sick.”

He said it so calmly… too calmly. Like if he let even a c***k show, everything would fall apart.

Riley felt it instantly, the shift in the air, the weight of it.

This wasn’t something small.

She didn’t push.

Didn’t ask questions.

Didn’t try to fill the silence.

She just walked beside him.

Because she understood.