Teaching River

Lesson 2: Wardrobe

MYSTIQUE

It was a Saturday morning, and unfortunately I was awoken by the sound of loud voices downstairs.

"-Oh, so is she at least settling in?" My mother asked. Who on Earth was she talking to? 

My dad was working today so I knew it was definitely not him.

" Well, thanks to my sister and I, she is indeed settling in Mrs Lillian." A very, very familiar voice said.

It took a full 0.0009 seconds for me to realise who the voice belonged to, and a further ten minutes wondering if I was dreaming whether or not River was actually in my house.

"Why thank you River!" She said in that whole impressed voice of hers, and it was then that I realised that I had woken up to a living nightmare. River was, in fact, in my house, and to make it worse... he was conversing with my mother. Realising that this was not at all how I wanted my Saturday to begin, I flung the covers of my bed off of my body and ran downstairs, not even remembering that my pajamas were extremely short shorts and a shirt which exposed my stomach slightly.

" What the-"

But my mom cut me off as soon as I reached the kitchen.

"Morning sweety,  River is here to pick you up..." She smiled at River who wore a grey shirt, blue jeans and some black sneakers.

" Oh is he now," I said smirking and raising an eyebrow at River who couldn't help but stare at my bare skin.

My mom nodded and laughed. " So I'll leave you two kids to go over your plans for today."

My mom, being my mom wiggled her eyebrows and winked as she passed me. As soon as she was gone, I walked up to River and punched him on the arm.

" Ouch!" He said, "it's at times like these that I wonder why you take confident classes with me!"

I rolled my eyes, "So I can stand up to bullies like your girlfriend."

He chuckled, "I know that's supposed to be offensive since she's my girlfriend, but that was really funny!"

I gave him a smack and then grabbed some apple juice from the fridge.

" So what do you want from me now?" I asked pouring a glass for me and one for him. He took the glass and took a sip from the juice. He then put it down on the counter, leaving a wet mark on the surface of it, and then he turned towards me.

"Well, I wanted to ask if you could hang out with me and my friends today for another confidence lesson?" He asked gulping down the rest of his apple juice.

Did I really just hear that right? He was asking me to hang out with his dreadful friends? Not that all of them were dreadful, but I assumed some of them would be.

"No!" I said taking the glass from him.

" Come on, Jenny won't be there. It's just me and the guys. And..." he started wiggling his eyebrows, "Jay will be there too!"

I started blushing wildly and didn't even think before saying, "Really!"

He nodded and laughed. "I told him you would be there so he agreed. Come on, you have to meet my friends. Especially Christian!" He said suggestively. He knew I didn't know Chris yet I was supporting his relationship with Lacy.

" Okay, fine, I'll go! But only because Jay will be there!" I said.

Skyscraper started laughing and making kissing faces.

" Somebody wants their first kiss..."

" Actually, I already had my first kiss!" I said smiling and grabbing a chair. Although I smiled, there was an uneasy feeling developing in my chest.

Skyscraper pulled out a chair with a shocked expression on his face. "You! Already had your first kiss... with who?" He asked with his eyes wide open.

" My ex-boyfriend!" I said in a duh tone.

This seemed to make him even more shocked.

" Boyfriend! Who was your boyfriend?"

And that's when my mood changed.

"A Playboy. He was a filthy, disgusting player who wanted to do nothing but toy around with my emotions," I hissed, and then looked up at Skyscraper who looked like he wanted to ask more questions.v"But I do not want to talk about him. I've moved on!" I said firmly.

Skyscraper nodded and then said, "Well you should get changing." I could, however still see the look of curiosity in his eyes, but ignored it.

I then walked up the stairs, all the while trying to think about what to wear. But, before I reached my room I heard Skyscraper scream, "By the way, your pajamas are hot. Maybe you should wear those for Jay!"

And to top that off, I heard my mom laugh at that comment. Traitor.

I just rolled my eyes and got showering. I then changed into a pair of black shorts and a loose white shirt. I tied my hair into a pony and then went downstairs. But as soon as Skyscraper saw me he shook his head in disappointment and called my mom.

" Mrs Lillian, do you think what your daughter is wearing is adequate?"

My mom, the biggest traitor in the universe, shook her head and agreed with River when he said I would need to change. Why didn't she just adopt him!

" I tell her all the time that she dresses like a granny, but she never listens!" My mom then whispered something in his ear, then he smiled evily.

" Okay, in her cupboard in a box you say..."

I was about to yell out something, but before I could react, River dashed up the stairs and dove into my cupboard taking out a box which I made sure to keep away from Lacy.

He emptied out the contents of the box and then looked at me mischievously.

" These are such nice, hot,  short clothes. Why don't you wear them?" He asked holding up a skirt so short that 'mini' seemed too conservative for it.

I grabbed it from him but he grabbed it back.

" Why do you cover yourself up so much?"

And there he went again, pushing the wrong buttons.

" I don't want to talk about it. I will wear whatever you want me to, but don't ask me that question again." I said looking away.

I heard him sigh, "I'm sorry Mystique... I didn't mean to pry. Here wear this," he said passing me a beautiful mid - thigh pink dress. It was tight from my chest to my waist and then flowed with frilly material to mid thigh. To be honest, it was the longest clothing item in that box. As I held the soft fabric I looked up to meet his eyes. They were so apologetic and sincere, I almost thought I was staring at a completely different person.

"Mystique," he began, "I won't make you do anything you feel uncomfortable doing. Is the dress okay?" It was the second time he had called me by my full name, and I became more unsure about Skyscraper. I was unsure as to whether or not he truly was a jerk.

I nodded, went to the bathroom to get dressed, and showed the dress to Skyscraper. He looked up and smiled a real, genuine smile.

He then took a quick inspection of my appearance staring from the bottom and ended at my hair. His eyes stayed on my tied locks and he shook his head. He then walked up to me and stood right before me, towering over my small frame. I dared not even move an inch as he leaned down and removed the hairband from my hair. As he leaned in, I could not help but notice how nice he smelled.

" Perfect," he said as my natural curls framed my face. He then moved away from me, and nodded in approval. Thereafter, he moved toward my bed and shoved the clothing into the box.

"That was lesson number two," he said putting the box back into the cupboard,  " Always dress to impress. People will respect you more." He said. " Also, it intimidates people. Why do you think Jenny dresses the way she does."

I nodded and then followed him out of my room and to his car.

"Bye mom!" I yelled when I saw her sneaking a glance at us through the window.

She smiled and waved. Skyscraper started the car and began driving. After a few moments of silence I decided to break the ice. " Does Jenny know that you're a player? " I asked leaning back in the my seat.

"No, Jenny isn't very observant, or smart for that matter..." he said.

" So why do you two date then?" His eyes turned dark and gloomy.

" That's... a story for another day," he said. But I could sense how tense and touched he was. Whatever the reason, it was a deep one,  and he and I were clearly not close enough to discuss anything deep.

And so I turned on the radio. Luckily my favourite song was on and so I started to sing along. I loved how free I felt when I sang. I felt as though I had no care in the world, and was the only time I could ever truly feel confident about. I was never sure about anything else, except my voice.

"You know,  you remind me of this girl when I was younger. She wasn't the prettiest little girl in the world. But I had a huge crush on her after I heard her sing one day on the playground." He said reminiscing.

I smiled.

" So what happened to this girl?" I asked.

He shrugged and said, "I don't know. I moved away from the town she lived in."

I smiled and then realised something, looking carefully at him.

" Hey, now that you mention it, you remind me of some i***t boy who used to tease me when I was younger... no offense though. Just your eyes, now that I look at them, remind me of him." I said giggling. I was happy I could laugh about it now especially since that boy put me through hell,  if only he could see me now!

" Well I'm glad I'm not him!" He said chuckling.

I smiled and then looked out the window. All the houses here looked the same, boring and plain. And soon I started to get worried.

"Where are we going Skyscraper!" I asked suddenly worried.

He sighed and put a hand on my shoulder which was bare.

"Relax, you worry too much. We are going to Christian's house. Don't stress, Lacy is going to be there too." He said and suddenly I felt more calm.

Eventually we stopped outside a beautiful triple story house with the most amazing garden I'd ever seen. It was the only beautiful thing in this neighbourhood of blandness.

"Wow! It's gorgeous." I said getting out of the car.

"Yup, Christian's dad is a successful businessman and his mom a famous chef." He said leading the way. When we reached the door, we were greeted by an old man dressed in a very fancy looking suit. He greeted us politely, with a beautiful dazzling smile, and let us through. The house was truly stunning inside. Each item and painting reeked of richness.

"Come on!" River said as he caught me staring at a beautiful painting on the wall. I followed him upstairs to where we could hear loud chatter and laughing. We went into a huge room filled with a few people I could fortunately recognise- Lacy, Mandy, Christian,  Damen,  a few people I met at school and... Jay. He looked even more handsome than usual. He styled his hair in a sexy messy sort of way and was not wearing his glasses, revealing the beauty of his crystal blue eyes. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a loose fitting white shirt which all perfectly clung to his body.

As soon as he heard our footsteps, his eyes landed on me. My heart stopped for a second as I realised that we hadn't spoken since I kissed him on the cheek in the car.

I could see a slight smirk on his face as he neared me.

" Hey, Misty. You look gorgeous..." he said nervously, as his cheeks began to flush a shade of light pink.

I smirked.

"You're not so bad yourself. I like the new look!" I said smirking.

He laughed, and said, "

This is how I used to dress before I used to hang out with geeks. I was actually the leader of this whole group once upon a time." He said looking around at everyone.

"So then, what changed?" I asked him softly.

He looked down at me and sat me down. This was going to be a long story. But before poor Jay could even open his mouth, Skyscraper appeared and decided to interfere.

" Hey lovebirds! Quit it! I want Misty to meet Chris." He said gesturing to the boy with his arm draped around Lacy.