Rise (3 page)

“Attie!” Jennifer raced up and threw her arms around me.

“Hey, girl. Where’s your golfer boy?”

“He had so many girls stalking him it was crazy. He couldn’t get anywhere near me.”

“He couldn’t get anywhere near you?” Tammy asked.

“Be nice. Not all of us have a Riley Bennett to pine away after us. Where is he, by the way?”

Tammy’s head quickly occupied the space between Jen and me. “They aren’t together,” she announced.

“What?” Jennifer gasped. “You broke up?”

“Shh!”

“You broke up?” she repeated in a whisper.

Tammy exaggeratingly winked several times. “They were never together.”

“You weren’t? I thought—”

“Good gravy, Jen. Did you not see the winks I threw your direction?”

“I thought you were having an eye spasm.”

“An eye spasm? What the … ?”

“So shoot me.”

“I’d like to.”

“Okay, you two, knock it off.” I pushed them away from each other and walked to within inches of my bubbly blonde friend. “For the sake of high school entertainment, Riley and I are acting like we aren’t together.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Tammy interrupted again. “The plan was to torture all the busybodies, but the only person being tortured at the moment is Riley. You just missed Attie literally driving him out of his mind. If he wasn’t crazy about her before, he sure is now. I practically had to wipe the boy’s chin.”

“Always leave them wanting more,” I instructed.

“You definitely did that. He probably can’t even see straight right now. For an angelic little thing, you sure do have a bit of a devious side.”

“It’s harmless fun, Tammy.”

“Uh-huh.” She threw her arm around Jennifer’s shoulders. “So anyhoo, we gotta play along with the act.”

“I get it. I’m not gonna ruin it. If anyone’s gonna ruin it, it’ll be Tess and Anne. They couldn’t lie to save their souls.”

Tammy grabbed our elbows and started leading us toward class. “Well, we’re just gonna have to give the girls some acting lessons then, aren’t we?”

My first few classes of the day went smoothly. Tess was in my first class, Tammy and Anne were in my second, and Jennifer and Curt were in my third and fourth. One of the girls made sure to escort me to my next class so that I wouldn’t get lost and to protect me from unknown predators—or so Tammy said.

Riley passed me in the hallway four times, and each and every time, he was surrounded by a group of people. I was quickly learning that Jennifer was right; he was one of the most popular people in school. I, on the other hand, evidently had the plague. Other than my summer friends and some of the girls from the squad, nobody came near me. I heard my name whispered here and there, and I got a lot of not-so-friendly stares, but I tried to pretend I didn’t notice.

Every time Tiffany walked by, she refused to make eye contact and blew right past me like a northern breeze. The whiff of her overly perfumed body left me reeling in a cloud of stinkiness, and I grew to dislike the girl more and more with every second. What on earth Riley ever saw in her was beyond me; how he could go from her to me left me completely puzzled. We had absolutely nothing in common, unless, of course, you counted the fact that we’d both kissed him. And if I ever stopped and took the time to think about that common feature, I’d probably end up vomiting repeatedly.

“Ms. Reed?”

I looked up from my science book. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re wanted in the principal’s office.”

Curt leaned over from his seat next to me. “How’d you manage to get in trouble in less than four classes?”

“I have no idea.” Actually, I had a very good idea. Riley’s dad must have heard about our little production in the hallway. I felt nauseated at the thought of discussing it with him.

“We were just having fun,” I murmured to myself.

“You’re excused,” the teacher announced. “Take your books in case you’re in there for a while.”

“Yes, sir.” I slowly slid out of the chair, and although I didn’t look around to confirm my fears, I assumed that all eyes were on me as I inched my way through the tables and out of the classroom.

Just after closing the door behind me, a wad of paper struck me in the face. I looked in the direction it came from and spotted Riley hiding behind a row of lockers. Making my way toward him, I looked around and noticed the hall was empty.

He grabbed a hold of my shirt, pulled me to him, and kissed me. He hadn’t kissed me with such intensity since our first official date. It was nice. Better than nice.

Eventually our lips separated, and he was left wearing a large smile of contentment.

“Riley, you’re going to get us in a lot of trouble.”

His face flushed as the smile turned into a crooked grin. “It’ll be worth it.”

“Wow, maybe I should flirt like that a little more often.”

He pulled me to him again, but this time our faces froze a few inches away from each other. “As much as I’d love that, it probly isn’t such a good idea.”

“Too much?” I asked.

“Unfortunately.”

“I’ll dial it down a bit.”

“Good.” He quickly kissed me again.

“How’d you get out here?”

“I have connections. I told Dad we should check on you.”

“I doubt us mugging in the hallway is what he had in mind.”

“Probly not, but it’s what I had in mind. Especially after that award-winning performance this morning.”

“You didn’t do so bad yourself.”

“I was just trying to keep up. You kept the zingers coming. I didn’t even know your mind could work like that.”

“There’s still a lot you don’t know about me, Riley Bennett.”

“As I said, you’ll always be a mystery to me.”

“I could have kept it up all day.”

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around me. “I couldn’t have taken it all day.”

“How long are we going to keep this act up, anyway? I’m getting lonely without you.”

“Just a few days. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it much longer than that.”

“Me either.”

“I talked Matt into trading lockers with me. Now we’re right across from each other.”

“Look at you, so creative.”

He beamed. “Anything to be closer to my girl.”

“Your girl?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Yes, and evidently you’re my man candy.”

He laughed. “Your what?”

“It’s a Tammy-ism.”

“Sounds like a Tammy-ism.”

“Hey, thanks for the drawing this morning. I loved it.”

“You’re welcome. I worked on it last night after you deserted me and went back to bed.”

“Sorry. I won’t wake you up like that again.”

“Did I say I minded?” He kissed me on the forehead before turning me around and giving a small push. “You better get to the office or Dad’s gonna come looking for you.”

“Which direction do I go?”

He pointed to his left. “Head that way and follow the sounds of hell; they’ll lead you right to it.”

chapter 4

(Riley)

Even just a few minutes after class let out, the cafeteria was packed. I’d made the mistake of heading to my locker before going to lunch, and now I could hardly make my way through the room.

My sense of smell was immediately assaulted by the scent of school green beans. I hated the smell and had developed such an aversion to it that Mom never made green beans at home. Luckily for me, my mother was the Martha Stewart of central Oklahoma, and she packed my lunch each and every morning. Otherwise, I’d be left to suffer through fake meat and congealed macaroni and cheese like everyone else.

Kent walked against the rush of students and in my direction. “We’re in the back. Wanna head that way?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?” He slapped me on the forehead. “Don’t even try to act cool. I know you’ve been waiting to see her all day. Only a day and a half of school and you’re already going through withdrawal.”

“Keep it down or someone’s gonna hear you.”

“It’s louder than a NASCAR race in here. Nobody’s gonna hear nothing unless they’re standing right next to you.”

We squeezed our way through the tables, bodies, backpacks, and books that had been thrown all over the floor.

“You ready for the game on Friday night, Riley?”

I scanned the faces around me until I found a pimple-faced boy smiling up at me. He looked like a freshman.

“Uh, yeah, of course. We should win. Are you going?”

“I’ll be there,” the boy said.

“Great.”

“Maybe we can hang out after? Know of any parties?” he asked.

“I’ll get back to you on that.”

“Cool.” He pushed himself through the crowd and out of sight.

“Who was that?” Chase asked from behind me.

“I have no idea. I’ve never seen him before in my life.” I walked on the tips of my toes trying to catch a glimpse of Attie as I shoved my way toward the back.

A girl jumped in front of me. “Hey, Riley!”

“Hey, Claudia.”

“Can you believe it’s already the second day of school?”

“Naw, time flies.” My eyes scanned the room again.

“Did you have a good summer?”

There was still no sign of Attie. “Incredible. You?”

“It was amazing. My family took a trip to Mexico and—”

I completely blocked out her noise but kept nodding so she would think I was listening. As I pushed through the students, she followed behind. Attie finally came into my line of vision. “That sounds incredible, Claudia. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh.” She sounded upset, but I didn’t look to find out if she actually was. I figured she’d get over it soon enough.

Attie looked completely out of her element and overwhelmed as I shoved my way through the remainder of the crowd and rushed to the table.

“What’s the matter? You look upset.”

“Devil girl got a hold of her,” Jennifer said.

“Devil girl?”

They both raised their eyebrows at me, causing me to realize what a stupid question it was. “Oh yeah. What did Tiffany want?”

“To be a jerk,” Tammy said. “What else is new?”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Attie mumbled.

“So what happened?”

“She came walking toward me down the hallway with all her friends surrounding her. I didn’t want to be rude, so I said hi to her, and she literally looked the other way and then practically knocked me down when she walked past. They all laughed at me, and musty ol’ Wes called me a freak. It was like something out of a bad movie on the Lifetime Channel.”

“All Lifetime Channel movies are bad,” Tammy said.

Kent tossed his lunch onto the table. “What a bunch of whack jobs. I don’t get why people have to act like that all the time. What would it have hurt for her to say hi?”

“It’s their MO, Kent,” I said. “They’ve gotta make everyone else look bad to try to make themselves feel more important. One day, they’re gonna get what’s coming to them, and I hope I’m there to see it.”

“Can we just drop the entire subject?” Attie asked. “Really, I’d rather not let those jerks ruin my lunch.”

I reached for her hand but remembered our hoax and put my hands back in my lap. She noticed the gesture and smiled up at me.

“If you two are gonna keep trying to fool everyone, you better stop giving each other those googley eyes,” Kent warned. “There isn’t a soul in this room that’s gonna fall for it.”

Attie snickered while she looked down and poked at her pasta salad. I picked up a pen and started drawing on my notebook.

“Everyone’s talking about her,” Tess said. “‘Is she the one living with Riley?’ ‘Is she the one from the accident?’ ‘Are they really together?’ ‘I thought he was dating Tiffany.’”

Attie shoved her food out of the way and laid her head onto the table. “Seriously, is it that bad?”

“It’s worse.” Anne walked up to the table, stood behind me, and stole a Cheeto out of my chip bag. “Tiffany isn’t wasting any time trying to take you down.”

Attie groaned.

Kent slammed his fist on the table, causing plates to crash, drinks to topple, silverware to scatter, and Attie to pick her head up. “I’d like to knock a few rungs off her ladder, if you know what I mean.”

“Actually, Kent,” Anne said, “I have no idea what you mean.”

“I’ll be fine. Everyone will settle down in a few days. I’m sure this doesn’t just happen to me, and it happens to new people all the time.”

The words that came out of her mouth didn’t match her body language. She was bothered by what people were saying about her, and I think I was bothered by it even more. There was no way I was going to let her go through it all by herself. I stood and moved my way around the table. “All I know is that I’m not gonna sit back and let you go through it all by yourself.”

“What are you doing, Riley?”

“I’m coming to sit with my girlfriend, that’s what I’m doing.”

Attie looked puzzled. “But I thought we were trying to keep it secret for a few more days.”

“Not anymore. I’m tired of trying to hide it.” I straddled the bench and sat down.

She turned, threw her legs onto the bench, and sat cross-legged so we could face each other. “It’s only been a day and a half day; you’re tired of it already?”

“I was tired of it yesterday when you asked if I enjoyed all my time outside.”

“That was a good one, huh?”

I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “It got my attention, I’ll say that.”

“Uh, Riley … ” Tammy muttered.

I ignored her and kissed Attie on the nose before reaching for my lunch and pulling it toward me. “So the rest of your day’s been okay?”

“Yes. Pretty uneventful. Thanks for leaving the note on my mirror this morning.”

“You’re welcome. I just thought you should know I was thinking about you. I hate leaving before you wake up.”

Tammy slapped me on the shoulder. “Riley!”

I looked over at her. “What, Tammy? What?”

“I think this entire room just went up in flames. I swear I saw heads exploding all over the place.”

Looking around, I saw hundreds of eyes looking our direction.

Kent stood and turned to face the crowd. “Y’all just mind your own dang business and eat your lunch. They’re just dating; it’s not like it’s the apocalypse or anything.”

Attie laid the top of her head against my chest and looked across the table. “I wish it were still summer. Either that or we could just fast forward a week or two.”

“It’ll get better, Attie,” Anne said as she sat in the spot I’d left empty. “You’ll be old news before you know it. Well, after the crap hits the fan, anyway.”

“What crap?” we asked simultaneously.

“I talked to several of the girls on the squad today. We vote for captain on Friday after school, and if my count is right, it isn’t going to be Tiffany.”

“Who’s it gonna be?” Kent asked.

“Who do you think, brainiac?” Tammy asked. “Attie, of course.”

Kent’s eyes grew wide. “Well, that’s gonna knock ol’ Tiff for a loop. She’s been so busy trying to cause you problems that she’s lost the support of the only people she had on her side. Heck, it’s like going out and mowing your lawn while your house is on fire.”

“What does that even mean?” Anne asked.

“Don’t ask,” Tammy begged. “He makes sense to himself, honest he does.”

Tammy leaned toward Anne with an excited grin. “Anyway, back to the cheer squad. So what did you hear?”

“Just that everyone is sick of the way Tiffany’s acting. Plus, Attie’s the better leader, and her skills are far better.”

“She does have great skills,” I added.

Tammy gave me a scowl. “We don’t need to know that.”

Attie lifted her head and punched me in the stomach. “Don’t act like you’re talking about something you’re not really talking about.”

“I was acknowledging what a great cheerleader you are.”

“You’ve never even seen me cheer, moron. You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“I could assume. You’re good at everything else.”

She lightly punched me in the stomach again. “Quit while you’re ahead.”

“What?”

“This is serious. It could get bad.”

“Nobody’s gonna mess with my girl Attie,” Kent said. “And let me just say, had they seen you out there noodling, they would have realized you’re one tough cookie. Personally, I wouldn’t mess with you.”

“I don’t mess with her,” I said. “I just give her what she wants.”

“Like I ever have to get tough with you, Riley Bennett.”

I grabbed her cheeks in my hand and squeezed until she looked like a fish. “That’s my point. You’ve got me whipped.”

She covered my mouth with her hand. “Enough out of you. You aren’t helping.”

I kissed her on the inside of her hand several times before giving it a lick. She yanked her hand away and wiped it on my shirt. “I knew this cheerleading thing was a bad idea.” She was still talking through fish lips. “It’s going to be my downfall, I just know it.” She finally swiped my hand away from her face and gave me a small thunk on the forehead with her finger.

“I hate to break up the party,” Chase whispered, “but said cheerleader is walking our direction.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Tammy moaned as Tiffany slunk up to the table.

“Hey, Riley.”

“Tiffany.”

“Uniforms are in, Attie. You might want to check yours out. I noticed it looked a little small. It may be too tiny for your slightly larger frame.”

Tammy stood. “Slightly larger frame my—”

Kent covered her mouth.

“She’s the size of a tic-tac,” I added.

“Thanks, Tiffany. I’ll go check it out. Where are they?”

“Coach Tyler’s office, of course.”

“I need mine too, Attie,” Anne said. “We’ll go together. Thanks for going out of your way and letting us know, Tiffany.”

“It’s what a leader does, Anne. We look out for our team.”

“Bull crap.”

Tammy hid the comment behind a cough, which caused Kent to slap her on the back several times. “There, there, now. You choking on something? Need some water?”

“I need some boots is what I need. It’s getting mighty deep in here.”

Kent jammed a cookie in her mouth. “Here. Chew on that.”

Tiffany ignored them and kept her hostile eyes on me. “Oh, and Attie … ”

Attie reached up over her head and pointed to herself. “I’m over here.”

“In case you forgot, practice is at three fifteen,” Tiffany said.

“Isn’t it actually three?” Anne asked.

“Yes, Anne,” Attie said. “It is three. I’m glad you said something, or Tiffany would have been late.”

“It’s the leader in me looking out for the squad.” Anne’s voice was laced with a bit of sarcasm and tainted with just a smidge of vile, which caused Tammy to give her an approving nod. She loved it when Anne showed her nonholy side. It was usually the highlight of her day.

Tiffany crept away without saying good-bye, and her two drones, otherwise known as Wes and Rick, waddled along behind her.

“Hey, Tiffany,” Kent shouted toward her, “you ever need help getting that corncob outta your butt, just let me know. I’ll get my pliers. Wes and Rick can take care of their own.”