Outcasts

by B. D. Fresquez

  I let out a dramatic sigh and make my way to my closet where I pull out a pair of light wash jeans and my Guns N’ Roses t-shirt.

  I throw on the clothes and my pair of old Converse, then I run a brush through my long hair. I quickly brush my teeth and head downstairs.

  Mom is standing in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal as she reads the newspaper. She looks at me and scans my clothes. “Someday, I will get a hold of your clothes.”

  “I’ll be out of the house before you can even act upon your evil doing,” I tell her, crossing my arms.

  “Are you ready?” she asks, and I nod. She puts her bowl into the sink. “Let’s go. Anna’s house is a bit further out of town.”

  “I don’t get to eat breakfast?”

  “If you’d gotten up earlier, you would’ve had time.”

  I run to the pantry and grab a granola bar. For good measure, I snag an apple from the fridge.

  We’re out the front door and in my mom’s car in a flash. I stare out the window as we head to Anna’s house. I plug my earphones into my iPod, and before I know it, I’m drifting off to Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

  Chapter 5

  “Riley, wake up. We’re here.”

  I groan and curl myself into a ball. “Five more minutes,” I mumble.

  “Riley, c’mon. They’re leaving in a few minutes and you still have to meet everyone.”

  I groan louder at the mention of meeting people. I open my eyes and reluctantly unbuckle my seatbelt. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  My mom gives me a bright smile before exiting the car. When I’m out of the car, I stretch my limbs and instantly feel tired again. My shoulders slump as I walk around the car.

  “You really need to work on your posture, Riley. You look like an old man when you walk like that.”

  Mom always wanted a girly, outgoing daughter. Instead, she got me.

  Ignoring her comment, I whistle when I see the house. This place is huge. Our house isn’t small, but it certainly isn’t as big as Anna’s.

  We walk up the concrete steps and approach the front door, which has an oval-shaped piece of glass in the middle with delicate gold designs. I take a deep breath as Mom rings the doorbell.

  “Don’t be afraid to make new friends and have fun. You need some girl time instead of being locked up in your room,” she says to me.

  Before I can respond, the door opens and I instantly hear girls laughing from inside the house. Please shoot me now.

  “Carol!” the woman who opened the front door exclaims. She hugs Mom before they look at me.

  “Anna, this is my daughter, Riley. Riley, this is Anna,” she introduces us.

  I hold out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” I say as politely as I can.

  Anna gently shakes my hand. “Pretty and polite.” She beams. She looks at Mom. “We shouldn’t be out too long, but who knows with them.” She gestures behind her. “I can ask one of the boys to take her home after we’re done.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Mom grins at Anna before looking at me. “I’ll see you later, Riley. Have fun.” She winks.

  I’m pulled inside by Anna and the smell of sweet candles and perfume hits me like a truck. I want to plug my nose, but that would probably be rude.

  Anna looks at me excitedly. “I really appreciate you doing this, Riley. I don’t know what I would’ve done without a fifth bridesmaid.” She chuckles.

  I take in her appearance as she speaks. Her blonde hair is swept up into a ponytail and her blue eyes match the light blue blouse she currently has on. She looks fairly young. I can’t guess how old she is.

  “It’s no problem,” I tell her.

  “Alright, I’ll introduce you to the girls,” she says. “And don’t feel nervous, hun. I promise we’re not a bad crowd.”

  We walk into what I assume is the living room. Then I see them. Blondes. All the girls in the room are blonde. Which means I’m going to be the only bridesmaid who is a brunette. I’ll stand out. Great.

  “Our new bridesmaid has arrived! Everyone say hello to Riley,” Anna announces.

  One girl walks up to me. She looks younger than the others. “Hi, Riley.” She grins and sticks out her hand. “I’m Kelly.”

  I shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  She stands by my side and points to another girl who looks a bit older than me. “That’s my older sister, Jenna,” she says before gesturing to the other two girls. “The girl with the blue tips in her hair is our cousin Halle. Next to her is her twin sister, Holly.”

  “Jenna and Kelly are mine,” Anna pipes in. “The twins are my nieces, who are both twenty. Jenna is twenty-one and Kelly is sixteen.”

  “How old are you?” Kelly asks me.

  “Eighteen.”

  She smiles. “Finally, someone a little closer to me in age.”

  “Well, I need to call Robert and tell him we’re ready to leave,” Anna says then excuses herself.

  Kelly drags me to the couch and we both sit down. “So, Riley, what school do you go to?” she asks.

  “Fairfield High,” I tell her. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her around Fairfield.

  “My brother goes to Fairfield. Maybe you know him.” Before I can ask who her brother is, she speaks up again. “I go to Maxwell Academy.”

  “That’s the all-girls private school, right?” Mom considered putting me in Maxwell until she saw how much it would cost her.

  Kelly nods. “Right. I thought it would totally suck, but it’s actually not that bad.”

  I feel the couch dip to my left. I look over and see Jenna sitting next to me. “You haven’t scared Riley off, have you, Kelly?” she asks with amusement in her eyes. She looks familiar somehow. She looks an awful lot like Anna. Kelly too. They all have the same blue eyes.

  Kelly crosses her arms. “No.”

  Jenna glances at me. “I’m glad you’re not another blondie.” She chuckles. “That’s basically our whole family.”

  “Except Ryan and Dad,” Kelly says. Something in her tone changes. For a split second, Ryan Dixon enters my mind, but I push the thought back.

  I feel a presence behind me, so I look back. A tall figure creeps up behind Kelly and begins to mess with her hair, tangling it from the looks of it.

  “Aiden, stop!” Kelly shrieks.

  I do a double-take at the figure, and lo and behold, it is, in fact, Aiden Callaway. My eyes widen at the sight of him.

  He laughs at Kelly’s despair before he meets my gaze. His eyebrows rise in surprise.

  “What are you doing here?” we ask at the same time.

  “I asked first,” I say before silently judging myself for sounding so childish.

  He smirks. “Well, this is my soon-to-be stepmom's house. What are you doing here?”

  “She’s the new bridesmaid,” Kelly says as she tries to smooth her hair out.

  Wait. Anna is going to be Aiden’s step-mom?

  “Really?” Aiden looks at me.

  “You two know each other?” Jenna asks us both.

  “Not really,” I say at the same time Aiden says no.

  He goes back to tangling Kelly’s hair, making it look like a mess from the ’80s. She finally shoves him away and glares at him. “Aiden, you jerk.”

  “Aiden, stop harassing my sister.”

  I turn around and see Ryan walking into the room. What the hell is he doing here? What is even going on right now?

  “Having two brothers will be so much fun,” Jenna says sarcastically.

  Ryan’s eyes meet mine and he smiles. “Hey, Riley. What are you doing here?”

  “Riley is Mom’s new bridesmaid.” Jenna fills him in. The word bridesmaid is beginning to make my head spin.

  Wait, wait. So, Ryan is Jenna and Kelly’s brother. Aiden is going to be their step-brother. Which means that Aiden’s dad or mom—who knows—is marrying Anna.

  “Oh, cool,” Ryan says distractedly. Something is definitely on hi
s mind.

  “Okay, kids. Let’s get this show on the road.” Anna claps her hands together as she enters the room again. “Oh, good, Ryan and Aiden are here. Robert said he’ll pick you two up at the bridal shop.” She looks at Ryan. “Do you mind driving three people over there with you? I’ll take Kelly and the twins.”

  “I want to go with Ryan,” Kelly whines.

  “I’ll go with Mom,” Jenna says to Kelly, rolling her eyes.

  “Let’s get going,” Anna says. We stand up and follow her out of the house. She practically shoves us out the door. I wring my hands together nervously.

  Kelly walks next to me as we make our way to Ryan’s black BMW. “I can’t wait to try on the bridesmaid dress. Don’t you love dresses, Riley?”

  I nod slowly. I hate dresses with a passion.

  ***

  On the way to the bridal shop, Kelly talks my ear off. She decided to sit in the back with me, while Aiden sat in front with Ryan. Kelly is nice and all, but she sure knows how to talk. I don’t have the heart to tell her to slow down a bit. Thankfully, Aiden does this for me.

  “Jesus, Kelly, can you shut up for one second?” he asks her without turning around in his seat. I’ve caught his eye a couple of times in the rearview mirror. Maybe he senses my silent plea for help. Or maybe he is annoyed too. Probably the latter.

  She huffs. “Can you be any more rude? I’m talking to Riley.”

  “I’m sure Riley doesn’t like having her ear talked off,” Aiden says. I get a weird feeling when he says my name. It sounds strange rolling off his tongue.

  “Both of you shut up. I’m pretty sure Riley doesn’t like hearing you two arguing.” Ryan snaps.

  Since when is this all about me?

  “Sorry about my soon-to-be step-siblings.” Aiden shifts in his seat so he’s looking at me. “Maybe I should’ve sat next to you.” He gives me a weird smile.

  I return the smile, against my better judgment.

  “And we’re here,” Ryan announces as he drives into the parking lot of the bridal shop. “Robert is already here,” he says as he parks the car.

  Aiden frowns as Ryan says, “Fantastic.” The sarcasm is dripping from his tone.

  Kelly and I get out of the car, and I glance at the shop in front of us. There’s a huge window in front, showcasing a long, flowing wedding dress. Behind that are two bridesmaid dresses in teal but in different styles.

  “I’m so excited!” Kelly exclaims.

  I feel someone’s arm brush against mine as they stand next to me. Aiden looks at the shop also and smirks. “Are you excited, too?” He mocks Kelly.

  “Not really,” I whisper to him.

  He chuckles.

  “Ryan! Aiden!” someone yells in the distance. Aiden and I both turn and I see a tall man with dark brown hair standing next to a navy blue truck. I assume this is Aiden’s dad, as he looks exactly like him.

  Aiden sighs. “Here we go.” He walks off in the direction of the truck.

  Kelly grabs my arm and pulls me toward the shop. “I’ve only seen the dress in the magazine, but it looks amazing!”

  “That’s good.” I nod, not knowing how else to respond.

  “I can’t wait to see it in person. It’s probably beautiful.”

  ***

  Beautiful? Yeah, sure. Extremely feminine and something I would never wear? Definitely!

  I look at myself in the full-length mirror in the dressing room and I scrunch my nose. The dress is strapless, with what I think is a sweetheart neckline. In the middle of the bust is a giant flower. Beneath that, ruffles cascade down the length of the dress. It’s a short dress, only going up to the top of my knees. The whole dress is a dark peach color. Definitely not something I would pick out, but then again it’s not my wedding.

  Is it too late to back out of this thing?

  “We’re waiting on you, Riley!” I hear Kelly yell from the other side of the door.

  I unlatch the door and I brace myself.

  When I see what the others look like in their dresses, I instantly feel insecure. These girls have the perfect tan, the pretty blonde hair, the shapely body, and they all look beautiful in the dress.

  And here I am: a bit too skinny, with little shape to my body, and with lifeless brown hair that currently feels like a mess. I’m usually not one to feel insecure, but I really feel it at the moment. All I can think about is how I’ll stand out compared to them, and not in a good way.

  “Riley! You look absolutely amazing!” Kelly exclaims, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  She brings everyone’s attention to me when she says this. I hate being the center of attention. Everyone’s gaze is on me, and I cross my arms.

  “Wow, Riley.” Jenna smiles brightly. “You look gorgeous.”

  The twin with the blue tips—I think her name is Halle if I remember correctly—sighs dramatically. “I wish I was eighteen again.”

  Holly rolls her eyes. “Shut up. That was only two years ago.”

  “College fucked me up. I’m not skinny anymore.” Halle pouts.

  Anna gives her a stern look, probably for her language. She then looks at me and grins. “I knew it. All of you look fabulous in the dress. Peach is definitely the right color for all of you.” She reaches out and grabs a section of my hair. “Especially for you, Riley. Your hair color is beautiful with this shade.”

  “Thank you,” I mumble shyly.

  She walks over to Jenna, and I steal another glance at myself in the mirror behind me. I move and the dress sways with me. I feel like a different person with this dress on. The dress is pretty and all, but I need to get back into my jeans and t-shirt.

  ***

  We walk out of the shop and Anna gathers us around her. “Don’t forget, girls, the day before the wedding you all need to come back and pick up your dresses.”

  We all nod.

  The navy-blue truck pulls up next to us, and Ryan and Aiden jump out. Aiden snaps at someone in the truck before slamming the truck door.

  “Here we go again,” Jenna says quietly behind me.

  Ryan comes up to us and looks at Kelly and me. “Ready to go?”

  “You can take Riley home, right, Ryan?” Anna asks him.

  He nods. “Yeah, sure.”

  Anna, Jenna, and the twins all hug me before they leave. It’s odd that they have accepted me so quickly. I guess Anna is right. I don’t need to be nervous around them.

  Kelly and I walk with Ryan and Aiden back to the car. Aiden is deadly silent. There’s a permanent frown on his face, so I’m assuming things didn’t go well today.

  “Take me home first,” Aiden tells Ryan when we’re all buckled in the car. “Riley’s house is on the same street anyway.”

  Ryan just nods.

  Relief washes over me as Ryan turns onto my street a few minutes later. He parks in front of Aiden’s house first, just as he was asked.

  Aiden is about to get out of the car when Ryan grabs his arm. Aiden glares at Ryan’s hand on him, and Ryan quickly lets go. “Just chill out, dude. Don’t freak out over everything.”

  Aiden’s jaw ticks. “Leave me alone,” he says slowly before getting out and slamming the door, just as he did with the truck. He walks straight to his backyard.

  Some metaphysical force is pulling me toward Aiden, and I know this is going to be a bad idea. Once again, against my better judgment, I open my mouth. “Um, I’ll just get out here. My house is just down the road.”

  “Are you sure?” Ryan twists in his seat so he’s looking at me.

  I nod and open the door.

  Kelly waves at me. “See you soon, Riley.”

  “Okay.” I give her a quick smile before shutting the door.

  I walk along the sidewalk until I know Ryan and Kelly are out of sight. I turn around and make my way back to the Callaway residence. I walk hesitantly to the backyard, nervously wringing my hands together. I take a deep breath.

  What am I doing?

  Before I can escape, I see Aiden l
eaning against the side of the house with a small bottle of what looks like some type of alcohol in his hand. He brings it to his lips and takes a long sip.

  “Drinking at a young age can kill brain cells, you know.” I let it slip between my teeth before I can stop myself.

  Aiden’s eyes drift toward me. “What are you doing here?”

  I’m asking myself the same thing. “You looked pretty angry a while ago. Just wanted to see if you were okay, I guess.” I shrug like it’s no big deal.

  He smirks as he puts the cap on the bottle. “I’m fine.”

  “Clearly.” I gesture to the bottle.

  He walks up to me and I feel intimidated by his height. “Why do you care? None of this is your business anyway.”

  I knew this was a bad idea. “Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “I’ll go now.” I duck my head and I move quickly away from his house. I shouldn’t have followed him in the first place. Why would I even try to talk to Aiden Callaway in the first place? Such a stupid mistake.

  I hear footsteps behind me and I feel his now familiar presence next to me. He doesn’t say anything as we walk, but he doesn’t need to. The silence between us is comfortable and I’m okay with it.

  Chapter 6

  It’s Monday afternoon, so I don’t expect anyone to be in my house. When I walk in, however, I hear two voices. My mom’s and another familiar high-pitched voice.

  In the living room, Kelly is seated on our couch, playing with Sassy as she talks to my mom. Kelly sees me first as I walk in.

  “Riley!” Her eyes brighten and she stands up. She’s soon barreling toward me, and her arms are around me in an instant.

  My insides are being crushed!

  I widen my eyes and mouth ‘help’ to my mom, who just laughs. Thanks, Mom.

  Kelly lets go of me and grins.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, trying not to sound rude.

  She clasps her hands together. “I thought we could hang out. You know, get to know each other a little better.”

  “Oh” is my response. I think of using homework as an excuse not to hang out with her, but Mom gives me a stern look, and I mentally sigh. “Okay. What do you want to do?” I ask awkwardly. I’ve never hung out with someone so spontaneously.