“You like Aiden, don’t you?”
My eyes widen and I glare at him. “I do not like Aiden. We’re just acquaintances.”
Ryan laughs some more. “It’s okay, Riley. I won’t tell him.”
“Oh my goodness. There is nothing to tell,” I say, hitting his arm. “I would threaten to spill embarrassing things to the girl you liked, but you already have a girlfriend and I have nothing on you, so that wouldn’t work.”
“And you will never find out the embarrassing things about me.” He smiles. “Can I be honest with you, Riley?”
“Well, I would hope that aren’t lying to me.”
He smirks. “Seriously.”
“Okay. Be honest with me,” I say to him.
He takes a deep breath. “I sort of liked you before I found out that you’d be in my mom’s wedding.”
My jaw drops a little. “You liked…me? Why?”
Ryan smiles. “I don’t know. You were different,” he says. “Well, you still are.”
“Wait. You say liked, as in past tense. What happened?”
He shrugs. “I actually talked to you, and something changed. I see you more as a sisterly figure, if that makes sense.”
I nod. “It makes sense.”
“Good.” He grins. “So are we best friends now?”
I laugh at him. “I guess we can be. I don’t know how that would affect my social status,” I say snobbishly.
He puts his hand over his heart. “That hurts, Riley. You’d put your reputation before our friendship.”
“Please.” I waved my hand. “I should be concerned about that, not you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, frowning a bit.
I sigh. “You’re Ryan Dixon. You’re the star football player with the perfect girlfriend. And I’m Riley the nerd girl who no one talks to.” I play with my fingers. “It would probably look weird if I started to hang out with you.”
“Wow,” he says. “Listen, I could care less what people would think. If you want me to, I could shout out that you’re my best friend now.” He nudges me. “And sure, you’re a nerd, but who’s going to be making fun of you when you’re making ten times more money than the rest of us in five years?”
If you told me last year that Ryan Dixon would ask me to be his best friend and would say that being a nerd is okay, I would have thought you had serious issues and ask you to bring yourself to a mental hospital.
I grin. “You sure know how to make a girl feel a little better about herself.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” he says. He parks the car and pulls the keys out of the ignition. “Now let’s get my tux.”
***
After getting his tux and my dress, Ryan drives me home. Somehow talking to him is a bit easier than talking to Kelly. It feels more natural.
He pulls up to my house and parks. “Well, this afternoon was fun, Riley.”
“It was.” I agree as I unbuckle. I grab my dress, which is in a full-length bag, and open the passenger door. “Thanks so much, Ryan. This was really nice of you.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” he asks.
I nod. “Right.” I get out of the car. “See you tomorrow,” I say before shutting the door. I walk up to the front door and unlock it. Ryan drives off right as I shut and lock the door.
“Mom! I’m home!” I call out. I lay my dress on the dining table and look around. “Mom?”
“In the kitchen!”
I walk into the kitchen and find my mom cutting up some watermelon. She looks up at me and smiles. “Hey, Riley.”
I sit down on a chair at the island. “Hey.”
“How was school?” she questions.
“Same.” I shrug. “How was work?”
She smiles. “Pretty good.” She hands me a slice of watermelon and I gladly accept it. “You seem like you’re in a pretty good mood.”
“Yeah,” I answer plainly. “I have my bridesmaid dress with me. A friend drove me to go get it for pictures tomorrow.”
“What friend?” she asks as she puts the knife in the sink. She sits near me at the island.
“Ryan. Anna’s son,” I say, taking a bite of the watermelon in my hand.
My mom raises her eyebrow. “Is that why you’re in such a good mood?”
“Please, Mom.” I roll my eyes. “Ryan and I are just friends. I don’t like him like that and he has a girlfriend.”
“Alright fine.” She sighs.
I finish eating the watermelon then walk in the dining room and grab my dress. I run up to my room and shut my door behind me. I set my dress on my bed and stare at it. It’s a pretty dress; don’t get me wrong. But it just isn’t…my taste.
The more I think about my dress, the more it occurs to me how the wedding is not too far in the future. We have about a week until the wedding and it’s going to go by fast. From what I’ve seen on TV, everyone starts to stress out during the last week.
I grab the dress and put it in my closet. I don’t want to look at it until tomorrow.
My phone starts to buzz in my back pocket, so I pull it out. I look at the screen and notice it’s a text from an unknown number.
Are you doing anything right now? —A
I forgot I had given Aiden my number when we were at Anna’s house. I told him to text me that day, so I had his number, but he never did. So I guess I have it now.
No. Why?
It’s not every day he just asks questions like that.
—Can you meet me at the park?
—Sure.
I grab Sassy’s leash and pick her up. I might as well take her out for a walk if I’m going to the park.
“Mom, I’m taking Sassy out,” I call out as soon as I reach the bottom of the stairs.
“Okay! Be careful, Riley!” she calls back.
I hook Sassy’s leash on and walk out the door.
Chapter 11
Sassy only walks halfway to the park. The rest of the way I hold her in my arms. She is one spoiled dog. I must really love this dog if I’m willing to hold her like this.
The park comes into view and I sigh. I wonder what Aiden wants.
We get to the grass and I put Sassy back down on the ground. But once her paws hit the grass, she lays down on her stomach. I tug on her leash. “C’mon Sassy.”
Did she budge? Not even a centimeter.
“Sassy, you lazy dog, I’m not going to hold you the whole time.” I scold her. “We need to start walking.”
She looks up at me and tilts her head to the side. Sometimes I wish I know what she thinks of me. She probably thinks of me as her maid or something. I tug on her leash again. She looks like she is about to stand up but she lies back down.
“Sassy, I will leave you here,” I tell her. “I mean it.”
“Are you really threatening a dog?”
I whirl around and find Aiden standing behind me. “I’m not threatening her. I’m scolding her.”
Aiden rolls his eyes and bends down. Once Sassy sees him, she gets up and goes straight into his arms.
“It seems like she likes you,” I say to him.
He chuckles. “Don’t be jealous because she likes me better than you.”
“I am not jealous,” I argue. “Why did you want me to come here in the first place?” I demand from him.
He stands up with Sassy in his arms. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?” I cross my arms.
“The wedding,” he says, turning serious. “Let’s go sit on that bench,” he says as he starts to walk away. I follow him silently.
We reach the bench and set Sassy down on the ground. Aiden sits down on the bench and pats the spot next to him. “Sit down. I won’t bite.” He winks.
I sit down next to him and sigh. “So, why do you want to talk about the wedding?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?” He raises his eyebrow. I stare at him until he speaks again. “Just kidding. Jeez. But anyways, you seem like the only person w
ho understands where I’m coming from right now. I thought I had Kelly on my side, but she thinks she’s the shit now because she got wasted at that party.”
Is that why she hasn’t talked to me?
He takes a deep breath and looks at the ground below him. “My mom died when I was seven.” I realize then that he’s opening up to me. He’s going to tell me his life story. “I remember her perfectly. She always curled her hair then would put it up in a ponytail. She always told my dad how lucky she was to find a guy like him. And she made a killer cheesecake.” He smiles slightly.
“Then she got sick.” His smile falters. “I didn’t understand it then, but she had gotten cancer. I always wondered why she would tell me she’s going to the doctor. I asked her what was wrong, but she told me she must have gotten a stomach bug or some shit like that.”
“She knew you wouldn’t understand,” I comment.
He nods. “She made it seem like nothing was wrong. But I started to really wonder when she ended up in the hospital. I caught my dad crying every now and then, and it scared me. I remember the last conversation I had with my mom. We were visiting her in the hospital and I was sitting next to her bed. She held my hand and told me to always be a strong boy. No matter what.” He purses his lips. I almost thought he’s going to cry, but when he looks up, his face holds no emotion. “Things were harder after she died. Dad was working two jobs, so I hardly saw him. My dad and I had a pretty good relationship while Mom was still alive. But that changed.”
He looks at Sassy in front of him and starts petting her. “I was in the seventh grade when he met Anna,” he says, his voice sounding a bit bitter. “Each time she was around, he always said she was just a friend. She was constantly around and kept trying to be my friend. He eventually told me that they were dating. Seeing him with her when she was first around didn’t settle with me. She was not my mom and she would never be my mom. I told my dad that when he told me they were dating. In a way, I hated my dad for doing that to my mom. How could he ever love another woman, you know?”
I nod. I can relate to Aiden in a way. I know my mom will start dating eventually. But none of those guys will be my dad.
“Our relationship has never been the same. I found out a year after they started dating that she had three kids of her own. Turns out she had divorced her husband because he cheated on her. My dad started to hang out with her kids more and more while I just sat back and watched him. He helped Ryan get into football. Did you know that? And me? I just got the talk on how I should have been in football or soccer or something. Ryan was the son he always wanted,” Aiden rants. “I’ve never liked Ryan. I don’t know if I ever will.”
“Are you mad that Ryan’s the best man now?” I ask him cautiously.
He shakes his head. “Fuck no. I don’t even want to be in this stupid wedding. I told my dad straight up that I wasn’t going to go. I think that was the day I left you and Kelly at the park.”
I remember that day. I had heard Aiden yelling profanities at his dad while walking back home. I remember telling myself it wasn’t my business.
“Do you hate Anna?” I ask curiously.
He hesitates for a moment. “I don’t hate her. But I don’t particularly like her.” He makes a face. “She just always tried to be my friend and wanted to know everything about me. When I was in the eighth grade, I told her to fuck off because she wasn’t my mom and I would never like her.”
“You told her that?” I gasp.
He smiles slightly. “Well, not exactly like that, but it was something along those lines.”
“Do you miss your mom?” I ask him quietly.
He nods slowly. “More now than usual. I see Ryan, Kelly, and Jenna with Anna and it makes me think of what my mom would have been like if she were still alive. Would she go to all my football games if Dad had helped me get on the team? Would she put up with the shit I pull every day?”
“I wonder things like that sometimes,” I say out loud. “Would I have been different if my dad decided to stick with us? Would I be a normal teenage girl? Would he be impressed with my 4.0 GPA?”
“Has your mom seen other people?” he asks me.
I shake my head. “I know she wants to. I think she’s worried about how I’d react.”
“How would you react?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. It depends on how the guy treats my mom. If he treats her well, then I will probably like him for making my mom happy. If he treats her like crap, then I’ll probably give him hell.”
Aiden chuckles lightly. “Yeah, I’d like to see you on a rampage.”
“Watch it. You never know when I could snap,” I tell him.
He stays quiet for a minute before speaking up again. “Do you think I’m taking this too far?”
“Taking what too far, exactly?”
“Acting out and being the bad guy of the whole situation?” he asks me.
I slowly shake my head. “I think you have every right to be upset. You miss your mom and you don’t want Anna to replace her. That’s all there is to it,” I tell him. “But you’re kind of hurting your dad with all of this. Even though it may not seem like it, he might really want your approval about this whole thing. And saying that you’re not going to the wedding basically means you don’t approve any of this.”
He shakes his head and looks at me. “Way to make me feel guilty.”
I put my hands up in defense. “Sorry. It might not be what you want to hear, but it is the truth. I’m not saying you should ask to be at the wedding again. But you should be there to support him. I bet it would mean a lot.”
He narrows his eyes at me and smirks. “Maybe you should become a psychologist or something.”
“I’ll think about it.” I offer him a smile.
“Well, that’s my sob story,” Aiden says, leaning back against the bench. “You’re the first person I’ve told about how I’m feeling right now.”
“I feel honored,” I say, smiling. “But let me ask you this, Aiden. Do you think your mom would be happy with your attitude right now?”
He frowns. “I ask myself that a lot. And the answer is no. I don’t think she would be happy with it right now. It’s just hard going from seeing my mom and dad acting like the perfect couple to seeing him like that with Anna. Then not feeling wanted is only adding on to it.”
I nod. “Then it’s decided. You’re going to the wedding in support of your dad.”
He inhales. “Fine. If any shit goes down before then, I’m not going.”
“Just try to work things out with him. And try to make an effort with Anna,” I tell him.
“I’ll try.” He rolls his eyes. “What about you? Do you have a sob story?”
I think about it. “Not really. My dad left us when I was three, so I don’t really remember him. And sure, I’m not the perfect daughter my mom wanted but that doesn’t bother me too much.”
“So everything in your life is perfect?” he questions.
I shrug. “It’s not perfect, but it’s not like I’m unhappy with my life.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “You are so boring, you know that?”
“I don’t think I’m boring,” I tell him, frowning. “I can be fun.”
“Oh really?” he asks, sounding amused. “What’s your idea of fun? Staying home and watching Star Wars?”
That sounded like an insult. And he just had to throw in Star Wars. “Listen, buddy, so what if my idea of fun is different from yours? We’re all different.”
“Yeah, but you haven’t actually lived,” he tells me. “Don’t tell me that party was the first one you’ve been to.” When I don’t say anything, he grins. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“So what?”
He stands up and looks down at me. “Get up.”
I stand up also and look at him skeptically. “What are we doing?”
“Since you helped me with this whole situation, I’m going to help you now. And we’re going to have fun.” He beams.
Aiden makes me drop Sassy off at home before we go anywhere. I kind of want my dog with me, but Aiden won’t let me.
We are now walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of our houses. It’s about sunset, which makes me a bit nervous. I don’t want to stay out too long especially on a school night. And I have those stupid pictures to do for the wedding tomorrow too.
“You seem worried,” Aiden says, sounding amused.
I wring my hands together. “I’m not worried. Why would I be worried? I’m just walking here with you when it’s almost dark. And not to mention you can be scary. And I’m here alone with you. No, I’m not worried at all. I’m not even worried that a killer could be around and murder us. Or that we can get kidnapped at any given moment—“
Aiden’s hand shoots out and covers my mouth suddenly. I look over at him with wide eyes.
He sighs. “Do I have to do this every time I’m with you?”
I shake my head.
“Okay, good. I’m going to remove my hand and you are not going to continue talking nervously, okay?”
I nod. He removes his hand from my mouth and I take a deep breath.
He looks at me with a questioning look. “What is wrong with you?”
“Did you not hear me rambling two minutes ago?” I ask. “I’m nervous, Aiden.”
“Because you think I’m scary and you can be murdered at any moment.” He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I was listening, Riley. But seriously, you shouldn’t be worried.”
“Maybe I should just go back home. It’s already dark out and we have school tomorrow—“
Aiden covers my mouth again and sighs with frustration. “I thought I wasn’t going to do this again,” he says. “Now, listen to me. I’ll have you home no later than nine thirty. That gives us about two hours to do something fun, on my terms.”
Nine thirty? That’s about the time I go to bed.
“Fine,” I say. “It can’t be anything dangerous or life-threatening though.”
“Really? Because I was going to take you to juggle guns and stuff, but I guess that’s out of the question,” he says sarcastically.
“You know, your sarcasm is not appreciated.” I snap at him.
Outcasts Page 7
