Outcasts

by B. D. Fresquez

  I don’t know a whole lot about Kelly, Ryan, and Jenna’s dad. I just know that he had cheated on Anna before they got divorced. “Oh” is my reply.

  “I gotta go. Is that all the information you need?” she asks.

  “Yup,” I tell her then hang up.

  I pace around in my room and think about what Kelly told me. Of course, Riley, being Riley, decided not to go against her mom and talks to me anyway.

  My bedroom door suddenly opens and Alex enters. “Hey, I invited Jake and Isaiah over tonight. Just thought I’d let you know if you wanna go out with us tonight.”

  I think about it then shake my head. “Nah, I’m good man. I’m gonna stay here.”

  “Really?” he asks, shock evident on his face.

  I nod slowly. “I’m sure.”

  He walks up to me and puts his hand on my forehead. I frown. “What are you doing?” I ask him.

  “Seeing if you have a fever. You never turn down an offer like this,” he says, dropping his hand.

  “Get outta here, man.” I push him away.

  “Whatever. You’re going to miss a great night!”

  I shove him out of my room and shut the door behind him. I need time to think, so going out isn’t a great idea.

  I end up going to bed pretty early that night.

  ***

  Alex isn’t awake when I get up in the morning. I figure he won’t wake up until about eleven or so. I continue getting ready for another wonderful day at school. Note the sarcasm.

  My phone buzzes on the counter while I eat breakfast. I glance at the screen and see that Riley had texted me. I smirk when I see her name and read the message.

  Meet me at my locker when you get to school?

  I decide to mess with her.

  I don’t know. You didn’t say please.

  You frustrate me, you know that?

  I chuckle before replying, It’s okay Led Zeppelin Girl. I know you secretly love me

  Just meet me when you get to school.

  And so I do. When I get to school, I stop by my locker first then head for Riley’s. I slowly creep up behind her and grab at her sides, yelling, “Boo!”

  She jumps and whirls around. She instantly smacks my arm and glares at me. “You scared me half to death!”

  I chuckle when she yells at me. She looks cute when she’s angry. Wait, what? I clear my throat. “So, why did you want me to meet you here?”

  She sighs. “I want to apologize.”

  “For?”

  “For how I acted yesterday,” she says slowly. “My mom told me to stay away from you since she found out you were over when I was sick. She said she wouldn’t let me leave the house after graduation if I had continued hanging out with you and I was just so mad at her and I actually went through with not talking to you—”

  I put my hand over her mouth. “Riley, shut up.”

  She frowns and crosses her arms.

  I uncover her mouth and smile at her. “I forgive you.”

  “Really?” she asks.

  I shrug. “Sure.”

  She looks at me suspiciously. “That was a little too easy.”

  “I’m a forgiving person,” I tell her. She shuts her locker and looks at me. I put my arm around her and we start walking down the hallway. “Anyways, I think we should hang out this weekend.”

  She looks at me and smiles. “Okay.”

  I raise my eyebrow. I wasn’t expecting a quick answer like that. “Okay.” I smile at her. “Do you want to hang out at lunch?”

  She nods. “Sure.” She takes my arm off her shoulder. “I need to get to class now.” With that being said, she turns around and walks away from me.

  Riley

  It’s now Saturday and I’m getting ready to go see Aiden. Of course, I told my mom that I was going to hang out with Ryan and she seemed pretty happy at the thought of me being with him. In all honesty, I don’t like Ryan in that way. I think of him as a great friend and nothing more. I also think of Lucas as a friend.

  Aiden had told me to meet him at the park so my mom wouldn’t see him. I quickly throw on my Led Zeppelin t-shirt, which I found on the floor in my closet last night and washed it as soon as I found it. I then put on some jeans and my Converse and brush out my hair. I had showered earlier, so I let it dry naturally.

  When I go downstairs, I let my mom know I’m leaving. She’s in the living room watching TV.

  “Isn’t Ryan going to pick you up here?” she asks me.

  “No. I told him I’d meet him at the park,” I tell her. It isn’t a complete lie.

  She nods. “Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

  I tell her I will and head out the door. The air is nice and it seems like a good day to spend your time outside. But I have somewhere to be, so I continue walking along the sidewalk.

  Once I get to the park, I notice Aiden sitting on a bench with his phone in his hands. When he hears me approaching, he looks up and a smirk forms on his face. “It’s about time,” he says, standing up.

  “Shut up.” I glance down at my phone. “I’m here on time.”

  “Okay, let’s move on,” he says as he starts walking. I catch up with him and walk next to him.

  “So, where are we going?” I ask curiously. He just mentioned that he wanted to hang out, but he didn’t specify where.

  He glances at me and smiles. “It’s a surprise.”

  “Of course, it is,” I mumble. We continue walking until we exit the park and start walking near some small shops. After a few minutes of silence, Aiden decides to speak up.

  “Why are you quiet?” he asks.

  I shrug. “I don’t know.”

  He raises his eyebrow. “You’re acting kind of strange, you know that?”

  I keep thinking about how I lied to my mom about meeting Ryan to spend time with Aiden. It really sinks in how I’m disobeying her and I find myself smiling. My mom didn’t even suspect a thing!

  “Now you’re really starting to scare me with that smile,” Aiden says.

  I chuckle. “Sorry. I’m just suddenly in a good mood,” I tell him. At that moment, Aiden grabs my hand and I gasp in surprise. I look up at him immediately. “What are you doing?”

  He looks at me. “I’m holding your hand. What does it look like I’m doing?”

  I look down at our intertwined fingers and glance back up at him. My heart starts racing in my chest. “Why?”

  “Well, why can’t I? It’s a free country, isn’t it?” he asks, smirking. I notice that he hardly ever gives me a straight answer.

  Aiden ends up taking me to a diner not too far away from the park. We’re still holding hands when we walk into the place. We find a booth off to the side and quickly sit down.

  “Have you ever been here?” Aiden asks me.

  I shake my head and take a glance around the place. It isn’t one of those cliché ’50s diners. It just has a vintage feel to it. “Have you?” I ask.

  He nods. “A few times.”

  A waitress eventually comes up to us and hands us menus and asks us what we want to drink. She leaves once we tell her what we want.

  “So…” Aiden says.

  Things are suddenly getting awkward. “So…” I copy him.

  “Alex wants you to come by again,” he tells me as he leans back in his seat.

  “Come by?” I question.

  “Yeah, come back to the house,” he says.

  The waitress gives us our drinks and asks us what we would like to eat.

  After ordering, I think about what Aiden said. It won’t be so bad if I go back. I didn’t really get to know Alex the last time I was there.

  “So, what do you say?” Aiden asks me.

  I nod. “Okay.” I smile at him.

  Chapter 28

  “This is all your fault.” I point to Aiden. “You’re the reason I’m here.” I gesture to the holding cell we were in. I pace around and run my fingers through my hair nervously. This can’t be happening.

  Aiden ha
s been rubbing his face and staying quiet the whole time. “No,” he says, shaking his head. “Would you stop blaming me? You took part in it.”

  My mom is going to kill—no, brutally murder me when she gets here. She’s going to know that I lied to her to see Aiden and I’m going to be in even more trouble with her.

  And now Aiden is blaming me. “I wasn’t the one who drove us—” I stop when Aiden stands up and walks towards me menacingly. I back up and my back hits the wall behind me. Aiden stands dangerously close to me and he looks really scary at the moment.

  As much as I’m trying to forget it at this moment, I remember what we had done earlier. My heartbeat accelerates and I find myself blushing. “Get away from me,” I say, trying to sound confident.

  He frowns and walks up to me. “Or you’ll do what?” He challenges me. His face is only inches away from mine and my breath hitches in my throat.

  “Riley?” I hear my mother’s voice.

  ***

  Five Hours Earlier

  We made it to Aiden and Alex’s place eventually around noon and walked inside. I remembered my way around as soon as I walked in.

  “Aiden is that you?” I heard Alex call out.

  “No, it’s the Easter Bunny.” Aiden rolled his eyes and I chuckled. We walked into the kitchen and found Alex eating a slice of pizza.

  Alex smiled when he saw me. “Hey, it’s you again.”

  “Hi,” I said awkwardly.

  “So now I know what Aiden has been doing all day.” He grinned at Aiden. Aiden responded by punching him in the shoulder before heading towards the fridge.

  Alex gestured to his pizza. “You wanna slice?”

  I shook my head. “No thanks. I ate a while ago.” The food at the diner was amazing and I might have overeaten.

  I looked at Aiden who’s warming up a slice of pizza in the microwave. “You’re still hungry?” I asked him, raising my eyebrows. He ate more than me and he’s still eating?

  He shrugged. “What? You might have a small stomach, but I don’t.”

  I took a seat at the island in the kitchen and rested my hands in front of me. Alex took a seat next to me and looked at me.

  “Tell me about yourself, Riley. Aiden doesn’t know how to give details,” he said, smiling at me. Is he implying that Aiden talked about me sometimes?

  “What do you want to know?” I asked, smiling back.

  “Tell him about your obsession with Star Wars,” Aiden said.

  I shot him a glare. “It is not an obsession. I just really like Star Wars.”

  “Nice shirt by the way,” Alex said, glancing down at it. “Led Zeppelin is the shit.”

  Aiden sat down in front of me and starts to eat the pizza. “That’s where she got the nickname Led Zeppelin Girl. She was wearing it when I first met her.” Aiden grinned.

  Hearing him say that makes me all giddy inside. It’s nice to know that he remembers the first time we talked.

  “Ah, I see,” Alex said sounding amused. “That’s cute.”

  “What about you?” I asked Alex. “Tell me about yourself.”

  Alex put his hand over his heart. “Oh, I’m not that interesting. My life is quite boring,” he said dramatically. I glanced at Aiden and he just shook his head. “But since you asked, my name is Alexander Harris, Alex Harris for short. I’ve lived in this house all my life. My parents moved to Spain and left it to me about two years ago, but they still help with payments and stuff. I’m twenty-one and still single. And I also have a part-time job. I don’t want you to think I just live off my parents or anything,” he explained.

  “How did you and Aiden become friends?” I asked curiously.

  Aiden groaned. “Don’t ask him.”

  “This story never gets old.” Alex laughed.

  “Yes, it does,” Aiden said.

  “Shut the fuck up, Aiden.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Anyways, I was taking a walk through the park one day when I noticed two kids fighting on the playground. No one else was around so I decided I should at least try to stop the damn fight. I pulled them apart and yelled at them to go home, like the responsible person I am. The other kid ran off, but Aiden stood directly in front of me and told me to fuck off.” Alex started to laugh. “So I started arguing with him. I was seventeen then and there was no way I was going to get told off by a little fourteen-year-old.”

  Aiden shook his head and chuckles. “I don’t know why I stayed friends with this douche bag.”

  “You should be lucky otherwise you’d have nowhere else to stay,” Alex told him.

  “I could have just stayed with Riley,” Aiden smirked at me.

  I scoffed. “And if my mom found out you were staying at my house, she would’ve skinned you alive.”

  They both laughed and I smiled. I’m comfortable hanging out with these two. Alex grabbed his and Aiden’s plates and walked over to the sink.

  “She wouldn’t have found out,” Aiden said to me, standing up in the process. He walked over to me and leaned down. He whispered in my ear, “Maybe she would have suspected something if she heard you screaming and moaning my name in the middle of the night.”

  I gasped quickly and smacked his arm while he laughed and walked away from me. I felt my cheeks heat up instantly at his innuendo.

  Aiden rubbed his arm as he sat back down in front of me. “You didn’t have to hit so hard.”

  “Yes, I did.” I crossed my arms.

  “Well, children, I have to get to work,” Alex said to us. “Behave yourselves and don’t get into too much trouble.”

  Aiden smirked. “No promises.”

  And with that said, Alex left Aiden and me alone in the house. We decided to watch a movie in the living room. Aiden put me in charge of finding a movie while he made us some popcorn.

  “No chick flicks and definitely no Star Wars,” Aiden told me.

  I roll my eyes. “Whatever.” I search through the DVDs they had and tried to find something good to watch. My eyes landed on a movie and I grin. “What about Harry Po—”

  “No,” Aiden said as he walked in with a bowl of popcorn.

  I pulled out another one. “How about The Dark Knight Rises?”

  Aiden shrugged. “Sure.”

  I handed it to him since he knew how to work the DVD player. I sat on the couch and grabbed the bowl of popcorn. Once Aiden got everything set up, he sat down beside me and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

  “You’re going to eat it all before the movie even starts,” I told him.

  He didn’t answer. The movie started and gained both our attention.

  Sometime during the movie, I found myself getting tired. My eyelids started drooping and I struggled to keep them open. I decided I couldn’t fight it anymore and I doze off.

  “Uh, Riley?” Someone shook me.

  I groaned and buried my face deeper into the pillow. Wait. Pillows couldn’t breathe. My eyes shot open and I glanced around. I sat up and saw that I had been laying on Aiden. I rubbed my eyes and my gaze landed on him. “How long was I asleep?”

  “Well, the movie just ended. I would say about forty or so minutes,” he said, shifting on the couch.

  “Sorry I fell asleep on you.” I laughed slightly. “I didn’t feel tired until we started watching the movie.”

  Aiden smiled. “I guess I can be a good pillow then.”

  There’s a buzzing noise then and I looked at the small table in front of the couch. Aiden’s phone was ringing. He picked it up and glanced at it but then threw it to the side of him, ignoring whoever was calling him.

  “Who was that?” I asked curiously.

  “My dad.” He sighed. “He’s been calling me lately but I’ve been ignoring him.”

  “Aiden, why don’t you just talk to him?” I asked him. “Just let him know that you’re okay.”

  He leaned back into the couch. “I just don’t want to talk to him right now.”

  I remembered what Kelly had told me when we hung out that afternoon about her dad. “May
be you should talk to Ryan,” I suggested.

  He looked at me like I’m crazy. “Why would I talk to him?”

  “Because he’s in the same position as you are,” I said as I scooted closer to him.

  “Yeah right,” he mumbled.

  I sighed. “You should stop being so stubborn and listen to me. He’s having issues with his dad too and I bet talking to him would make things a little easier.”

  He glanced at me but didn’t say anything. His eyes searched my face, making the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. “Maybe I should start calling you Dr. Phil or some shit like that,” he said, scooting closer to me.

  I chuckled. “I’m no Dr. Phil. I’m just telling you what I think you should do about all of this.”

  I noticed him leaning closer towards me. “And what do you think I should do right now?” he asked slowly. My breathing slowed down and my heart beats rapidly in my chest.

  “I-I don’t know.” I stuttered.

  “I think you do know,” he said to me. His eyes flickered to my lips and I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my chest. “Just ask and I’ll do it.”

  I didn’t have to ask him what he meant by that. “Kiss me,” I find myself saying.

  Aiden wastes no time leaning in and connecting our lips. This one is way different than our first one. The first one was short and kind of awkward for me. But this one is longer and definitely more enjoyable.

  One of Aiden’s hands was on the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him, while the other found its way to my waist. I, however, am not as experienced as he was, but I got the general idea and just go with it.

  Aiden ended up pulling me onto his lap and I straddle him. If I’m not so caught up in the kiss, I would have gotten flustered right away. I was slightly out of breath when we pulled away eventually. Our foreheads rest against each other.

  My gaze met Aiden’s and there’s something in his eyes that I couldn’t explain. I thought both of us were surprised that we just did that. I was still trying to process everything in my head.

  “Riley…I—”

  “I’m back!” Alex cut Aiden off, walking into the living room. I quickly moved from Aiden’s lap and I blushed furiously. This was the second time Alex had caught us in a suggestive position. He raised his eyebrows and I’m pretty sure he knew we just made out on the couch.