Outcasts

by B. D. Fresquez

  “What are you doing back early?” Aiden asked him right away.

  “Things were slow, so the boss man let a few of us go,” Alex told us. “Perfect timing though. Jake and Isaiah are coming over later on, just so you know.”

  I felt so embarrassed at the moment; I couln’t even look at either of them. And I couldn’t even left since I came here with Aiden.

  “I’ll just be in my room if you guys need me,” Alex said when we didn’t answer him. He walked out of the living room.

  Once Alex was gone, Aiden turned towards me. “You look like you’re going to pass out. Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just…”

  “Hot and bothered?” Aiden smirked. I glared at him and smacked his arm for the second time today. “Ow, I was just kidding.”

  I didn’t respond. All I could do was think about the kiss that just happened.

  “Okay, I’m just going to be straight up with you,” Aiden said suddenly. I finally looked at him and he continued talking. “That was the best kiss I’ve ever had with someone.”

  Once again, my face turned red and I looked down at my hands.

  “Riley, why are you so embarrassed?” Aiden asked me. “We’ve kissed before.”

  “Not like that,” I argued back. My heartbeat started to slow down back to its normal pace.

  He smirked. “I’m pretty sure Alex knows we kissed.”

  I nodded but don’t say anything.

  I heard him sigh. “Listen, Riley,” he started. “I’m going to tell you something.” And now my heartbeat was going crazy again. “I care about you, Riley. I care more than I should and it kind of scares me.”

  Yup. I’m pretty sure my heart was going to leap out of my chest.

  He looked like he wanted to say more but the doorbell rang through the house and interrupted him. He groaned and immediately stood up. While he’s away, I tried to compose myself. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. It just keeps replaying in my head.

  I heard Aiden talking to someone, then I heard a third voice. I shifted slightly on the couch when I saw Aiden walked back into the living room with two other guys. One was a tall blonde guy and the other one was about Aiden’s height and he had short light brown hair.

  “Jake, Isaiah, this is Riley,” Aiden told them as I stood up. “And, Riley, this is—”

  The blonde one held out his hand. “I’m Jake.”

  I hesitantly shook his hand. “Hi.”

  “And I’m Isaiah,” the brown-haired one said.

  Alex walked into the room and smiled. “I thought I heard you guys.”

  “We’re here to fuck shit up!” Jake exclaimed.

  “Dude, watch your language,” Isaiah told him then glanced at me. “Sorry for his nonexistent manners.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  Jake looked at Isaiah. “See? She doesn’t mind.”

  Aiden made his way around them and stood next to me. “So, what were you guys planning on doing?” he asked them.

  “What we do every Saturday night.” Isaiah grinned.

  “Get wasted and pass out wherever.” Jake finished for him.

  I couldn’t imagine getting drunk every Saturday night. I’ve never even been drunk before. The only alcohol I’ve tasted was the wine that my mom let me have at a Christmas party last year.

  Jake looked at Aiden. “Were you guys going to hang with us?”

  Aiden and I looked at each other and he smirked before turning back to them. “I might take this one home. She hasn’t had much experience with this kind of stuff.”

  I frowned when he said that.

  “Awe, well, it was nice meeting you, Riley,” Isaiah said to me.

  “You too.” I nodded.

  Aiden grabbed my hand and started pulling me away from them.

  “See you soon, Riley!” I heard Alex call out before we walked out of the door.

  I looked at Aiden as we approached the car. “It seems like you don’t want me around now.”

  We both got into the car and Aiden started it. He sighed as he backed out of the driveway. “It’s not like that, Riley,” he told me. “When Jake starts drinking, he can turn into a real asshole and I don’t want him messing with you.”

  He sounded very protective.

  “Are you really taking me home?” I asked him.

  He smirked. “No. I’m not quite ready to give you up yet.”

  I didn’t know why but there was a feeling of butterflies in my stomach when he said that. “So where are we going?”

  “I thought we could go see if our names are still on the wall at the library,” he told me.

  And they still were. Aiden’s name was still in the bright pink and my name was in the bright blue. But someone had sprayed painted over the word Outcasts under our names. And they also put a plus sign in between our names and added Love next to my name.

  Aiden + Riley=Love

  “Who did that?” I asked incredulously.

  “How should I know?” Aiden responded. I noticed he had the black backpack with him. He set it on the ground and opened it up. He pulled out a spray can and walked up to the wall. He looked at me. “Write down something I’ve said before and I’ll do the same.” He smiled.

  I thought about what he’s said that I could put on the wall. I reached into the black bag and pulled out a spray can. Aiden and I wrote at the same time. When we finished, we both took a step back and looked at what each other wrote.

  He had written: you’re just misguided.

  I, on the other hand, had written: don’t think.

  “When did I say that to you?” I asked, not remembering that at all.

  “It was the morning after the wedding when we met at the park and I called myself a screw-up. But you told me I was just misguided.” He explains.

  I automatically remembered. “I remember now.” I nodded.

  Aiden smirked when he saw what I had written. “I definitely remember when I said that.”

  Of course, he does. “So do I.” I nodded as I look at the wall.

  We stayed quiet for a minute or two. Then Aiden spoke up. “Riley, there’s something I want to tell you—”

  “Hey! What are you two doing?” someone yelled behind us. We both turned immediately and saw an officer walking towards us.

  “Riley?” Aiden whispered.

  “Yeah?” I squeaked.

  “Run!”

  ***

  And that’s how we ended up in this stupid holding cell.

  I shouldn’t have listened to Aiden when he told me to run. Doing that only made us look even more guilty.

  The cop had eventually caught Aiden and me and we ended up in the back of the cop car. I was on the verge of hyperventilating since that was my first time basically being arrested.

  “Mom.” My eyes widen when I see her on the other side of the bars.

  Her eyes flicker to Aiden and I can see the rage in them. But she keeps her composure and looks at me. An officer appears at her side and unlocks the cell door.

  “You can go now,” he tells me.

  I hesitantly step out of the cell and the officer shuts it behind me, leaving Aiden alone. I glance at him and he just stares at me.

  “Let’s go, Riley,” my mom says sternly.

  I finally look away from Aiden, and my mom and I walk out of the police station. On the way out, we run into Robert and Anna.

  “Carol!” Anna says, sounding surprised. “Riley? What are you two doing here?”

  My mom stiffens. “It seems Riley and Aiden were caught spray painting on the back wall of the public library together.”

  I look down, feeling embarrassed.

  “Oh, Riley.” Anna shakes her head. “When the officer told me he was with another person, I had no idea it would be you.”

  Her comment makes me angry all of a sudden. “Because I’m supposed to be this perfect straight-A girl, right?” I ask angrily.

  Her and Robert
both raise their eyebrows at my outburst.

  My mom glares at me. “Riley, that is no way to talk to someone.”

  “I’m going to wait in the car,” I say, pushing past her. I walk up to the car and open the passenger door. I slam it as I get in.

  I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I swiftly pull it out. I have a text from Aiden.

  Tell me you don’t hate me

  I sigh and quickly reply. I don’t hate you

  I see my mom walking towards the car and I immediately shut off my phone. I know she will ask for it as soon as she gets in.

  She opens the driver’s door and gets in. She holds out her hand. “Phone. Now.”

  I set it on her palm and wait for the lecture. But she surprises me when she doesn’t say anything. She simply turns the key in the ignition and drives us home.

  Chapter 29

  The suspense is driving me insane.

  I don’t know why my mom is doing this to me, but I don’t find it amusing. Here I am, sitting at the dining table while my mom is just finding things to do or clean the kitchen. Can’t she just punish me and get it out of the way? I tried going to my room, but she said she wanted to talk to me.

  And there’s no talking going on.

  “Mom, please just say something already,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. “I don’t like just sitting here.”

  She glances at me and then looks down. “Riley, you have no idea how disappointed I am in you,” she finally says.

  I just want to get this conversation out of the way. “I know, Mom.” I lean back in my chair and cross my arms.

  “No, you don’t know, Riley,” she says sternly. “Do you know how nerve-racking it is going to the police station to pick up your daughter?”

  I stay quiet.

  “And you completely disobeyed my orders by going with that Aiden boy.” She shakes her head.

  I remember what Kelly said that day we walked to the park. “Mom, I’m eighteen. I’m practically an adult now so I can make my own decisions without talking to you about it.”

  It’s her turn to stay quiet now.

  “I know you’re mad at me for not listening to you, but name another time I didn’t listen to you,” I tell her. “I’m not an average teenager, Mom. I never went out partying or hanging out with my best friends or anything like that. I don’t even have a best friend. But now, I can do that. I have friends and I like hanging out with them.”

  “You like getting arrested?” She snaps.

  I groan. “No, Mom. But it’s not like I’m going to go and get myself arrested every weekend. Sure, I made a mistake, but that’s the thing. I’m supposed to learn from my mistakes, right?”

  She walks out of the kitchen and sits across from me at the dining table. She doesn’t say anything, and neither do I. I want to know what she’s thinking though.

  “You’re right,” she says, not looking at me. “As much as I hate to admit it, you are right, Riley. I knew you would break out of this shell of yours at some point.” She shakes her head. “You don’t know how hard it is to realize that your child is growing up and you can’t stop it.” She looks like she’s going to cry.

  I sigh. “I’m sorry I acted out. But I have to learn from my mistakes and to do that I have to make mistakes.”

  “I’m not going to punish you,” she tells me. “You’re eighteen, and you’ve been old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.”

  Relief washes through me when she says that. I wasn’t sure how she would take my rant.

  “So,” she says, smiling a bit, “tell me a little bit more about this Aiden.”

  Oh, God. I wasn’t sure if she was going to mention him again and she did. “Why?” I ask hesitantly.

  She shrugs. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been spending a little bit more time with him more than anyone else and I’m just curious about him. You know I’ve only heard bad things about him.”

  I look down at my hands. “He’s not as bad as everyone says he is,” I tell her. “No one bothers to listen to what he has to say, so they don’t understand him.”

  “Riley,” she says, “as long as you trust him, then I’m okay with you being with him. Just promise me I won’t have to go and get you from the police station again.”

  I smile. “I promise.”

  She reaches into her pocket and pulls out my phone. She then slides it across the table and puts it in front of me. “Here.”

  “Thanks,” I say.

  I make my escape to my room and shut the door behind me. I text Aiden and ask him how much trouble he got into. But instead of him texting me back, he ends up calling me.

  “Hello?” I answer.

  “I think that is the first time you’ve given me a decent greeting over the phone,” he says. “And I didn’t get in too much trouble, to answer your question. What about you?”

  I sigh. “I got let off the hook.”

  “Are you serious?” he asks. “So you aren’t grounded or anything?”

  I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling. “Nope. I’m eighteen, so my mom technically can’t ground me.”

  “Then we should hang out again tomorrow,” he suggests.

  I smile. “Did you ever think that we would become friends?” I ask randomly. I never would have thought that I would start hanging out with Aiden Callaway.

  “Honestly, I didn’t know who you were until that day I dragged you along with me,” he admits. “But I’m kind of glad I ran into you.”

  My smile grows wider. “I guess I’m glad you ran into me too.”

  “Seriously, Riley,” he says, “what would you do without me?”

  I laugh. “I bet I could live without you.”

  “I highly doubt that. You wouldn’t have had your first kiss if it weren’t for me.”

  He did not just say that. “How do you know?” I challenge.

  “I just know.”

  “You never know. Maybe I would have had my first kiss with Ryan,” I tell him. Even though I don’t think I can ever see myself kissing Ryan.

  “Ryan?” he asks. “Oh please. A kiss from Dixon can’t possibly top a kiss from me.”

  I’m not good at this kind of thing, but that sounded like a challenge. “I guess that would be up to me.”

  He stays quiet. “I don’t want you kissing Ryan Dixon.”

  “You don’t want me kissing him?” I ask. Why doesn’t he want me to kiss Ryan?

  “Hell no,” he answers. “Listen, Riley, I don’t usually say this but—”

  My door suddenly opens and my mom walks in. “Hold on,” I tell him quickly.

  My mom looks at me. “I’m going to bed, Riley. Don’t stay up too late,” she says.

  I nod. “Okay.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” she says.

  “Good night,” I tell her. She then walks out of my room. “Sorry, that was my mom. What were you saying?” I ask.

  I hear him sigh. “It’s nothing important. Can I see you again tomorrow?”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “Good night, Riley.” And he hangs up.

  Aiden

  You’re going to fuck things up, Aiden.

  No, I’m not. I’ll be fine.

  No, you’re not. You’re never fine.

  Am I having a conversation with myself?

  “Aiden?”

  I shake my head and blink. Alex stands in front of me, looking confused. “Are you okay?” he asks.

  I nod. “Yup. Totally fine.” Not. “Why?”

  He frowns at me. “You just seem jittery and it’s kind of worrying me.”

  “I’m fine,” I say to him.

  “Are you doing anything today?” he asks, changing the subject. “If you want to, we can go to Pancake Alley and pig out.”

  Pancake Alley is the best diner out there. Their food is just amazing. “As good as that sounds, I can’t. I’m going to hang out with Riley today.” Even when I say her name, I get goosebumps.

  A
lex smiles. “Riley?” he asks. “So that’s why you’re all fidgety.”

  I don’t deny it. But I’m finally going to admit it. “I guess so.” I make my way around him and decide to eat some cereal.

  “Say it, Aiden.” Alex teases. “Just say it out loud.”

  I pull out the milk and grab a box of cereal. “Say what?”

  “Just say that you like the damn girl already! Or tell me you’ll ask her to be your goddamn girlfriend or something!” he exclaims.

  I chuckle. “Okay.” I nod. I take a deep breath and look at him. “I like Riley and I want to ask her to be my girlfriend.”

  Chapter 30

  Riley

  After eating breakfast and getting dressed, I sit in the living room watching a show on the Investigative Discovery channel. I’m really getting into the show that’s on. But, of course, my phone has to go off.

  “Hello?” I answer.

  “Riley, can you come over right now?”

  I glance at my phone. “Ryan?” I ask. “Go over to your house, you mean?”

  “Yeah. It’s kind of an emergency.”

  I think about it. Aiden asked me to go over in a while. “Well, I was kind of planning on going over to see Aiden in a bit,” I tell him truthfully. “Can I go over later?”

  “It’d be great if you could come over right now. But if seeing Aiden is really that important, then it’s fine I guess.”

  I rub my forehead. He’s trying to make me feel guilty now, and it’s working. “Fine, I’ll go over.”

  “Thanks, Riley.”

  After I hang up with Ryan, I text Aiden and tell him that I can’t go over right away. And exactly one minute after I send the text, I get a call from him.

  “Hello?” I answer.

  “What do you mean you can’t come over right now?” he immediately asks.

  I sigh. “Ryan needs me to go over to his house.”

  “Why?” he asks, sounding irritated.

  “He just said it was an emergency,” I tell him. “It shouldn’t take too long, I don’t think.” I hear him sigh in frustration and I frown. “Does it really bug you that I’m going over there? I’m just going for a while,” I say as I make my way upstairs to put some shoes on.