This story contains references to my other story "A Scar is Born". You may wish to read that story first for insights into Riley's behaviour during "Home Run Koda" and his conversation with Shelby.
Chase Randall keeps a diary? Yeah, I know. I'm the last person you'd think. Mr "Can't stay focused unless he's on a skateboard". Mr "Better get a fire extinguisher ready". But guess what? Not only am I amazing, athletic, charming, perfect and too handsome for my own good, I also do a pretty good job of messing with people's expectations.
You can blame Riley for the diary. Of all things, he gave it to me as a Christmas present. A diary! If he gives people diaries now, what's he gonna be like when he's older and actually has kids to give presents to? I can just see it now. "Dino Charge: A Hundred Years Later" - Riley as an old granddad, giving his grandkids apples for Christmas. Ugh.
And those kids won't even get to call him out on it, because he's their grandpa. Not that complaining made any difference for me. Because you can bet I didn't let him off that easily when I first unwrapped his gift in the Dino Base on Christmas Eve.
"A diary, Riley? Really?"
"Yeah." He turned away from talking to Shelby. "Thought it might help you improve, if you keep track of all the dumb things you did this year."
"What dumb things? I'm perfect."
He appeared to think hard. "Let's see. Getting bewitched by that crow monster, and only breaking free when Shelby kicked a skateboard at you? Being captured by Slammer? Making fun of Shelby over liking the N-Zed Boys? Or how about being the only one whose teeth got decayed by Cavity?"
When he put it that way… "Hey, I apologised to Shelby. And it's not my fault that even monsters are irresistibly attracted to me." I looked at the diary I was holding. "Besides, I don't need a diary to fix all that. I'll just make a New Year's resolution. 'No more dumb things for 2016.'"
"A New Year's resolution." Green Boy's smile was starting to get on my nerves. "Have you ever stuck to a goal in your life?"
I had, actually. I made a timetable back in secondary school. Even followed it once.
"You wanna bet?" I knew that would hook him, Riley's always been competitive to a fault.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Betcha I'll do fewer dumb things than you this year."
"Than me? Whoa-ho-ho, you're on." He reached over and bumped fists.
So, I managed to get the smile off his face. But that also meant I had to keep the diary. Because now it's going to be documentary evidence of my resounding victory in this bet.
Don't worry, diary. You could do worse than getting into the hands of the coolest and most attractive man on the planet. Me.
Oh, hey, diary. I swear I didn't mean to leave you behind. Just, nobody knew that when we beat Sledge and crashed his ship, that Ms Morgan would make us all go home, you know? And I couldn't believe it, I thought I wouldn't see Chloe and my mum again until next Christmas! You don't mind if I might have missed out a couple things while packing, right?
It's so good to be back. Even if my trip back to Amber Beach was through getting frozen in a giant ice cube by the Abominable Snowman. But hey, at least Green Boy got frozen too. So he can't tell me that not seeing the walking snowcone behind me before getting iced was dumb.
Riley 1, Chase 1.
Something weird happened today. I was at the grill, you know? (And no, that wasn't the weird part - when I tried telling Shelby she stared at me like she'd seen the second coming of Jesus. "Chase Randall was at the grill? And not with the latest thing with a skirt in the restaurant? That is weird!" There's no point talking to Shelby, I swear.)
Anyway, as I was saying, something weird happened today. Green Boy and I were on lunch shift in the cafe. Him with the customers, and me in the kitchen. And old Raptor Brain is usually the perfect waiter, you know? Polite and gets their orders right and does it all nice and quick. But today he was with this one customer for ages. And I know, because I was on a roll today with the grill. Six patties in a row all perfectly cooked, doesn't happen every day, you know? But instead of getting them served up to customers who could appreciate their meaty perfection, Green Boy was nowhere to be seen, and my perfect patties were getting cold next to the stovetop.
So I looked out to see where he could be. And I saw him, all right. With this big guy with big shoulders and a bigger attitude. Even from this distance I could see the chip on his shoulder. Well actually, it wasn't on his shoulder, it was on his plate with the rest of the chips and the ketchup – but you get what I mean, right? Now, my usual policy for jerks like that is just to serve them and move on. But Riley was there at his table, still talking to him. And something about that guy was making Riley upset.
So I was thinking whether I oughta go out there and knock him one, and whether that was worth breaking my streak of six perfect, burn-free patties. And then I saw Riley start to arm-wrestle the jerk! I'm telling you, I nearly spewed all over my grill. Which would also have ruined my six-perfect-patty streak.
Good thing Kendall was there. She broke it up. Real nice at first - she's always careful to treat us well in front of customers. Then she took him round the back and yelled at him for like, five hours. It's a good day so long as it's not me she's yelling at.
But hey. Riley got into an arm-wrestle with a customer. Never thought you'd see the day, didja diary?
Riley 2, Chase 1.
Raptor Brain went and did it again. Something even weirder than getting into a fight with a customer, if you can believe that.
We found this new monster, Nightmare. He looks like a sheep exploded in a mattress factory. Seriously, does he count himself to go to sleep?
He sent Shelby an evil pillow which made her fall asleep, and then he got into her head and made her half-kill us all, so none of us could sleep until Kendall figured out what was wrong with that pillow. (Did I just use the phrase "evil pillow"? My life has gotten seriously weird since becoming a Ranger.) And staying up all night playing video games wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be. Used to be mum telling me to stop playing and go to sleep. Now it's Kendall telling me not to sleep and go play.
But then Kendall managed to crack it, so we all figured we were safe. Just avoid the evil pillows. How hard can that be, right?
Well…
Green Boy got zonked. The pillow was in his motorcycle helmet. You can bet I'm never letting him forget that. How do you put on a helmet without seeing a giant evil monster pillow inside it?
And the more important question: Am I ever gonna let him forget that?
No, I'm never gonna let him forget that.
Riley 3, Chase 1.
Kaylee, oh Kaylee. I dream about you all the time. This could be the start of something new, because it feels so right to be here with you. And now, looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart… that it's the start of something new.
What? No, I'm definitely not quoting a High School Musical song.
Fine, I'll admit what I did to Kaylee was really, really dumb.
Riley 3, Chase 2.
Hey diary, guess what? We went out to teach Koda how to play sports. And we got attacked by a monster with a basketball for a face. How does that even work? He takes "dribbling" to a whole new level. Get it? Because he dribbles, and he's got a basketball for a face…oh, never mind. Diary, how come I can see you rolling your eyes when you haven't even got a face?
And he attacked us with…I'd like to say "spitballs", but the truth is just as weird: baseballs. Evil explodey baseballs. And none of us could morph because the place was ringed by scared civilians, and the evil baseballs were raining craters all around us, and I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't have told Koda that morning that I'd teach him to play rugby or die trying.
And just when I thought we'd had it, Koda grabbed a baseball bat, and hit the exploding ball of doom right back at the monster. It was his pure instinct that saved our lives. I wanted to go right over and give that big ol' caveman a hug. But another dude got there first. Not with the hug, I mean. Just that he got there first.
It was this old guy with a belly like Santa Claus. And he went right up to Koda and said, how would you like to play for the Amber Beach Earthquakes?
And Riley was right next to Koda, and I know that look that flashed across his face, because I've felt it too many times myself. It was the "ohmygod are you talking to…no you're not talking to me", like when a pretty girl smiles at you like she's known you all her life then walks up and hugs the guy next to you. These girls need to hold up a big neon sign or something, with the name of the person they're smiling at.
But yeah, Riley. Something about that coach got Raptor Brain wound up. Now my having wound him up so often in the past comes in handy. I can tell when he's upset and trying not to show it.
It's been six weeks since we ran into that coach. And every passing week, Green Boy's been getting less and less like himself. Sometimes I wish we'd never met that coach.
Like today I had to remind him it was his turn to mop the floors in the museum, because he'd missed them the past two days and Ms Morgan was mad. Chase Randall, the sensible one? Chase Randall, the one reminding Riley Griffin to do his duties? Yeah, and one day Sledge is going to marry Poisandra.
Koda's signed with the Earthquakes, and Riley's signed as his trainer. And I can't help feeling we're losing Koda too. Not just that he's hardly around any more, because Riley's got him off for training every hour of the day. He's been talking less and less, and he even refused a burger the other day. A Bronto Burger! I asked him, what's wrong, mate? And I saw him glance at Riley, then he shook his head and said nothing was wrong.
I told Shelby about the two of them. She said she'd try talking to Riley. You know something's seriously weird when Shelby and I agree on something.
Koda might be a major league baseball player. But it's Riley I don't recognise any more.
Shelby said she'd do it after Riley's dinner shift today. Six more hours to go.
I haven't felt this way since Tiffany dumped me, and her best friend agreed to talk to her for me.
Diary, it's going to be a long wait.
The Plan: wait in the base for Shelby to come back, hear her talk about how Riley apologised deeply, head off home and get a good night's sleep.
Not the Plan: Shelby storming into the cave with tears on her face, grabbing her bag and leaving without saying a word, and me still standing there stunned, as who should come into the cave but Raptor Brain himself.
It occurred to me that their conversation probably had not gone according to plan.
"Hey, is that a diary?" If Shelby was upset, Green Boy sure didn't seem to be.
"Yeah. The one you gave me for Christmas?"
He smiled, and it was like seeing a ghost of the old Riley come back. "You gave me one of your old skating trophies."
Only because nobody told me how impossible it is to buy gifts on Christmas Eve here in the States. What's a time-strapped guy to do? "That trophy was vintage. They don't even hold those competitions any more. Do you know how many kids I had to beat to get it?"
Riley didn't respond. I saw that I was wrong about him not being upset. He was rubbing his chin with his fingers, always a telltale sign.
"You alright mate? Not that I'm complaining, but the way you've been acting, I think I've got a pretty good chance of winning our bet."
He looked at me. "What bet?"
"'No more dumb things for 2016'? Our Christmas bet, when you gave me this diary?"
"That stupid bet? I don't have time for games, Chase. I've got real work to do."
Nawww, he didn't call you stupid, diary, oh no he didn't. Shh, it's okay, daddy's got you.
I could have said anything. "Real work. Is that what you call pushing Koda around?" But I didn't. Something in me told me the old Riley was near. That somewhere in there was the guy who risked his life to save his dog from Fury, and if I waited, he might surface.
Finally he spoke. "I've wanted to play baseball all my life. But sometimes…sometimes I don't know who I am."
I walked over to him.
"It's alright. I do."
Hey diary. This is probably gonna be the last time I'm writing to you. Because Riley's back.
He apologised to us all. I don't know what made him turn over a new leaf. He missed yet another fight, and Shelby yelled at him in front of the whole team, and even Ms Morgan left in disgust. Then we beat Game Face, and Koda hit a home run, and suddenly Riley's back and he's sorry?
But I gotta say, it takes a lot of pluck to just come out and say you're sorry. That's the Raptor Brain I know. And even Shelby agreed to forgive him, so long as he took over her dishwasher duties for the rest of the month.
He came to find me too, after apologising to the team.
"Hey Chase. Thanks for believing in me, that night in the base. I'm sorry for the way I acted. Missing trainings, and pushing Koda around? That was wrong. I'm sorry."
Maybe someone would've asked more questions about why he was apologising now, and whether he really meant it. But Green Boy's back. We've been through a lot together, and if he's turning up to say sorry, all I'm going to say is "Apology accepted".
On the inside, at least.
"You forgot hurting Shelby, being rude to Ms Morgan, getting on everybody's nerves, dissing my Christmas present…"
"Yeah, okay, thanks Chase."
"You're welcome. Also, I win the 'stupid bet'."
That got his attention. Apology or not, Green Boy still doesn't like to lose. "That bet was for all of 2016. It's not even June."
"If we count every time you missed a fight because you were coaching Koda, it comes to something like 5,912 to 2. Riley my friend, there's only one way you're gonna win this bet." I looked him in the eye. "Time travel."
He snorted and looked away. "Very funny."
I clapped him on the back. "Not gonna bet on that? Didn't think so…"