My day went by quickly, trying to keep my mind off the man from my past, trying to focus on the few college classes I was taking. Finally arriving home, the lights illuminating from my house as I unlocked the door and opened it walking into the house, I could hear the TV blaring loudly from the living room, as I walked in, plopping down on the couch.
"Riley!" Rachel screamed excitedly as she ran into the living room happily, Richie just a few steps behind her.
"I won! I won!" Richie yelled happily as he danced in place. I couldn't help but look confused as I looked over to my brother and sister.
"Wait, what? You won what?" I asked confused.
"He won the tickets." Rachel said calmly, turning back to the laptop she held in her hands.
"Tickets for what?" I asked, when Richie spoke up.
"The radio station. They finally gave away the tickets and I won!" Richie said happily.
"The wrestling tickets?" I asked confirming my thoughts.
"Not just wrestling tickets. WWE tickets! And a meet and greet with Ted Dibiase Jr! That's right we're gonna meet the million dollar man's son!" Richie exclaimed happily.
"I still don't get why you're so excited about this, I told you, you've both met Ted Dibiase Sr. when you were younger." I said matter of factly.
"I was 5! I want to remember meeting the million dollar man!" Richie whined.
"Who's the million dollar man?" Rachel asked innocently looking to her brother.
"He's this wrestler that puts people to sleep like this." Richie spoke, wrapping his arms around her head, locking in the hold.
"Alright, stop it." I said, standing to my feet pulling his hands away from her head.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Richie, hoping he'd back out of it, the look on his face said it all.
"No, I just called the station a million times trying to get entered into the contest. This is the coolest thing that has happened to me." Richie spoke excitedly starting to run up the stairs.
"Wait a minute, didn't I tell you not to use your cell phone minutes on stupid things?" I yelled to my brother, as he simply stopped for a moment, then smiled wide continuing up the stairs, as I plopped back down in the chair. My mind running wild, how was I gonna deal with this? How was I gonna deal with seeing Ted Dibiase Jr., in the flesh once again?
It seemed like the show got here quicker than I hoped, my stomach was in knots as I pulled into the parking lot of the arena. Glancing to Richie who proudly sat in the passenger seat, wearing the Randy Orton shirt he got for Christmas. Wrestling was most definitely his thing, he tried out for the wrestling team last year but didn't make it on the team, but that didn't stop him any. You could tell how excited he was, as he drummed his fingers on the door of the car. I glanced at Rachel in the back seat, she wore Richie's CM Punk shirt, and at the age of 13, all she cared about is if the guys were gonna be cute. I swallowed the butterflies in my stomach, why was I nervous? I hadn't seen this guy in years, I'm sure he doesn't even remember me. I mean who would, I was the nerd and he was the big guy on campus. I pulled my car into the parking spot, climbing out of the car, as I glanced around at the parking lot that was slowly filling up. I leaned against the front of my car, looking at the large arena, hearing Richie and Rachel climb out of the car.
"Riley!" Rachel spoke harshly as she walked over to me. Her hands immediately straightening my shirt, dusting off the jean jacket I wore, her hands loosely tossing my hair, as she pulled out a hair tie.
"Turn around." Rachel demanded, as I turned around reluctantly.
"Rachel, this isn't necessary." I said as she fought to put my hair up.
"I wish you would of let me dress you up." She said, looking at my hair once more, as she stepped back, looking at me,
"You're 13. You don't need to be dressing your big sister up." I said sternly as she rolled her eyes.
"You're seeing an old high school flame, You need to show him what he missed out on." Rachel spoke with attitude, my face turning red.
"There was no flame. No flame. Not even a spark. We just knew each other." I said fighting the blush on my skin.
"Riiight." Rachel said, smiling wide as I rolled my eyes.
"We get it, we get it. You were the nerd, he was the cool guy." Richie spoke, as I reached out playfully swatting him.
"Who asked you?" I said to my brother, as we started making our way to the box office. My stomach was filled with butterflies as we made our way through box office, the radio station representative meeting up with us where they had instructed us to meet up at. The radio station man approaching us
"So you're our contest winner?" he spoke with a smile.
"He is." I said, placing my hand on Richie's shoulder, as the man reached out shaking all of our hands.
"Well, unfortunately I have some bad news." The radio man spoke with a serious face, as he ran his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath.
"Ted Dibiase Jr. missed his flight, so he won't be making it here tonight." The radio man spoke honestly.
"What?! You said I would get to meet him!" Richie spoke angrily.
"Calm down" I spoke to my brother, before turning back to the radio man.
"So what does that mean?" I asked, slightly relieved.
"Well, he had the tickets we were gonna give you, so we bought you some other tickets, and they're decent, and we'll comp all of you any item you want from the merchandise table. I'm really sorry, but sometimes these things happen." The radio guy said, sincerely. I looked to my brother, who still seemed upset, as I turned back to the radio guy.
"That sounds good." I said, as he handed me the tickets and the gift cards for the merchandise table. I walked with my brother and sister through the concession hallways, trying to make our way to the seats.
"This is such bull!" Richie said angrily, kicking the trash can to make his point.
"Richie, it's not like he meant to miss his flight." I spoke, trying to calm him down.
"Of course you'd defend him." Richie spoke harshly, turning back to me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked eyeing my brother.
"You know exactly what I mean. You're not mad at him cause he was you're first love. You can't side with your brother, not when it goes against your baby." Richie spoke pouting, as we finally made it down to our seats, as he flopped down into the seat.
"Oh yeah, that's right Richie. I'm so glad he made you this upset. This made my night, I can't wait to hi-five him when I see him." I fought back sarcastically. A few moments of silence passed between us, as I took a deep breath, sitting in the seat next to him.
"Look, I'm sorry this happened." I said to Richie, his gaze looking away from me as I spoke
"Don't let it ruin the show alright?" I said, nudging him gently with my arm, he quickly glanced over to me, before running his hand through his hair.
"Come on…I'll buy you a churro." I said teasing him softly, a slight smile on his lips, as I stood to my feet, turning to my sister
"Rachel why don't we go get some food" I spoke as my sister and I left Richie at the seats, walking back up to the food stands. Getting to the top of the steps, I walked next to her as she spoke.
"He's really mad." Rachel spoke calmly.
"I know." I said, looking at the items on the menu.
"He was really looking forward to it." Rachel spoke again.
"I know" I said again.
"Can't you do something?" Rachel said, turning to me.
"Why are you being so nice to Richie? What do you owe him?" I asked curiously, knowing my brother and sister too well.
"Promise you won't tell him?" Rachel asked, as I nodded my head.
"He's been training to try out for the wrestling team again." Rachel spoke honestly.
"Why didn't he tell me?" I asked, looking at my sister.
"I don't know, but I think in a way he looks up to Ted… you know since Dad…I guess that's why this meant so much to him." Rachel spoke, as the line moved and we moved to the counter to order. I felt so bad for Richie, I didn't know this meant so much to him. My mind raced, I felt guilty for worrying so much about my own feelings and my brother is probably crushed right now. I thought about when the Dibiase's lived down the street from us, and my mind wondered if there was anyway I could maybe hook Richie up with something. I doubt it would work, but I made a promise I would give it a shot, at least for Richie.