A/N: Chapter 4


Metamorphosis

Chapter 4


"You came," was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

In front of her was Ethan, the boy she met last night, a stranger she did not know she had hoped could be her friend, until they met again. His eyes looked exactly the same as last night but in the daylight, she could see the deep tan complexion that he had.

"And so did you apparently," Ethan said.

Riley sat there staring at him. The outside world seemed to dull down and at the moment she could fully focus on him. She could see that even though he appeared at ease there was this jittery energy around him. Riley had to stop herself from hoping that he was nervous about meeting her as she was of him.

''So how are we going to do this?" Ethan asked nonchalantly before his easy-going demeanor changed into a smirk, "Are you going to magically tell me a story and suddenly everything is honey and peaches?"

Riley ignored the jibe and the sudden reminder of her best friend in the entire world who is probably thinking where she was right now. She focused on this male creature that was standing in front of her.

"Those things rot after a while," Riley shrugged.

"And?" Ethan prompted.

"We are going to do what we want to," Riley said simply. She hoped she sounded like she had a plan because she had absolutely no clue what to do. "Whether it is sitting on a park bench or exploring the city."

Ethan looked as if he was considering it or maybe that was the look of someone thinking she was deranged. Riley had no clue which seemed to be the main gist of all her current interactions with him.

"I have a list," He finally offered.

"A bucket list?"

"No, a bucket list is so overrated. It's just some of the things that I want to do before a certain period of time," Ethan said

"That's a bucket list," Riley said.

"No, it isn't"

"Yes it is"

"Do you even want to see it?"

Riley shut her mouth. She did want to see it; his list that is. She wanted to squeal. She found it incredibly cute that he had a bucket list that he is insisting is not a bucket list. Riley watched him dig around his haversack before retrieving a piece of paper that had a lot of scribblings. He passed it to her. Some of the things had been cross-checked out with a date at the side, others were completely crossed out and then there were those that she assumed he had not done yet.

"Want to help me complete it?" Ethan shrugged. Riley examined the list, a few of the things were confusing, some plain amusing and others…

"Some of them are extreme," Riley noted as she finished reading it. It made her wonder what was truly in his mind. None of it was truly bad per se but questionable most definitely.

"You in?"

She should say no. She should be backing out and finding someone who might actually help him. But he could be her next great adventure. He could be her next big growth. Which was very pressurizing on him Riley mused. Ethan is a human being, not a phrase or moment. He was a person that somehow with all the reasonings in her head that this could end in flames, she wanted to know more about. Riley looked at Ethan. He was holding a very good nonchalant facade. She made up her mind and grinned at him.

"Let's do this."

"You do realize that this store has a health advisory on it right? That people had gone to the hospital from eating here?" Riley voiced out as they made their way through the street markets. Ethan had convinced her to do one of the things on the list. It was not the most thrilling start but at least it was something.

"Might as well get the easy ones out of the way," Ethan reasoned as they passed a man who looked like he had questionable personal hygiene but was handling food. Riley prayed that her stomach could handle this.

"Yes because getting food poisoning is super easy," Riley quipped back sarcastically.

"See you get my drift," Ethan grinned, ignoring her tone. Riley hid her smile. Ethan was truly something; the easy grin on his face was trouble for sure. She was going to have a hard time saying no to him, she just knew it.

They had finally reached the store. It was underwhelming, to say the least but at least the tables and chairs looked cleaned. The menu did not help her feel any better about this place, every picture looked just a little bit off. Riley picked the safest option; this fish pasta dish. Ethan, she noticed picked what looked to be the worst dish on the menu.

"Do you really have to order that?" Riley asked as they finished placing their orders.

"Yes, otherwise it would not be as fun, you should try it the next time."

"Bold of you to assume I would participate the next time."

"Bold of you to assume you had a choice."

"It's a free country," Riley bantered with a smile. Ethan looked like he was about to throw some smart remark but conceded at let her have her win.

"Tell me about your friends," Ethan said.

"Maya is my best friend, practically a sister," Riley began, "She likes art and she doesn't mind getting into trouble. Farkle and Izzy are resident geniuses. They are the top students in my cohort. Zay is funny and loves making jokes. He knows how to make you smile. Lucas is awesome, he takes care of us. Those are the people that I hang out most with, almost like my chosen family."

"Huh"

"What?"

"You describe them as your chosen family but add in the word almost and you gave me the most generic description of your friends," Ethan listed.

"I don't want to bore you with the details," Riley replied suddenly feeling self-conscious. She felt the urge to defend herself and her relationships with the people in her life, "I love my friends."

"But do you like them?"

What does that even mean?

"I do," Riley said firmly.

"You sure about that?" Ethan continues questioning, "I mean I have people I occasionally hang out with. I tolerate them, some like even but never have I claim to love someone that I don't even like."

"What are you trying to say?" Riley asked defensively. Whatever Ethan saw of her reaction, he shook his head.

"Nevermind. Food's ready"

Riley wanted to say no. They have to talk about what he was insinuating. About love and like but she decided to let it go. Confronting him now seems troublesome and she was not ready for whatever it is than Ethan realized about her. Riley took a bite of what she assumed was a fish pasta dish. It was not the greatest. She could feel the cold slimy mush at the back of her throat as she swallowed her first bite.

"Yeah I hate this," Riley said as she tried for a second bite. Maybe she was just being a bit bias.

"Well we are searching for the worst food place in the NYC," Ethan countered. Riley knew obviously, it was on his list. She could not stand her food. It seems he had no such problems. Her second bite, however, did not improve her feelings towards the fish pasta dish at all.

"Ughhh," Riley groaned as she felt the food going down her throat. She pushed her food away from her towards the center of the table, "Yuck, yuck, yuck."

"Here have a bite of mine," Ethan offered. Riley looked at his dish which did not look any more appetizing than hers. Maybe her eyes were deceiving her but it looked a bit green at one side. It was probably broccoli. At least she hoped that it was.

"No, have fun with the toilet bowl tonight," Riley replied.

Riley watched in gross fascination as Ethan kept eating. Trying to curb the urge to vomit, she examined the list again. Paying more attention to what some of them entailed.

"You do realize that some of the stuff you wrote down is kind of illegal?" Riley question. Maya and the rest of her friends and family might have a field day if they ever knew what she was agreeing to do.

"No, it isn't."

"Staying overnight at the mall. It's called trespassing which is kind of illegal and not to mention very cliche," Riley responded.

"Not if you have a key, cliche?" Ethan explains quickly before questioning her. So that was the part that he wanted to focus on. Riley pressed on with another entry of his list.

"Become a model?"

"I mean I'm kinda good looking," Ethan said. Riley raised her eyebrow at him when she saw him giving her a quick look over, "You too, we can do that couple-ly thing and crash a photoshoot and pretend we are in love and all that crap."

Riley stared deadpan at him, "You have no idea how it works, do you?"

His grin made her want to punch his teeth. He was so aggravating and she still wanted to stay.

"Not the slightest clue."

Riley rolled her eyes before adding on, "Internet sensation? Cliche."

"Very cliche and vain," Ethan agreed, "Well you come up with something better."

"It's your list, I can't just add to it."

"Sure you can I add things in all the time."

Riley wanted to argue but she knew that whichever way she said it, he could counter her. They just met and all they do if bicker and challenge one another. Maybe if she added to his list they wouldn't do any of the stupid bad illegal stuff that would wind them up in jail. She pursed her lip when she caught one of the entries of the list. Nope. No jail.

"Come on think of at least one thing you want to do," Ethan said, she could feel him bouncing in his heels as he gave her his full attention. He reminded her of a bunny.

"Stay the night at the national library," Riley finally said. She did not know why that was the first thing that popped up into her head. But now that she has put it into the universe, she can't stop thinking about it. Was the library open 24 hours? If not how would they be able to sneak it? What if they got hungry? Was there security?

"That's cliche too," Ethan interrupted her thoughts, "We can add it in but guess you should think of more things to do. So that it's not completely cliche."

"Guess I should," Riley smiled.


Chapter 4 done, I'm going to try to update this story once every two weeks. I'm putting that out there in the universe so that you know I can actually try to write this story. Hopefully by me saying that I will actually do it. Anyway, hope you are having a good day/night/moment wherever you are. See you in the next one.