I'm back with another chapter. Yay! So anyways the date where my schedule is messed up approaches, and I'm wondering if I should stockpile chapters and update on a different schedule or just update when I can. I'll put a poll on my account and just check it out here. But for now, just read (and hopefully enjoy) this chapter.

Riley was laying on her bed, an empty McDonalds bag sitting on the lamppost next to it. Brian was still sitting on the ground, finishing off his big mac. They had been sitting there for only a few minutes, but it had still felt like forever.

"Hey Brian?" Riley asked, making an attempt to get her friends attention.

"Yeah Ri-Ri?" Brian replied, crumpling up the burger wrapper and throwing it in his own bag.

"Why did you come sit with me?" Riley's eyes watched her ceiling, "Back in sixth grade."

"Well it was simple, you looked lonely and sad." Brain answered with a small chuckle. "It's not like I was just gonna let you be alone. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel like it's you against the world."

Riley turned on her side to face him, and was a bit surprised to see Brian had a sad smile on his face.

Brian continued, "Truth is, I didn't really have any friends either. You don't ever wonder why you don't see me hanging around other kids? I feel like an outsider almost everywhere, that includes my home. You're probably the only person I've managed to keep as a friend for more than a few months."

Sadness crept up to the controls and pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever. Riley sat up on her bed and looked at Brian.

"You probably think I look stupid, huh?" Brian asked, a slight quiver in his voice.

Disgust walked over to the console and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but she decided against it. "As much as he makes comments about how poor I do my job, I can't hate him." She sighed, and stepped away from the console.

"No, not at all Brian." Riley smiled.

Sadness pushed a few more buttons and Riley slid off the bed to sit next to her friend. A quick button push and switch flip later, Riley was hugging Brian tightly. He hugged her back and started to cry silently.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you." Riley said, hugging him tighter.

"Hey Riley." Brian sniffled.

"What is it Brian?" Riley asked, letting go and looking at him.

"You ever consider getting a more supportive bra?" Brian joked, a small smile creeping onto his face.

Riley lightly hit him. "Why don't you let me worry about my body and you worry about yours, kay?"

In Riley's mind, Joy had been shuffling through the many lightbulbs that made up certain ideas Riley would have.

"Come on, come on." She muttered. "It's got to be around here somewhere."

"What are you looking for?" Sadness asked, stepping back from the controls.

"Don't you worry about a thing!" Joy smiled, putting the lightbulb in the slot. It lit up and then slid down into place.

"There's actually something I've never told you about me." Riley said, rubbing her arm.

"Really?" Brian asked. "I thought we agreed to keep no secrets between us."

"Yeah, I know." Riley shrugged sheepishly. "But hey, I'm telling you now."

"I guess." Brian rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears. "So what do you have to tell me?"

"Well," Riley sighed, "That first week when I moved here, before you and I were friends, I tried to run away."

"You did what?" Brian asked, a bit too loud for Riley's liking.

"Keep your voice down, these walls are paper thin!" Riley shushed him. "Yes, I tried to run away."

Brian looked like he was going to explode. "Why? And how? Where were you gonna go and what were you gonna do when you got there?"

"Slow down, slow down!" Riley urged, "Shut up and I'll tell you."

She waited for a few seconds, looking at Brian. He readjusted himself and didn't say a word.

Riley sighed. "Back when we first moved here, there really wasn't much for me to do. I had no friends, the food was terrible, and to top things off the moving van came about a month late."

"But by then we were friends, weren't we?" Brian stopped her.

"Yes, we were." Riley answered to continue the story. "But before that I was feeling shittier than I've ever felt before or since. It really was horrible. So I had the bright idea to go back home to Minnesota. Guess I thought it would make me happy if I went there. I really wasn't thinking what'd I do when I actually got there."

Brian moved over and hugged Riley without saying anything.

"What a day it's been, huh?" Riley said jokingly.

"Yeah." Brian muttered. "What a day indeed."

Three Years Ago

"Riley! Riley!" Brian whispered from behind her.

Riley ignored the constant grab for attention. She knew he offered to be her friend and all, but there was no way that he was going to get in between her and a good grade.

She was just about to start writing some more notes that the teacher had on the board when she felt something hit the back of head. What she assumed was a piece of paper fell to the ground with a small 'paf'.

"Did he just throw a piece of paper at us?" Anger jumped up from his chair and moved over to the console, talking to himself. "I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but we're in the middle of class!"

"Anger!" Joy shouted, grabbing his arms in an attempt to stop him. "Anger, stop! We're in the middle of class you can't just shout at him!"

"Well then what, Joy?" Anger asked, sounding extremely annoyed.

"I don't know, maybe we can glare at him or something." Joy suggested.

"But make sure it's not too harsh or he may not want to be our friend anymore!" Fear shouted from the loft.

"How did you hear that?" Joy shouted back to him.

"Living in constant fear that somebody might sneak up on you makes ones hearing impeccable." Came the response from the loft house.

"Whatever, we're gonna glare, so let's glare!" Anger pushed a few buttons.

Riley shot Brian a small glare, but he just pointed at the paper ball and whispered "Read it."

Riley sighed and grabbed the ball, doing her best to make it smooth again. It simply read: "To your left."

Riley looked over to her left and almost laughed aloud.

"That girl is basically sleeping in a pond of her own drool." Joy burst out laughing.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Disgust muttered, trying to cool herself off by tugging at her ascot. "This is one of the reasons you don't fall asleep in public!"

"Calm down it's hilarious." Joy waved off Disgust. She pushed a few buttons at the console.

Riley looked back at Brian, who was smiling like an idiot. She shook her head as she turned back around, but was smiling ear to ear. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

Present

"Thanks for having me over, Riley." Brian smiled as he stood on Riley's small porch. "It was fun."

"Yeah, we should hang out again some time soon." She smiled.

"Yeah." Brian agreed. He seemed to be at a loss of words for once. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."

And with that, he was off her porch and walking down the street. And Riley was left standing at the door, watching him slowly walk away.

Sorry if this chapter is a little wonky, I was writing on a different program so the paragraphs looked much longer than they do on here. As I said above, please check the poll on my profile to tell me what you would prefer. The poll closes Wednesday, April 1st. Please leave a review, whether criticizing my work or just giving suggestions, all is helpful. And as always, I'll see you next chapter.