Chapter 7

Riker POV

"So where are we going exactly?" Riley asked.

"Uh… It's a surprise," I said.

I had no idea where I was going. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to find my way back. But I could worry about that later, hopefully when Riley and I were on good terms again.

I found Lake George Village, and picked a restaurant there. I parked on the side of the road, and we walked in and got seated.

"I'm paying. Order anything you want," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

"What are you going to get?"

"I don't know. I can't decide. I guess I'll get… A hamburger."

"A hamburger? You could pick anything!"

"Nah. I just want a hamburger."

"Ok, well if you're getting a hamburger, I'm getting one too."

"Riker, you don't need to do that."

"I want to."

"Alright…"

Later…

Riker POV

I couldn't tell if things had gotten better between me and Riley, but I knew they definitely hadn't gotten worse.

"Hold on a second. Someone's calling me," Riley said, before getting up and walking outside to take the call.

While Riley was outside, I paid for our food, brought our leftovers outside, and waited for Riley to finish her call.

"So. Who was that?" I asked.

"My uncle. He thought I was down at the beach, so when he went down there, and I wasn't there, he was worried. I told him I was in Lake George with you, and he was glad."

"But you're not in trouble or anything?"

"Nope."

"Ok, good. Do you want me to take you home, or do you want to walk around town or something?"

"Let's walk around town. I want to show my uncle that he's not punishing me, and I'm enjoying being away from him, even though that's not exactly what he intended. But I don't care. I'm away from him, and that's all that matters. Well, and that Dylan isn't here."

So she's not happy to be here with me. She's happy because she's away from her uncle. But she's away from her uncle, with me. So does that mean anything?

"Ok, well where do you want to go?" I asked.

"Let's go walk on the sidewalk by the water."

"Ok."

Riley and I spent the whole day in Lake George. We walked all over, had dinner at another restaurant, and I even bought her ice cream. When it started getting dark, I took her back home.

"Thanks for taking me out today. I had a really fun time," said Riley.

"Well thanks for letting me. Are you still mad?"

"No… I'm sorry. I was just in a really bad mood this morning. My uncle's just being a total jerk."

"It's ok. I get it."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow. I have 3 hours of nothing to do every day now… I'll figure something out…"

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, Riley."

"Bye Riker."

I watched Riley go inside, and then I went to my own house and sat down next to Rocky in the kitchen.

"So, did you ask her out!?" Rocky asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Riker! Come on! Someone's going to beat you to it!"

"I don't know… I'm trying to be really nice and stuff… Well I'm actually trying to flirt with her, but I guess it wouldn't exactly be flirting because it's not working! She's like completely blind to it! I mean, she likes me as a friend, but I don't think she ever sees me as anything more than that."

"Well maybe if you took her out on a date, that would change things."

"But I don't want to risk it!"

"Riker, get a grip! This is life! You need to take risks! Everything isn't going to be presented to you on a silver platter! It's hard! You need to work for what you want! Now, how about you get off your butt, walk over to Riley's, and go ask her out!"

"Yeah, I guess I could."

"Alright, then go!"

I walked out the front door, stopped, and walked right back in.

"Riker, what happened now?"

"There's no way I'm doing that, Rocky."

"Aw Riker, come on! You were so close!"

"Nope. I can't do it. I just can't!"

"Fine. But I'm done trying to help you."

"Rocky-"

"Riker, you won't do anything! I'm done. It's a waste of time."

"Fine. I'll see you upstairs then, I guess."

I walked upstairs to our bedroom, changed, and fell asleep thinking about Riley.

The Next Day…

Riley POV

When I had gotten home last night, I hadn't spoken to my uncle. I knew he would want to talk to me today though.

I walked out into the kitchen to find my uncle sitting there, almost as if he was waiting for me.

"So Riley, tell me about what you did yesterday," said my uncle.

"I don't know. I just went out with Riker and we did stuff. That's it."

"Went out as in a date?"

"What!? No! He just took me out for lunch, and then we walked around town for a while. Then it got later, so we had dinner, and then ice cream. And then I came home. Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm still worried about you, Riley! It's my job to know where you are, and make sure you're ok. I'm just making sure everything's find, and I just wanted to know what went on yesterday."

"Can I go now?"

"Well that depends. Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd get my 3 hours over with this morning. Better sooner, rather than later. I was just going to go to the beach. Well, unless Riker want to bring me somewhere again."

"Really? Is he planning on taking you somewhere?"

"What? No. I was being sarcastic. I probably won't even see him today. Why are you so obsessed with him?"

"I'm not obsessed! You just never tell me anything, so I was curious."

"Yeah, I never tell you anything because you're not my father, and I don't trust you."

"Riley-"

"It's your own fault anyway! You can't even defend yourself because it's your fault! My parents are coming home in a few weeks. Stop obsessing over my life! Pretty soon you'll be gone, and you'll only have to see me on holidays!"

"Riley, wait! Nothing you're saying makes any sense. Let's talk about this for a minute!"

"No! I'm done talking! I've said enough! You always try to make me talk, and I never want to! If you're trying to get closer to me, you're failing! You're pushing me so far away, I don't know if you could save this!"

I ran out the front door before he could say anything else. But of course, he had to come chasing after me.

"Riley, wait!"

"Stop following me! My life is already awful enough as it is, you're just making it worse! Just stop already!"

I took off down to the beach, thankfully without my uncle.

Riker POV

I watched Riley's blowup with her uncle through the window. I decided to go talk to him, and maybe help him fix things with her.

I walked outside, still wearing my pajamas, and walked over to Riley's uncle.

"You're Riley's uncle, right?"

"Yeah… You're Riker, right?"

"Yup. What's going on with Riley?"

"I wish I knew."

"Well why is she mad at you?"

"I keep trying to get her to talk to me about what's going on in her life. I'm not trying to control what she does or anything, I just want to know what she's doing, and make sure she's ok. Ever since she broke up with her boyfriend, she's been a completely different person."

"How?"

"Well she's depressed all the time. And she seems really jumpy, but alert. I think she has a lot of anger and feelings bottled up inside, and she's the kind of person that bottles things up, and then explodes. So I'm just worried about her. Obviously I'm not her father, but her parents are trusting me to take care of her until they come back, and I don't want anything to happen to her. And… I think she has a lot of secrets. I can tell there are things she hasn't told me, things that she should, but hasn't. I'm just worried. And she doesn't understand that I'm trying to talk to her because I care! She just thinks I'm being annoying or something. How does she act around you? Does she tell you anything?"

"No, not really."

"Just wondering… She never really tells anyone anything, but it seemed like you guys were close, so I thought maybe she had told you something."

"Not really…"

"Ok. Do you think maybe you could talk to her for me? Just like, try to make her understand that I care about her, and I'm not just trying to be annoying or whatever?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, Riker. You know, I'm glad you and Riley are friends. You're a really nice boy, and I'm glad she has you."

I smiled, and felt my cheeks turning red. I said goodbye to Riley's uncle, and then walked down to the beach to go find Riley. I saw her sitting in a chair near the water, with her hands covering her face. I assumed she was crying again.

"Riley?"

"What do you want?"

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"I don't want to."

"Uh… Ok. Well… Do you want to do something then?"

"I want to get away from here."

"Ok. Do you want me to drive you somewhere?"

Riley looked up at me. Her eyes got wider, and her mouth fell open as she gasped.

"Yes! Yes I want you to!"

Her face fell, and she looked at the ground.

"What?" I asked.

"You'd never do it. It's crazy. Never mind."

"Riley, come on. Where do you want to go?"

"Well… It's kind of far away, and my uncle would never approve. But I really want to go anyway."

"Where?"

"But if you loaned me some money, I could drive myself, and I could go, and you wouldn't have to be involved."

"I'll loan you money. How much?"

"I don't know."

"Riley, where are you planning on going exactly?"

"You have to promise not to tell."

"I promise."