Here is chapter 8. This story is moving along kinda slowly but that's alright. I do have an idea of what I want to do with it and it will be fairly long. Also, I got placed into Silver 5 this season which made me upset but after most of my friends list got placed in Bronze... I took it as a blessing in disguise.
Also, maybe it's just that I'm a loser but one person PM'ed me and told me they really liked my Veracity story and began reading this one after that. That made me so happy. People are reading what I write and even enjoying it? Thank you all for reading my stuff! I love hearing what you think!
I stared at myself on the window of my car. I looked up and over it as Riven got into the passenger side. I wondered if ninteen year old Riley imagined any of this would happen when he decided to give League of Legends another chance. Of course he wouldn't have; video game characters never jumped out of their games.
'I haven't used any swimming trunks in years… Why did I even agree to this?'
A long yawn later, I got inside the car and threw my black backpack into the backseat. I packed whatever I thought we'd need; towels, changes of clothing, money for food. I also brought my 3ds just in case; I wasn't much of a swimming person.
"Let's go get your pay from work then we'll go get Angie," I said, staring the car and immediately lowering the A/C back to the high 60's from almost 75. I began to drive before Riven spoke up.
"Do people here usually make plans on such short notice?" Riven asked. I smirked.
"Not really. I hate things like that but I suppose Angie doesn't think much about what happens before we reach our destination," I suggested.
"Do you hate Angie?" Riven asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"No, I meant that… I don't like plans being made on such short notice. I like knowing ahead of time," I said, explaining my punctuality. I usually stressed myself out if I'm late to anything, a habit I'm not sure where I picked up comparing it to my procrastination and average grades in school. "I don't hate anyone, it's hard for me to hate anyone."
"I know, I just didn't understand what you meant," Riven said, looking out the window as we headed to the same way I did four times a week.
"There are beaches in Valoran, right?" I asked, unsure if she knew. She nodded.
"There are. I haven't ever been to one. I hear Ionia has very pretty ones," Riven said, turning to me. "Is what I'm wearing appropriate then?"
"Angie said she had something for you," I said, looking at her. "Not sure what that means but if anything, we can go get something."
"Will we need Nicole?" Riven asked. I stammered.
"O-Of course not!... We'll have Angie," I said, pulling into the nearby Wendy's we worked at. I parked in my usual spot; the corner spot I could see from the window. Another of my weird quirks was that I felt more comfortable seeing my car while working, probably so I always had an option to blast the alarm if a customer was difficult.
We both exited the car and I realized I was wearing swimming trunks. I realized this was going to be material for the management to joke with, as I was such a serious worker. Either way, we entered the restaurant and saw it nearly empty. It rarely became busy until after around 11:30 with the exception of the occasional family heading to Disney World. I headed up to the counter and waved at the blond girl at the drive-thru window, who was considered my polar opposite. She worked when I didn't, was more calm with the customers but I was normally faster with most tasks, but we rarely spoke due to our schedules.
"Yo, can you get Carla?" I asked, as she walked over to me. She nodded and headed to the back. I knew what she was feeling; a curse of working drive thru was whenever you wanted to do something, someone came to the window and you had to rush back there. She came back with the head manager and went towards the computer, signaling I was right.
"Why are you here so early? Thought you had direct deposit now?" Carla asked, noticing my bottom wear. "Oh, taking your girlfriend to the beach? Thought you hated the beach?"
"I do and not my girlfriend. You said you'd pay her in cash right?" I asked, as she tilted her head.
"Riley, I never said I was going to pay her," Carla said, shaking her head. I stared at her. She began to laugh. "Relax, I'm joking. Even on your days off, you're so serious."
She opened the pink binder where the checks were and handed me a pen. Even though I had direct deposit, I still had to sign for the stub. I signed the paper and she handed me a few twenty dollar bills and I handed her the pen back.
"Alright, alright. Thanks," I said, accepting the truth. "I'll see you Wednesday then."
I took my leave as Riven followed me from the table she had sat in. Just as quickly as we came into the place, we were back in the car and I handed her the money.
"Here, that's yours," I said, starting the car. She grabbed it and stared at it blankly.
"You should keep it. I have no idea what to use it for," Riven said, extending her hand again. I grabbed it back, thinking of where she would even put it.
"If you need anything else, just let me know then, alright? You earned this so I don't like just taking it," I said, beginning to drive. "Extra money is nice though."
"You can use it to buy Angie things," Riven said, looking at me. I stared forward and headed towards her College.
"It's too early for this, mom."
What ended up happening the night before was this: Angie, after keeping my attention for five seconds, decided we were all going to the beach. I asked how she wanted to do this and she surprised me by having thought everything out. She said her mother works at the college (surprise, surprise) and she could get a ride with her.
I sat in the car as Angie walked towards us, dressed as if she was arriving onto the beach instead of on her way to it. I got out and she walked next to me as I pulled the seat forward.
"Hey, I didn't wake you up, did I?" She asked, with a grin. I stared at her, stunned.
"No, I was asleep the entire time, even during the call," I said, with no sarcasm in my voice. She crossed her arms.
"An invite to go to the beach with two beautiful girls and you're being so sour about it… are you even into women?" Angie asked, as she got into the car. I got back in as she greeted Riven.
"What made you so suddenly want to go to the beach?" I asked, as I began to head towards the beach Angie mentioned.
"It's getting colder! We need to cherish the last days of warmth before winter comes," Angie said, dramatically.
"You mean the week of cold? Not even on Christmas week? That winter?" I asked, foretelling of another Floridian 'Winter'.
"Exactly. So… let's go to beach since we'll never know when that week is coming," Angie said, taking her usual spot inbetween Riven and I's arms. "You know where the beach I'm talking about is, right?"
"Yep. I had like, 10 birthday's in the park across from it," I responded, which was true. The park was really nice, I loved it.
"Convenient. Anywaaaaay," Angie said, turning towards Riven. "I got you a bathing suit."
"Thank you Angie, I appreciate it," Riven said, politely.
"Of course. It's nice to finally have people to hang out with, most of my other friends never want to do anything but you always do, Riley," Angie said, grinning at me. I glared at her for a second before returning my eyes to the road. "What, do you not have fun with me?"
"Oh, of course I do. You're just a bit too hyper for me," I said, following the vaguely familiar road. I'd never driven there myself but I have seen it enough to nearly have. "All my friends work or go to school and then have apparently hours of homework."
"Yeah, homework isn't that big of a deal. All you have to do is not procrastinate and do stuff ahead of time since everything is online," Angie said, as she swayed with the curved road. She stretched forward. "The houses here are so nice, I bet they're like, a million dollars."
"Probably a couple… Bet having the beach so close bumps up the price. I love these kind of roads, makes me wish I still had a bike," I said. Angie turned to Riven.
"Has he taken you downtown yet?" Angie asked.
"No, what is that?" Riven asked, staring at me. Angie turned to me with an evil grin.
Instead of waiting for her to say her probably inappropriate comment, I grabbed the gear stick and pulled it back, hitting her head with my elbow lightly enough to just push her back. She sat up straight and crossed her arms.
"What was that for? I was just wondering," Angie asked, huffing.
"Sorry, changing gears," I said, quickly pushing the stick forward back to where it was.
"What, I thought this car's automatic?" Angie asked, as I prepared my head for a smack.
"You'd be right."
The nearest parking from the beach we were going to was at the park, down a hill from the main road and across the street from the beach. There was another way without the hill but since we packed light, it wasn't a problem, either way Angie was going to throw all her bags on my back. I grabbed my bag and the two towels I brought as Angie got out of the car and stretched her arms.
"Feels so nice to get out of those stupid classrooms," She said, grinning brightly, as Riven and I walked behind her. She turned to us with her hands on her hips. "After these exams are done, I can finally relax."
"Funny, you don't seem too stressed for someone who needs to relax," I said, as we began to walk towards the park.
"I don't need to be stressed. It's still time I have to allocate, right?" Angie said, grabbing a confused Riven's hand and began walking faster. "Let's go get you changed, Riley, stay here."
"Alright, if you insist," I said, as we reached the tall building that had the bathrooms and a nice view at the top. I moved towards the railings and stared out towards the parked boats as I grabbed my phone from my pocket, which I hadn't checked since the morning.
I had a message from my friend Greg, who asked where I was yesterday. I replied to him that I forgot and that I'll explain later and that nothing was urgent. After that, I just kept the phone in my hand while waiting, thinking it'd be a while.
Almost ten minutes later, the two girls came out of the building and towards the bench I found myself on. Angie came out with her usual evil grin and grabbed my arm, picking me up. She moved close to me.
"Prepare to cover your waist," Angie said, as I stared at her blankly.
"How are you a girl?" I asked, as Riven came into view. Angie had gotten her a brown two piece swimsuit and given her a similar colored towel to wrap around her waist, as if she planned to stun me. While that initially worked as a makeshift Ki Burst stun, I smirked. "You look nice, Riven. Let's get going?"
"Nothing? Really? You're definitely gay," Angie shouted, crossing her arms, as I flicked her forehead and began to walk, with Riven in tow.
"Thanks mom."
We quickly reached the beach, which was more crowded than I expected it, especially considering it was only a Monday. I laid down our two towels and grabbed Angie's while putting out bags on her's. I sat down on my own towel as Riven copied me and Angie stood over us.
"So, has anything eventful happen to you guys today?" Angie said, quickly laying down I between us. Riven sat with her arms around her legs as I checked my phone, out of habit. Riven spoke up.
"Yesterday night, I felt something weird. Felt like something from my world," Riven said, as she looked around at the people. Angie sat up and stared at Riven.
"What was it? Did you guys find out?" She asked, turning to me, as I shook my head.
"No, it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. We went looking," Riven said, turning towards us.
"What if we have to go on some magic journey to get Riven back to her world?" Angie said, turning towards me, excitedly. "Two valiant heroes unite to return a lost maiden to her homeland."
"I don't think Riven is much of a damsel in distress," I said, sighing at Angie's imagination. "She's more of a hero than we are anyway."
"You're no fun, Riley. How is my scenario any weirder than our current situation?" Angie said. I was stunned at that realization as she stood up and extended her arms. "C'mon, let's go swim."
"You guys go," I said, shaking my head. Angie shrugged her shoulders as she more or less pulled Riven towards the ocean. I was surprised Angie didn't insist on why.
After nearly half an hour, the two girls returned and Angie wasted no time as she sat next to me, her wet hair dripping on my arm. I put the book I had down and welcomed them back.
"So, why don't you want to swim?" Angie asked, as Riven looked over as well.
"I don't like the ocean," I began, and continued when Angie went to open her mouth. "When I was younger I saw a giant ray under my feet while I swam and I never got into an ocean again. Even in video games, I'd rather turn the system off then fall into an ocean."
"You could've said something, we could've gone somewhere else," Angie said, tying her hair back into a bun. I shook my head.
"Nah, it's fine. I still like the beach," I said, turning my head towards both of them. "Plus, Riven's never been to a beach till now."
"We were talking a bit earlier. We should take her downtown though," Angie said. "It's what separates us from the boring parts of south Florida."
"We can go tonight then, I don't have anything else planned," I said, as Angie laid back down.
"Alright, plans!"
As I smirked, I looked up at Riven, who was staring intently into the skies. I turned to where she was looking; a bunch of black clouds were in the distance.
"It's going to rain, we should go soon," Riven said, to me. Her face was emotionless. I nodded.
Something seemed strange, there had been no reports of rain today. I ignored the clouds and began grabbing our stuff.
Riven stared at the clouds while we packed our stuff and Angie idly chatted with me.
I had a feeling something would happen to make this day not a peaceful.
