Chapter 10: What's Good for Me Part 1

It had been days since Riley officially lost the love of his life. Every day he would go to school and have to be reminded that Zane was with Owen. To him it felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. The gang would try their best to cheer him up but it never seemed to work.

"Riley? Honey you have to come out of your room. If I'm going to help, I have to know what I'm dealing with here." Mrs. Stavros said outside of his door. Riley looked up from his pillow and stared at the picture of him and Zane from the dance. A wave of emotions washed over him and he threw the picture at his door.

Mrs. Stavros jumped back at the sound of the picture hitting the door. She decided that maybe she would try again later. She went downstairs to see her husband.

"Stephen, I honestly don't know what his problem is. He's been so depressed lately that it's breaking my heart." She said.

"I don't know either Callista. He just goes to school and when he comes back he goes straight up to his room. I'm starting to worry myself. Do you think it's because of Athena? Maybe they had a little spat." Mr. Stavros said.

"Maybe, I mean he hasn't said a word about her in days." Mrs. Stavros said.

"He hasn't said anything in days is my point. We should just let them handle it. There's nothing we can do." Mr. Stavros said. In the deep parts of Callista Stavros's mind, she felt that Riley was upset about someone, but it wasn't Athena.

The next day at Degrassi, Zane was as happy as ever. He had a new boyfriend who liked most of his interests. His life was just great at this point. But for some strange reason, he kept getting little pricks in his chest every once and a while, but he would always shrug it off.

"Um Zane? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Anya asked. Zane nodded his head yes and followed her to the bench outside. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah there's something wrong. Riley's a wreck!" Athena said. Zane winced at her words.

"He's what?" Zane asked.

"What she means is that, Riley's a mess. He hasn't talked to us in days. We're all really worried about him." Anya said. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"Wow, I never knew how much this hurt him. Maybe I should go talk to him. But Athena I'll need you too. His parents probably won't let me see him unless you're there with me." Zane said.

"Sure, anything to help my friend out. He really has been down in the dumps lately." Athena said. They were all murmuring a plan amongst themselves when Zane saw Riley. He waved at him, but Riley just turned away. Zane was hurting on the inside too.

Later that day, it was the usual; Riley came home, said nothing to his parents, and then went straight to his room. His mom just shook her head.

Ding-Dong rang the doorbell.

Mrs. Stavros went over to the door to find Athena and Zane. She really wasn't expecting to ever see Zane again, but smiled sweetly at him and led them inside.

"What's this about kids?" Mrs. Stavros asked. Athena looked at Zane nervously.

"We need to see Riley. He's been so down in the dumps lately and we wanted to cheer him up." Athena said innocently. Mr. Stavros then came in the room.

"What's he doing here?" He asked looking in Zane's direction. Zane just looked at the ground.

"He's here with me. He's my friend." Athena covered for Zane. Mr. Stavros didn't seem to buy it.

"He's the reason why our son is going through this phase. With him here, it could set Riley back!" Mrs. Stavros calmed her husband down.

"Look honey, their just here to see if they can get him out of this rut. That's all."

"Yeah, look one of my ex-boyfriends came to town and was trying to get me back. That's why he's so upset right now. I think he may actually care for me, like I do for him. Besides Zane already has a new boyfriend, so you don't have to worry about him and Riley anymore." Athena lied smoothly. Mr. Stavros couldn't resist Athena's smile.

"Alright, hopefully you two can do what we couldn't. We're really starting to get worried." He said as he and his wife left the room. Athena and Zane flew up the stairs to Riley's room.

"Riley? It's me Athena. Please open the door." She said while knocking. Riley was sitting on his bed staring at all the things that reminded him of Zane.

Athena looked at Zane with a worried expression. "We have to get him out of that room. He isn't suicidal is he?" Zane just stared at her. "Not that I know of. At least I hope he isn't."

"Riley please open the door! This isn't good for you. Max isn't the one I want to be with. It's you!" Zane was blown away by this. Athena looked at him and said, "What? This might be the only way to get him to answer his door." She whispered. She was right, Riley's door flew open and Athena pushed him back so she and Zane could get in the room.

"Wow, this place is a pigsty. What's happened to you Riley?" Zane asked. Riley sat down on his bed and said nothing. Zane went over to him and grabbed his chin.

"It hurts me to see you like this. Why couldn't you have just told you parents the truth? We could have still been together if you did." Riley looked into Zane's eyes with his sad ones.

"I just couldn't." He said real low, "I don't know why but I couldn't face them. I'm scared of what might happen."

Athena turned her head so no one could see how much this hurt her too. To see one of her best friends like this, really got to her. A silent tear ran down her face too.

"I understand now, that I messed up big time. I hope you can forgive me?" Riley asked with tears in his eyes. Zane almost lost it right there, because he's never seen Riley so messed up.

"Of course I can forgive you." Zane started to say. "And I really hope we can still be friends." That tore Riley's heart clean out of his chest, but he mustered up the courage to say, "Yeah, I'd really like that." They hugged each other for what seemed like forever. When they pulled away, they looked into each other's eyes for a moment, Zane wanted to kiss him, but thought of Owen.

"I should really get going. It's getting late and we have school tomorrow. So, I'll see you then?" Zane asked. Riley nodded his head. Zane waited for Athena to come with him.

"Riley, don't lose yourself okay? Don't do anything stupid or thoughtless." Was all Athena could say before she hugged him, and then she and Zane left. Riley watched as the two pulled his door shut. When he saw Athena's car leave his house, he quickly pulled out a bottle of Vodka and took a swig.

"Don't do anything reckless Riley," he mimicked Athena. He knew only one way to soothe his pain and that was with Vodka.

Okay this is just part one of of this chapter. Chapter 11 with have some drama. But the rest of the story will be even better. You got the spring dance, prom, and Graduation to look forward too. So review and all these things will be in your future. Thanks again to all my reviewers, you're the best! Anonymous reviews are acceptable too. Tell your friends or just about anybody.