I'd messed it up. Why did I say that? I'm so stupid.
*FLASHBACK*
"I love you, Mel."
She was silent. She pulled away from me and got up. Melissa headed for the door, tears in her eyes.
"I-I didn't mean to say that. Mel, I'm sorry."
She ran out the door.
I stared after her.
The room was silent until Eric spoke. "So, who's up for cafeteria food?"
*END FLASHBACK*
I'm such an idiot. Now she won't want to talk to me anymore.
Good going, Jackson. You just screwed everything up...again.
There was a knock at the door.
"What do you want?" I said, my voice cold.
The door opened and Samantha ran in. She jumped onto the bed and pulled me into a hug.
I winced, then hugged her back.
I looked in the doorway and saw her father walking in. I tried to tug Samantha off me, but she wouldn't budge.
Her father walked toward us.
"This isn't what it looks like," I said quickly. "I can explain."
"It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you," he said.
"Then why are you here?"
"Samantha, can you give us some time alone for a minute, please?"
Samantha stopped hugging me and went to look out the window at the stormy sky.
Lightning flashed, soon followed by thunder.
"To apologize. I'm sorry about leaving you in the park that day. Your friends told me how you were falsely accused of rape. I didn't know. I didn't want my daughter to get hurt."
"It's okay. I understand."
"And I wanted to thank you...for saving Samantha."
"You're welcome."
"Oh, and I got..." He began pulling something out of his wallet. "...something for you."
I looked at the hundred dollar bill he held in his hand. "I can't accept that."
"Yeah, you can. C'mon. Take it. It's the least I could do."
I sighed and took the money from him. "Thanks."
"No. Thank you. My name's Riley, by the way. Riley Blint."
"Cody Jackson." I reached my arm out for him to shake.
He stared at it for a second, then quickly pulled me into a hug.
I winced, not expecting this, then hugged him back.
He straightened, looking at his watch. "Well, it's getting late. We'd better go. C'mon, Samantha. Say goodbye to Cody. I'll wait for you outside the door." With that, he walked out.
Samantha came over to me, then pulled me into another hug. "Bye, Cody."
I hugged her back. "Bye, Samantha."
She let go and slid off the bed, then walked to the door.
"Hey, Samantha?"
She looked at me. "Yeah?"
"Um, can you give this back to your dad?"
"Sure." She walked over and took the hundred bucks from my hand.
"Thanks. But make sure you wait until you're in the car and leaving, okay?"
"I will." She headed back to the door. When she touched the handle, she turned to me. "I'm gonna miss you, Cody Jackson." With that, she turned the handle and walked out of the room.
When she was gone, I said, "I'll miss you, too, Samantha."
