The Final Year, The Final Show
Disclaimer - You should call my agent which does not exist and talk to HIM
about me NOT owning RFR!
A/N - Ok, so I only just recently posted chapter 10 and I decided that I
should get my ass on to writing chapter 11.
Yeah, I thought that would sound good to you.
I want to thank Caitykenz for the inspiration and a few ideas
here and there for this chapter. She helped get my creative juices
flowing.
~*~*~*~
Ch 11 - Evil, vindictive teachers, Surprise visits, and the revealing of
one's TRUE fear.
8/14/07 - 11:53am - Tuesday - Near Lunch
It was a new day at Henry Roscoe High and Riley was glad that classes had let out for lunch. Not only was she extremely hungry, but she was seriously missing Travis. It wasn't that she was completely obsessed about him, she just hadn't seen him really since last Thursday when they were "studying" for the history test that she had just taken yesterday. She was proud to announce that she had made a B minus on that test. Considering she hadn't really studied, and when she did, all she could think about was Travis, Riley thought she had done pretty good. She slammed her locker door closed and started to make her way towards Travis' locker. She made her way to him quietly as she could and she had to bite her lower lip not to laugh before she practically pounced on him, still making no sound so he didn't know it was her.
Travis was glad that classes had finally let out to lunch. Mrs. Kaegan, the Literature teacher this year, was already giving him failing grades because of only she knew why. He didn't know why the woman hated him so much, but for some reason, she did. Travis had been minding his own business, putting his books away and preparing to go to lunch when he was pounced on. When this happened, he jumped about a mile, having not expected it.
Riley couldn't help it after the jump that Travis had. She burst out giggling. "Whatcha all jump 'bout, Travis?" She said, hanging her arms on the back of his shoulders as they walked together to the lunch room.
"I thought you might be Mrs. Kaegan."
"What? Why would Mrs. Kaegan scare you? She's just an old hag that doesn't like being corrected."
"It's nothing."
"Whaaaat?" Riley whined, "Did something happen in class today?"
"Uh..kinda."
"What was it?"
"She just...I don't know...she has some kind of vendetta against me."
"Travis! Quit changing the subject! What happened in class today?"
Traivs sighed and rolled his eyes. Sometimes Riley could be annoying in her persistency on a single topic. "She made a major mistake about British literature and I corrected her. Then, she gave me a failing grade on the pop quiz that we had today."
Riley frowned. That didn't seem right. "Are...you sure that you didn't just...fail the quiz?" Riley seemed doubtful in her words, but a teacher giving someone a failing grade because they were corrected didn't seem all that logical either.
"Riley, let me put it this way: Michael Catalano passed and I didn't."
"Ohh...ouch...burn...pain...Wow. That's...that's stupid! No teacher should be able to do that!"
"It's...ok, Riley. I'll talk to her about it after school. If...this continues, I'll talk to Waller."
"Right...ok." Riley seemed surprisingly calm. Travis wasn't so sure that he liked this. Riley being calm just moments after she was angry was never a good sign. He decided that he would watch her whenever he could. However, considering they didn't have any class the same except for homeroom, he wasn't sure how well he would be able to do this. "You know what, I'll be right back. I had this...CD of Lily's that I was supposed to give back to her today. It's just in my locker. I'll be back, ok?" She smiled and started off in the direction of her locker.
Travis sighed. This would not be good. He decided that he would give her a chance; maybe she wouldn't actually go find Mrs. Kaegan and chew her out. This was highly unlikely, but Travis was going to give her time to have gone back to her locker, come back down the hallway, gone through the lunch line and met back up with him. If she didn't turn up after that, he was going after her.
~*~*~
8/14/07 - 12:08pm - Tuesday - Lunch
A few minutes later, Travis couldn't sit there and wait any more. He couldn't have Riley be yelling at their Literature teacher. He sighed and ran out of the lunch room. He was running down the same hallway that Waller decided to walk down. "Going somewhere, Mr. Strong?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you in such a hurry? It must be fairly important if you're running in the halls."
"Yeah, actually, it's kind of urgent. See, I told Riley about something that happened in Literature today and...I think she's gone to bite Mrs. Kaegan's head off, so...I'm going to find her and...when I get more information on the situation, I'll be sure that you are informed, Mister Waller."
"Alright...on you go then." Danny shook his head. He hadn't quite gotten to like Riley all that well, but he knew he would have to let Travis go find her if he wanted any trouble to be stopped. "I knew there was a reason I liked that Strong kid." He muttered to himself as he continued down the hallway.
~*~*~
8/14/07 - 12:11pm - Tuesday - Lunch
"Riley! What are you doing in the teacher's lounge?" Sierra Kaegan sounded sincerely shocked to find a student here.
"I'm here to rip you into pieces!"
"Whatever for?" Sierra had a very heavy Austrailian accent.
"For giving my boyfriend a failing grade where you know perfectly well a passing one was due!"
"Who might this boyfriend of yours be, dear?"
"Travis Strong." Riley said, almost defiant in her tone. "And you flunked him on that quiz today! You and I both know perfectly well that if Michael Catalano can pass that damn quiz, Travis can too. He's probably the smartest on in that class!"
"I happen to disagree."
"Then who, might I ask, in the class you teach with Travis in it, is smarter?"
"Well, I do believe that I am the teacher, Miss Brennon. Therefore, I have a little more knowledge than your little friend does about British Literature."
"I don't think so. Did you ever live in England?"
"No, but I do have--"
"Then I think he would know a little more than you. He lived there for four years and he's probably read more Brit. Lit. than you ever have! I think he knows more than you about literature in an entity!"
"And, why, Miss Brennon, would I give him a failing grade if I knew that he passed the quiz?" Riley would give the woman props, she was smooth about it.
"I should be asking you that! Why would a teacher give a student a failing grade when they knew a passing grade was due?" Riley's voice was laced with sarcasm as she questioned the teacher.
"I'll have you know that I have never failed anyone who didn't deserve to be failed, Miss Brennon. I have never done anything even remotely--"
"I don't know that you're telling the truth, but you know what I think?"
"What is it that you think?"
"I think you're an old hag who doesn't like being corrected. I think you're just a bitch that doesn't know how to take being wrong. AND even if that wasn't true, you'd still be a bitch for failing my boyfriend, not just because he's my boyfriend, but because I know, just like you do, that he deserved to pass and you failed him! You knew perfectly well that--" She was cut off by the door bursting open.
"Riley....stop...."
"What? No! She's a vindictive old bit--"
Travis clamped a hand over his girlfriend's mouth and looked up at his teacher, "I'm really sorry about this, Mrs. Kaegan. I just told her about failing the quiz today...I didn't think she would react like this. I..." He sighed, glancing down at the floor, but quickly locking eyes with the teacher before him again, "Sometimes, Riley doesn't know when to stop. She just...gets caught up in the moment and..." He sighed again.
"That's quite alright, Travis. You can't do anything about your girlfriend's wretched, awful, and absolutely appalling behavior."
Travis almost immediately took to the defensive, but he was as calm as he could be about it. "Ok, I'm going to have to ask you to please not judge my girlfriend by this...outburst. I-I think...she's having a bad day."
"I don't care if she's failed one class, been late for another, and gotten yelled at for no apparent reason in another today, there is no justification for her ignominious behavior and extremely offensive language."
"Mrs. Kaegan, I'd really like it if you don't judge her based on this!" Travis said a little more harshly than he'd expected.
"And I would really like it if you would leave and be sure to take your nauseating, deranged girlfriend with you."
Travis closed his eyes and repeated a slow mantra in his head as he turned Riley and himself around, making the dark-headed girl walk out of the teacher's lounge. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the bitch. You will not kill her. Once they were a little farther away from the teacher's lounge, Travis sighed. "God, I can't believe I'm going to be in her class all year." He muttered to himself. "Riley, why did you do that? I told you I'd talk to her about it."
"I know, but you're always so...rational and...understanding. You need to take some anger lessons from Ray and I. We can teach you how to be...unreasonable and...I dunno, harsh."
Travis smiled slightly and shook his head, "I think that being rational is just part of my job description, Riley. I don't think you could beat it out of me." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Riley leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder, "Ok...fine...you win...like always." She smiled faintly. After a few moments, she frowned. "Why do you always win our little arguments?"
Travis just laughed as they entered the cafeteria again.
"Travis! I'm serious!" She got no more of a response from him than she had just received. "Hey!"
~*~*~*~
8/14/07 - 3:45pm - Tuesday - After School
After the incident at lunch, Travis' day had been pretty normal. He hadn't expected anything extremely out of the ordinary to happen at home today, either. Travis wasn't sure if this was because of the normal day at school or just how mundane his home life was. Either way, he did see any unnatural things happening in the near future as he drove home. Riley had come with him that morning and she was insisting on going to his house now, rather than home. Travis didn't understand why she wanted to come over so bad, but he didn't deny her of it either. It wasn't long and he pulled into the driveway, noticing a strange car that was there already. A black Ferrari with red, orange, yellow, green, white, and blue flames on the doors (the colors descended as you got closer t the rear end of the car) was sitting in the driveway. Travis frowned. "Who the hell--" He cut himself short, searching his brain to think who might be here.
"Uhh...Travis...did your parents go through a crazy, wacky, mood-swing or...maybe a mid-life crisis of some kind?" Riley asked, eyebrows raised, gesturing to the strange vehicle in the driveway.
"No...honestly, I don't think so."
Suddenly, Riley gasped very dramatically and her eyes widened as she turned to look at Travis. When she spoke, it was all very quick, but he managed to understand it all. "Travis! What if it's some crazy psycho in there? I mean, he could be an escaped...um...mental...patient...ok...the situation just lost it drama cause I ruined it." She muttered.
Travis laughed and got out of the car.
"You aren't actually going to go in there, are you?" This time, Riley was drop dead serious in her worrisome tone.
"Yes, Riley, I am. It's my house."
Riley didn't seem very comfortable with the idea, but she decided that she'd go with Travis. "Just...in case the guy has some psycho friends with him." She muttered and quickly ran over to Travis.
Travis rolled his eyes and checked the door. It was unlocked. Maybe his parents were going through something...or maybe they were brainwashed. "Mom! Dad! I'm home! And...Riley's here!"
Instead of hearing his mother come rushing into the front hallway like usual to greet him and question him about his day at school, Travis heard someone coming towards the front hall very slowly. He frowned. What the hell was going on? Travis wasn't sure weather or not that he and Riley should move any farther from the door than they already were, so he stayed put, knowing Riley was a little too freaked out about this to go on by herself. The only real indication that she was totally freaked out about the current situation, other than her earlier comments, was the fact that she was standing behind Travis and squeezing his shoulder so hard that it actually started to hurt.
After enough time went by, a figure could be seen at the end of the corridor. The figure slowly and silently approached the two teenagers. Travis felt the grip Riley had on his shoulder tighten. If it wasn't for the fact that, now, even he was a little scared, Travis would have found Riley's apprehension quite amusing. It wasn't long, however that the figure came into the light and revealed a woman of about Travis' mother's age, maybe a year or two younger. Loose shoulder length strawberry blond curls graced her shoulders and she had piercing blue eyes. Her attire consisted of big, silver hoop earrings, a black cross necklace, a dark gray halter top with a black jacket that had a belt on it over the top, a pair of pants that faded from white, to silver, to gray, two more darker shades of gray, black, and started over again, going backwards and even a pair of dark gray tennis shoes. A cigarette was in the corner of her mouth, "Travis!" She shouted, taking the cigarette between her middle and forefingers. She closed the space between them and gave him a hug.
Travis coughed a few times, not being used to the smoke from the cigarette. "Aunt Sophia...what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you'll hear aaaall about it when Cheyanne gets her ass home and finds out."
"You mean...my mom doesn't know you're here?"
"No. I actually just got here about, ahh.." She glanced at her watch, "An hour ago."
"Great! It's...always great to see you, Aunt Sophia." Travis didn't seem very comfortable about Sophia being here.
"Now," Sophia started, walking around to look at Riley. She lifted the girls dark hair and touched her right cheek before letting her hand go back up to take the cigarette from her mouth again. She blew the smoke out of her mouth, a little upwards. "Who are you, little lady?"
"My name's Riley, and I'm...uh...Travis'--" Riley was shocked when a hand had clamped over her mouth. "Mmh! Tramis!"
"Sometimes she doesn't know when to stop."
Sophia frowned, "Let the girl speak!"
Riley twisted out of Travis' grip. "Yeah! Travis! What's with you? I was only gonna tell her that I'm your girlfriend!" Riley barely noticed that Travis' eyes had been getting wider with each of her words.
Travis sighed and rolled his eyes, picking his book bag up and starting down the hallway to go to his room. He knew how Sophia was and he was not in the mood for her right now. Actually, to be completely honest, he was never in the mood for his Aunt Sophia, but sometimes he had to be. Travis decided that he would have to warn Riley which relatives she could speak freely around and which ones she couldn't.
Riley and Sophia followed the blond haired boy. "So, you're his girl, are you?"
Riley nodded, "Yup. We've been dating fooorrrr...God, I don't know...the middle of December sooo....about eight months..."
"Wooow. You really like this girl, don'tcha Travis?"
Travis had only just reached the first stair when the two women entered the living room. He rolled his eyes but faced his Aunt, "Yeah...you could say that." Travis said, almost sarcastically, all the while thinking about the last week or so when he had actually managed to loose sleep because of thoughts of Riley. He never thought that would happen to him, or at least now when he was eighteen, but surprisingly enough, it did. "Well, I'll let you two talk..." He said, starting his way back upstairs.
"Ahh, Travis! Come back down when ya get your bag upstairs!" Sophia yelled.
"Maybe..." Travis muttered to himself.
"Pleeaaase, Travis! It's been since last Thursday and lunch today when I was yelling at Mrs. Kaegan!" Riley begged.
"Alright...Alright..." Travis could still be heard, even though he was in his room.
"Yelling at a teacher, were you?"
Riley nodded at Sophia's question, "Yeah...she failed Travis on a quiz today for no reason..."
"Sounds like a vindictive bitch to me. I know a few of those kind from back home."
"New York?" Riley asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool. California. Kinda like that song...um..yeah." Riley laughed at herself and she and Sophia stopped any and all conversation when they heard Travis coming downstairs.
Sophia quickly started up again so he didn't think they were talking all about him or something. She may not know her nephew as well as she should, but she knew him well enough to know that he was too self-concious about things like that for his own good. "You like kind of familiar, you related to anyone 'round here?"
"Marie and James Brennon."
"Ahh...ok." She nodded. She knew who they were from the last trip here. "So...you two have been solid for eight months, huh?"
"Yeah...there've been a couple of arguments but...for the most part it's gone...surprisingly smooth." Riley grinned.
Travis entered the living room and slid in on the couch behind Riley. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, baby..."
"Don't do that!" She giggled.
"What?"
"It's just kinda weird when you call me baby." Riley tilted her head back to look up at him, "No offense of anything is meant there."
"None taken." Travis smirked. She always made sure that he knew that she didn't mean to offend him...unless they were arguing, then she made a point to offend him.
Riley sighed and fell into Travis, who wrapped his arms around her. Riley looked up at Travis, "Travis...we have homework."
"I know..."
"Homework sucks."
"Yeah..."
"Homework should be outlawed."
"No...because then we wouldn't know if we actually knew what we thought we learned in class."
There was a pause in the conversation but Riley muttered, "I still think homework should be outlawed...."
Sophia shook her head. This Riley kid reminded her a lot of herself. She smiled as she looked at the two in their current position. "You two are so cute together..."
"Hear that, Travis? We're a cute couple!" She grinned.
"Well, when you're half of it, how could that not be?" He smiled.
Riley wasn't sure why, but she suddenly had the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him. She mentally shrugged it off and did just that. However, after the fact, she really wished she hadn't done anything, simply because of what he did. Travis poked her in the side. Riley squealed a little and squirmed. "Don't you dare!" She said, warningly.
"Why not?"
"Cause it's not fair!"
"Why?"
"Cause you're not ticklish...it's not fair!" She repeated.
"Ok..."
She stuck her tongue out at him again.
Travis grinned, "I'll give you a ten second head start."
Riley immediately jumped up and started towards the stairs. She was halfway up when he started to climb them. She ran down the hallway towards his room and slammed the door. "Ahh! No! You're not getting iiinnn!" She had pressed her body against the door in an attempt to keep it closed. However, it wasn't long and Travis had already burst through, the door slamming behind him. Riley had already mistakenly trapped herself by laying on the bed. Travis had her pinned down in no time. To make her legs immobile, he straddled her and as far as her arms and hands went, well, once he got started, she wouldn't be able to stop him. At first, she was slapping him but the instant he touched her stomach she stopped. "Noooo...Traaaviiiis...Please...This isn't fair!"
"What's that one thing you like to say so much?"
"Um...there's lots of things. You're going to have to be a little more specific."
"Life sucks...and then you die." He said as he, in Riley's opinion, attacked her.
She screamed and squealed and tried to get away, but nothing she did worked. "Tra--vis! This..isn't...fu--funny!" She barely managed between laughing.
"Because!" She yelled. "It ti--tickles!" She squealed.
"Well...that is the point."
"Traaavis...please...st-sto-stop!" She could hardly manage the plea between giggling and trying to catch her breath from all the laughing.
"Juuust a little longer..." He teased, continuing to tickle her.
Riley didn't think he would have actually think he would start tickling her even more after that. She was almost managing to kick her legs, but not quite due to the position the couple was in at the moment. She squealed again. "Tra-vis! Ple-ease! Sto-Stop!"
Travis grinned and did as she asked, or rather, had been asking for the past fifteen minutes. He got up and lay down beside her, on his side.
"That...was not fair, Travis and it definitely wasn't funny."
"I thought it was...and you sure could have fooled me, not thinking it was funny. You sure were laughing a lot."
"That's because it tickles!" She said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
After a few moments of silence, Riley pipped up again, "Travis..."
"Yeah?"
"What is the one...single...thing that Travis Anthony Strong can not stand more than anything in the world?"
"Like what? And...I'm assuming you mean other than my Aunt Sophie, right?"
"I mean, what are you scared of more than anything else? Is there anything at all?"
Travis hesitated before answering. "Spiders." was his simple, single-worded response.
"Spiders?" Riley almost laughed.
"Yes...they just creep me out."
"Why?"
He shrugged, "I have no clue, but it's always been like that..." "It's not as far as arachnaphobia, is it?"
"No...it's just...I...just...uh...I don't know how to explain it but..." He shuddered, "Eeeehhh...spiders just freak me out."
"Hmm...never would have guessed that one." Riley muttered, leaning into Travis.
Travis put his arm around Riley's waist. "Well, now you know."
"Yep..."
"What's the one thing that Riley Diane Brennon is scared of more than anything in the world?" Travis decided to retaliate.
"Travis...I think it's a good thing for you to know that...I'm claustrophobic." Riley said, as serious as she had ever been.
"Are you serious?"
"Do you think I'm Sirius? No! I don't think so! I wouldn't be able to handle sitting in a car if that was the case."
"Well...what is it, then?"
"I dunno...I mean...being alone is definitely one thing..."
"I think that's part of everyone's personality. I have that one too..."
"I know this is gonna sound stupid cause you already know I like the rain...but I hate thunderstorms."
This struck Travis as odd. "That's...strange. Why?"
"I don't know...I just...don't like 'em."
"Seriously here?"
She shook her head, grinning, "No!"
Travis laughed a bit. "Riley! Come on, I told you about my thing with spiders...you tell me what your...thing...is."
"I don't have a thing, Travis!" She grinned and laughed, deciding to let him hang in suspense for awhile.
~*~*~*~
Notes - Ok...that was fun. For me, at least. Hope you like it! Go on to chapter 12 *Grin*
Disclaimer - You should call my agent which does not exist and talk to HIM
about me NOT owning RFR!
A/N - Ok, so I only just recently posted chapter 10 and I decided that I
should get my ass on to writing chapter 11.
Yeah, I thought that would sound good to you.
I want to thank Caitykenz for the inspiration and a few ideas
here and there for this chapter. She helped get my creative juices
flowing.
~*~*~*~
Ch 11 - Evil, vindictive teachers, Surprise visits, and the revealing of
one's TRUE fear.
8/14/07 - 11:53am - Tuesday - Near Lunch
It was a new day at Henry Roscoe High and Riley was glad that classes had let out for lunch. Not only was she extremely hungry, but she was seriously missing Travis. It wasn't that she was completely obsessed about him, she just hadn't seen him really since last Thursday when they were "studying" for the history test that she had just taken yesterday. She was proud to announce that she had made a B minus on that test. Considering she hadn't really studied, and when she did, all she could think about was Travis, Riley thought she had done pretty good. She slammed her locker door closed and started to make her way towards Travis' locker. She made her way to him quietly as she could and she had to bite her lower lip not to laugh before she practically pounced on him, still making no sound so he didn't know it was her.
Travis was glad that classes had finally let out to lunch. Mrs. Kaegan, the Literature teacher this year, was already giving him failing grades because of only she knew why. He didn't know why the woman hated him so much, but for some reason, she did. Travis had been minding his own business, putting his books away and preparing to go to lunch when he was pounced on. When this happened, he jumped about a mile, having not expected it.
Riley couldn't help it after the jump that Travis had. She burst out giggling. "Whatcha all jump 'bout, Travis?" She said, hanging her arms on the back of his shoulders as they walked together to the lunch room.
"I thought you might be Mrs. Kaegan."
"What? Why would Mrs. Kaegan scare you? She's just an old hag that doesn't like being corrected."
"It's nothing."
"Whaaaat?" Riley whined, "Did something happen in class today?"
"Uh..kinda."
"What was it?"
"She just...I don't know...she has some kind of vendetta against me."
"Travis! Quit changing the subject! What happened in class today?"
Traivs sighed and rolled his eyes. Sometimes Riley could be annoying in her persistency on a single topic. "She made a major mistake about British literature and I corrected her. Then, she gave me a failing grade on the pop quiz that we had today."
Riley frowned. That didn't seem right. "Are...you sure that you didn't just...fail the quiz?" Riley seemed doubtful in her words, but a teacher giving someone a failing grade because they were corrected didn't seem all that logical either.
"Riley, let me put it this way: Michael Catalano passed and I didn't."
"Ohh...ouch...burn...pain...Wow. That's...that's stupid! No teacher should be able to do that!"
"It's...ok, Riley. I'll talk to her about it after school. If...this continues, I'll talk to Waller."
"Right...ok." Riley seemed surprisingly calm. Travis wasn't so sure that he liked this. Riley being calm just moments after she was angry was never a good sign. He decided that he would watch her whenever he could. However, considering they didn't have any class the same except for homeroom, he wasn't sure how well he would be able to do this. "You know what, I'll be right back. I had this...CD of Lily's that I was supposed to give back to her today. It's just in my locker. I'll be back, ok?" She smiled and started off in the direction of her locker.
Travis sighed. This would not be good. He decided that he would give her a chance; maybe she wouldn't actually go find Mrs. Kaegan and chew her out. This was highly unlikely, but Travis was going to give her time to have gone back to her locker, come back down the hallway, gone through the lunch line and met back up with him. If she didn't turn up after that, he was going after her.
~*~*~
8/14/07 - 12:08pm - Tuesday - Lunch
A few minutes later, Travis couldn't sit there and wait any more. He couldn't have Riley be yelling at their Literature teacher. He sighed and ran out of the lunch room. He was running down the same hallway that Waller decided to walk down. "Going somewhere, Mr. Strong?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you in such a hurry? It must be fairly important if you're running in the halls."
"Yeah, actually, it's kind of urgent. See, I told Riley about something that happened in Literature today and...I think she's gone to bite Mrs. Kaegan's head off, so...I'm going to find her and...when I get more information on the situation, I'll be sure that you are informed, Mister Waller."
"Alright...on you go then." Danny shook his head. He hadn't quite gotten to like Riley all that well, but he knew he would have to let Travis go find her if he wanted any trouble to be stopped. "I knew there was a reason I liked that Strong kid." He muttered to himself as he continued down the hallway.
~*~*~
8/14/07 - 12:11pm - Tuesday - Lunch
"Riley! What are you doing in the teacher's lounge?" Sierra Kaegan sounded sincerely shocked to find a student here.
"I'm here to rip you into pieces!"
"Whatever for?" Sierra had a very heavy Austrailian accent.
"For giving my boyfriend a failing grade where you know perfectly well a passing one was due!"
"Who might this boyfriend of yours be, dear?"
"Travis Strong." Riley said, almost defiant in her tone. "And you flunked him on that quiz today! You and I both know perfectly well that if Michael Catalano can pass that damn quiz, Travis can too. He's probably the smartest on in that class!"
"I happen to disagree."
"Then who, might I ask, in the class you teach with Travis in it, is smarter?"
"Well, I do believe that I am the teacher, Miss Brennon. Therefore, I have a little more knowledge than your little friend does about British Literature."
"I don't think so. Did you ever live in England?"
"No, but I do have--"
"Then I think he would know a little more than you. He lived there for four years and he's probably read more Brit. Lit. than you ever have! I think he knows more than you about literature in an entity!"
"And, why, Miss Brennon, would I give him a failing grade if I knew that he passed the quiz?" Riley would give the woman props, she was smooth about it.
"I should be asking you that! Why would a teacher give a student a failing grade when they knew a passing grade was due?" Riley's voice was laced with sarcasm as she questioned the teacher.
"I'll have you know that I have never failed anyone who didn't deserve to be failed, Miss Brennon. I have never done anything even remotely--"
"I don't know that you're telling the truth, but you know what I think?"
"What is it that you think?"
"I think you're an old hag who doesn't like being corrected. I think you're just a bitch that doesn't know how to take being wrong. AND even if that wasn't true, you'd still be a bitch for failing my boyfriend, not just because he's my boyfriend, but because I know, just like you do, that he deserved to pass and you failed him! You knew perfectly well that--" She was cut off by the door bursting open.
"Riley....stop...."
"What? No! She's a vindictive old bit--"
Travis clamped a hand over his girlfriend's mouth and looked up at his teacher, "I'm really sorry about this, Mrs. Kaegan. I just told her about failing the quiz today...I didn't think she would react like this. I..." He sighed, glancing down at the floor, but quickly locking eyes with the teacher before him again, "Sometimes, Riley doesn't know when to stop. She just...gets caught up in the moment and..." He sighed again.
"That's quite alright, Travis. You can't do anything about your girlfriend's wretched, awful, and absolutely appalling behavior."
Travis almost immediately took to the defensive, but he was as calm as he could be about it. "Ok, I'm going to have to ask you to please not judge my girlfriend by this...outburst. I-I think...she's having a bad day."
"I don't care if she's failed one class, been late for another, and gotten yelled at for no apparent reason in another today, there is no justification for her ignominious behavior and extremely offensive language."
"Mrs. Kaegan, I'd really like it if you don't judge her based on this!" Travis said a little more harshly than he'd expected.
"And I would really like it if you would leave and be sure to take your nauseating, deranged girlfriend with you."
Travis closed his eyes and repeated a slow mantra in his head as he turned Riley and himself around, making the dark-headed girl walk out of the teacher's lounge. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the teacher. You will not kill the bitch. You will not kill her. Once they were a little farther away from the teacher's lounge, Travis sighed. "God, I can't believe I'm going to be in her class all year." He muttered to himself. "Riley, why did you do that? I told you I'd talk to her about it."
"I know, but you're always so...rational and...understanding. You need to take some anger lessons from Ray and I. We can teach you how to be...unreasonable and...I dunno, harsh."
Travis smiled slightly and shook his head, "I think that being rational is just part of my job description, Riley. I don't think you could beat it out of me." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Riley leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder, "Ok...fine...you win...like always." She smiled faintly. After a few moments, she frowned. "Why do you always win our little arguments?"
Travis just laughed as they entered the cafeteria again.
"Travis! I'm serious!" She got no more of a response from him than she had just received. "Hey!"
~*~*~*~
8/14/07 - 3:45pm - Tuesday - After School
After the incident at lunch, Travis' day had been pretty normal. He hadn't expected anything extremely out of the ordinary to happen at home today, either. Travis wasn't sure if this was because of the normal day at school or just how mundane his home life was. Either way, he did see any unnatural things happening in the near future as he drove home. Riley had come with him that morning and she was insisting on going to his house now, rather than home. Travis didn't understand why she wanted to come over so bad, but he didn't deny her of it either. It wasn't long and he pulled into the driveway, noticing a strange car that was there already. A black Ferrari with red, orange, yellow, green, white, and blue flames on the doors (the colors descended as you got closer t the rear end of the car) was sitting in the driveway. Travis frowned. "Who the hell--" He cut himself short, searching his brain to think who might be here.
"Uhh...Travis...did your parents go through a crazy, wacky, mood-swing or...maybe a mid-life crisis of some kind?" Riley asked, eyebrows raised, gesturing to the strange vehicle in the driveway.
"No...honestly, I don't think so."
Suddenly, Riley gasped very dramatically and her eyes widened as she turned to look at Travis. When she spoke, it was all very quick, but he managed to understand it all. "Travis! What if it's some crazy psycho in there? I mean, he could be an escaped...um...mental...patient...ok...the situation just lost it drama cause I ruined it." She muttered.
Travis laughed and got out of the car.
"You aren't actually going to go in there, are you?" This time, Riley was drop dead serious in her worrisome tone.
"Yes, Riley, I am. It's my house."
Riley didn't seem very comfortable with the idea, but she decided that she'd go with Travis. "Just...in case the guy has some psycho friends with him." She muttered and quickly ran over to Travis.
Travis rolled his eyes and checked the door. It was unlocked. Maybe his parents were going through something...or maybe they were brainwashed. "Mom! Dad! I'm home! And...Riley's here!"
Instead of hearing his mother come rushing into the front hallway like usual to greet him and question him about his day at school, Travis heard someone coming towards the front hall very slowly. He frowned. What the hell was going on? Travis wasn't sure weather or not that he and Riley should move any farther from the door than they already were, so he stayed put, knowing Riley was a little too freaked out about this to go on by herself. The only real indication that she was totally freaked out about the current situation, other than her earlier comments, was the fact that she was standing behind Travis and squeezing his shoulder so hard that it actually started to hurt.
After enough time went by, a figure could be seen at the end of the corridor. The figure slowly and silently approached the two teenagers. Travis felt the grip Riley had on his shoulder tighten. If it wasn't for the fact that, now, even he was a little scared, Travis would have found Riley's apprehension quite amusing. It wasn't long, however that the figure came into the light and revealed a woman of about Travis' mother's age, maybe a year or two younger. Loose shoulder length strawberry blond curls graced her shoulders and she had piercing blue eyes. Her attire consisted of big, silver hoop earrings, a black cross necklace, a dark gray halter top with a black jacket that had a belt on it over the top, a pair of pants that faded from white, to silver, to gray, two more darker shades of gray, black, and started over again, going backwards and even a pair of dark gray tennis shoes. A cigarette was in the corner of her mouth, "Travis!" She shouted, taking the cigarette between her middle and forefingers. She closed the space between them and gave him a hug.
Travis coughed a few times, not being used to the smoke from the cigarette. "Aunt Sophia...what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you'll hear aaaall about it when Cheyanne gets her ass home and finds out."
"You mean...my mom doesn't know you're here?"
"No. I actually just got here about, ahh.." She glanced at her watch, "An hour ago."
"Great! It's...always great to see you, Aunt Sophia." Travis didn't seem very comfortable about Sophia being here.
"Now," Sophia started, walking around to look at Riley. She lifted the girls dark hair and touched her right cheek before letting her hand go back up to take the cigarette from her mouth again. She blew the smoke out of her mouth, a little upwards. "Who are you, little lady?"
"My name's Riley, and I'm...uh...Travis'--" Riley was shocked when a hand had clamped over her mouth. "Mmh! Tramis!"
"Sometimes she doesn't know when to stop."
Sophia frowned, "Let the girl speak!"
Riley twisted out of Travis' grip. "Yeah! Travis! What's with you? I was only gonna tell her that I'm your girlfriend!" Riley barely noticed that Travis' eyes had been getting wider with each of her words.
Travis sighed and rolled his eyes, picking his book bag up and starting down the hallway to go to his room. He knew how Sophia was and he was not in the mood for her right now. Actually, to be completely honest, he was never in the mood for his Aunt Sophia, but sometimes he had to be. Travis decided that he would have to warn Riley which relatives she could speak freely around and which ones she couldn't.
Riley and Sophia followed the blond haired boy. "So, you're his girl, are you?"
Riley nodded, "Yup. We've been dating fooorrrr...God, I don't know...the middle of December sooo....about eight months..."
"Wooow. You really like this girl, don'tcha Travis?"
Travis had only just reached the first stair when the two women entered the living room. He rolled his eyes but faced his Aunt, "Yeah...you could say that." Travis said, almost sarcastically, all the while thinking about the last week or so when he had actually managed to loose sleep because of thoughts of Riley. He never thought that would happen to him, or at least now when he was eighteen, but surprisingly enough, it did. "Well, I'll let you two talk..." He said, starting his way back upstairs.
"Ahh, Travis! Come back down when ya get your bag upstairs!" Sophia yelled.
"Maybe..." Travis muttered to himself.
"Pleeaaase, Travis! It's been since last Thursday and lunch today when I was yelling at Mrs. Kaegan!" Riley begged.
"Alright...Alright..." Travis could still be heard, even though he was in his room.
"Yelling at a teacher, were you?"
Riley nodded at Sophia's question, "Yeah...she failed Travis on a quiz today for no reason..."
"Sounds like a vindictive bitch to me. I know a few of those kind from back home."
"New York?" Riley asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool. California. Kinda like that song...um..yeah." Riley laughed at herself and she and Sophia stopped any and all conversation when they heard Travis coming downstairs.
Sophia quickly started up again so he didn't think they were talking all about him or something. She may not know her nephew as well as she should, but she knew him well enough to know that he was too self-concious about things like that for his own good. "You like kind of familiar, you related to anyone 'round here?"
"Marie and James Brennon."
"Ahh...ok." She nodded. She knew who they were from the last trip here. "So...you two have been solid for eight months, huh?"
"Yeah...there've been a couple of arguments but...for the most part it's gone...surprisingly smooth." Riley grinned.
Travis entered the living room and slid in on the couch behind Riley. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, baby..."
"Don't do that!" She giggled.
"What?"
"It's just kinda weird when you call me baby." Riley tilted her head back to look up at him, "No offense of anything is meant there."
"None taken." Travis smirked. She always made sure that he knew that she didn't mean to offend him...unless they were arguing, then she made a point to offend him.
Riley sighed and fell into Travis, who wrapped his arms around her. Riley looked up at Travis, "Travis...we have homework."
"I know..."
"Homework sucks."
"Yeah..."
"Homework should be outlawed."
"No...because then we wouldn't know if we actually knew what we thought we learned in class."
There was a pause in the conversation but Riley muttered, "I still think homework should be outlawed...."
Sophia shook her head. This Riley kid reminded her a lot of herself. She smiled as she looked at the two in their current position. "You two are so cute together..."
"Hear that, Travis? We're a cute couple!" She grinned.
"Well, when you're half of it, how could that not be?" He smiled.
Riley wasn't sure why, but she suddenly had the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him. She mentally shrugged it off and did just that. However, after the fact, she really wished she hadn't done anything, simply because of what he did. Travis poked her in the side. Riley squealed a little and squirmed. "Don't you dare!" She said, warningly.
"Why not?"
"Cause it's not fair!"
"Why?"
"Cause you're not ticklish...it's not fair!" She repeated.
"Ok..."
She stuck her tongue out at him again.
Travis grinned, "I'll give you a ten second head start."
Riley immediately jumped up and started towards the stairs. She was halfway up when he started to climb them. She ran down the hallway towards his room and slammed the door. "Ahh! No! You're not getting iiinnn!" She had pressed her body against the door in an attempt to keep it closed. However, it wasn't long and Travis had already burst through, the door slamming behind him. Riley had already mistakenly trapped herself by laying on the bed. Travis had her pinned down in no time. To make her legs immobile, he straddled her and as far as her arms and hands went, well, once he got started, she wouldn't be able to stop him. At first, she was slapping him but the instant he touched her stomach she stopped. "Noooo...Traaaviiiis...Please...This isn't fair!"
"What's that one thing you like to say so much?"
"Um...there's lots of things. You're going to have to be a little more specific."
"Life sucks...and then you die." He said as he, in Riley's opinion, attacked her.
She screamed and squealed and tried to get away, but nothing she did worked. "Tra--vis! This..isn't...fu--funny!" She barely managed between laughing.
"Because!" She yelled. "It ti--tickles!" She squealed.
"Well...that is the point."
"Traaavis...please...st-sto-stop!" She could hardly manage the plea between giggling and trying to catch her breath from all the laughing.
"Juuust a little longer..." He teased, continuing to tickle her.
Riley didn't think he would have actually think he would start tickling her even more after that. She was almost managing to kick her legs, but not quite due to the position the couple was in at the moment. She squealed again. "Tra-vis! Ple-ease! Sto-Stop!"
Travis grinned and did as she asked, or rather, had been asking for the past fifteen minutes. He got up and lay down beside her, on his side.
"That...was not fair, Travis and it definitely wasn't funny."
"I thought it was...and you sure could have fooled me, not thinking it was funny. You sure were laughing a lot."
"That's because it tickles!" She said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
After a few moments of silence, Riley pipped up again, "Travis..."
"Yeah?"
"What is the one...single...thing that Travis Anthony Strong can not stand more than anything in the world?"
"Like what? And...I'm assuming you mean other than my Aunt Sophie, right?"
"I mean, what are you scared of more than anything else? Is there anything at all?"
Travis hesitated before answering. "Spiders." was his simple, single-worded response.
"Spiders?" Riley almost laughed.
"Yes...they just creep me out."
"Why?"
He shrugged, "I have no clue, but it's always been like that..." "It's not as far as arachnaphobia, is it?"
"No...it's just...I...just...uh...I don't know how to explain it but..." He shuddered, "Eeeehhh...spiders just freak me out."
"Hmm...never would have guessed that one." Riley muttered, leaning into Travis.
Travis put his arm around Riley's waist. "Well, now you know."
"Yep..."
"What's the one thing that Riley Diane Brennon is scared of more than anything in the world?" Travis decided to retaliate.
"Travis...I think it's a good thing for you to know that...I'm claustrophobic." Riley said, as serious as she had ever been.
"Are you serious?"
"Do you think I'm Sirius? No! I don't think so! I wouldn't be able to handle sitting in a car if that was the case."
"Well...what is it, then?"
"I dunno...I mean...being alone is definitely one thing..."
"I think that's part of everyone's personality. I have that one too..."
"I know this is gonna sound stupid cause you already know I like the rain...but I hate thunderstorms."
This struck Travis as odd. "That's...strange. Why?"
"I don't know...I just...don't like 'em."
"Seriously here?"
She shook her head, grinning, "No!"
Travis laughed a bit. "Riley! Come on, I told you about my thing with spiders...you tell me what your...thing...is."
"I don't have a thing, Travis!" She grinned and laughed, deciding to let him hang in suspense for awhile.
~*~*~*~
Notes - Ok...that was fun. For me, at least. Hope you like it! Go on to chapter 12 *Grin*
