I glanced at the clock on the wall in the hospital lobby as I came in. It was twenty minutes after four o'clock. I was twenty minutes late. Screw it, I thought to myself. She's not gonna care. A few people looked up at me as I walked in, and I glanced around to see if Riley was there. To my surprise, she was nowhere to be found. She wasn't sitting down or standing in the Visitor Sign-In line.

So I sat down and waited a moment for her. The old woman beside me scanned me over, decided that I was something like a contagious disease, and moved down about four seats. I was used to this, especially from old people. It was probably the chains on my jeans, the length of my hair, and the scowl on my face that disturbed them. I found it kind of funny, but only because I knew that I wasn't a good kid. No one would expect me to help some elderly man carry his groceries to his car, so I didn't.

Someone walked in and I turned to find a breathless Riley. She seemed a little flustered. Her hair was thrown up into a messy bun and she looked shaky.

"I was gonna ask why you were running late," I told her as I stood up and walked towards her. "But I think a better question is why were you running a marathon?"

She gave me a sheepish smile, one that hid something. She pointed over to the Sign-In line and said, "Let me sign us in. It'll only take a minute."

I sat back down as she hurried over to the line and began to fill out a form. Suddenly, the doors bursted open and some paramedics were wheeling in someone on a stretcher. I didn't catch a glimpse of who it was, but they were convulsing within their restraints and shrieking horribly.

I heard one of the paramedics say something about steroids being involved when Riley came back. She was watching the doctors depart down the hallway quickly before she looked at me.

"How sad." She handed me a sticker with my name written in permanent marker under the word 'Visitor'. "Here, you have to wear it to get in."

I raised an eyebrow and replied in a smartalecky tone, "I can put it anywhere?"

She nodded, but rolled her eyes as I went to stick it on the crotch of my jeans. At her command, I re-stuck it back on, this time on my chest. Riley led me up the stairs (I bitched when she passed the elevators, only to find that she had some weird fear of elevators.), and to the second floor.

"Here we are," She told me when we had reached the door. We both stopped as she gave me a trying look. "Look, his mom and dad are in there so...so, you know."

I crossed my arms. "No, I don't think I do know. What are you saying?" I knew fully well what she had meant, but I liked to see her get frustrated. It was unexpectedly sexy when she got all uptight.

She put a finger on my name tag. "What's this say?"

"...John Bender?" I asked in confusion.

"Right, you're name tag says 'John Bender'. So act like John Bender. It doesn't say 'Ass', so don't act like an ass."

I chuckled sarcastically, enjoying her wryness and followed her into the hospital room. Brian was lying in the bed with an IV on the back of his hand and surrounded by flower assortments. He was awake and reading his algebra book in the light of the lamp above his bed. He seemed pretty healthy except for the bandage on the crown of his head.

When he saw us enter the room, his books slid out of his hands and a speechless look wiped over his face. I fought back the urge to laugh and thought of the incident on Saturday. My need to smile went away as I remembered watching his neck snap back and forth when he was forced against the sidewalk.

Riley smiled at him, sounding a little shy now. "Hi Brian."

Brian, who was now grinning weakly, replied, "Uh, hi...Bender," He paused for my attention. "You okay, man?"

He seemed truly genuine in his question. I couldn't believe it. After all I had put the little nerd through, yet he still asked me if I was okay. I displayed the stitches on the side of my face.

"Do I look okay, Brain Drain?" I asked in that rebel tone that I usually spoke with. Riley gave me an exasperated look, so I added to Brian, "Just a few stitches...BFD."

"What we really want to know is how you're doing, Brian." began Riley in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Brian shrugged and looked out the window for a second. "Nothing big. I'll be back next week. It could've been worse. I only remember bits and pieces though. It's a good thing you came here, I really want to know what went on."

Damn, damn, damn! I didn't want to have to explain what had happened. Riley hadn't been there the whole time, so I would have to tell him everything. Brian spoke up again.

"I remember walking my bike onto the sidewalk, and then I saw Rip and you talking...then he came over and that's all."

Riley nudged me in the side with her elbow, prodding me on. I gave her an annoyed look. The girl was on my mind constantly, but she could be a little bothersome sometimes. I rolled my eyes at her and shoved my hands in my pockets,

"Uh...Rip wanted your bike and all...and you smarted off at him. So he started beating on you, and then he slammed your head against the sidewalk. And...I kinda got into a little tiff with the guy."

It was quiet when I looked back up, and Brian seemed perfectly content. No emotions had changed. He only smiled.

"Thanks, Bender."

"No prob, Dweeb."

We talked for only about ten more minutes before Brian's mom, a woman who just reeked of fun-killing, kicked us out, claiming that Brian had homework to do. As we left, Riley and I discussed the matter.

"Seriously, the woman has to be a major bitch." I said once we had gotten out of the hospital and into the parking lot. "The kid just got beat up by the biggest thug in all of Illinois, next to me, and she expects him to do homework? Crazy bitch."

Riley laughed, and before I knew it, we were at her little red car again. She leaned against the door with her arms crossed, staring at me. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed.

"I gotta go."

She gave me a half-smile and nodded her head towards the car. "Please, let me give you a ride. It's dark out-,"

"It's four-thirty, the sun's still out." I replied with amusement, looking towards the bright sun.

She went on, "–and I won't take no for an answer. It gets lonely driving by yourself."

I shook my head, saying, "No, I can't.", but I when I saw the look of disappointment on her face, my gut wrenched. If I was starting to like this girl (of course, it wasn't a definite), why wasn't I joining her? For all I know, we might just get a little crazy in the backseat if the mood is right.

For some reason, though, I didn't really want to use her just for sex. That really blew me away. I didn't really believe in love, or so I thought before. But this wasn't love. Hell, it wasn't even close to love! It was barely even a crush.

I looked into her brown eyes, groaned, and muttered out, "Fine." Riley smiled warmly and got into her seat. I walked around to the other side, knowing that this would be an interesting trip.