A/N: So, peoples, I made a rare plot ordering error! I decided to take out the last part of the previous chapter, when Riley gets a call from Allison. That will come later, so pretend like it never happened! This chapter took a while for me to get out for some reason, but I finally finished it! There's a few more chapters left after this. Please enjoy and review!
"Well, if he bothers you again, don't push him this time." Riley instructed her little sister, after neutralizing a sticky situation between the two. Apparently, Nolan had been tormenting Carly, and she had finally pushed him, causing him to drop his plate. It had shattered on the hardwood floor, and had spilled cheese sauce all over the rug, which Riley was now finally finished cleaning up. She'd put stain lifter on the yellowish spots, and made sure to get all the pieces of porcelain into the dustpan. Both the little kids looked guilty as they watched their older sister pick up their dangerous mess. They both knew their parents didn't like it when they messed around or fought, especially when it resulted in an accident. Luckily, right now, they were out and Riley was in charge.
"I'm sorry." Carly apologized sadly, avoiding eye contact with the taller figure standing in front of them. As a kid, much of her fate rested in the hands of adults, or in this case, the babysitter. "Are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?"
Riley sighed and rubbed at her forehead. While she sometimes dreamed of getting her siblings in trouble when they bothered and annoyed her, it wasn't exactly on her to do list. Plus, it really wasn't that big of a deal anyway. While she was bored out of her mind, seeing her siblings suffer didn't exactly seem as entertaining as it normally would.
"No, as long as you keep quiet and don't fight anymore." Riley decided, taking the dustpan into the kitchen so she could throw it away. Her brother and sister seemed relieved, and went back to laying on the couch watching Aladdin for the hundredth time in their short, care-free lives.
Riley knew she could be over-dramatic sometimes, but after two full weeks of being restricted home, she wanted to put herself in a self-induced coma. Reading got boring fast; she'd even started taking pride in keeping her bedroom in a presentable state, but even that was mid boggingly tedious and boring to the sociable teenager. She'd ever resorted to presenting arguments and cases to her parents about how she'd learned her lesson, but they had not relented. Riley had two whole weeks left until she was free again, but at the rate the hours and days were passing, it seemed it would never come. Tonight, she was stuck watching her younger siblings again while her parents went to a movie. She'd been on a secret phone call with Cody when her sister yelled from the living room, and now she was finally able to get back to her conversation.
"Hanging out has really sucked without you." Cody wooed from his own cell phone at home, thinking of his unlucky friend, on babysitting duty back at her own house.
"Well, at least you get to be around other people." Riley pointed out as she painted her pinky toe a bright purple, carefully balancing the cordless phone between her ear and shoulder. It was nice to know that someone was missing her and thinking about her. And the fact that it was Cody made the butterflies in her stomach flutter happily.
"I'm at home talking to you, aren't I?" Cody smirked from his desk, where he was scrolling through pictures of her on Facebook. He'd been probably not so secretly crushing on Riley since middle school, and while he was outwardly confident with most things, the very thought of Riley turning him down scared the living shit out of him. Cody loved being around Riley, but knew how much her parents disliked him. As he came across a picture of them posing together at someone's house earlier that year, he knew that was the closest he'd ever be able to get to Riley Groves. No way would she or her parents let him close in any more.
Riley smiled at his comment as she perfected her handiwork. "True." She acknowledged, and both were silent for a few moments before she cleared her throat. "I am seriously bored out of my mind. I'm going crazy."
"Then sneak out sometime." Cody boldly suggested. Riley had always seemed like quite the risk taker to him and not one to sit back and let people, even her parents, handle her. Surprisingly, since she started high school, he hadn't known her to get into much trouble with the parental units – but then again, if he had crime scene investigators that knew how to interrogate confessions out of hard-core criminals, he wouldn't take many chances either.
"My parents would kill me and hide the body." She retorted jokingly, but at times when she was getting yelled at, it didn't seem that far out of the realm of possibility.
He chuckled. "Well, what do you have to lose? Your dad already took away your party."
"I don't know what he would do if he caught me trying to sneak out. I got dishwashing duty the other night when he caught me on the phone with Maddie."
"Come on! What's the worst that could happen? Tomorrow night, if I can put together an impromptu birthday party for you, would you come?" Anything to impress her. He could be her personal hero, at least for the evening.
Riley laughed out of unease, but also a flutter of excitement. "You would do that for me?" She asked in surprise.
"Absolutely." Cody immediately answered without hesitation. He felt a rush of pure teenaged hormones, excited by the very thought he had somewhat impressed her.
Riley looked over her shoulder at her door, afraid that with this immensely defiant idea would somehow trigger her parents to appear out of the blue. Her mind raced – picturing like on TV, where a kid faced with a dilemma was being taunted by both a devil and an angel version of herself, perched on her shoulders.
"Ummm, well…" The idea, at its very nature, both excited her and frightened her. She was being punished for this very thing right now, and had even been presenting her case to her parents that she'd learned from her mistake, and here she was seriously considering breaking the same rule. But then again, how lame were they being by not telling her about the SAT conflict, for taking away her once-in-a-lifetime Sweet Sixteen party, and not even letting her out of the house for good behavior once in a while? And she was stuck babysitting her brother and sister, here in the prime of her life, and had to do chores whenever they felt like making her. Really, what's the worst that could happen – getting grounded for longer?
"Sure." She agreed on a whim, be damned with the consequences. On the other end, Cody's heart fluttered with excitement and adrenaline. Finally, he might have a chance with her.
"Sweet. I'll make sure all our friends are there, and I'll have my cousin pick us up some booze…"
"Cody, wait. I don't know if alcohol is such a good idea." She cut him off, and as she did, heard the creaking of floorboards just outside her bedroom door. Her heart immediately skipped a beat, fearing that someone was eavesdropping on her conversation. "Hold on, Cody." She whispered into the receiver as she walked to her door. In a flash, she opened it to find Carly's ear pressed up to the doorway. At the sudden rush of air, Carly's head whipped around to find her older sister glaring down at her, looking thoroughly displeased, but also a bit worried.
"Carly Nicole!" Riley scolded her little sister, thinking she sounded way too much like Sara. Partially, she was relieved that it hadn't somehow been one of her parents, but she had also been caught using the phone, and Carly was known to be a tattle-tale when it came to witnessing Riley doing bad things. Carly's eyes narrowed at her sister in suspicion, not willing to be intimidated, and received an evil glare from her sister as she brought the phone back to her ear. "I have to go."
The phone clicked off, and Riley grabbed her sister's upper arm, pulled her into the room, and closed the door firmly behind her. "Were you listening in on my conversation?"
Carly took a seat on Riley's bed, crossing her arms to make herself look more intimidating. "Yes, and I know you were being naughty! You're not supposed to be on the phone."
An eye roll from Riley. "Oh my God. Who are you? Dad's spy?"
"No, but you're disobeying him and that's really really bad!" Her face was quite serious, naming off her oldest sister's offense. Since she'd been going to counseling, she'd become better at defending and sticking up for herself, which was good in many capacities, but not so great for Riley at this moment. The kid was also way too much of a goody two shoes. She needed to break the rules a little more often – it was quite liberating.
"Yeah, well if you tell on me, I might not be able to keep our little secret about you pushing Nolan and breaking that plate." Riley threatened smartly, putting her hands on her hips. Carly's face immediately lowered and she looked at her feet, which were now nervously nudging each other's. Riley knew she had been victorious. "That's what I thought. You don't tell on me, and I won't tell on you."
Her eyes were met once again by Carly's, filled with worry, but also with the knowledge that Riley was older, smarter, and stealthier than she was. "But you're not supposed to go out at all, and I heard you talkin' about alcohol!"
Riley feigned that her comment didn't bother her. If she spilled even a little, her parents would surely found out the whole truth. "What do you know about alcohol?"
"That it's bad for you." She replied quite decisively.
"It is if you don't know what you're doing. Believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing, and I won't get hurt or caught, as long as you keep your mouth closed about this. Deal?"
The little girl pondered her options for a few moments. She knew it was wrong to keep this from her parents, but Riley had threatened to tell on her, and she really hated being in trouble. Besides, Riley surely knew what she was doing, like she said.
"Okay. Deal." Carly extended her arm and the sisters shook on it, though it didn't feel completely right to either girl. Riley felt bad that her sister would have to practically lie for her, and that she'd blackmailed her into agreeing to the whole thing. Then again, Carly had blackmailed her also.
"Good. Now scram."
Carly left the room to catch the ending of Aladdin before their parents got home, and Riley made sure she put the cordless phone back on the cradle in the living room. She decided not to say anything to Nolan about not telling on her about the phone, but with a three year old, he acted more suspicious when he had a secret. The kid wasn't really paying much attention anyway, so Riley was pretty sure she wouldn't have to worry about him.
Since it was the weekend, Carly and Nolan were allowed to stay up a little later, but when their parents got home at about ten, they knew it was time to hit the sack. They both ran to their mom and dad when they came through the garage door, but Riley remained with her legs draped over the couch arm, channel surfing.
"Was the movie good?" Carly asked them politely, as she was picked up by her father and given a kiss on the cheek.
"It was very good. We liked it a lot." Nick told her as Sara scooped their sleepy son up, who immediately rested his head on her sleeveless shoulder. "Were you a good girl?"
She glanced momentarily at her big sister, but Riley didn't budge her eyes from the television screen. "Yes, Daddy." She assured him. Nick caught her slight hesitation, and how she checked with her older sister first, but decided not
to push anything. If something had happened, he didn't doubt it had been resolved, or that it wasn't that big of a deal. Carly tended to be a big worrier, even about the tiniest things.
"Well, good." He kissed her head again and moved to set her back down on the ground. "Why don't you go brush your teeth and I'll tuck you in."
Carly nodded and scampered off to the stairs to do as instructed.
"Did you have any problems, Riley?" Sara asked their oldest as she sat on the couch with their toddler, to settle him down for bedtime.
"Nope, they were good." She told them, flipping the channel to the news, because she knew her parents liked to watch it whenever they got home. Her father went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Sara knows it will annoy her, but she asks anyway. "And were you a good girl?" She asks with a bit of tease to her voice, because even though Riley sometimes acted it, she definitely didn't treat her stepdaughter like a child.
Shaking her head in amusement and allowing a tiny smile, Riley meets Sara's eyes, showing her amusement at her tone. "Yes, Sara." She jokingly sasses her as Nick steps back into the room, chugging down some ice water. Slowly, he walks closer to where Riley is sitting, and she can't help but feel like he is watching her, checking to see if she really had been as 'good' as she was letting on. Letting out a prolonged 'ahhh' after he'd finished his gulp, he then leans down and kisses his oldest daughter's forehead.
"Thanks for watching the kids, Ry." He tells her thankfully. He doesn't sit down, because in moments he'll need to go tuck Carly in to bed, which makes Riley feel better. She knows he won't be asking her lots of questions, which will reduce her risk of slipping up.
"You're welcome." She tells him a bit dismissively, more interested in the sports update on the news. "How much am I getting paid?" She smirks, knowing she's not getting any money for this. Working for free is a part of being grounded in this house.
"Ha ha." Nick tells her in good humor. They talked about Riley on the way home, and had decided they were pretty impressed at how she was acting these last few weeks. She did what they asked her to do, and hadn't had any slip ups besides being caught making a phone call once, but that wasn't exactly major. They were actually considering her pleas with them to shorten her punishment. "You stayin' up much longer?"
"Yea, I wanna watch Letterman." She told him, keeping her eyes still on the TV. Nick nodded and looked at his watch.
"Well, don't stay up much later than that. I'll need your help with some things tomorrow morning."
"Wonderful." She mocked delight, knowing he had some laborious task for her to do. Funny how they saved the worst chores for when they had someone else to do them. "I'm not getting up before ten."
"We'll see." He tells his daughter, giving his wife a little wink when he sees that Nolan has pretty much fallen asleep in her arms. Nick ruffles Riley's hair playfully, then proceeds upstairs to put Carly to bed. The teenager just sighs and puts her attention back on the news, when she notices that Sara is watching her as she soothingly rubs Nolan's back. Riley steals a glance at her, and is somewhat encouraged, but confused, at the satisfied smile on Sara's face.
"We're proud of you, you know." She tells her stepdaughter, seemingly out of the blue. This whole time, she's been thinking about Riley, and how she's been doing the last few years. Really, she's come a long way from that defensive, scared girl that came to live with them when she was thirteen. She messed up every once in a while, like all teenagers do, but she was making good grades, and got along with everyone in the family most of the time.
Riley doesn't see how this could be the case. "Why?" She wonders out loud honestly. Sure, Sara didn't know that she was now planning on sneaking out the next night, but she hadn't exactly been the most wonderful child the past few weeks. Proud wasn't the first word she'd use to describe how her parents probably felt about her. More like annoyed or disappointed.
"You've been handling yourself well the last couple weeks. You could still be really bitter about being in trouble, but you're being very mature about it. And we're proud of you for that."
The look on her face makes Riley feel a bit uncomfortable, at how much love seems to be there. Does Sara know what she's up to, and trying to guilt trip her into confessing? Why else would she be complimenting her behavior? It's not like she'd been all sweetness and light, willing to help out whenever they needed it. It's because she had to.
"Oh. Thanks." Riley answered simply after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Sara nods and shifts her attention to her now sleeping son. She can sense she's made Riley a bit uncomfortable, but as a parent, she likes to make sure her children know how much she cares, and that she's paying attention to their good deeds.
"Well, I'm gonna go put this one to bed." She says, groaning a bit at her son's growing weight. Sara stands after a moment's struggle, holding Nolan like the big baby he is. "Your dad and I are just gonna hit the sack, too, so can you make sure you turn the lights off when you're done?"
Riley nods and gives her a small smile.
"I would kiss you goodnight, but I might drop Nolan on you."
Riley lets out a small giggle and nods in understanding. "That's fine. Night."
"Goodnight." Sara tells her, and Riley watches her walk up the stairs with Nolan cradled in her arms safely. As she leaves, a strong pang of guilt seeps throughout her body; that kind of feeling you can't really shake off until you tell the truth. Though, like most teenagers, she sometimes acts like she doesn't care what her parents think, and that she has no problem lying and disobeying them, her plans for sneaking out does bother her. And the fact that Sara seemingly has so much trust in her makes her feel even more guilty. She's actually proud of her? For being grounded? Riley wasn't sure if she felt all that good anymore about deceiving them. It just felt wrong, if Sara had so much trust in her, to take advantage of that.
But Cody was going out of his way to put together a kick-ass last minute party for her. It would be lame for her to back out now. Her parents had taught her that it was rude to stand people up if they were expecting you. But, who was she kidding? It was wrong to sneak out, especially when she was already still in trouble. And it was wrong for her to blackmail her little sister into not telling on her. As Riley laid down to go to sleep that night, long after she'd turned off all the lights and made sure the doors were locked, her dilemma kept popping up in her head, no matter how hard she tried to think about other things. Was one birthday party really worth losing her parents' trust for good?