Chapter 8

Riker POV

After hearing the crash, I sat up too, ready to get away if I needed to. Megan inched backwards toward me. Then, Megan and I both saw something move in the dark. I immediately stood up, pulling Megan with me. I put my arms around her protectively, and backed up to the other side of the room.

"What do we do!?" Megan whispered so quiet, I could barely hear her.

"Stay here," I whispered back.

I crawled forward on my hands and knees, grabbing a flashlight near my sleeping bag. I crawled quietly back to where Megan was, stood in front of her, and quickly turned the flashlight on, shining it toward the other side of the room.

Megan's cat looked up from on top of a pile of boxes, jumped down, and ran up the stairs. I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked back to my sleeping bag. I was so distracted, I didn't even realize how bad my headache was until now. I groaned slightly, laying down again.

"Are you ok?" Megan asked.

"My head just hurts," I said.

"From falling or headache?"

"Headache."

"Do you want Tylenol?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just really killing me right now."

"No, it's fine."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"If you feel up to it, you can. Otherwise, you can stay down here."

"I'll come…"

Megan and I slowly snuck up the stairs, trying not to wake anyone. But after all the noise caused by her cat, I wasn't too concerned they would wake up. I followed Megan into the bathroom, where she opened the closet, pulled out a bottle, and handed it to me. We walked back into the kitchen, and Megan got me a glass of water. After taking the pill, we walked back downstairs, and got in our sleeping bags.

"Goodnight," said Megan, quietly.

"Goodnight," I whispered back.

I laid there for what felt like forever, until I could see it getting lighter outside. It wasn't sunny because it was still raining, but it was a little bit lighter now. I was never actually able to fall back asleep. My headache kept me awake, so I just laid there. Surprisingly, I wasn't too bored though. I had too many things to think about. I was absentmindedly rubbing the scratches on my side, and when I realized I was doing that, I felt awful about later today, because it reminded me about my first fall yesterday. I slowly moved my wrist, which still hurt pretty bad. There was no way I could play at the coffee shop. But they could probably manage without me just this once.

There still wasn't too much light in the room, but now that it was morning, I could see a little bit. I decided to sit up and go on my phone to pass the time. Sitting up with a headache made me slightly dizzy for a second, but I was more comfortable now that I wasn't laying on the concrete floor. I tried going on the internet, but it wasn't working since the power was still out, so I laid back down and closed my eyes.

Eventually, everyone started waking up.

"Ugh, I'm soooo tired," said Rocky.

"Me too," said Ellington.

1 Hour Later…

Megan POV

We had all just finished having breakfast. It was still raining out, but it was supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so I was looking forward to that. The power had come back on while we were eating breakfast, so everyone was really happy about that.

"So Riker, how's your head feeling?" I asked.

"It still hurts a little bit, but it's better," said Riker.

"Oh, how's your wrist!? Can you play today?" Asked Rocky.

"I really don't think so. I'm sorry guys. I know I won't be able to press down on the strings. I almost dropped my glass of water this morning. I just need to rest it," said Riker.

"But we've never played without you before," said Rydel.

"I'm sure you guys will be fine," said Riker.

A Few Hours Later…

Riker POV

"Ok, well we have to leave, so we'll see you in a few hours," said Rocky.

"Ok. Have fun," I said.

Everyone walked out the front door to leave for the coffee shop. I was left to sit by myself alone on the couch. I decided to go upstairs and try to get some sleep. I had barely gotten any last night. I fell asleep thinking about Megan. I knew she was an R5 fan, but she was different. Normally fans were crazy and always wanted to kiss us and do crazy stuff like that. But she was like a normal girl… It was just my luck, the only girl I liked, probably didn't like me back.

The Next Day…

Riker POV

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Rocky asked.

"Yes I'm sure. You know I don't like history," I said.

"Fine. We'll see you later then," said Rocky, walking out the door.

My parents, siblings, and Ellington were all going on a tour of a historical site today. I just didn't feel like going. First, I wasn't really that into history. And second, I was still really tired from the sleepover. On top of that, my wrist still hurt a little bit, and I just wanted to stay home. But things were kind of boring… We still had boxes everywhere, and not much was unpacked. I couldn't lift anything and unpack either, since I couldn't put any pressure on my wrist. It was warm and sunny today, so I decided to sit out on my porch for a little while and figure out some show dates and times.

I was almost finished organizing all the dates, when Megan came walking down her driveway to get the mail.

"Hey Riker," said Megan.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Not much. How's your wrist?"

"It still hurts, but it's getting better."

"So where's everyone else?"

"They went on a daytrip. Nothing too exciting."

"Cool… Did you want to hang out or do something? It's a really nice day out!"

"Yeah I know, it's nice and warm and sunny today. I was actually thinking about going swimming. Do you want to come?"

"Sure, I'll go put my swimsuit on."

A few minutes later, Megan came back. We walked together to my backyard. Megan spread her towel out next to the side of the pool, and laid down on it. I stepped up on the diving board and jumped in. When I came back up, I swam over to her.

"You're not coming swimming?" I asked.

"It's so sunny out. It'd be a nice time to get a tan," said Megan.

"Do you not like swimming?"

"No, it's not that…"

"Well then what is it?"

Megan turned to face away from me, and didn't speak.

"Megan?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok, sorry…"

I practiced my dives while Megan laid right where she was, and it was getting a little bit boring. I got out of the pool and sat down next to Megan, my feet dangling in the pool. She heard me come over, and opened her eyes.

"What?" She asked.

"Will you come swimming now?" I asked.

"I don't really feel like it."

"Come on! You've been laying there forever! I have no one to play with!"

"Riker, I don't want to. Why can't I stay where I am?"

"Because that's no fun!"

I grabbed her arms, pulled her up, and dragged her to the diving board.

"Riker! What are you doing!?"

"Come on!"

"Would you let me go!?"

"Not until you're in the water!"

"Riker!"

I now had Megan standing at the very edge of the diving board. I was standing right behind her, keeping her from getting away. I slowly kept pushing her forward.

"Riker, seriously, let me go," said Megan.

"Come on, just jump in!"

"Riker! Seriously! Stop!"

"Why are you so freaked out!? Come on, jump!"

Right as I pushed her into the water, I heard Megan scream the words "I can't swim" and I jumped in after her. When we both came to the surface, I immediately grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the side of the pool.

"Megan, I am so sorry! I didn't know!"

Megan stopped coughing and got out of the pool. As she started walking away, she turned back to me.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Megan! Wait!"

I hurriedly pulled myself out of the pool, and ran after Megan, who was going back to her house. I caught up with her just as she opened her front door.

"Megan, wait!" I yelled.

"Get away from me!" Megan shouted.

I grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"TOBY HELP!"

Toby came sprinting down the stairs.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Shouted Toby.

"Megan, can we talk about this!?" I asked.

"Riker, let go of my sister! Now!"

I reluctantly released Megan, and watched as she ran upstairs.

"What were you doing to her!?" Toby shouted.

"Nothing! I just really need to talk to her!"

"No, you don't! You need to leave. Now."

I heard Toby lock the door as soon as I left. I walked back to my house, frustrated.

It wasn't my fault! I didn't know she couldn't swim! I thought we were just having fun. I didn't know!

Toby POV

"What did he do to you!?"

"He pushed me in the pool!"

"WHAT!? Are you ok!?"

"I'm fine, just mad! You know how scared I get!"

"You seriously don't know how bad I wanted to punch him in the face!"

"Toby, stop. I'm mad too, but you shouldn't talk like that! He didn't know."

"So you're defending him now?"

"Well I'm mad I got pushed in the pool, but it wasn't exactly his fault. It wasn't like he pushed me in, knowing I couldn't swim."

"But I was right! I told you I didn't think it would be a good idea to hang out with him! And look what happened!"

"I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but you said to call you if I ever needed anything, and I did. So no matter what I do now, you need to know that you can trust me!"

"I do."

"Really?"

"Megan, I really do. Now do you want me to go over to his house and kill him?"

"Toby! No!"

"I know, I know. It was worth a shot though."

Rydel POV

"So what do you guys think Riker did today?" I asked as we turned onto our road.

"Probably hung out with Megan," said Rocky.

"Oh stop," I said.

"No, I actually think he likes her though."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

We pulled into our driveway and got out.

"Riker, we're home!" Ross called, once inside.

Silence.

"Maybe he's not home," said Ellington.

"Yeah, probably hanging out with Megan. I'll go check our bedroom," said Rocky, running upstairs.

Rocky POV

"Riker!?"

I walked into our bedroom to find Riker laying on his bed, staring back at me.

"What are you doing!?" I asked.

"Nothing…"

"How long have you been doing nothing?"

"A few hours now."

"Why!?"

"I don't know…"

"Well how are you feeling?"

"Lousy…"

"Does your wrist still hurt? Or is it your head?"

"I don't know… I think I'm just going to take a nap…"

"Are you sure you're ok?

Riker turned over on his bed, facing away from me. I sighed.

"Ok, well, we'll be downstairs if you need anything," I said, leaving the door open on my way out.

"So did you find him?" Asked Rydel.

"Yeah, he's in bed. He's not really feeling like himself I guess…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not really sure…"