Chapter 13

Riker POV

I got up from the dock, shivered, and picked up my flashlight from where I had dropped it. I tried turning it on. Nothing. I was left alone to walk up to my house in the dark. I didn't know if I was more scared about the dark, or what I had done to Alex. Why had she run away without saying anything? I started sprinting up the road, so scared I couldn't even feel the rocks under my feet.

"Alex!"

I got over the hill just in time to see her run inside. I ran up to her door and started knocking.

"Alex. Please. We need to talk," I shouted.

She wouldn't answer the door. I saw the light in her room go off. I ran back over to my house.

"Riker! What happened!? You're all wet! You must be freezing!" Rydel yelled as I ran through the front door.

I ignored her and went upstairs to my and Rocky's room. I grabbed my clothes and went to take a shower. If I was showering, nobody could talk to me, and I wouldn't have to tell them what I had done.

Rydel came running up the stairs as I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me.

"Riker! Talk to me! What happened!?" I could hear Rydel yelling.

I started my shower and got in, thinking about the past 15 minutes. What had I done? Was I really that stupid? I didn't think she even liked me, and her grandfather was dying. Now was not the time to kiss her! Ugh! My head started to hurt as I finished my shower.

Alex POV

I ran into my room, closed my door, and shut off my light. I didn't know what to think after everything that had just happened. I jumped into bed, forgetting I was soaking wet, and hid under the blankets, not wanting to ever come out. I could hear Riker knocking on my door. I was not answering that door anytime soon.

Why did he kiss me? Why did he come after me, and jump into the lake? I just didn't understand. I guess now was when I started to actually believe Riker Lynch was in love with me. What!? Crazy.

But why had I run away from him like that? Hmmm… I had never had a boyfriend before. Riker wasn't my boyfriend, but he was my first kiss. I wasn't expecting him to kiss me, so I guess I ran off in shock.

I stayed exactly where I was for a while, in bed, in my wet swim suit, staring out the window at Riker's house and the clock. I watched as it got later and later.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

I couldn't fall asleep. There was too much on my mind, mostly Riker and my dying grandfather.

It was midnight now. I couldn't believe I had stared out the window for so long, crying. I decided to call my mom to see if she knew anything about my grandfather.

"Mom?"

"Hey Alex."

"What's the news?"

"He's been moved into the ICU. It's not looking good. Alex, please try to calm down. Stop crying."

"Mom, I was so much closer to him than you ever were. You don't know what it's like to have part of life being ripped away. Both of your parents are still alive. He's like a second father to me. Why won't you come get me so I can see him?"

"He actually got transferred to a different hospital a few hours earlier. So we're actually 6 hours away."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know. We don't know yet what's going on with your grandfather. The doctors will know more in the morning when he wakes up."

"He's not even awake!?"

"No, he's on this really strong medication because they had to do an emergency surgery."

"Mom, why aren't you telling me these things!?"

"I thought I told you about the surgery."

"No, you told me about the first one, but not the emergency one! Why did he have the second one?"

"They had to fix something from the first surgery. It's complicated. Why don't you just try to go to sleep? Maybe watch some TV or YouTube. What's that band you like? T7?"

"R5, mom. And do you know how long I've been lying in bed, trying to go to sleep? Hours, mom. It's not that easy when you're stressed out about something, LIKE SOMEONE DYING! And I'll never be able to focus enough to watch anything. I just want to be there so bad. I want to see him at least one more time, in case he dies. Can't you please just drive down here and get me?"

"Alex, I can't drive 12 hours just to bring you here. And it's getting late. It wouldn't be safe. I would get too tired."

"Can we at least talk about this?"

"Alex, it's late."

"Mom, I just need someone to talk to right now. This is so hard for me. I'm all alone here, trying to make it through this by myself. It's not that easy."

"So why don't you call Katelyn, or ask her to come over?"

"I can't. She's grounded and she got her phone taken away. She was actually supposed to come over tonight."

"I'm sorry Alex. My cell phone is about to die. How about I call you tomorrow?"

"Mom, please-"

"I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."

I exploded into tears as I threw my iPhone across the room. It landed in the pile of clothes I hadn't hung up yet since the clothing rod had fallen down. I was mad my phone didn't even make a satisfying thud or crash. Nothing was going right.

I screamed into my pillow… Multiple times… I felt so alone in the world and I was in so much pain that just wouldn't go away.

Riker POV

After my shower, I came out of the bathroom to find Rydel sitting on the ground right outside.

"Riker. What was that about?" Rydel asked.

"I can't tell you," I said.

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing. And it's none of your business anyway," I said.

Rydel was about to say something when Rocky and Ross came up the stairs.

"Hey guys. We're going to watch a movie tonight. Come help us make popcorn," said Ross.

"Um, what movie?" I asked nervously.

"Revenge of the Masked Murderer 2," said Rocky.

"Um, I think I'll pass," I said.

"Come on Riker. Don't be such a baby. It's not that scary," Ross said.

"Uh, ok," I said.

I went downstairs and helped get movie snacks together. Rydel didn't say anything else to me for the rest of the night, but I could tell she was thinking about it. I sat on the edge of the couch next to Ellington, and ate popcorn as Rocky started the movie. About 30 minutes into the movie, our parents told us to stop the movie and go to bed. I was saved before anything too scary had happened.

I walked up the stairs to my room and got in bed. I couldn't stop thinking about Alex.

I was having trouble falling asleep. I kept tossing and turning. I finally looked at the clock to see how late it was. 2:47.

I was almost completely asleep, when I heard knocking.

I got up, put my glasses on, stumbled down the stairs in the dark, and walked over to the front door.

"Alex!? Oh my gosh! What's wrong!? I asked, now wide awake.

Alex was standing at my front door, still in her bikini, crying.

This night just got way more complicated.