ZOEY ANDERSON- POV
I followed Riley's lead as we headed back to his brother. I was quite nervous to meet him. Meeting any person I wasn't familiar with was always nerve wracking. When I met Huey, I couldn't believe how much he and Riley resembled each other. Just from hearing him introduce himself and speak, I could tell that he was the exact opposite of Riley.
We later on arrived at their house, which was very nice. I have to admit, by Riley's demeanor, I didn't expect him to live in a neighborhood like this. Huey dropped us off and we walked inside of the house. As I walked inside, I looked around admiring some of the antiques in the Freemans' home. I looked the other way and saw an old man sitting in a recliner chair.
"Granddad, this is one of my classmates from school, her name is Zoey. We're working on a project together, so I just wanted you to meet her"
"Hello sweetheart" he said with a smile on his face.
I smiled and waved. "Your home is lovely Mr. Freeman"
"Thank you sweetheart"
After our short chat, Riley leaded me to his room, which was shared with his brother. One side of the room had clothes on the floor with thuggish posters on the wall. I immediately knew it was Riley's side. I took a seat on his bed, getting out my notebook and pen. "Okay- so I guess we can finish where we left off?" I asked referring to the art project. I watched him as he took off his hoodie exposing his white wifebeater. He then got his sketchbook and sat down next to me.
"You not hot with that black hoodie on?" he asked touching my sleeve.
"No, I'm fine-have you ever worked with pastels before" I asked quickly trying to change the subject.
"yeah I have. I prefer using spray paint though. You can make a beautiful work of art on a big building for everyone to see. I think that's much better than using pastels on a small canvas…but can I ask you something?"
I sighed at him going off subject once again " yeah, go ahead Riley"
"Ever since you came to this school ,you been wearing nothing but long sleeves shirts. You hardly ever show your arms and why you always got to wear that dark ass make up on your face?- I'm sure you look 10x better without it.."
I paused quietly looking at him as he looked at me waiting for an answer. I didn't understand why cared so much – why couldn't he just let me be and drown in my sorrows.
"You seem to notice a lot of things about me Riley..why is that?" I asked in a soft tone.
" I'm just trying to figure you out- but don't try to avoid my question. Why do you wear the long sleeves and pile makeup on your face when you don't need to?"
I took off my black hoodie, revealing my long sleeve black shirt. " I wear long sleeves because of this" I said, pulling up half of my sleeve exposing old faded scars and even some fresh cuts that were covered with pink band-aids. It was scars that came from me cutting myself. I watched him as he grabbed my arm and looked at my scars in silence. After examining my old and fresh cuts, he finally responded.
" Why you doin this to yourself?" he asked in soft whisper. I swear that was the softest sound I ever heard him make, especially compared to when we're in class.
I turned my head the other way and replied "because I'm worthless. I hate myself so much-you just wouldn't understand Riley"
" I don't get it. You're pretty even with the shitty make up on your face. You got some nice eyes and nice lips too. I mean you skinny, but there's nothing wrong with skinny girls- I just don't understand why it's always the pretty girls that think they're ugly, when all them ugly bitches at school walking around like they fucking GOLD."
"It's hard to explain Riley—like I said before..you wouldn't understand"
He looked at me once again, as if he was trying to solve a puzzle, but I knew he would never put the pieces together.
"You know what I think?" he asked
"….what?" I asked while looking at the floor.
"I don't think your favorite color is black. I think it's just an excuse for you to hide behind who you really are. You dress in black to hide because you don't want to be noticed and I think that's bullshit because you are a beautiful person Zoey-believe it or not.
"—and you know what else I think?"
"what?" I asked looking up at him
" I think you should take that ugly ass makeup off?- you don't need it"
I shook my head from side to side "I can't do that Riley"'
He grabbed my hand pulling me off the bed. "get up and follow me"
Authors Note: Okay guys, well I made it to 3 chapters, so this will probably be where I stop until I get some reviews. I just wanted to give you a decent amount of chapters to get the feel of the story, but I can't continue if don't get feed back. So if you like the story, leave reviews –au revoir my loves