Chapter 21

Riker POV

I looked up at Kat, but she was a little blurry through my tears.

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"You helped me get through everything."

"How? What about when you thought I cheated on you?"

"Well I mean… that kind of broke my heart. But before and after that, you always wanted to hang out with me and talk to me. You were so encouraging. You always told me that things would get better. I didn't always believe you, but I made it this far."

"Really!?"

"Yeah. I'd be a mess if I didn't have you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just… hard to believe I guess…"

"Why?"

"Well you told me to stay away from you!"

"I know. I just… didn't want to hurt you anymore."

"Well… Ok… But you seemed like you hated me! I just assumed that you never believed me."

"But I said I did!"

"But I thought you hated me!"

"I know… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that. I was just mad."

"At what?"

"I don't know. I just… Never mind…"

I looked down and rubbed my eyes.

"Riker, are you going to be ok? Do you want to talk about anything?"

I want you to love me back.

"No. I'll be ok," I said, standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"The bathroom," I said, leaving.

I closed the bathroom door and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My face and eyes were all red, and I had circles under my eyes. I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face. It didn't really help anything, but it felt kind of good on my hot skin. I dried my face off, and looked back at the mirror. I still looked like a mess. Whatever. I look how I feel. I walked back into Kat's room.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kat asked.

"I'm fine."

Well that didn't sound too convincing. Oh well.

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's Monday. You have school don't you?"

"I won't go."

"Kat, you can't stay home from school."

"Sure I can. I haven't been absent in like forever. It's fine."

"Won't your dad have a problem with it?"

"If I put on an act and cry tomorrow morning about how stressed I am about my mom, he'll be fine with it. He absolutely hates when I cry, because I don't cry a lot, and he'll know I'm really upset. And it'll be early in the morning, and he won't be able to think very straight. It'll be fine."

"I still don't think you should stay home because of me."

"Ok, how about we make a deal."

"Let me hear it."

"I'll go to school on Tuesday, but you have to go home and talk to your family tomorrow night."

"Mmm…"

"Riker, come on. They're your family."

"I don't know…"

"Riker, Rocky has been in tears ever since you left. He thinks it's all his fault because he told on you, and he thinks you hate him."

"How do you know that? That can't be true."

"Ross told me."

"When!?"

"Last night. He's been texting me."

"Really? He cried?"

"Yeah. He's your brother and he loves you so much! He's really worried about you, just like the rest of your family."

"Wait, did you tell him I'm staying here? Does my whole family know?"

"What? No. I didn't tell him."

"Really?"

"I swear, I didn't."

"Then why was he texting you?"

"Because he's my friend and we like to talk."

"Has he asked you anything about where I am?"

"He asked me if I knew where you were."

"What'd you say?"

"I said I didn't know anything."

"Wait, how'd you know where I was the night I left?"

"Well Rocky called me and said you left. I didn't know. I just went running down the road, hoping to catch you before you left."

"I hope they don't know where I am."

"Well your dad found your car and left a note, so he probably figures that you're here. But why don't you want them to know?"

"Because if they knew, they could come over looking for me, and then drag me home. And my parents would hate that I'm staying here because they wouldn't want to trouble your dad."

"Well I don't know if they know or not."

"What do you and Ross text about?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean just like normal stuff. What do you guys talk about?"

"I don't know. Random stuff i guess. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Tell me why."

"I said, I'm just curious!"

Kat rolled her eyes at me.

"Well is it a deal or not?"

"Fine. But, can you come with me tomorrow when I go home? I'm actually really scared. I feel like my parents would go easier on me if you were there."

"Of course I can. You were there for me when I needed to talk to Cody. I'll be there for you whenever you need me to be."