Breaking Down the Unbreakable

"Riley, get up before I have to make you." Avery was pounding on the door to my room but I was still in bed, grateful for the lock I had. I wasn't about to get up.
I mean school started at 8 and it was 6:30. Was he serious?
"Avery go away! I'll get up when I want to." I threw a shoe I had near my bed at the door just to make my point.
Of course, he knew that now that I was awake, I wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, so he walked away and left me to soak in the warmth of my bed and the thoughts coursing through my brain.
Last night after our little encounter in the pink room, Seth and I went downstairs and ate dinner with his mom, my grandpa, and Avery. The dinner was great, but I found myself not enjoying it. All I could think about were the things Seth and I had said not 20 minutes before.
It was like he'd flipped a switch and now he was pleasant Seth, sitting quietly at the table, expression between happy and bored. Maybe it was just for his mom. Maybe he didn't want anyone to question where he'd been for 10 minutes. Maybe he was trying to prove to me he wasn't as black and white as I thought he was. No matter what the reason, I was able to figure out he was a very good actor.
Every once in a while, when the conversation turned away from him, I would notice his expression slipping back to the one he'd worn at school. His I-Don't-Need-Anyone expression. But instantly it would switch back as soon as he saw his mom smiling at him.
The mysterious man and he small blonde girl never showed up. I knew there was something to that, but I didn't want to ask. I didn't want people to know I was sneaking around the house. I mean, Seth knew, and that was bad enough.
I pulled my body out of bed and tripped into the bathroom, taking a quick shower and doing my hair. I pulled it up into a ponytail and went back into my room to change.
I pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, a black v-neck that was a little too small and my older brother's Jack sweatshirt again.
I found my shoes and pulled them on, grabbed my backpack that I probably wouldn't need and threw it on my bed.
Looking at the clock, it was only 7:15. Dang.
I stood up and walked over to the window. I'd figured out yesterday that the 2 windows in my room faced Seth's house and the park behind the neighborhood.
I peeked through the blinds and saw a room I hadn't seen yesterday. That was probably the room across from the pink room. I was soon no longer wondering what room it was because a second late Seth walked in wearing a pair of jeans. Seriously. That was it.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, and I've got to be honest. He had a nice body.
I knew I'd have to tear myself from the window before he looked over and saw me, so I forced myself back to the bed and grabbed my backpack and made my way downstairs.
"Good morning, Riley." My grandpa was standing in the kitchen with a cup of coffee smiling at me.
"Morning." I replied. There was nothing good about the morning. It was a fallacy that people created to make themselves feel better about having to wake up. "Where's Avery?"
"Oh, he got a ride from a friend." I grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and a glass of orange juice throwing them down my throat.
"He has friends? That's amazing." I rinsed the cup out in the sink and placed it in the dishwasher.
"Well, he feels it's important to have other people like him. Something I hoped you'd have caught from him." He placed his cup down and watched me.
"Papa, I don't care what people think. It honestly makes no difference to me. But if it makes you happy, I did make some friends yesterday. And they invited me to a party tonight." I saw his eyes light up. Of all the schools and cities we've lived in, I made maybe 3 friends and I don't speak to them anymore. And they definitely never invited me to a party, so unlike normal adults that hear the word party and instantly want to know about supervision and alcohol, he just smiled.
"That sounds like fun." My grandpa was so strange. But I did love him.
"Yeah. I'm sure it will be. I'm going to get going. I've got just enough time to walk to school."
"Hija, you don't have to walk."
"Papa, I'm not about to let you drive me to school." I patted his shoulder and smiled at him before I grabbed my bag and headed out of the house.
I hit the pavement and headed in the opposite direction I'd walked yesterday.
And this time I didn't freak out when the stupid red car pulled up next to me.
"You know this is getting really old." I kept my focus on the ground. I had a feeling if I looked at him I'd start thinking about how he'd been that morning, and I didn't want to feel guilty for 'spying' on him.
"What?"
"You following me. You showing up wherever I am. You being around in general."
"Well I can't help the school thing, my mom likes your grandpa. She thinks he's really sweet and I was going to offer you a ride again. I mean, you'll be late to school if you walk."
"And why do you care? I'm just like everyone else, so why should I get special treatment?" I let a small grin appear on my face, and I didn't have to look at him to know I'd struck a nerve.
"Look, I just wanted to be nice."
"So basically, your mom told you to."
"Yeah. If I don't at least offer, I probably won't see the sun for a few weeks."
"Oh, so I'm a ticket to the outside world? I thought you hated the outside world."
"I like to keep my options open. So you want a ride or not?"
I glanced at my watch and decided why not.
"If I die in your car, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life." I gave him a pointed look but slid into his car nonetheless.
"I'll keep that in mind." And he sped off. Only he turned the wrong way.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to pick up Dominic." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
He turned into a neighborhood of large white houses and stopped in front of one that for some reason stood out. I wasn't sure if it was just the tall guy standing on the front porch wearing straight-legged jeans and a band tee or if it was something else, but it was definitely something.
The guy I had to assume was Dominic popped into the back seat of the car behind me.
"Hey man. Who's the chick?" The chick? He did not just call me a chick.
"Hey Dom. This is Riley." I turned around in my seat giving him a sugary-sweet smile.
"If you call me a chick ever again, you won't live to say you're sorry." I turned back around and stared out the windshield.
"Don't mind her dude. She's PMSing or something."
"Seth, if I was PMSing, I wouldn't have given him a warning." My eyes stayed focused on the stoplight in front of us, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed him turn to look at me.
"Sure thing, sweetheart." the light turned green, but before he could step on the gas I socked him in the arm.
"My name's not sweetheart. And If you want to test me, go ahead." I tilted my head. "I dare you."
"Dude, I have a feeling she'd win. Don't even go there." Dominic who'd been mysteriously quiet since my threat piped up.
"He's smart. I like him." I said to Seth watching as the school came into view. He pulled into a parking space and I flew out of the car and into the school office for my aide period.
But not before noticing all the people, mostly of the female persuasion, staring at me. Or rather glaring. All the faces said the same thing.
What was I doing in the same car a Seth Rider?
And how could they get the same treatment?