Falling for my Best Friends Brother

Friday May 15, 2009(a.k.a. the day before my birthday)

Study Hall– 20 minutes before school gets out.

I sat there staring at the clock that would control how long the anxiety would eat away at me. The clock ticked away the final minutes of class as I sat there dreading for when the bell would ring and send everyone on their own chattery rampage through the hallways. All of them heading in different directions to pursue their own social lives, but tomorrow at least half, or more, of everyone in the halls would be pouring into Bailey’s house for my birthday party.

If you could even call it my party anymore. The party planning had gone out of control. Bailey invited so many people, I’ll be surprised if I even know half the kids that show up.

To most soon-to-be sixteen year old girls, they would freak out if their best friend in the whole wide world took over planning their big party, but I’m not most soon-to-be sixteen year old girls. To tell you the truth, I was thrilled Bailey took over. To me, throwing a party would be ordering some pizza and popping in a movie. To Bailey, she’ll go all out just to have a good party. She invites groups of people, hires DJ’s, sets up lights, buys loads of food, and sometimes even sets up a bonfire out back.

Normally, if I were going to one her parties, she would make me stay the night so I would show up about an hour or two after the party started to avoid being stuck there for too long. For anyone else’s shindigs, I’d be polite and say hi, maybe grab some food, and slip out. But this was different. Bailey was having me come over after school where I would stay until Sunday afternoon. That means, I would be trapped in her house for the whole party with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide when I needed to get away.

Parties and I just didn’t mix. I couldn’t stand how every big house party turned into another episode of The O.C. But of course, Bailey drags me with her to all the bonfires and after-the-big-game-win events even though I’d always find a way to sneak out as soon as humanly possible.

As the last minutes of study hall melted away, my mind drifted off. I started to imagine what tomorrow night would bring.

I saw myself standing in the middle of Bailey’s living room with people moving all around me. I managed to push my way through the giant mobs of people dancing and talking the night away when everyone started to sing. At first the noise was undetectable but as it got louder I recognized the familiar song sung at countless parties over the years.

" ...Happy Birthday, Dear Aubree. Happy Birthday to you!"

Clapping erupted and I was being given hugs and smiles from numerous people, some that I knew, others not as well. There was a low mumbling sound coming from behind me that grew louder and louder by the second. Happy Birthday Aubree. I turned to look into the blue eyes of a muscular god. My stomach was in knots and my brain turned to mush.

The bell finally rang, snapping me out of my daydream. As I rushed down the hallway to my locker, Bailey and Ryan were waiting for me.

"Aubree I’m so excited for you to see the decorations! And I know you are too even if you won’t admit it." Bailey pulled me into a hug and started jumping around.

"Yeah I guess. But I need to stop by my house to grab my stuff. Is that okay?" She finally released me from her iron grip and held me at arms length.

"But of course my darling! I shall call upon brother to drive you to your destination." She tried to say with her best British accent.

I gave Bailey a weird look and turned to Ryan. "Is she okay?"

Ryan just shook his head and laughed. "Is she ever?" Bailey playfully scowled at him and pointed her finger at him.

"Watch it mister." We all laughed and I turned to leave.

"I’ll see you guys at the house." I waved and then hurried down the hallway to find Riley before he left.

*****************

"Hey beautiful."

Leaning next to his car, where he usually is after school, was Riley. He turned to face me and pushed himself off his car to start walking towards me.

"Hey. Um, can you do me a favor?" I looked up into his eyes and bit my lip to keep myself from smiling like an idiot.

"Anything for you, my dear." He said in a British accent as he took my hand and lightly brushed his lips across my knuckles. My cheeks flushed red and I looked away to hide my newly found color. I wonder what's up with him. Riley usually isn't this...flirty.

"What is it with your family and British accents?" I joked with him.

"What do you mean?" Riley looked at me with a quizzing stare and smiled.

"Never mind. Can you give me a ride home? I’ve gotta grab some stuff for the party tomorrow night." He raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

"What kind of stuff?" Riley smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. I just laughed at his goofiness and got in his car.

"Ya know, for as long as you’ve been friends with my sister and I’ve been dropping you off, I have never seen the inside of your house." He was looking out the back window as he pulled out of the parking space he was in so he didn't see the worried expression that shot across my face.

I swiped the look off my face just in time for him to turn back towards me. "Well you’re not gonna see it today. I’m just running in to grab my bag and running out. 2 minutes at the most." He just shrugged his shoulders and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Alright. If you say so." We drove in silence until we pulled into my driveway and I noticed my dad wasn’t home. Thank god.

My mom had passed away when I was only five years old and my dad’s been raising me ever since. After we moved here to Indiana my dad was dealing with his depression by going out every night and drinking his life away. He was hardly ever home because he was out drinking with his friends and some nights he didn’t even come home. He always smelled like cigarettes and whiskey, which the house was permanently soaked in.

"Pleeeeeeeease can I come inside!" Riley begged from the seat beside me.

"No! No I’m gonna be 2 minutes. Just stay put." And I rushed out of the car before he could protest.

There’s no way I could let Riley see where I live. Compared to his house it would look like a dump. It would look like a dump compared to any house. And what if my dad came home while we were here? He’d freak out

"Now where did I put my bag?" Oh great now I’m talking to myself.

"Is this it?" The sound of someone's voice made me scream and I turned around to see Riley was standing in the doorway holding my bag. Riley! He wasn’t supposed to come inside!

"Um...yeah. Thanks." I timidly walked up and took my bag from his hand. "You uh...weren’t supposed to see all of this." I raised my arm and made a gesture around the living room. Definitely not what I wanted Riley to think of my house.

The house was far from how it was when we first moved in. Before that walls were painted and off-white color and evrything was seemingly put together. Now the couch was a mess with dried beer stains covering the cushions, old brown and smelly shag carpet, and a hole in the wall from when my dad got mad one night.

"Aubree, it’s not that...it doesn’t..." He was speechless. I couldn’t blame him. I mean compared to his house, mine looked even crappier.

"Riley. Stop. I know my house looks like crap, but really, we have to go." I tried turning him around to go out the door when I saw a big shadow of a man standing in the doorway.

"Shit." I whispered to myself but Riley heard me and stared at me with a concerned look on his face. I met his stare with a terrified glance at the door and back up to Riley. "My dad." I mouthed the words, too afraid to say anything out loud.

"Aubree. What are you doing home?" Terror ran through my veins like never before. I glanced down to see that my father was holding a brown paper bag with the neck of a glass bottle poking out of the top.

"Answer me Aubree. Why are you here with this boy?" He nodded his head towards Riley and gave him and angry stare.

"Uh...dad, it’s fine. He’s Bailey’s brother. We’re just here because I forgot my bag." I was starting to shake from all the tension in the room. There were only a few times when I’d been this scared of my dad and Riley being here didn’t make it any better.

The screen door squeaked open as my dad stepped his work booted foot through the door and faced Riley and I. My father was a 6'5 tall and towered over Riley’s 6'1 height. His hands were black from the grease he used in the factory and his eyes were starting to become permanently blood-shot.

He turned to look at me with a deadly stare. "What, your too much of a dumb ass to remember your bag? Jesus Aubree, what would you’re mom say? Sleeping around, sneaking guys into the house while no one’s home, then planning to sneak out?"

"No dad that’s not what–" I was thrown to the beer soaked carpet with a sharp pain rising in the side of my face. (Deja Vu?)

"Don’t give me any excuses. Just pick yourself up and get out." He threw his bottle to the floor and it smashed into a million different pieces inside the paper bag and walked down the hallway to his room and slammed the door.

Tears began to sting my eyes but I held it together. I’d been crying enough lately.
Riley bent down to help me stand up and I could see on his face that he was clearly freaked out. "Aubree, Are you okay? I’m so sorry. It’s my fault, I–" I put a finger over her lips to make him stop talking.

"Riley, it’s okay. It's not your fault. He would’ve done that whether you were here or not. Let’s just get out of here before he comes back." We silently walked back to the car and drove to Bailey and Riley’s house.

Riley pulled in and turned to me with apologetic eyes.
"I’m so sorry. If I would’ve known he was gonna hit you, I never would have followed you inside. Please Aubree, I’m sorry." He put his hand underneath my chin and made me look him in the eyes.

I put my hand over his and stared back. "Riley, I’m not mad at you, and there’s nothing for you to be sorry for. It’s not you’re fault. But please, do me one favor?"

"Anything. What do you want?" He looked at me with genuine hurt in his eyes.

"Please don’t mention this to Bailey, or Ryan, or anyone. It’s crazy enough with this party and Bailey being all excited, I don’t need to deal with this all over again." He closed his eyes, his hand still cupped around my face, and nodded.

"Of course. I promise."