My Number One Fan

My first class was boring and uneventful. My next class I had with Jeff, but we were both so worn out from everything that’s been going on, we both actually just sat a did our work together. Once the teacher realized she couldn’t stop me and him from working together she agreed to it, as long as we didn’t have our answers word for word. My next class was by myself again, and it would of normally been my favorite class, it was my favorite subject, English, except I was to distracted by things. Melody Carmichael was in my class this period, and knowing Mrs. Watkins, we were doing absolutely nothing but working from our textbooks, making it easy to work with a partner. Melody and I normally worked alone, today however I had a different plan.

“Hi Melody,” I said, walking up to her desk. “Do you know what we’re doing today?”
“Uhm, it’s normal book work.” Melody replied.
“Would you like to work together?” I asked her. She looked up at me quickly, her eyes wide. She, like me, had never been asked to work on something with someone else before, even though we were the smartest kids in the class.
“Uh, sure.” Melody said, starting to gather her books up.
“Stay there; I’ll just go get my stuff.” I said quickly.

I walked back to my desk grabbed my book and a notebook to write my answers on. Now I could talk to her for Jeff, but I still had no idea what to say. I wasn’t good with communication skills. I took my books back to the table Melody was sitting alone and sat beside her.

“So what do we have to do?” I asked, opening my book.
“Distinguish the difference between a simile, a hyperbole, and an idiom.” Melody answered. I thought of something Jeff would have said and started laughing. Melody looked at me weirdly.
“Sorry.” I said. “I was just thinking about what this guy I know would have said about an idiom. He would have been, ‘Idiom? More like idiotom to me.’”

I laughed and saw a small smile form on Melody’s lips. She thought it was funny. That would have been a good sign, but it’s Jeff’s joke we’re talking about here. He’s got the corniest jokes in all of North Carolina. We started working, occasionally looking asking each other if we thought something looked right to them.

“You know Riley, you’re really good with English. You could probably be a good writer if you try it.” Melody said toward the end of the period, after we finished our class work and homework and was watching the other kids rush to turn their assignments in.
“You think?” I asked. I never really thought of trying to write anything.
“I work for the school newspaper. You should try it out sometime. We print things people send in if we think its good enough. Lately we’ve just been adding things that seem good, but they’re really not. No one in this school has any real writing talents.”
“Ok, I’ll try a little something.” I said. She smiled at me and wrote something on a sheet of paper.
“Here’s my phone number, call me anytime before 8. I have a baby sister who’s not fun to deal with if she’s woken up.”
“Oh you have a sister?” I asked, placing the number in my pocket. “I wish I had one, or even a brother.”
“You’re an only child?” Melody asked just as the bell rang. “Want to have lunch together?” she asked me.
“Sure.” I replied. “Is it okay if the friend I mentioned earlier sits with us?” I asked, knowing Jeff would be sitting alone most likely.
“Sure.” Melody said. “So, you really are an only child? Are you really an orphan?” Melody asked as we walked down the hallway.
“No. My mother died and I came down here to live my aunt and uncle, but my father’s still alive. His work makes him travel a lot so he just decided it would be best for me to stay here.” I explained.
“I knew people were spreading rumors, but was it true what happened with that Ron Weston kid? Did he really assault you?”
“Where did you hear that from?” I asked, shocked.
“He’s going around bragging about how you let him feel you up. I knew it couldn’t have been true. You’re too shy a person to let anyone do that, and besides everyone knows you and that Jeff Hardy kid are going out.”
“We’re not going out.” I said, blushing. “We’re just friends. He was the first person I met here, even before I met my family. He’s a really good friend of mine.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have thought it. The two of you spend so much time together, it’s like you’re joined at the hip.” We were just walking into the cafeteria and I looked around. Jeff was sitting at our normal table.
“Look’s like that friend of mine already had lunch plans.” I said to Melody. She nodded and we headed toward the lunch line. Jeff came up behind us and stood in line.
“Hey Riley.” He whispered. “How’s everything going?” I looked and saw he was staring at Melody.
“Good, we’re talking.” I said.
“That’s good, what about?” Jeff asked.
“Oh nothing really, when you and I met, rumors going around the school where people think we’re dating and Ron bragging about what he did yesterday.” The minute the words left my mouth I wished I could take them back.
“Well, let him say whatever he wants. We know he’s got what he deserves coming to him. I owe you big time for this Ri, you know that right?”
“No you don’t.” I said. “That’s what friends are for.”

We went through the line and I went to sit on the other side of the cafeteria with Melody. Jeff took his seat back at the other table, but I could see him watching us the entire period. There wasn’t really much said between the two of us after her comment about Jeff and me dating.

“I’m sorry if I said anything wrong.” Melody said finally.
“No it’s not you. I’m just not good with communication.” I said. “I have a hard time trusting people at first. It’s nothing to do with you, it’s just that I lost my mom at a young age and then I was abandoned by a social worker. Even after getting rescued by the Hardy family, I have this major trust problem.” I explained to her. She nodded in understanding, but I wonder how much she fully understood.
“Well, this was fun.” Melody said as the bell rang again. “Want to work together again tomorrow?”
“Sure.” I said, picking up my lunch tray and taking it to the tray return.

We said goodbye and I started heading toward my locker to switch my books. I threw the books I didn’t need until tomorrow on the bottom and the ones I needed to take home I placed on the top.

“So, did you talk about anything else?” Jeff asked as he popped up beside me at his locker to change his books. We both had science this period and we were doing a lab. Jeff and I were naturally lab partners.
“Not really. Hey Jeff, what would you think of me being a writer?” I asked him.
“I don’t know, I haven’t read anything you’ve written.” he said.
“No, I mean, what would you think of me trying it out?” I cleared up.
“Not a bad idea really.” he said, shutting his locker door and waiting for me to do the same thing. “Why the sudden idea though?”
“Melody suggested it. She said I’m really good in English class, so she thinks I would make a good writer.” I said, shutting my locker. We started walking do the hallway toward the stairs, which would take us to our classroom.
“Really?” Jeff said, smirking. “So do you like her?” he asked me.
“She’s alright.” I said. “I mean, she seems to love gossip and stuff, which I’m not real into, but she still seems pretty cool.”
“Okay. Thanks Riley, like I said, I owe you big time.”
“Do a little bit more work on this lab today and we’ll call it even.” I said as we walked into the classroom.
“Yeah, right. You’re the smart one out of us.” Jeff said. He suddenly froze and stared into space.
“Hey, will you walk with me to see Mr. Morgan?” He asked suddenly.
“Now?” I asked.
“No after class.” he answered.
“I guess so,” I replied, taking my seat at a long table. Jeff plopped down beside me. “Why do you want to go see him?”
“You’ll see later.” Jeff said, pulling his book toward him. Mrs. Milley, the science teacher, just walked in.
“Okay class, we’re going to be doing a very simple lab.” she said. “You’ll be using these strips,” she held up a container of orange strips. “to tell whether something is a base, or an acid. Now, one person come up and gather your supplies while the other start filling out the sheet in front of you.”

With that the class started working. Jeff went to go get the liquids and the strips while I started working on the sheet. I had it half way done by the time Jeff got back.

“All we need to do is the experiment.” I said to him, pulling a few containers toward me and grabbing some of the paper strips. Jeff and I worked in silence for a minute, something we rarely did.
“So, uhm...” Jeff started saying. I looked up to see what he wanted, but he was working harder than I’ve ever seen him work. “This is a base.” He said finally.

I looked and saw it was liquid soap. I turned to our paper and found the correct spot. I checked off it was a base and went back to work. Soon we were completely finished, like normal. What wasn’t like normal though was we weren’t talking at all, and I couldn’t think of a thing to say to him.

“Time’s up class.” Mrs. Milley said after a while. “You should start cleaning up.”
“Are you walking with me?” Jeff asked his voice strangely stiff.
“I-I guess.” I stammered. “Jeff are you okay?” I asked finally.
“I’m fine.” he said, his voice now sounding clipped.
“Are you sure?” I asked again.
“Yes, I’m sure Riley.” he snapped. I froze. That’s the first time he’s snapped at me, ever. He took a deep breath and turned to look at me. “Riley, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Yes you did.” I said, gathering up my books and storming out of the classroom.

I made it to my next class way before anyone else showed up, and I was normally last to reach this room because it was clear on the other side of the school. Of course he meant to snap at me like that. He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t mean it. I didn’t say anything when Matt snapped at me yesterday because he’s done it before. Jeff’s never done it though, that was the first in the eight years we’ve known each other. Maybe my dreams really do mean what I think they do. Maybe I will lose Jeff eventually. I didn’t want to think about it, but I know it was possible.

“Riley, are you okay?” a voice broke through my thoughts. I looked up and saw Mr. Wright, the history teacher, standing in front of me. I nodded, but laid my head on my desk.

Mr. Wright walked on and started the lesson. I didn’t pay attention to what he was saying, but that was normal for me. I loved history, but the subject was boring.

I thought about what I could have said that made Jeff so upset with me. I couldn’t think of anything. I knew I’d see him again next period, but I was thinking about ditching the class. I didn’t want to see him. It would be the last class, so I decided just to head home. By the time I would get home school would be out, so I’d hang around in the woods until I saw the bus drop Jeff off at the end of my driveway.

When the bell rang I turned right, instead of left as I usually would to get to my last class. I was heading to the front doors. I made sure no one was looking before opening the door and stepping out into the sunshine. I started walking away from the school when a noise caught my attention. A bunch of kids were standing beside the building, smoking and talking loudly.

“Hey, where you goin’?” one of the kids asked.

I just kept walking, ignoring the cat calls they shouted at me. Soon those noises were behind me and out of my hearing range. It took about an hour for me to finally get home, but when I did, I wasn’t able to hide the way I wanted too. My father’s car was pulling into the driveway just as I turned a corner, and it stopped dead. Dad got out of the car and leaned against the door.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, slamming his door shut and walking toward me. I freaked and ran into the woods.
“Riley Michelle!” Dad called, following me into the woods. I didn’t know these trees the way I knew the ones on Jeff’s property, so it was easy to say I got lost quickly.
“Riley!” Dad shouted again.

I didn’t call back. I didn’t want him to find me. I knew I would be in major trouble if he did. Not only did he find me ditching school, I ran from him, and he hated when I did that.

“Riley Michelle Ca-Mitchell tell me where you are now!” he shouted.

I froze for the second time today. He nearly called me Riley Calaway, his last name. It wasn’t easy to hear, but I heard the “C” sound before he said Mitchell. I still didn’t reply to him. I didn’t want to be in trouble, and I knew I was lost. After about 5 minutes I realized I couldn’t hear his voice anymore. He must of thought I went to the Hardy’s property. I walked around; trying to find something familiar to get me back home, but I couldn’t find anything. I was officially lost. I don’t know how long I was in here, but I knew that it was starting to get dark now.

“Daddy!” I called. I don’t know how far into the woods I was. “Daddy! Uncle Paul! Aunt Marylyn!” The only noise I heard was an owl hooting, which made me jump. I started moving again, not sure where I was heading.
“Daddy!” I tried calling again.

I was scared, I was lost. I sat down at the base of a tree, bringing my knees up to my chin and hugging my legs, trying to get warm. I didn’t realize how freezing it was tonight. My eyes started to feel heavy. I wanted to sleep, but I knew I needed to stay awake. I needed to stay awake incase someone found me.

“Daddy.” I whispered, the word coming out as a sob. “I’m sorry.” I said.
“Riley!” I heard a voice cut through the darkness. “Riley where are you!?” I recognized the voice as Matt’s. He was looking for me.
“Riley!” another voice called. It was Mr. Hardy. Of course he wouldn’t be looking for me. He hated me and I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Riley Mitchell you tell us where the hell you are right now!” an unexpected voice called. “RILEY!!” it shouted again. It was Jeff. “Riley!!” he sounded terrified
“Gib, have you found her yet?” Uncle Paul’s voice called.
“No luck yet Paul.” Mr. Hardy answered.
“I’m going to kill her when we find her.” Jeff’s voice yelled. “She doesn’t know these trees like ours. She should have known better than to wonder off here.”
“And you should have known better than to take your frustrations out on her Jeffrey!” Matt yelled at him. “Why the hell did you snap at her for something between you and Ron? Don’t you think she’s dealt with enough from the asshole?”
“Boys, arguing won’t find her any faster!” Mr. Hardy yelled. “Now shut up and keep looking.” There was silence except for the occasional call for my name. I would have called to let them know I was here, but I couldn’t get my voice to work. I saw a flashlight move above my head.
“Jeff.” I whispered.
“Shhh, shhh.” someone said. I let out a little sob, and a pair of feet started running around.
“Riley?” Jeff’s voice called.
“J-Jeff!” I called back, finally getting my voice to work.
“Riley, keep talking. Tell us where you are.” Matt called. “Dad! Mr. Calaway! We hear her.” he called.
“Shut up Matt.” Jeff said. “Riley where are you.”
“Here!” I called, hoping they could follow my voice.
“She sounds like she’s over here.” Jeff said. Without warning the flashlight hit me in the eyes, blinding me for a minute.
“Dad! We found her!” Jeff called, kneeling beside me and scraping me up into his arms.
“Riley, I’m sorry.” He said, running his hand over my face. I started sobbing again just as Uncle Paul and Mr. Hardy walked up to us. Matt was standing off to the side, not to sure what to do.
“Matt, carry her back up to the house.” Mr. Hardy said.
“I can.” Jeff said.
“No Jeff, let Matt.” Paul said. “We know you can, but she’s tired and she’ll be dead weight. You might get tired after a while. We’re about a mile away from the house.”

A mile… I ran that far in? I groaned as Matt picked me up. Jeff grabbed my backpack and slung it over his shoulders. They followed Uncle Paul and soon, I seen lights from the house. I buried my face in Matt’s chest, knowing the lights were going to annoy my eyes.

“Mark! Mary!” Uncle Paul called. There was a door slamming open and Dad’s cry of relief.
“Riley!” He shouted. I heard him running down the stairs and up to me and Matt. Matt handed me to him like I was a baby. “Riley, I’m so glad you’re safe.” Dad said, setting me on the ground and bear hugging me. “Why did you run?” he asked. I couldn’t answer. “Riley are you okay?”
“She’s probably tired and weak Mark.” Mr. Hardy said. “It’s freezing outside and we found her on the ground under a tree. She was huddled into herself which was good, but she still had a lot of cold hitting her.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Calaway.” Jeff said suddenly. “I snapped at her during class today and I’ve never done that. I guess she thought I was mad at her and she didn’t want to see me so she left school early.”
“No Jeff, it was me. I seen her walking down the street toward the house and started yelling. I guess I scared her and she ran into the woods.”
“It wasn’t either of you.” Uncle Paul said. “She’s going through a lot right now. You have to remember that. She’s a victim of abuse and…”
“And abandonment.” Jeff said. “She told me on the bus this morning the social worker that was assigned to her abandoned her. That’s how she ended up on our driveway 8 years ago.”
“That’s also why she doesn’t trust people very easily and she feels insecure.” Uncle Paul added. “I think she’s starting to get the feeling she should of when that no good asshole left her.”
“What does that mean?” Jeff asked. I was half asleep, so I couldn’t see anything.
“Let’s get her inside and talk about it there.” Mr. Hardy said. “She’s freezing and nearly asleep.” I felt myself get picked up again and knew it was Dad who had me. The warmth of the house was welcoming. I felt myself get laid on the couch.
“I’ll make her some tea.” Aunt Marylyn said.
“I don’t think you need to Mary.” Dad said. “She’ll be asleep before you get the kettle on.” He sat down beside me, putting my head on his lap.
“So what were you talking about?” Jeff asked. I tried to stay awake to hear what he said.
“She was abandoned. She just lost her mother, she never knew her father. She had nothing to rely on but that social worker.” Uncle Paul said. “When the social worker abandoned her, she probably felt betrayed and hurt. It seemed to her that’s what people did to one another because remember, she was only 7. She was very impressionable. She felt that’s what everyone did, leave each other and not look back. She didn’t really understand when her mother died, and she really didn’t understand when the social worker left her wherever she was left. All she knew when she was growing up before coming here was abuse and neglect. Now you have that Ron kid harassing you and her, Jeff. We’re probably the first impression of human decency she’s had in her entire life.”
“Probably the only ones.” Dad said. “I remember her mother and her mother’s family. They were rich, so they didn’t care about anyone ‘beneath’ them.”
“That’s sick.” Matt said suddenly.
“Riley was probably forced to grow up fast, not unless Samantha’s family disowned her when they found out she was pregnant.” Dad continued. “Even then, she had to grow up. S-Samantha was only fifteen when she had Riley.”
“Fifteen? That’s how old we are now.” Jeff spoke up.
“Yeah I know. That’s why I’m a little apprehensive about the two of you staying at each others houses now.” Dad said, starting to stroke my hair. The movements made my eyes even heavier. My eyes closed fully, but my brain still raced.
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Jeff said. “We won’t do anything like that. We care about our friendship to much to ruin it in anyway.”
“Samantha and I only knew each other a week before we had sex.” Dad said. “I was on vacation in Ohio. I met Samantha and knew I was lost to her. I had to go home a week after me and her were together. Seven years later I get a call from my brother saying there was a little girl that looked like me on his couch. Anything can happen Jeff, even if you don’t plan it. I never planned on getting a girl pregnant and fifteen, and surely didn’t plan on missing seven years of my daughter’s life, but that’s what happened.”
“He was lucky he had us here, otherwise he would have missed out on her life a lot longer.” Paul said. “He could have gotten married and had more kids by the time he found out about Riley.” I couldn’t listen anymore. My brain shut down completely.

~POV: Normal~

A snoring sound startled everyone. They looked down and saw that Riley was asleep. Her body had finally given in to the exhaustion.

“You might want to keep an eye on her overnight.” Gib said. Paul nodded, as did Mark.
“Mark, I’m sorry I snapped at her.” Jeff said suddenly. “I tried apologizing to her right after I did it but she was upset.”
“It’s okay Jeff. I’m sure she’ll forgive you tomorrow.” Mark said, stroking Riley’s hair.
“We watched you on TV last night.” Matt said suddenly.
“You did?” Mark asked, uneasy.
“Yeah, you were awesome!” Jeff said, suddenly perking up. “I went and talked to the athletic director at school today. I was going to try out for the wrestling team.”
“Really?” Gib asked. “When were you going to tell me about that?”
“When I got home from school.” Jeff answered. “That was before we had to go looking for Riley.”
“Oh.” Gib said.
“That did look pretty fun.” Matt spoke up. “I’m actually interested in it as well.”
“Really?” Mark asked, amazed. “I thought you wanted to be a profession baseball player Jeff.”
“Not anymore. Not after seeing that.” Jeff answered. “Will you show us some moves?”
“Not tonight boys. We need to get home.” Gib said. “We’ll come by tomorrow night if you’re going to be here Mark.”
“I’m not going anywhere after what just happened tonight.” Mark replied, looking down at Riley’s sleeping face.
“Okay we’ll see you tomorrow then.” Matt said, walking out the front door.
“Tell Riley I want to talk to her later?” Jeff asked. Mark nodded. “Bye” Jeff said before following his brother.

Gib nodded his head and followed his sons outside. Marylyn locked the front door and headed for her bedroom, Paul right behind her. Mark stayed on the couch and let his head fall backward, falling into a deep sleep with Riley’s head still on his lap.