The Richardson List

Carter gripped onto the strap of her backpack, inclining her head when she saw Audrey leaning against her locker. Audrey’s eyes were examining the faces, no doubt searching for Carter’s. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to her friend, but she knew that the minute she came into sight Audrey would begin to brashly interrogate her on the weekend’s absence. Seeing as Carter hadn’t gotten in any type of contact since the night of the party.

Inhaling deeply Carter plastered a smile on her face and waved to Audrey who, instead of what Carter expected, continued to text on her phone. Hiking up her backpack she made her way over to her locker, watching Audrey cautiously.

It wasn’t until Carter banged on the metal beside Audrey’s head did she finally look up, a grin pressed onto her lips.

“Carter!” she exclaimed, engulfing her friend into a tight hug before pulling away beaming. “I have to ask you about your weekend before I spill about mine, don’t I?” Her fingers were laced and brought to her chest, apparently restraining her excitement.

Opening her locker Carter sighed, a smile threatening to appear on her face. “That’s usually how it goes, but go on,” she ushered her friend to spill the exhilarating news she was so ecstatic to tell.

A squeal passed Audrey’s lips as she jumped a little bit, making Carter chuckle as she slammed her locker shut.

“So, when you completely ditched on Saturday,” she paused and narrowed her eyes at Carter who threw her hands up in defence, smiling with guilt. “But whatever, met this new girl. It’s crazy that I never even talked to her before; we’ve totally been in the same History class all year. Anyways, I hung out with her yesterday too! She’s so awesome; you’ve got to meet her!” Audrey gushed, music playing through the school indicating that the students should begin to head to their homeroom.

Carter nodded, not really taking her up on her offer but pleasing the girl nonetheless. And with that Audrey grabbed her wrist and tugged her towards their homeroom, the class that Carter was secretly dreading for it would mean that she would have to see Skye again after their little encounter.

She didn’t know what to expect, this was Skye of course, a rollercoaster at its best. One day you were his best friend, the next you were equivalent to the scum on his shoe. Skye being unpredictable would be an understatement. And as the classroom door came into view a fresh round of butterflies burst in her stomach, the anxiety of what his judgement of her today pumping through her veins.

Audrey barged into the classroom with Carter in tow, deliberately casting a look over to Skye with a smile. He was much too intoxicated with his phone to notice her grin, or her thwarted expression afterward.

“Aren’t you happy for math?” Carter quipped in an attempt to lift her spirits.

It didn’t do much; Audrey stretched her lips into an almost believable smile and dumped herself into her desk but the disappointed still drowned in her eyes. “So happy,” she muttered, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Carter smiled at her anyways before slipping into her assigned seat beside Skye himself, her presence never being acknowledged. She didn’t know what to expect, and she didn’t know if she was happy with the results or not. He continued to ignore her presence until the teacher graced the class with his attendance.

Surprisingly, he closed his phone and slipped it into his backpack that lay abandoned on the floor adjacent to his desk. Not until he regained his composure did he realize that Carter had taken her seat next to him.

“Oh, Carter, hey,” he greeted her nonchalantly, playing with the blue pen in his hands.

She hesitated answering for a moment, flipping through her binder, trying to find the night before’s homework in a ploy to buy some time.

“Hey,” she finally answered; content with her blasé expression.

For the rest of class they hardly exchanged any words. Skye asked about her weekend after the party, she replied with a shrug of the shoulders, unsatisfying him with a simple “nothing”. That was the end of any conversation that wasn’t regarding academics, for Skye frequently asked her questions about that.

Sometimes he’d boast if he knew the answer before she told him, but that was it. And she wasn’t sure if that was relief or disappointment itching in her throat.



Carter ambled down the crowded hallway, searching for any familiar faces but coming up unsuccessful. Audrey had vanished, not appearing by her locker as she usually did before lunch. This troubled Carter, making her wonder why she didn’t come. But as she chewed on her bottom lip, distressed, she heard her name being called out, causing her to glance over her shoulder to see who it was.

It wasn’t Audrey as she had anticipated, but Tiffany instead. Nonetheless she stepped to the side, not wanting to become an obstacle for other students, and waited for the girl to catch up. When she did the brunette was beaming, but she had a certain anxiousness drowning in her eyes.

“Carter, hey, are you buying today?” she asked, both of them heading towards the cafeteria now.

“Um, I was planning to, yeah,” Carter responded, uncertain if she gave her the correct answer.

She assumed she did when a smile formed on Tiffany’s pale lips, a sigh of relief passing through them afterward.

Tiffany pushed open the cafeteria doors, holding it open for Carter who thanked the girl. Inside the familiar buzz of conversation filled the room; almost every table was occupied by some group of friends. Even Skye sat on one of the table instead of outside where he usually sat by the rocks, telling his friends a story it appeared by the wild hand gestures he made. She stared at him for a moment, unable to hear the words that were pouring from his mouth yet still gazing at him.

“Are Audrey and Cole already outside?”

The question caused Carter to snap her gaze back to the girl, mentally cursing herself for gawking at the boy across the room. She hesitated before answering, wondering for a moment herself if her friends were waiting for their appearances.

“I guess so,” she answered indefinitely, shrugging her shoulders to show that she really had no idea.

The brunette nodded her head, heading towards the exit of the café and skipping the line-up to get inside.

“Uh, Tiffany, where are you going?” Carter asked in confusion, following her with cautious footsteps.

Tiffany stopped and turned on her heal to face Carter, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Why wait through that giant line when you can just go through the exit? The cashiers don’t even notice because they have their back to it, you just pop right in and get your food, pay, and your outta there,” she explained before disappearing into the café exit.

This left Carter standing there undecided, for she could either wait for Tiffany to get her stuff and leave, causing Carter to not get a lunch, or she could follow after the girl. She chose the latter for food seemed very appealing at that point and sneakily entered the small café.

Once inside she found that she was able to get in effortlessly, waltzing right in without any trouble. Inside Tiffany was already ordering her food, a slice of pizza, and smiled when she saw Carter figure enter the room.

Quick with her actions, Carter swiftly picked up a fruit cup and waited in line, paying for it before meeting with Tiffany who stood by the exit, smiling at how anxious Carter was.

“Now was it that bad?” she asked in a teasing manner, laughing when Carter mumbled something incoherent under her breath.

Her stomach was still flipping, and as absurd as it was, she felt a little rebellious after her actions. And she had to admit, it did save her a lot of time that she usually spent waiting in that terribly long line.

Carter pushed open the door that led to the outside world, shivering slightly when the wind hit her exposed skin. The suns rays streamed down and bounced off her cheeks, warming them up faintly and causing her to smile. When she gazed upon the open fields she was glad to find both Audrey and Cole sitting at their usual lunch table.

It seemed they both noticed this because they headed in the same direction.

“Thanks again for letting me sit at your table.” Tiffany stared down at her shoes, a light blush dusting her pale cheeks out of embarrassment, contrasting against her usual spunky mood.

With a wave of her hand Carter dismissed the thought.

“Don’t worry about, the more the merrier right?” she attempted to make Tiffany feel a little more comfortable, the edges of her lips turning upwards in a reassuring manner. She returned the smile gratefully, understanding what Carter was trying to do.

Carter looked over to her friends who waved the two over eagerly.

“Hey guys,” she greeted them when she reached the table, setting down her fruit cup and slipping into the seat next to Cole. Tiffany stole the seat across from her, chewing on her pizza the second she sat down hungrily. “Where were you?” Carter asked, directed towards Audrey who was scratching the wooden table.

Audrey lifted her head, grinning guiltily. “Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. I was with Nina. Whoops!”sShe apologized, grabbing her vibrating phone from her purse afterward.

Cocking her head to the side Carter gazed at her friend in confusion. “Nina, who’s Nina?” she asked perplexed.

Waiting until she had written the text, Audrey looked up and a smile sprouted on her mouth. “Nina! That was the girl I hung out with at the party,” she clarified. “You really gotta meet her,” she repeated once again, emphasizing on the really a little more than Carter would’ve liked.

It wasn’t as if Carter had a problem with this, but she wondered if she would even like the girl who was obviously become a large part in Audrey’s life.

“Do you know her?” Carter looked over at Cole who shook his head, still gnawing away at his grilled cheese sandwich.

“I’ve met her before,” Tiffany spoke up, never taking her eyes off her lunch in the process. “We used to be friends.” When she said this there was a slight bitter undertone to her voice that was barely detectable.

Audrey didn’t seem to notice this though. “Really? Isn’t she great? Did you know that she’s a nine? Just like me!”

Carter inwardly groaned at another reference of the stupid list, almost vocalizing the point that she had hung out with Skye himself despite her low rating. Almost was the key word, for she never did, rolling her eyes instead and earning a chuckle from Cole who was the only one who noticed.

Tiffany nodded her head even though she didn’t seem to really think so. “Yeah,” she answered unconvinced. “Really great,”

At this Carter felt tempted to ask why she didn’t seem to like her, but felt that topic would be better left to bring up once Audrey, Nina’s friend, wasn’t around.

“So, it seems you’ve stopped copying me.” Cole teased playfully, pointing at the fruit cup that stood in front of Carter.

Carter popped off the lid and poked her fork into one of the grapes forcefully. “One, I was not copying you. And two, I happen to like fruit cups,” she defended herself, popping the grape into her mouth afterward.

He chuckled and rolled the napkin he had into a ball.

“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” he said sceptically, causing Carter to groan and slap her palm against her forehead, making both Audrey and Tiffany giggle at her dismay.

This made Cole’s grin only broader, irritating Carter just that much more. “Go die a painful and suffering death in a hole,” she mumbled with a glare in her eyes while staring at the fruit.

Cole laughed and wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “You’d miss me too much.” And as much as Carter didn’t want to, a smile found it's way to her lips.