The Richardson List

Gazing out the bus window, Carter nodded her head to show that she was listening to Cole’s voice. And she was, sort of. The words seemed to jumble together the second they passed his lips, leaving her to stare out at the houses quickly running from her view completely lost.

It didn’t matter much anyways, since Cole didn’t notice her absent input and continued to relay his night with his girlfriend, Lily, and how he believes that she’s finally secure and that Skye can’t take her away from him now.

The main point Carter was able to catch; it was the small details that seemed to fly right over her and into the streets that were rapidly falling from her gaze.

“Carter,” his voice called to her distantly, but her mind was much to consumed with other thoughts to realize it. “Carter!” he yelled softly in her ear, having for her to snap her eyes to him and snatching her attention effectively.

“Hmm?” she hummed groggily; sleep threatening to seize her consciousness. Blearily she smiled slightly when he chuckled, a grin also appearing on his face.

Shaking his head he gave his friend a teasing, disapproving look. “Do you even know what I was talking about?” he asked, causing Carter to rack her brain for any specific details on the one-sided conversation.

“Lily?” Her voice became higher in question at the end, as if she was wondering if he suddenly changed the topic or not.

Lately she had been zoning out on every conversation, especially ones that bored her before she had a million things on her mind. A night with Lily didn’t seem to pique her interest then, and hardly did anything to keep her mind from wandering now.

Cole raised an eyebrow in mock surprise, gasping slightly.

“Ten points for Carter, then again, that is usually the topic for out bus rides,” he admitted, growing silent after the words had passed his lips.

Carter watched her friend maul over his thoughts for a moment before brightening back up again, wondering to herself what he must be thinking about.

“So how was your night?” he asked politely, leaving Carter to wonder if it was simply procedure to ask or if he was genuinely interesting.

She decided not to think it over and took this as an invitation to rant about how badly her night had gone, with burnt food and the satellite failing on her yet again.

“Well,” she began in starting-tirade-fashion, grinning devilishly as his eyes widened in realization of what he had commenced.

For a moment she sat conflicted onto whether or not to unleash all her anger out on her friend. When a slight smile found his lips and he sighed teasingly, signalling for her to continue, she felt a grin press up onto her lips.

She had really missed taking the bus with Cole.



Standing by Cole’s locker, absently making conversation with him as he stuffed his redundant text books in his locker, Carter began to check her phone religiously for the time. Unlike before when she could easily make it to her class in a matter of minutes from where she stood in the morning, her class was now located at the opposite side of the building.

Cole seemed to notice her frequent checking and sighed, shaking his head.

“If you really wanna get away from me that quick, go hang out with Audrey,” he teased, slamming his locker shut with a bang and quickly locking it up.

“Ha-ha,” Carter said dryly, restraining a smile while trotting up beside him as he began to walk away.

He flashed her a pleased grin, waving high to a guy who walked by.

“Seriously though, I get that you wanted to hang around with the cool guy in the morning yesterday, but you’re seriously cramping my style, where’s Audrey?” he asked playfully, smiling at his friend to make sure he knew she was only joking.

In return, she placed a hand over her wounded heart. “Ouch, that hurts; I guess I’ll leave if I’m so unwanted.” She spoke with mock-hurt, the edges of her lips twitching upward when he chuckled beside her.

“Oh please don’t leave, I’m sorry,” he apologized ruefully, playing along with her theatrics and engulfing her into a bone-crushing hug.

She attempted to swat him away, losing her breath as his books edged into her skin.

“Okay, okay, just stop the pain!” she wheezed, pushing him off her forcefully and catching her breath as he grinned with a hint of pride.

His classroom soon arrived on Carter’s trip to the other side of the school and they were forced to depart, cue another winding hug. It was then she was left alone to trek down the halls by herself, really wondering where Audrey spent her mornings with Nina. It wasn’t that she didn’t like more time to hang out with Cole; it was just to walk was much too far then she would have liked.

Today she had been a little smarter though, picking up her books before she walked with Cole to his locker. This little stunt saved her the rushing time she had spent yesterday quickly fumbling with her locker before dashing to her class. Even though, she was still left using a quick pace to get to her class on time.

Unlike yesterday, on her journey to get to her homeroom, she didn’t encounter Audrey, and was left completing the entire expedition by herself. But when she pushed open the doors to the class her friend had already arrived and was sitting at her desk, texting on her phone inconspicuously.

“Audrey,” she called once she entered the class room, the music still sounding behind her.

“Rousseau!” the blonde greeted her with a smile when she lifted her gaze, slipping her phone into the backpack that sat beside her chair.

Audrey had a habit of calling Carter by her last name, but she took it affectionately if anything.

“Where were you chicka?” Carter asked while furrowing her brows.

Carter stopped in front of Audrey’s desk, quickly snatching the gum pack from the desk top and stealing a piece, chuckling softly when she popped it in her mouth as Audrey stared up at her with a horrified expression. When Carter dropped the packet back onto the desk, Audrey deftly grabbed it and stuffed it in her bag, muttering to herself about being robbed.

“You weren’t robbed, I simply borrowed it.” She smiled at her friend, blowing a small pink bubble and watching as it popped.

The indecipherable mumbling ensued from there on, only to be delayed with a boy walked into the room.

Audrey’s eyes followed Skye once he stepped through the door, who lethargically waved to his buddy Zack. “Hey Skye,” she greeted him with a smile once he passed where she sat.

He looked them both over, his eyes lingering on Carter for a moment longer than she felt comfortable with.

“Hey Carter.” A smirk had slithered onto his pale lips. “Audrey.” He nodded at the blonde before strolling down to his desk and sliding into a chair.

A sigh escaped her lips as she opened up her binder to last nights homework which was thrown together sloppy, half-done. It amazed Carter how she managed to get good marks on her tests when all her notes were so careless and unorganized.

“Hey, wanna hang out after school?” Carter proposed, sneakily stealing one of her friend’s pens from the desk top, bringing it up to her teeth to chew the end.

Audrey contemplated the offer for a moment, pausing stilly. “Well, um,” she hummed in thought, racking her brain to see if she had any plans. “Oh! Yeah, I’m hanging out Nina tonight! Sorry,” she said ruefully, a small pout on her lips and guilt in her eyes.

Carter dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. “Ah, no problem, just asking,” she reassured her friend, flashing a smile before sliding over to her assigned seat next to Skye.

He smirked when she arrived, gazing down at his page and writing something in blue ink. When she sat down he didn’t look up, keeping his eyes downcast.

“Rejected,” he mumbled teasingly, lifting his gaze to be met with a harsh glare.

A chuckle escaped his lips when he noticed her less-than-pleased expression.

“Ah, getting defensive are we?”

Pressing her lips together Carter ripped her gaze from him and pointedly looked in the opposite direction, crossing her arms and huffing.

“Shut up,” she muttered, finding herself at lost for any witty response to that.

A snicker sounded from beside her, stroking her agitation that much more.

“I’d hang out with you,” he said, attempting to look sincere by placing a palm on his chest.

“Oh, of course,” she drawled sarcastically, giving him an incredulous look.

With a shrug a sigh passed through his lips. “You never asked.” He smirked at her when Carter’s eyebrow rose.

She decided not to continue with the conversation, her dignity fading with each word that she spoke. Mercifully, at that moment, the teacher walked into the classroom, familiar big belly and all. He was a fairly strict teacher, and as always his presence caused a slight hush around the class, everyone fearing his wrath that he brought to the chatterboxes.

The class droned on slowly, showing no sympathy to those enduring it. Quietly she completed her notes, finding Skye beside her to be unusually silent.

During most lessons she had learned that he could become quite the nuisance, asking questions constantly and comparing to a five year old. They were odd, random, and usually had nothing to do with the lesson queries, and she hardly knew the answer to any of them.

That day, however, he took it upon himself to be unvoiced, hardly any peeps being heard from him. It startled her when a low chuckle rumbled in his throat, causing her look over at him in question. He seemed to notice because after shaking his head he met her gaze.

“Seriously, who the hell thinks that Hawaii, a state, is a country?” he asked, looking over at Carter.

She shrugged.

“Matt, that’s who; seriously, he put it down as the smallest country in the world. No wonder he’s failing.” He laughed, texting who Carter assumed was Matt on his phone quickly before slapping it shut and slipping it into his pant pocket.

“Isn’t he failing everything?” Carter mumbled, recalling the time he sat beside her in English and epically bombed every test that the teacher threw their way. It was like routine, he would get the test back, swear and groan before shoving it in his chaotic backpack and then acting as if he never received the sheet of paper.

At this Skye sniggered with a grin.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he agreed. “Except History, he’s oddly good at that.”

The boy said with that she assumed was confusion, the expression living for a matter of seconds before being diminished by a smirk.

The teacher turned his back to the wall, staring in their general direction. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Mr. Richardson?” My. Wyler asked Skye darkly, a glare in his eyes.

This of course, didn’t affect him, as many things don’t, and he kept his laid back demeanour well.

“Ah, nothing really other then the fact that your shirt compliments your figure well.” He chewed on his gum with a smile, amusedly watching as the teacher scowled deeply while the class tittered softly at his remark.

Beside him, Carter was also attempting to restrain her laughter, covering her mouth with her hands. The teacher turned his back to the class once more, evidently fuming. Skye looked over and grinned cheekily at her.

“You don’t look so bad yourself today, Carter.”

He grinned as she flushed a bright cherry red, averting her eyes and calling him stupid. But she couldn’t repress the small smile that flashed across her face when he said it.