The Richardson List

Shivering slightly from a cool breeze that sailed by, Carter trekked up Cole’s stairs with quick steps, almost tripping on the third step but thankfully catching herself and sighing in relief. Cole’s crisp white door stood in front of her, freshly painted only weeks ago and free of any chips or markings. She knocked softly on it, rubbing her arms feverishly.

Footsteps sounded on the other side and soon the door was ripped open to reveal Cole’s familiar figure. Once he realized it was Carter who was standing outside he smirked and slammed the door shut in her face, causing her to jump back, startled.

“We don’t want to buy your shit,” he called from inside, his voice muffled by the door standing between them.

Once she regained her composure, she sighed heavily, staring at the door through half-lidded eyes and a hand on her hip. After a few moments of waiting, the door slowly began to creak open, Cole peering outside. She raised an eyebrow and he smiled cheekily at her, swinging the door open and gesturing further into the house.

“Why come in, why are you standing out there in the cold?” he scolded Carter in a mock-motherly tone, earning an eye roll. “Come in, come in!”

Stepping into the house, Carter relished in the wave of heat that kissed her tinged red cheeks. Even though it was April, the weather still grasped onto the cold winter air and hadn’t let up yet. Hopefully sooner or later summer conditions would bestow itself onto their town.

She threw her thin jacket onto a nearby couch before dumping herself onto it, watching with curiosity as a man attempted to jump past three giant red balls but fell into the water failing miserably.

“What is this?” she asked in fascination as another person, a girl this time, pathetically tried to complete some kind of course and like the other failed.

Cole chuckled and trotted over to the couch, flopping beside her and resting his feet on the glass coffee table.

“That would be Wipe-Out. It’s pretty much the best show ever,” he informed her, his point being proven when Carter nodded her head, unable to rip her eyes off the television screen. “So is there any reason why you’ve come to my house other than to watch TV?”

For a moment Carter didn’t respond, her attention fixated on the television even though she heard the question. He waited patiently until a commercial came on and Carter was able to process the question fully.

“Well, um,” she hummed, trying to remember the reason she even came which now escaped her.

A sigh left Cole’s lips as he made himself more comfortable, thinking that this could take a lot longer then it should have. Carter didn’t notice him changing positions and continued to rack her mind for the purpose of her coming over.

“Oh!” she remembered with a smile. “See, I was really bored at home, y’know? And we haven’t hung out in a while, not at school. So, here I am.” She shrugged casually before falling into the comforts of the leather couch.

Her words were true, as they hadn’t hung out just the two of them for a while, and secretly she found herself slightly missing the time they used to spend together.

He nodded his head, understanding what she meant. “Yeah, you’re kind of right,” he agreed slowly, mauling over the thought for a moment. “So, are you coming to the party tomorrow?” he asked, instantly bringing a scowl to Carter’s face.

Talk of the party had been circling around that day non-stop. Who was and who wasn’t going, what people were going to wear, and more importantly who was bringing the booze were the main conversation topics of that Friday. Usually she was able to just block it out as always, but even Audrey and now Cole were joining the hype. It seemed her and Tiffany were the only ones not going to the event, and even though Tiffany proposed the idea of them both going too, she instantly declined seeing that a sleepover seemed much more appealing to her.

Restraining an eye roll, Carter shook her head.

“Nah, I’m having a sleepover at Tiffany’s instead,” she told him, giving him a suspicious look when he raised his eyebrows, astonished.

“You’re having a sleepover at Tiffany’s?” he repeated in question, something like surprise in his voice.

Cocking her head to the side, Carter sat up straighter with confusion marked upon her face.

“Yeah,” she spoke slowly, as if she weren’t sure if it were the right answer she was supposed to give or not. “Why?”

“Oh, I just didn’t know you were that close.” He shrugged it off, the commercial break ending and the screen entrancing him once more.

Carter tried to concentrate on television like Cole was but felt her mind lingering on the conversation held seconds beforehand. She wondered about Cole’s feelings on Tiffany and the newly blossomed relationship between her and Carter. Did he even like the girl, Carter wondered silently to herself.

“What do you think of Tiffany?” she voiced her thoughts, curious.

This seemed to catch Cole of guard for his answer was delayed by a few seconds.

“Well, I don’t know,” he admitted, directing his gaze on the carpet as if it held the answer. “I mean, she’s nice. Um, she’s funny a lot of the time too. I don’t know, what do you want me to say?” Cole asked tripping over his words thoroughly, gazing up at Carter afterward.

He was clearly uncomfortable with the question, but Carter didn’t think she was able to let it go.

“Do you like her? Or do you want nothing to do with her?” Carter asked, searching his face carefully for anything betraying his thoughts.

Cole’s lips parted slightly as if he were about to say something, but instead he took a deep breath and smiled at the girl.

“Of course I like her,” he reassured his friend effectively, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Plus, I’m always going to be number one.”

Carter instantly felt a smile on her face as she shook her head, laughing to herself. “What about Audrey?” she reminded him.

“As I said, number one.” He grinned cheekily while putting up a finger in front of them.

She patted his arm consolingly.

“Of course, whatever stops the tears,” she reassured him mockingly, restraining the smile was tugging on her lips.

When the grin dropped from Cole’s face Carter burst out into laughter, feeling the arm around her shoulders retract before crossing over a very unhappy Cole’s chest.

“Whatever stops the tears,” he mimicked, a betraying smile on his lips as he pretended to be deeply offended by the jeer. This only caused Carter to grin more.



With her backpack slung on her shoulder and all her needed things packed tightly inside, Carter knocked on the door that stood in front of her. The house that was stationed in front of her had pink brick and a grey roof, nothing like she had seen before, and she was still hoping that she hadn’t gotten the address correct.

While slightly nibbling on her lip the door swung open to expose a little boy, around the age of five it seemed. His ocean blue eyes sparkled as he stared up at Carter with a grin. He had chestnut brown hair and freckles sprawled across his nose that were similar to Tiffany’s.

“Hello,” he greeted Carter enthusiastically.

Carter waved at the young boy with a smile. “Hi there, is Tiffany-” she began her question but was interrupted with loud footsteps racing towards the door.

Staring further into the house she saw Tiffany running to the door, her curly brown hair flying behind her.

Once she got to her destination she roughly pushed the little boy aside. He seemed unfazed by this and walked away, a grin still on his lips.

“Bye!” he called out behind him before disappearing around the corner.

“I’m sorry about my brother,” she apologized quickly, hints of irritation on her face, but a smile still on her lips.

Carter stepped into the foyer where shoes were left abandoned on the floor and coats were dumped on a small bench or hung in a small closet to the left of her.

“Ah, no problem, he’s actually so cute! But where can I put my stuff?” she asked, feeling the weight of the backpack started to become painful on her shoulder.

After she had kicked off her shoes, Tiffany led her up a flight of stairs and down a vacant hallway, all was done with hardwood and felt cold on Carter’s socked feet, being that she was used to carpet.

“Here’s my room,” Tiffany directed Carter towards the last door that was painted a dark blue.

When Carter stepped inside she dropped her bag on the grey, carpeted floor in the middle of the room. Around her were pale green walls, filled with lyrics and names of bands she had yet to hear of. The sunshine tumbling in from the window created a light and happy atmosphere in the room.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Tiffany gestured to her room with a smile.

“I like it,” Carter complimented the room before falling onto the bed; trying to pick out what names she did and didn’t know. “But I have no idea who some of these people are,” she admitted.

This caused Tiffany to laugh slightly and Carter assumed this wasn’t the first time she had to go through that routine. “Okay, tell me who you don’t know and we’ll start from there.”

Carter stood up from the bed and scrutinized the paint on the wall, racking her mind for anything to spark up as familiar. “I know One Republic, but not that song.” She pointed to a pair of lyrics that she had no idea what song it came from.

“All The Right Moves,” Tiffany supplied for her, setting herself on the bed and hugging one of the many pillows that sat near the headboard.

After that, Carter felt lost. It seemed that was the only one she could recognize.

“Nevershoutnever, I’ve heard of him before,” she recalled a moment when she was searching through Cole’s iPod. Lily liked a lot of the bands that no one heard of, like Tiffany, and always put music on for Cole.

“Yea, he’s pretty popular.” Tiffany nodded her head and Carter wondered what that word meant to Tiffany, seeing as she had never heard of him before.

For a moment Carter stood confused, eventually surrendering and trotting over to where Tiffany sat with her arms crossed.

“I give up.”

Tiffany laughed when she heard Carter and stood up from the bed, throwing the pillow back to where the rest sat askew.

“They aren’t really mainstream if you haven’t noticed.”

Carter nodded her head, agreeing whole heartedly with that statement. “Definitely.”

Tiffany stood in the middle of the room on a small circular rug, looking undecided on something. “Carter?” she asked, chewing on her thumb nail.

This grabbed Carter’s attention and she looked up at the girl confused. “Yeah?”

“Well, I was just, you know, are you sure you don’t want that party? I don’t want you to not go just because I’m not going.” She continued to nibble on her thumb nail as she proposed the offer once more, traces of guilt in her voice.

At this Carter sighed; talk of the party getting old for her. “Seriously, I don’t want to go,” she reassured Tiffany genuinely.

At first she didn’t seem convinced but gave in nonetheless. “Okay, come on I bought chips and dip.” Tiffany gestured for her friend to stand up.

“French onion dip? Carter asked, hints of excitement in her voice.

“Duh, it’s like the best!” Tiffany exclaimed and scoffing with a grin while walking out the room. Carter grinned and followed her, glad she didn’t go to the party.
But in the back of her mind, she wondered what Audrey and Cole were up to.