Unbound The Wild Ride

Back at school for one week and I'm already wishing it was over, I thought miserably. I glanced over at Kirin to see her fiddling around with the strings of her hoodie, obviously just as bored as myself. Of course, she had been acting a bit weird for the past couple of days. I was probably just imagining that part though. Chuckling quietly to myself, I pulled out a peice of paper and scribbled a quick note to Kirin.

Hey gurl!
Wat's up with u? U've been acting like sumthin is bugging u lately. Or do u just think our teacher is crazy? I sure as hell do. Well...dat or gay, tho I'm leaning more towards crazy. Whateva tho. Did u have fun dis weekend? I had a most interesting morning dis morning, to say the least. I'll tell u about it next period bcuz its 2 much 2 explain in a note. Srsly tho, wat's bugging u?

When the teacher wasn't looking, I threw the wadded up paper ball and threw it at her, hitting her in the neck with it. She frowned and looked at me before snatching up thepper ball and quietly opening it. Moments later I had a reply in her chicken scratch handwriting, very similar to Jimmy's. It was sometimes hard to believe that they weren't related by blood.

Not a whole lot happening here. About 2 lose my mind bcuz I'm bored as hell. Umm...the whole sumthin bugging me...well...I think I like sum1, but I'm afraid of what sum1 else will think. And I dunno wat I'm going 2 do about it. I'm just confused.

She tossed it back at me, and I caught it without really looking up at her. I made sure the teacher wasn't looking before I opened it and read through her reply. Scrawling out a reply in my swirly cursive, I tossed the note back to her.

Ooo! Who is it? I wanna no! Tell me?! Plz?! U can't tell me dat and not tell me who it is! Plz! Plz! Plz! Plz! Plz! Plz! PLZ!

A bit much, maybe, but I was really curious now. And knowing Kirin, she'd probably make me wait until later. As I waited anxiously for a reply from her, I heard a soft snoring and looked around me to see Johnny passed out on his desk; the one in front of me. Joy. The monster is out cold....and snoring. Ugh. Of course, being hit in the head with a paper ball can certainly bring somebody out of their thoughts; at least, it worked for me.

I'll tell u next period as well. I promise, k?

I huffed quietly, but nodded at her and looked at the clock. As if right on cue, the bell rang and I jumped up out of my seat, narrowly avoiding hitting a half asleep Johnny. Grabbing Kirin's arm, I dragged her out of the room and down the hall towards the library. We sat down at our usual round table, hidden between bookcases where nobody ever went.

"I'll tell you mine, but first, you have to tell me your 'exciting' night. Now start talking missy!" Kirin demanded.

Grinning, I told her about my whole morning, from waking up to going back to sleep; and by the time I was finished, she was laughing like an idiot. I saw the librarian glaring at us so I slapped a hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet. When she had calmed down a bit, I slowly removed my hand and looked at her expectantly.

"I-I...uhh...well, the thing is...IthinkIlikeyourbrother," she said quickly, so quickly that it took me a minute to realize what she had said.

"You...like my brother? Well, that's interesting, but what about Matt?" I asked, knowing that she had every period with him except this one. That's why we could sit here and talk about him without him knowing. Unless we were being watched by a certain gnome, which was highly unlikely, but still something we had to be careful about.

"I still like him, but I like you're brother too. I'm so confused right now though, and I honestly have no idea what to do about it," she sighed.

"Today's just full of unholy confession, isn't it? Hah....that sounds funny."

"Yeah, I know what you mean....we should suggest that to the guys," she said. At the blank look on my face, she shook her head and laughed a little, "Maybe they can use it as a song or something, ya know?"
___________________2 Months Later___________________

I'm so happy! The guys are going to be on the Warped Tour and taking us with them! Johnny's staying here (haha), but me, Matt and Kirin are going with the guys.

Speaking of Kirin, her and Brian's two month anniversary was yesterday. Yes, I totally just said two month anniversary. Like, the day after she told me she liked him, I convinced her to ask him out. So yeah, my best friend and brother are dating. It doesn't really bother me at all though, I just want the both of them to be happy.

On the other hand, I've noticed that Johnny has been acting a bit weirdly around me. It's rather unnerving, to be completely honest. He's not as annoying anymore, he hasn't tried tripping me in over a month, and he keeps trying to start conversations with me. I don't know what's gotten into him, but I really don't think I wanna know either.

I finished packing up my bags and set them on the bed. Thankfully, our teachers had given us our homework for the next three months, and we had to send it in from where ever we were via mail. Since I had nothin else to do now, I walked downstairs and found my brother and Kirin making outon the couch. Scurrying past them, I made it outside and made sure to slam the door loudly behind me. That was still slightly disturbing, even after two months.

Once outside, I realized I had nowhere to go really. The closest place besides one of the guys' houses was the park, which was a five minute walk from my place. It was better than nothing, so I headed that way.

I had been sitting on the swing slowly pushing myself back and forth, thinking about the tour when I felt hands on my back pushing me even further forward. I yelped loudly and stopped the swing abruptly, nearly falling on my ass out of the swing. The only reason I didn't is because a pair of hands caught me.

"Sorry Riley, I didn't mean to scare you. Honestly," Johnny said as he helped me straighten myself out on the swing again.

I nodded slightly at him and looked down at the ground, my cheeks a slight pink color. So I was a bit embarrassed, it didn't mean anything; I was easily embarrassed. I felt myself going forward and backward on the swing and looked back to see Johnny pushing me.

"So...what's up?" I asked tentatively. I really wasn't used to being civil with Johnny, so of course I was gonna be tentative.

"Nothing much, I saw you walk by my place, and since my place is the furthest from yours. I figured you must be coming here, and thought I'd come give you some company. Plus...I kinda wanted to ask you something," he said, the last part coming out more quietly than the rest of it had.

"Uh..okay. Well than, ask away," I said.

"Well, um..you see," he said before stopping and shaking his head," Lemme start over. I...really like you Riley, and because of this, I was...I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend," he said.

I could quite literally feel my jaw dropping.

"Repeat that."

"Will you go out with me?" he asked again.

"Run that by me again, one more time."

"Riley, just answer it please. Will you go out with me?"

"Holy shit...you aren't kidding, are you Johnny?"

He shook his head and shifted nervously.

"Well, um...I...I don't know, Johnny. I-I-ugh."

"It's okay if you don't like me back Riley, really. I had to try though," he said quietly before turning and starting to walk away.

He looked so sad, and as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn't. Jumping out of the swing, I ran to catch up with him, my converse barly making any noise at all as I ran. I grabbed his arm and spun him around. Johnny seemed surprised, and his surprise only grew when I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Riley?"

"Yes; the answer is yes, Johnny," I said.

I felt him smile and kiss my forehead. Looking up at him, he was grinning like an adorable little kid and it made me grin too. I leaned up slightly and kissed him, then laid my head on his shoulder. It felt good to have somebody to hold again.

"You going with the guys on tour?"

"Mmhmm. I don't want to now though."

"Don't worry, I'll call."

"I still don't wanna go."

"It'll be fine, you'll see me again in three months."

"Meh."

Our conversation was interrupted by a phone call from my brother.

"Hey Riley, where are you at?"

"Umm...at the park, why?"

"We're fixing to leave," he replied.

"Oh, ok..."

"Something wrong?"

"No...nothings wrong," I lied quickly. He obviously couldn't tell I was lying.

"Okay then, I'll se you here in a few."

"Yeah...see you soon," I said before shutting my phone and wrapping my arms around Johnny again. I didn't want to go, not anymore. Of course, the guys would all throw fits if I backed out now, and Kirin would throw an even bigger fit. Sighing dejectedly, I headed back to my house, my arm wrapped around Johnny's waist. When we got to my place, he gave me a quick peck on the lips before turning and heading home again. Thank god nobody saw that. I don't want them to know yet.