Status: This I wrote as a context piece for English. Bssed on the prompt: the identity of one changes with different relationships.
Hello. My Name is... Riley.
Chapter 1
“Riley, wait up!”
I turn to see my little brother, Eli, running down the street after me. He only started school this year and is still scared to walk by himself, even though we pretty much live across the street.
“I thought Mum was driving you to today.”
As I speak I bend down so my eyes are level with his.
“She was. I wanted to walk with you.”
A big smile spreads across his face and I sweep him up into my arms. After spinning him around a couple times, I gently place his feet back on the footpath.
“Well, come on then. We don’t want to be late!”
I reach out my hand for him to grab. He ignores it completely and takes off down the road. I sigh heavily and laugh.
“Eli!”
I eventually caught up to Eli and got him to school safely. At the moment, I’m sitting in science and my teacher is talking about this week’s homework. I can hear the people in the back row snickering about Ms Anders’ and I feel like yelling at them to back off. All she’s doing is helping us prep for next week’s test. Of course, they probably don’t care, but I do. I love science.
“Psst. Riley.”
My closest friend and captain of the chess, math and of course, science club is whispering from the seat in front of me.
“Yes, Caleb?”
“Do you want to be study buddies?”
“Yes! I mean, sure… I think I’m free Friday arvo.”
“Sounds good, I’ll meet you at the bus stop, kay?”
The bell goes, I nod and run from the room, hoping to make my locker before the after class traffic hits.
I exit the bathroom stall and find myself staring straight into the eyes of one Cassie Simkus, the most popular girl in school. I try to get past her but she mirrors my every step.
“So, you’re friends with Noah right?”
“Yeah…”
I attempt to get past her one last time but fail.
“That’s cool.”
Cassie turns her head, smiles at her friends and then comes back to face me.
“We’ve decided that you get to hang with us today!”
I can’t help but feel ecstatic. I’ve never really had a good group of friends and now there’s a chance Cassie’s will be the first.
“Really?!”
“Yeah... Anyway, we’re gonna ditch next period and go down to the shops. You in?”
I don’t know what to think. I’ve never ditched before and I didn’t think I ever would, but I can’t let a chance like this slip away. Can I?
“Sure. I’ve got a study period next. I was gonna review my science work but it’s not important.”
Cassie smiles and beckons for her friends to follow her out. Today, that’s me too.
When we get back to school we are stopped at the entrance by Vice Principal Creece. He says that he is very disappointed in us all, especially me, and that we will all be receiving an after school detention. You can imagine my surprise when Cassie comes to my defence, saying that she had pressured me into coming and that I only did to make sure we didn’t do anything incredibly stupid. I don’t know whether he believes her or not, but he drops my sentence to a lunch time instead.
After I thank Cassie, I head off to band practise- if you can call it that. It’s really just Jayden, Noah, Aiden and I getting together and mucking around with a few chords. We call ourselves Rejection Ain’t No Joke. I’m not sure why, but we do. Jayden drums, Aiden plays bass, Noah’s on guitar and I do keyboard and vocals. At the moment we’re working on a song about a failed job interview- Jayden’s idea. As I enter the room I hear the chatter of voices quickly stop.
“Riley! Where ya been, man?”
I laugh at Aiden’s obviously fake stoner expression and sit on the piano stool.
“Yeah, we were worried sick.”
Jayden forces a chuckle out after speaking, but I can tell he was actually worried. He always is.
“Creece caught Cass… Never mind.”
I can’t tell them. They wouldn’t understand. Noah dated Cassie’s BFF last year and she broke his heart.
“Creece caught who doing what?”
“It doesn’t matter. Can we just get on with practice?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Jayden returns to his seat on the drum stool.
“1, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4!”
As I am exiting the band room, Noah falls into step beside me.
“Hey. So, I have this showcase thing on Friday night. Will you come? Please..?”
“Of course! I would never miss a chance to see my fav muso perform.”
He gives me a huge hug and walks away.
My mum is waiting on the couch when I get home. She’s got a cup of tea In her hand and is watching Dance Moms.
“Hey, sweetie. How was school?”
“It was good. Where’s Eli?”
“He went to Jake’s house. Did you do anything exciting?”
“Not really. We have a science test next week, I’m going over to Caleb’s to study Friday night.”
I try and think of anything else that happened today, anything I can tell her about, anyway. Nothing.
“I might go have a shower. Okay, Mum?”
I leave the room without waiting for her to respond.
Pulling on my jumper, I walk into the kitchen. My mum is studying a piece of paper in her hand.
“What’s that?”
She holds it out for me.
“Noah dropped it off while you were in the shower.”
“It’s a ticket to his gig this weekend.”
“Listen, sweetie-“
She’s cut off by the buzz of my phone. Text message. It’s Cassie.
“Could you hold on a sec?”
Mum nods and I return to my phone:
Party. My house. Friday at 7. Be there.
“Hey, Mum. Can I go to a party on Friday?”
“Aren’t you going to Caleb’s to study? I’m pretty sure that’s when Noah’s gig is too. That’s what I was trying to tell you.” Oh no. I didn’t even think. I can’t miss this party, it’d be social suicide, but the math test is on Monday and Caleb’s my best friend. Then there’s Noah. It’d kill him if I were to ditch his performance. I have no idea what to do. So I go with my gut and pick up the phone.
Hello? Cassie?
Yeah…?
I don’t think I can make the party. I’ve got other plans.
Like what? Studying for the science test? Haha.
Umm…
Whatever. Just don’t think we’re still friends.
The line goes dead. Nice. Oh well. If that’s how she’s going to react then maybe I don’t want her friendship anyway. One down, two to go…
In the end I was able to get my studying done and make the gig. I decided to stop keeping secrets and told Noah about Cassie. He was angry at first but he got over it. I also introduced Caleb to the band. They were both kind of confused. I never showed any interest in music when I was with Caleb and the band had no idea how much of a nerd I was. Until now, I was completely oblivious to the fact my identity changed when I was with different people. Maybe now I’m open about everything, it won’t have to.
I turn to see my little brother, Eli, running down the street after me. He only started school this year and is still scared to walk by himself, even though we pretty much live across the street.
“I thought Mum was driving you to today.”
As I speak I bend down so my eyes are level with his.
“She was. I wanted to walk with you.”
A big smile spreads across his face and I sweep him up into my arms. After spinning him around a couple times, I gently place his feet back on the footpath.
“Well, come on then. We don’t want to be late!”
I reach out my hand for him to grab. He ignores it completely and takes off down the road. I sigh heavily and laugh.
“Eli!”
I eventually caught up to Eli and got him to school safely. At the moment, I’m sitting in science and my teacher is talking about this week’s homework. I can hear the people in the back row snickering about Ms Anders’ and I feel like yelling at them to back off. All she’s doing is helping us prep for next week’s test. Of course, they probably don’t care, but I do. I love science.
“Psst. Riley.”
My closest friend and captain of the chess, math and of course, science club is whispering from the seat in front of me.
“Yes, Caleb?”
“Do you want to be study buddies?”
“Yes! I mean, sure… I think I’m free Friday arvo.”
“Sounds good, I’ll meet you at the bus stop, kay?”
The bell goes, I nod and run from the room, hoping to make my locker before the after class traffic hits.
I exit the bathroom stall and find myself staring straight into the eyes of one Cassie Simkus, the most popular girl in school. I try to get past her but she mirrors my every step.
“So, you’re friends with Noah right?”
“Yeah…”
I attempt to get past her one last time but fail.
“That’s cool.”
Cassie turns her head, smiles at her friends and then comes back to face me.
“We’ve decided that you get to hang with us today!”
I can’t help but feel ecstatic. I’ve never really had a good group of friends and now there’s a chance Cassie’s will be the first.
“Really?!”
“Yeah... Anyway, we’re gonna ditch next period and go down to the shops. You in?”
I don’t know what to think. I’ve never ditched before and I didn’t think I ever would, but I can’t let a chance like this slip away. Can I?
“Sure. I’ve got a study period next. I was gonna review my science work but it’s not important.”
Cassie smiles and beckons for her friends to follow her out. Today, that’s me too.
When we get back to school we are stopped at the entrance by Vice Principal Creece. He says that he is very disappointed in us all, especially me, and that we will all be receiving an after school detention. You can imagine my surprise when Cassie comes to my defence, saying that she had pressured me into coming and that I only did to make sure we didn’t do anything incredibly stupid. I don’t know whether he believes her or not, but he drops my sentence to a lunch time instead.
After I thank Cassie, I head off to band practise- if you can call it that. It’s really just Jayden, Noah, Aiden and I getting together and mucking around with a few chords. We call ourselves Rejection Ain’t No Joke. I’m not sure why, but we do. Jayden drums, Aiden plays bass, Noah’s on guitar and I do keyboard and vocals. At the moment we’re working on a song about a failed job interview- Jayden’s idea. As I enter the room I hear the chatter of voices quickly stop.
“Riley! Where ya been, man?”
I laugh at Aiden’s obviously fake stoner expression and sit on the piano stool.
“Yeah, we were worried sick.”
Jayden forces a chuckle out after speaking, but I can tell he was actually worried. He always is.
“Creece caught Cass… Never mind.”
I can’t tell them. They wouldn’t understand. Noah dated Cassie’s BFF last year and she broke his heart.
“Creece caught who doing what?”
“It doesn’t matter. Can we just get on with practice?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Jayden returns to his seat on the drum stool.
“1, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4!”
As I am exiting the band room, Noah falls into step beside me.
“Hey. So, I have this showcase thing on Friday night. Will you come? Please..?”
“Of course! I would never miss a chance to see my fav muso perform.”
He gives me a huge hug and walks away.
My mum is waiting on the couch when I get home. She’s got a cup of tea In her hand and is watching Dance Moms.
“Hey, sweetie. How was school?”
“It was good. Where’s Eli?”
“He went to Jake’s house. Did you do anything exciting?”
“Not really. We have a science test next week, I’m going over to Caleb’s to study Friday night.”
I try and think of anything else that happened today, anything I can tell her about, anyway. Nothing.
“I might go have a shower. Okay, Mum?”
I leave the room without waiting for her to respond.
Pulling on my jumper, I walk into the kitchen. My mum is studying a piece of paper in her hand.
“What’s that?”
She holds it out for me.
“Noah dropped it off while you were in the shower.”
“It’s a ticket to his gig this weekend.”
“Listen, sweetie-“
She’s cut off by the buzz of my phone. Text message. It’s Cassie.
“Could you hold on a sec?”
Mum nods and I return to my phone:
Party. My house. Friday at 7. Be there.
“Hey, Mum. Can I go to a party on Friday?”
“Aren’t you going to Caleb’s to study? I’m pretty sure that’s when Noah’s gig is too. That’s what I was trying to tell you.” Oh no. I didn’t even think. I can’t miss this party, it’d be social suicide, but the math test is on Monday and Caleb’s my best friend. Then there’s Noah. It’d kill him if I were to ditch his performance. I have no idea what to do. So I go with my gut and pick up the phone.
Hello? Cassie?
Yeah…?
I don’t think I can make the party. I’ve got other plans.
Like what? Studying for the science test? Haha.
Umm…
Whatever. Just don’t think we’re still friends.
The line goes dead. Nice. Oh well. If that’s how she’s going to react then maybe I don’t want her friendship anyway. One down, two to go…
In the end I was able to get my studying done and make the gig. I decided to stop keeping secrets and told Noah about Cassie. He was angry at first but he got over it. I also introduced Caleb to the band. They were both kind of confused. I never showed any interest in music when I was with Caleb and the band had no idea how much of a nerd I was. Until now, I was completely oblivious to the fact my identity changed when I was with different people. Maybe now I’m open about everything, it won’t have to.
♠ ♠ ♠
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