“Then why was he yelling? What’s wrong with him?” I push up the sleeves of my T-shirt. “You need me to deal with him for you?”
“No.”
“What’s his name.”
“Nat.”
“Give me his number. Better yet, let me have his address.”
“Nat, enough. I-it was my fault,” Riley blurts.
I blink once. Then twice.
The fight leaves my body in a rush. “Riles…”
Her eyes cast to the ground and she seems a lot smaller now than she did eight hours ago. This morning, Riley’s shoulders were straight back and square. But now… it’s like she’s as fragile as paper and someone folded her in half.
I draw near to her side.
Riley keeps her eyes on the ground.
“Bad day?” I ask gently.
She doesn’t answer, which is enough to convince me that I willnotbe going home until I get a smile out of her.
I drape an arm around her shoulder and steer her around.
Riley’s eyes widen.
“Get your stuff and come with me,” I say.
“Why?”
“We’re going somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Mustyou know everything? Just listen to me for once.” I shake my head.
Riley squints up at my face. “What do you mean ‘for once’?”
“You were always like this. So argumentative.”
She balks, color returning to her cheeks. “I was a very agreeable tween, Nat. I’m that rare teenager who skipped the moody phase.”
“Right. Right.”
“I did!”
“Remember that time you got those weird bangs that covered half your face?” I rake my fingers down from my forehead to my chin.
Her jaw drops. “I-it was to hide my acne.”
“Whatever you say.” I pat her shoulder placatingly. “We don’t have to talk about your goth phase if you don’t want to.”
Riley swats at me and then points to the large, rolled up shutters over the garage doors. “Since you have so much energy to waste, pull those down.” She points her finger at the ceiling and turns it in a circle. “And turn off the fans. Make sure all of them are off. I don’t want anything left on all night and wasting electricity.”
“Yes, ma’am. Anything else?” I ask, a teasing lilt to my voice.
