Gabriel's Salvation: small town, misunderstood MMC, overcoming trauma, first love romance

42. Chapter Forty Two

“Get up!” Ava hollers as she begins banging her hands on my bed.

“Fuck off,” I grumble as I pull a pillow from under me and place it over my head. I know we said we’d go dress shopping today, but it”s like 5 a.m,, why is she here now?

“Wake up Riley,” Ava huffs as the bitch drags the quilt off me. I kick and punch the mattress in response. “Bitch!”

“Yup, and proud of it,” she responds joyfully before she then insults me further by swiping my one remaining pillow from under my head.

“I fucking hate you,” I say through gritted teeth.

“And I love you too, my little zombie.” Ava jokes back in that mockingly joyful tone of hers.

“Coffee,” I grumble as I finally sit up, knowing that the bitch isn”t going to let up till I”m out of bed.

“Here you go Precious,” she teases as she hands me my favorite iced coffee.

Thankfully she doesn”t say another word till my drink is empty and I vaguely resemble a human again.

“Better?” she questions as I place my empty cup on the bedside table.

“Much,” I respond, with a grateful sigh.

“It”s safe to come in now!” she calls out, just as I hear Izzy and Harper come bounding down the stairs to me.

“I don”t know how you do that,” Harper laughs. “I”d one hundred percent have ended up with a black eye if I had tried half the shit you did,” Harper laughs as she bends down and picks up my pillows and blanket from the floor and throws them back onto my bed.

“True, but she knows I”d hit her back twice as hard if she tried,” Ava laughs back in response.

Both me and Izzy look at each other as if to say ‘she”s right,’ before we just nod.

“What time is it anyway? It feels like it’s pre-dawn.” I complain with a yawn.

“It”s almost twelve,” Ava huffs. “We have already eaten breakfast and helped Izzy’s Nana take some items down to Goodwill. So hurry the fuck up, we need to go prom dress shopping before there’s nothing left in this god forsaken town.” Ava says all of this with a frown. She”s so bossy!

“Fine, give me thirty minutes.” I sigh as I shuffle out of bed and towards the bathroom.

“You”ve got twenty,” she shouts through the closed door.

I quickly brush my teeth and jump in the shower before there”s a knock at the door. “What?” I shout back, refusing to get out of the nice steamy stream.

“Don”t wash your hair, as we ain”t got time,” Ava shouts.

“Fine!” I snap back. Seriously, why am I even friends with her?

I jump out of the shower, quickly throw my hair in a messy bun, and put on just enough makeup so I no longer resemble the half dead. That done, I throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, then make my way upstairs to find the girls waiting in the kitchen talking to my mom.

“Ready!”

“Eighteen minutes and…forty-five seconds,” Ava says looking at her watch. “I”m impressed.”

“It”s a miracle!” my mom teases.

I just fire her a playful frown in response. “Hey you’re supposed to be on my side; I”m your daughter not her.”

“She brought cupcakes,” my mom shrugs as she uses her finger to lap up the frosting.

We head into town and spend the next four hours going from shop to shop looking for something, anything that vaguely resembles a prom dress but unsurprisingly we have absolutely no luck.

“Arggggh!” Ava screams as yet again we walk out of another store empty handed.

“This is impossible,” Harper huffs as she slumps against a nearby wall.

“I’ve got an idea,” Izzy says reluctantly. “I’m going into the city next weekend. I”m supposed to be meeting my parents…”

“Okay?” I interrupt, not really understanding what she”s getting at.

“Well, they”ll probably only see me for like ten minutes before they get bored of me, that”s if they don”t cancel altogether, of course. So, if you girls come with me, we can do some shopping there for dresses,” she adds, a hint of sadness evident in her voice.

Ava gives her a reassuring squeeze. We all know Izzy”s parents are pretty shitty. They cancel on her and ignore her constantly. She pretends it doesn”t bother her, but it”s clear to see how upset it makes her.

“It”s fine. They”re just really busy with work,” Izzy makes her usual excuses for them. “Anyway, why don”t we make it a whole day thing? We could meet my parents early. I would love it if they both got to meet you all, especially since you”re such a huge part of my life now. Then when that”s done, we could head into the city and check out some boutiques. There”s bound to be tons of elegant dresses for all occasions.”

“That”s perfect!” Ava squeals. “Let”s do it!”

Izzy’s phone rings and she retrieves it from her bag. Her giddy tone lets us know it”s Nate on the other end of the phone.

“Nate wants to know if I want to meet him after work, do you mind?” Izzy whispers as she places her hand over the speaker of her phone.

“Go,” Ava replies as she ushers her away with her hand.

Izzy finishes her conversation and hangs up the phone telling us that Nate is finishing work at six so we can leave and she’ll see us tomorrow.

“You sure? You”ve got almost an hour. We can wait with you if you want.” Harper offers.

“No, it”s fine. I need to get a few items anyway - some more makeup, some conditioner, and a few other small items. By the time I”m done and I”ve walked over it will be almost six.”

“We can wait and drive you over there,” Ava offers, but again Izzy refuses, saying she’d like a walk since it”s still pretty nice out.

“If you”re sure,” Ava confirms before we all make our way towards where the car is parked, leaving Izzy alone.

I”m just about to leave the store when I spot it, a photo printing machine. This is perfect!

It’s mine and Nate’s anniversary next month and I want to make him a scrapbook of our time together.

I”ve already sorted out the pictures I want. It”s just a case of printing them and buying the stickers and things to make it perfect.

I select the pictures- over fifty in total - and am about to hit print when I remember the pictures from six flags. I quickly scroll through, choosing my top five. That”s when I spot it, the picture of Riley and Gabe, and an idea hits me.

I print and collect my photos, then head down to the aisle that sells photo frames. I spot a beautiful one for Riley. It”s silver with a small black diamond heart at the bottom. It”s quite simple but very Riley.

I spot the sign, ‘$7 each or 2 for $10’ and inspiration hits. I grab a very simple, dark wood frame and decide to go and reprint the picture for Gabe. Maybe this will be a good peace offering; show him that I”m not the wicked witch he seems to think I am.

I carefully place the photo inside and am about to get a gift bag but it”s almost six and I”m running late. Deciding Gabe won”t care about a pretty bag, I just throw it into my backpack and rush off to meet Nate.

I arrive with minutes to spare, and as soon as I walk up the path a messy looking Nate runs over to greet me. “Sorry, are you okay to wait about ten minutes? I just wanna change my clothes. John’s had me lugging sand most of the afternoon.”

I take in his dusty appearance and have to agree. “Of course,” I giggle before leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him quickly before he darts off inside.

While I”m waiting, I spot Davis coming off the back of a big truck. “Hey,” I wave as I make my way over. “How”s the wife doing? Are you a daddy yet?”

“Sure am. Lilly was born three weeks ago,and she”s absolutely perfect,” he pats his pockets for a moment. “Shit, my phone must be inside, I”ll have to show you a picture next time. It’ll be worth it though I promise. She”s the most adorable baby you’ll ever see.”

“That”s fine, I look forward to it,” I tell him with a smile.

“Have you seen Gabe, by the way?”

“Gabe?” Davis repeats, sounding surprised, “Don”t you mean Nate?”

“No silly. I”ve already seen Nate. He”s gone to change his clothes. I”ve got a gift for Gabe, though.”

“Oh, I think he’s in the office,” Davis answers me as he points to a little hut looking building.

“Thanks.” I make my way towards the building, removing the picture frame from my bag but as I get closer, I hear Gabe shouting at someone so I attempt to turn around and almost bump straight into the chest of another man.

I take in his appearance and a feeling of uneasiness washes over me. He”s tall and slim, too slim. His head is shaved short enough that it almost looks like he’s escaped from the army, except he doesn”t have a friendly or reassuring face.

He’s also covered in tattoos. Even with his work gear on I can see them peeking over his arms and hands and up his neck, and he even has a couple of small ones on his face.

“And what do we have here?” the man says in an intimidating tone.

“Oh, I”m sorry, I”m Izzy, Nate”s girlfriend,” I mumble. “I was looking for Gabe, but he seems a little busy.” I turn to leave, but the guy rests his arm against the wall, blocking my exit.

“And what do you want with Gabe?”

“Erm, I just had something to give him,” I say as I clutch the photo frame tighter. “But I”ll come back another time. He seems a little busy.”

“Nah, he”s always like that, but don”t worry, I”ll take this…” he says, snatching the frame from my hands, “and make sure he gets it.”

“It”s fine, I”ll give it to him another time.” I say as I attempt to reach for it but he moves it high out of my reach.

“I”m going in there anyway so I”ll give it to him for you,” he says in a sweet tone, one that definitely doesn”t match the look on his face.

“Please do. It”s important,” I add, unsure what else to say, but wanting to get out of this very small and tight space.

“It’ll be my highest priority,” he adds with a sinister smile, before finally moving his arm and allowing me to walk past him.

I rush away and as I do I spot Nate walking towards me.

“I don”t like him. He’s creepy,” I shudder before throwing my arms around his waist and burying my head into his chest for reassurance.

Nate holds me tight and looks past me to the guy who”s probably glaring in our direction. “That”s Marko,” Nate says, pulling away enough to throw his arm around my shoulders and lead me away.

“Does he work with you? I”ve never seen him before.” I ask as I instinctively pull my body tightly against Nate’s, needing the comfort and protection he always brings.

“No, not really. He hangs around John and Gabe mostly. He’s not a nice guy though baby, keep clear of him. He gives me a very bad feeling.”