Chapter 5 Riley
Riley
Iwas thankful that it wasn’t overly humid tonight and that the breeze was coming through every now and then.
I was extra thankful that the station wasn’t as busy as I remembered it being.
No one paid me any mind, but despite Beau staring down every person that passed, I still felt vulnerable.
I made myself comfortable on the bench I’d claimed and played with the ends of my braids.
I wanted to scream, but I was far too tired to even consider it.
My mom still tried to reach me, comfort me, even though I’d hurt her.
She had lied to me about my lineage for my entire life, but that didn’t constitute violence.
That didn’t make what I’d done okay. I would understand if she never wanted to see me again, but I knew that would never be what she wanted.
Seeing her face in my mind now hurt my heart, but it also made it rage from all the half-truths and full-on lies.
I was sorry for what I did, but that didn’t make me any less fucking angry.
I pulled at the ends of my hair, looking left and right. I no longer felt like sleeping since Asher had jump scared me. I didn’t think he’d be the one to seek me out, but I clearly had been wrong about so many things before. Beau hopped onto the bench, nearly falling off, but settled against me.
Can we go home now? Beau asked in my head.
I sighed. Not yet. I don’t like what I did.
You didn’t mean it.
That doesn’t matter, buddy. I stroked the top of his head, running my fingers along the back of his ear and massaging. He started making grunting noises and one of his legs started kicking.
I heard arguing to my left, but it was too dark to make out what was going on. Even the lights in this place were too dim to help me out. Beau lifted his head up, jumping off the bench and staring right into the darkness. His tail stood up, on high alert.
“Ay Dios! Do you two ever stop fighting?” A familiar voice sounded, a laugh rumbling out of them.
“If he just stopped complaining, then we would be fine. I’m twenty, not twelve, you overprotective idiot.” My ears perked up and Beau’s tail dropped lower and started wagging incessantly.
“I’m not about to have my sister go off to a train station at fucking eleven o’clock at night. You are out of your mind.” I got up from the bench, sidling up next to Beau who looked up at me with his silly little smile.
His front paws tapped the ground as if he was anxiously excited. His bark flew through the open air and I waited but he only barked once as if it was some kind of signal. I heard the sound of someone running and then a shriek.
“Oh my god! Riley!” I noticed her neon pink headband before I realized Corrin was sprinting over to me, our bodies colliding when she embraced me in the fiercest hug. I held her tight, pressing my face into her neck. She pulled back, scanning my face.
Mateo and Ike were behind her, keeping what I assumed was a watchful eye on the perimeter, like two unnecessary guard dogs.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, watching as Beau circled around her legs.
“Asher called me. He somehow has your phone, but that part isn’t important.” She squeezed my arms. “The important thing is that you’re okay.”
“Uh, yeah,” I mumbled.
“Or…not.” She rubbed her hands up and down my arms, pulling me into her again. “You can tell me or not tell me, but we’ll take you back to my house.”
“You couldn’t have picked like I don’t know, a twenty-four-hour diner or something?” Ike complained, looking around.
I shrugged, not really knowing how to answer.
“No se. It’s eerie and quiet here. It’s kind of a vibe.” Mateo winked over at me, causing Ike to narrow and roll his eyes.
Ike pointed from his sister to her partner. “You two are made for each other with your never-ending optimism.”
Corrin widened her eyes at me shaking her head. “You should try it sometime, maybe you wouldn’t be so grumpy.” She bent down and scratched Beau behind his ear. “Aren’t you the cutest! You want to meet my cat?” Beau’s tail thumped as he panted in her face, fogging up her glasses.
“I think the only person Jax likes is you, mi amor.” Mateo bent down next to her and reached out to pet Beau as well.
I moved to head back to the bench I’d been sitting on. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“From the looks of it, you don’t want to go home, so where else are you going to go Riley?” Ike questioned, walking over and sitting down next to me.
“It’s not that, well it’s not that completely. Things are different…”
Corrin came to sit on the other side of me. “You mean when you blasted one of your boyfriends across the room?”
I clamped my mouth shut, whipping my head around to face her. She wrinkled her nose.
“That look on your face is insulting. I have two eyes, Riley. Also, that whole ordeal has been all the school gossip mill has been talking about the last few hours. While I am very fucking interested in how my roommate was a witch and I didn’t know it, I am more concerned with getting you to a safe place.
” She placed her hand on my leg, patting it reassuringly.
“And from the look on Beau’s face, so is he. ”
I looked over at Beau, who was happily getting chest scratches from Mateo.
“How can you tell? Can he talk to you too?” I wasn’t really all that sure how magic, being a witch or having a familiar even worked.
Corrin giggled a little. “No, he can only talk to you. But he can understand anyone.” She called Beau’s name and he cocked his head to look at her. “Do you want to head to my house, so Riley’s comfortable?” Her voice had an excited tone that made his ears perk up.
He let out a few short barks and ran up to me, jumping up so that he could place his paws on my legs. His weight was heavy, but I didn’t mind. I grabbed his face and smushed his cheeks in. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Oh, thank fuck.” Ike slapped the bench and started walking back the way they came.
“You and I both know Jade is going to want the dog to sit up front,” Mateo said, lightly punching Ike when they sidled up next to him. Corrin held onto me while we walked behind them, her tight curls tickling my face as she leaned her head towards me.
“Jade is here too?” I asked, confused.
“Well, we were already all together when Asher called and my sibling was not about to miss out on a search mission. It’s that lobo instinct, always on the hunt.” Mateo turned around, giving me a big smile.
“There was no hunting. Asher sent us the address. Stop making yourself sound cooler than you actually are, mi amor,” Corrin pointed out, softly sighing when Mateo blew her a kiss before turning back around.
Loud music blasted from the van while Jade sat in the driver’s seat singing along to the lyrics with the windows down.
“It’s the middle of the fucking night. Common courtesy,” Ike scolded, reaching into the drivers’ side and turning the volume down.
Jade took her dark loose curls and tied them into a bun on her head. “You’re no fun.” She gasped and clapped her hands. “Ah! Un perro! He sits up front.”
Mateo looked over at us, snickering. “Told you.”
Mateo had given Corrin nearly a million kisses before they left with Jade, who told Corrin to put her number in my phone when I got it back.
I sat on the floor of Corrin’s bedroom watching Beau and Jax have a face off on either side of the room.
Jax initially was highly uninterested in Beau, but my overly friendly boy wanted into the cat’s personal space more than anything.
After being swatted nearly three times in the face, he’d retreated to the other side of the room, pouting.
I picked at the dog hair on my leggings, trying to get my thoughts together.
Corrin healed the wounds on my arms, but the phantom pain of the heat that had been pressed into them by Chancellor Fowler still gave me trouble.
Corrin’s door opened slowly, revealing my roommate and her mom.
Corrin had this strained smile on her face as if she’d just gotten scolded, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
“Do you need anything, Riley?” Her mom asked, her voice soft and polite.
I shook my head. “Everyone keeps asking me if I’m alright, if I’m fine or if I need anything and honestly…I can’t answer that right now.”
Her mom ran a finger over her eyebrow piercing and sighed. “I understand, but I would like to call your mother and tell her you’re staying the night.”
“Right. Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” I didn’t look at her, but I continued to stare at Corrin’s dresser in front of me. My back was settled against the foot of her bed and I was comfortable exactly where I was.
“Okay, good. Uh…Riley...” Corrin’s mom started, the sound of her walking over to me causing me to blink and turn my head towards her.
She knelt down, giving me a perfect view of her flawless face.
Her dark skin didn’t have a blemish in sight, and she had given some of that physical perfection to her daughter.
“Corrin only told me a little bit about what happened.”
I flicked my eyes over her shoulder at her daughter. Corrin gave me a small smile, fiddling with her headband.
Her mom grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her. “Don’t be mad at her. She fought hard to fumble around the truth, but I can be quite scary when I want.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Corrin mumbled.
Her mom pulled her hand from my chin. “It must be scary to come into your witch powers so suddenly. I knew that necklace meant something strongly for you, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
I also don’t know if it would have been my place to tell you. ” She gave me an apologetic expression.
I sucked in a deep breath. “It’s okay. Thank you for letting me stay here. I just…it’s been a day.” That sounded like a less than impressive way to explain what my life had become.