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(CH2) Chapter 16: A Personal Day

#1
Julian had awoken early that weekday morning. He made a tray of fresh fruit, cereal with milk on the side, and a cup of hot green tea with a smile on his lips.

His mother had stood to the side and watched her son in the kitchen. It was the first time she could recall him actually making something for himself other than popcorn from the microwave. She assumed he knew how to do more since she wasn’t always there to make anything for him, albeit there was no actual cooking involved.

She had already made the batter and was waiting to ask each child if they wanted pancakes or waffles. In fact, she had been in the middle of prepping the fruit side when Julian strolled in and started chopping the fruit for her.

He had eaten while he prepared the tray and when he started making the green tea, she knew this wasn’t for him but the sleeping princess upstairs.

“You really do like her, don’t you?” Nanette asked.

“Uh?” Julian looked away from the steeping tea and towards her, before he nodded. “Yeah, also, I want her to skip some classes and spend the day with me. I was hoping this will sweeten the pot.”

She wanted to tell him not to skip classes, but the two got great grades, so she decided it wouldn’t hurt for them to have one day to play. “Where are you going to take her?”

“I don’t know yet. I was going to ask her.” Julian stopping playing with the tea bag and stood up straight to look at his mother. “There is so much shit her dad never let her do, it might take a lifetime to get all of it done.” He picked up the tray and walked out of the room.

He left his mom with a slight smile on her lips, because she had never heard her child speak like an adult towards her. Of course, Julian had no idea how proud he had made his mother as he ascended the stairs.

Heading down the hall, Zachary appeared and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, you are gross.” He mumbled as he walked passed his brother towards the stairs. “Mom! I want waffles!” He yelled as he fell out of sight.

Riane’s bedroom door wasn’t shut all the way, so he nudged it open with his back and stepped inside. She was still sleeping which hadn’t been the norm when she first arrived. She had always been the first one awake and to be waiting patiently in her room for others to stir.

Setting the tray down on her vanity, Julian moved towards her bed and gently brushed his finger over her nose. This made her nose twitch, but she didn’t awake. He did it again and this time she swatted at an imaginary fly.

“Riane, wake up.” He pushed against her shoulder as he was losing patience with this cutesy attempt.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at the man hovering over her. The first reaction she had was to pull her blanket up over her chest, even though she was wearing a t-shirt. “What… What are you doing in here?”

“I brought you breakfast.” He said with cheer and grabbed the tray from the vanity to place on her lap.

Riane looked over the meal before her. She loathed raisin brand cereal and had no idea why he thought to choose it for her, but she decided to be gracious and tell him later. “Thank you.”

He smiled as he sat down at the end of her bed, “Eat, eat.”

She cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea, before pouring the milk over her cereal. The first bite, she had to force herself not to gag on the dehydrated grapes from hell. Each bite made her think of eating rat’s feces, but she tried her best to force the image out of her head.

In the end, she ate the cereal quickly to get the worse of the meal over with. Her fruit bowl was next and she was much more receptive to the cantaloupe, strawberries, honeydew melon, and actual grapes.

Julian watched her eat with a smile on his face and offered no hint he knew of her internal struggle with the cereal. “Let’s skip classes today.”

“Why?” She asked as she put a cube of honeydew in her mouth. “Mmm, your mom always picks the best fruit.”

“It’s the cook not my mom.” He told her before jumping right into his pitch. “We go to school without fail every Monday through Friday. Let’s take a day off, just the two of us and hang out. We can do whatever you want.”

“We can hang out on the weekend and do whatever I want then. I am trying to get my band teacher on my side.” She continued to pick at the fruit bowl with her fingers and delicately put one slice at a time in her mouth.

“Everyone is off on weekends. The world will be empty for us today. We can go to the aquarium and there won’t be a ton of people hogging the halls.” His voice was nearly to the register of begging.

“I’ve never been to the aquarium before.” She told him nonchalantly.

He tried to push down a devious grin as he had a feeling such a location might get her to follow along. “See, and if we go on the weekend, you’ll be filled with anxiety because of all the people, but if we skip classes and go today, then the aquarium will be our playground.”

Riane stared at him for a couple moments, before sighing. “Alright, but we can’t make a habit out of this.”

“Deal.” Julian jumped out of bed. “I am going to get dressed. Wear sensible shoes, we will be walking a lot. OK?”

“Ok.” She watched him leave the room and looked down at the tray. “Am I suppose to take this back down to the kitchen?” She asked, but got no response.

Picking up the tray and tossing the blankets off of herself. She placed it on the vanity, before drinking down her tea. Once she was finished, she immediately picked up her phone to let Blake know she wouldn’t be at school today.

“Are you sick?” He replied back.

“No, I am just taking a personal day. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She answered as she tried to pick out an outfit from the closet.

It took a little while for him to respond back, and she wondered if her text had gone though. “Alright, see you tomorrow then.”

She grinned at the reply and began to look through her clothing quickly, before settling on a shirt and jeans along with a pair of tennis shoes which Julian had suggested.

---***---

Riane wanted to attend her first class that morning in order to get back her test results. Julian had begged her not to go, but she was insistent. After all, she had studied hard for this test and she simply had to know how well she had done.

The bells rang around campus, and the first class was dismissed. Julian waited outside the classroom, when Blake happened to walk by. Though in Julian’s mind he was most definitely stalking Riane.

“Hey, Julian. I thought Riane was taking a personal day today?” He walked through the crowd of students as he came to stand next to the other man.

Julian cleared his throat and prepared himself to tell Blake off, but remembered Riane asking him to be nice to her friend. “Yes.” The answer hissed out of him like venom. “She will be, but she wanted to get her test results back for this class.”

“Yeah, mathematics has never come easy for her. She is trying really hard to keep her grades up in order to prove to herself the switch in majors wouldn’t hinder her.” Blake looked towards the classroom door.

She hadn’t told Julian any of that, but he nodded his head as if he already knew everything.

“Uh, she always waits until everyone clears out before exiting herself.” Blake chuckled, “During high school, one time, she waited but other students began to filter in and she got herself stuck. I had to go inside and pull her out, she was in such a panic about bumping into oncoming students.”

Go away! You are not my friend! Was the chant playing in Julian’s mind and he was barely listening to what Blake had to say.

In his mind, he shoved the other man away and into the crowd over and over again. Just the thought brought a grin to his lips, but he remembered the glare Riane had given him when he tripped him not to long ago. Blake had been the one to apologize to him, but Riane knew he had done it on purpose.

He apologized to her before she even had the chance to yell at him, which had defused the situation.

Stepping out of the classroom, Riane smiled at Blake first and jog over to him. She offered out her free arm as the other was holding books, and the two hugged briefly. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Ditto, but I saw Julian lurking around your first period and I thought you had changed your mind.”

She slowly shook her head, “No, I would have sent you a text if I did. We are going to the aquarium. I’ve never been.”

“I think you’ll like it there.” He held humor in his voice and a large smile on his lips.

Julian thought perhaps was sarcasm and believed Blake didn’t think Riane would enjoy it. He would show him. She loved seeing animals of any kind. She pointed at squirrels whenever they drove by one. He knew her better and she was going to love the aquarium just to spite Blake, he decided.

“Riane.” A gentle voice spoke from behind them and everyone turned to look upon Adonia.

“Adonia, hello.” Riane didn’t know if she should lower her head in anxiety or look the woman directly in the eyes.

Adonia looked at the two men standing behind her and her heart raced wildly. She hadn’t expected to find her with both of them. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“I am about to leave campus.” She informed her.

“Yeah, so make it quick.” Julian seethed with anger, while Blake stood calmly with his arms folded beside him.

In truth, Blake was not pleased to see her either, but he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of an emotional response.

“Oh, well, I wanted to tell you how horrible I feel about Hawaii. It was so ridiculous and I am so ashamed of myself. To think I could do such a thing… well, if I hadn’t been so emotionally distressed I would never have been so brazen. I truly am sorry.” She lowered her head to act as if she might cry.

“It’s alright, Adonia. I understand.” Riane reached out her hand and gently pat her on the shoulder.

Adonia looked up with a smile, but frowned at the two man harem behind her. Those were suppose to be her men and now this skinny, shapeless brat had stolen them both. How greedy did she need to be? The two didn’t even like one another and she was forcing them to coexist just for the great pleasure of her company.

“Thank you. I hope we can return to being friends.” Adonia continued to smile and watched Riane nod her head briefly.

“Of course.”

“Come on, Riane, we need to get going.” Julian nudged her with his shoulder and she agreed.

“Bye, Blake. See you tomorrow. Make sure you eat with Seth and Dalen, they will be expecting you.” She gave him a hug, “Ok?”

“Ok.” He replied and watched Julian grab her head and hurry away from them into the crowd.

Adonia waited for them to disappear before looking back at Blake. “After telling her the truth, she is still letting you follow her around?”

Blake suddenly realized the horror he had been left with and cursed Julian’s name internally. “Our friendship is stronger than you would expect.”

She slowly nodded her head, “You know, I often wondered why the two of them went on a couple’s date with us, when it was obvious later on they weren’t even really a couple at the time.”

Blake shrugged.

“It was to break us up.” She responded candidly. “They did a good job of it too, other than the part where they fall in love with each other and leave our relationship dead and broken.”

“I think we did that all by ourselves, Adonia.” He took his cellphone from his pocket and looked at the time. “I need to hurry to class.”

Before he could turn away from her, she grabbed his upper arm. “Is that what you are doing? Waiting for the inevitable demise of their relationship, so you can finally have her for yourself?”

Blake scoffed, “Were you always this bitter and cruel?”

“Yes.”

“You hid it well then.” He shook her hand off his arm. “Get to class, and don’t worry about my friendship with Riane anymore.”

---***---

Riane and Julian stopped in the middle of their day for lunch. They had spent the entire morning at the aquarium and showed no signs of stopping.

Julian couldn’t help but smile as Riane looked over the wildlife with wide eyes. She reminded him of a child on their first adventure there, and even some of the children around them were not as enthralled by the large glass displays.

She had watched a scuba diver in one of the tanks and they discussed in length once again their own scuba diving experience. The little activity displays were among her favorite, even if they were more for children, but Riane loved them.

Her smile created his own, and it wasn’t longer before he realized how much his cheeks hurt. However, he just kept smiling as he watched her, even when there was no smile on her face but a look of amazement.

She made everything new for him, even an old trip to an aquarium his parents had dragged him to against his will time and time again. This time he actually wanted to be here. He wanted to chase her from exhibit to exhibit. He enjoyed listening to her read out the placards in front of each one. He loved watching her try to move close despite the people around them.

Riane, on the other hand, had noticed his long gazes. They made her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time she didn’t want him to stop. At times she played up her enthusiasm in order to get him to stare a little longer or smile a little wider.

She took his hand so he didn’t feel like he was always in charge of their interactions. In this small gesture, she was leading their relationship for a moment.

Her heart never beat so fast as the first time she grabbed hold. She didn’t know what she was afraid of, as if he would suddenly reject her.

Of course, when she did grab it, Julian only held onto her hand tightly and every time she took his hand after that came easier.

Riane ate a pretzel with cheese while Julian had a slice of pepperoni pizza. Sitting at a table inside the aquarium, they continued to act as if the hundreds of people surrounding them were not there. It was just the two of them, enjoying their day together.

“We probably should have done the outside portion first, it will be warmer outside now.” Julian mumbled right before he took a bite of his pizza.

Riane chuckled, “It’s not like it is summer time. I am sure it will be comfortable enough this time of year. I hope not too many of the displays are down since it’s still not very warm.”

He nodded his head in response, but in truth he already knew she would answer his worry in that way. He had just wanted to say something to her, and hear her say anything at all in return.

“I hope Dalen and Seth are being nice to Blake and letting him eat lunch with them.” She said as she picked another piece off the large preztel and dipped it into the cheese sauce.

He didn’t like she had brought up Blake during their time together, but he didn’t want to start anything over it and ruin their day, so he simply gave another nod.

“I wish they had a garlic, Parmesan dip inside.” She mumbled to herself right before putting the large piece of bread in her mouth.

“They had a marinara.” He replied. “They really missed something here. They have the pepperoni, they have the marinara, they have the pretzel.”

She looked at him quizzically as if she was unable to put the puzzle together, which he felt he had lined up perfectly for her.

“Pepperoni pretzel!” He shouted excitedly and then lowered his voice when he realized others around them were watching him. “It’s all I am saying.”

Riane chuckled, and playfully rolled her eyes. “I am not certain it is something I would order.”

“That’s because you are boring.” He told her playfully, and then pulled a piece of pepperoni from his pizza. He gathered some pizza sauce from his crust on it. “Give me a little bite of pretzel.”

She did as she was asked by tearing a large chunk off and handing it to him with a large grin on her lips.

Julian put the pepperoni slice on the pretzel and popped it in his mouth. He chewed for several moments, before swallowing and then picking up his bottle of water. He chugged it down before putting it back on the table.

“Well, how was it?” She asked with curiosity when she realized he wouldn’t give her a response on his own.

“Probably best to do with a non-salted pretzel.” He stuck out his tongue, “Is it all dried and shriveled up?” He asked before sticking it out again.

Riane laughed, “I’d offer to kiss it and make it better, but that would just be awkward.”

He smiled widely before laughing himself, “I don’t know if kissing a boo boo works with an overly salted meal.” He leaned forward and stuck out his tongue, before speaking, “Githe ith a tray.”

“No!” Riane swatted him away, and motioned around the room, “There are children here.”
“I’ve seen many of them eating their boogers. You would think after a long morning of snacking on those things, they wouldn’t be hungry enough for lunch.” He said as he looked around the room.

“Gross, Julian, I am eating here.”

Julian chuckled, “You aren’t seriously sensitive to something like that?” He put on his best baby voice, “Does your stomach hurt now, little baby? Was the mean man icky? Poor little princess.”

“Shut up.” She hissed playfully before she stuck out her tongue covered in chewed up pretzel at him.

Julian’s eyes widened, “Now that is truly disgusting! How can you call yourself a lady when you go around showing chewed up food to people you supposedly love?” He bite into his pizza quickly, chewed it up, and then immediately showed it to her.

“Gross, Julian!”

“You did it to me first!”

They both began to laugh loudly, and ignore the looks of the other guests around them.

“Are you done?” He asked, “I don’t think I can eat anymore of this disgusting pizza. We should eat dinner after we leave here, alright? I’ll take you somewhere better than this.”

Riane nodded as she picked up her tray and headed towards the garbage cans with Julian close behind her.


---***---

Dalen had been at home with Emma and Seth. The two had a rather cutesy relationship which made anyone not in it feel uncomfortable. In fact, Dalen felt downright disgust around them.

He had tried to call Joe to get her to come visit him and go on a double date, but she didn’t answer her phone. It lasted an hour of trying to get her to answer before he finally realized she just wasn’t answering his calls.

“I don’t want to be a third wheel, you two go on without me.” Dalen had told them.

They both had enough courtesy to tell him to come along one final time, before they gave in to his demand and left the house.

As annoying as they were, Dalen knew it was a sense of jealousy and if Joe had been with him he would have found their relationship endearing.

The longer he went without speaking to Joe, the more he understood what was going on. She had wanted an open relationship with him, and whoever she had in mind was now taking up all of her time.

Perhaps, she had called it an open relationship instead of what it actually was; a break up.

As he stood in his kitchen, his phone rang and the name Ivy popped up on his screen. Answering it, he tried to clear any sorrow from his voice.

“Ivy, hi!” He smiled so she could hear it in his voice.

“Dalen! I was just calling to thank you! I got a job at Hurstmart and they just gave me my ugly green polo shirt today. I am so excited. I even had to buy khaki pants and some comfortable shoes. I start tomorrow.” Ivy’s excitement sounded like she was nearing tears more than being happy.

“That’s wonderful news.” Dalen’s false smile turned into a real one as he realized how touched she was to get a job like this one.

“I wouldn’t have been able to get something like this, if you hadn’t given me a chance and I promise I won’t let you down. I am going to work hard, as soon as I am finished training I am going to take all the overtime I can.”

He could hear her breathing hard and wondered if she had been jumping for joy or running somewhere. “I don’t think you need to go that far. Just keep yourself clean and work hard. We like to hire managers from within.”

“Don’t worry, I am not going to squander this opportunity. Please let me buy you coffee with my first paycheck in a couple weeks, alright?”

Dalen remembered this woman dancing on the bar tops and inhaling cocaine off another woman’s bottom. He could recall clearly walking in on her and Julian in the man’s restroom and her offering to take care of him next if he waited.

Julian never liked the woman other than as a way to party, and he didn’t care who else did what with her. So, he got to see her with many men over the years while her and Julian were on and off again.

He would never be able to understand why he helped get her this job, after all he had seen her do. She was not trustworthy, but he figured giving her a chance wouldn’t hurt anything. The most she could do was steal some electronics before she was caught, fired, and prosecuted.

He remembered her at the coffee shop the night he offered, and how she had looked so defeated. This wasn’t the woman he had met before. He was disgusted by that woman and often felt unclean when she merely held his arm to prevent herself from falling.

However, his heart went out to the woman she seemed to be becoming. A woman who actually apologized for what she had done and seemed to be trying to make the necessary changes.

“I’d love to.” Dalen replied.

There was such happiness in her voice now, which he had never heard before, no matter what drug or mix of them she had taken before. “Great! I will be looking forward to it.”

“Me too.” Somehow talking to her made his own pain feel a little less, and he wanted to keep her one the phone a bit more when he realized she was about to hang up. “Are they paying you well?”

“A couple bucks more than minimum wage, and I will probably make less without tips then at my other two jobs, but it is worth it to get out of that environment.” He heard her take a sip of something. “After my training is done, I’ll get a raise and in a couple years, I could be up for assistant manager and so forth.”

“Will you be able to pay all your bills?”

Ivy laughed, “Yes, don’t worry. Now I don’t have to buy so many clothes for work, I am sure everything will be a lot easier.”

“That’s good.”

There was a pause before Ivy decided to change the subject as she didn’t seem to want to exit the conversation either. “How are Emma and Riane?”

“Oh, great! Emma is dating Seth now, and Riane and Julian are still thick as thieves. You couldn’t get between the two of them with a crowbar.”

Ivy laughed, “That’s good to hear, and how are you?”

The question brought all his pain back, but he didn’t really feel comfortable explaining it to her. “I’m fine.”

“That’s good to hear too.” Ivy cleared her throat. “The bus is coming, and it’s rude to chat on the phone in front of other people, so I’ll call you soon.”

“Yes, please call me and let me know how your first day was, alright?” Dalen didn’t know why he asked her to do that, but he thought maybe it was to give her another reason to call.

“Will do. Have a good night!”

“You too.”

He hung up his phone and stared at it for a couple moments, before tossing it on the kitchen isle. He looked over at the spot where Joe used to stand while he was preparing food.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand what it was he had done so wrong. Not when they first broke up, or anything he had done in Hawaii that deserved his immediate exile.

There just was no rhyme or reason in any of this. He felt like he was the monster even though he had been victimized.

He wanted so desperately to understand what had gone wrong, but without Joe willing to speak to him, he didn’t know where else to turn.

With an audible sigh, he turned towards the fridge and decided to make himself a big meal to liven his spirits.

---***---

Riane stood behind Julian who was on his knees. She had his arms in the air with her arms wrapped around his in order to keep him from putting them down. “Get him!”

Zachary laughed as he tried to tickle his older brother, and Julian tried to kick him away, but once he was in close it was too late.

The younger brother did tickle very well, but he got a couple good spots which made Julian jerk around. “Stop!” He squealed.

Sitting on the couch, Bryce was playing on a video console and kept giving the group of three dissatisfied looks. He wanted to yell at them to shut up and get out of the room, but he had yet to show that side of himself to Riane.

The doorbell echoed in the background and no one listened as they continued to rough house. Julian got loose from Riane and grabbed his brother into the air, holding him horizontally in his arms, he exposed his belly for Riane. “It’s your turn! Riane has slim fingers that really get into the good spots too!”

“No! No!” Zachary cried with laughter.

“Tickle, tickle, tickle!” Riane said as she walked towards him with her fingers motioning her intentions.

“Riane!” Nanette called from the hallway.

Dropping her hands to her side, Riane left the room and Julian put his brother down in order to follow her.

Simon, her father, stood in the hallway and when she appeared in sight, he frowned. “We are leaving. This engagement is off!”

Julian was quick to move in front of Riane, so her father couldn’t grab at her. “What? Why? We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Simon looked towards Nanette, “I told your husband in no uncertain terms she was not to change her major, especially not to music.”

“She loves music, we...” Nanette tried to explain herself, but Simon tossed up his hand and silenced her.

“Riane, get your coat, we are leaving!” He shouted.

Zachary and Bryce entered into the hallway and they both took a place at her side, while Julian remained in front of her.

“I like it here. I want to stay with Julian.” Riane spoke softly to her father and the three males around here watched her wither back into the person she was on the first day she had arrived.

“Too fucking bad. Come here now!”

Nanette stepped into the way, “Please, Simon, I was unaware of any such promise made by my husband. We will have her change it back, and then everything will be fine. She can stay here.”

“No, this family was barely a choice for me, but you were the only ones who would have her at the time. Now, I know you aren’t to be trusted.” Simon snapped then looked back at his daughter, “Let’s go now!”

Riane took a deep breath and began to step towards her father, but Julian pushed her back behind him. “She is not leaving here! She is an adult who can make her own decisions!”

“Mom will pay for your school.” Zachary told her, as he grabbed hold of her hand. “Right, mom?”

Nanette nodded, “You don’t have to go anywhere with him. We will take care of you, I promise.”

Bryce placed his hand on her shoulder, “We’ll protect you.”

Simon’s anger rose, “They may be able to support you financially, but I am the one who gets to say whether you ever get to see your brother again. I’ll will end all this sneaking around Deidra thinks she is getting away with. You will never see Russell again, do you understand?”

Riane’s heart dropped into her stomach. She clenched tightly to Zachary’s hand, before letting it go. Her eyes went to Bryce first, “It’s alright. I’ll go pack.”

“I’ll send someone to collect your things. You won’t be see these people again.” Simon growled.

She swallowed as she began to step forward, but Julian grabbed both of her shoulders and his eyes begged her more than his words. “Please, don’t go. We will help you figure something out. Please stay here with me.”

She held her breath for a moment as she desperately wanted to stay here, but she knew Russell was all alone with their father. He needed her more than anyone else in this family needed her. Even if she couldn’t help protect him with her presence, her words of encouragement kept him afloat. “I can’t abandon my brother. He needs me.” She mumbled and brushed Julian’s hands off. “Please, understand.”

As she walked by him, Julian grabbed her hand. “Please, don’t go.”

Looking into his eyes, she gave a brave smile. “It’s alright. Don’t worry. Everything will work out as it should.”

He squeezed her hand tightly, “Don’t go.”

Riane squeezed his hand back, before using her other hand to pull it away. “Be nice to your mother and take care of your brothers.” She told him before she kissed his cheek and whispered, “I love you.” Not allowing Julian to respond, she walked towards her father.

He tossed her coat at her and they headed towards the front door. He opened it and hurried her out before shutting the door behind him.

Julian stood in the hall in disbelief.

“I… I have to call your father.” Nanette came to her senses after a few moments. “He.. he can’t do this.” She was trying her best not to cry, but the tears were already beginning to flow. “I won’t let him do this.” She hurried to find her phone.

Zachary stepped forward and placed his hand on Julian’s shoulder even though it was a bit of a reach. “Are you alright?”

Bryce did the same, “Yeah, are you alright?”

Julian shook his head, “No.”

The three brothers stood quietly for a few moments, before Zachary spoke. “Why did she leave? I thought her brother was her father’s favorite.”

“He is a mean man, and her brother needs her support. He needs his soft place to land when things get too hard.” Julian told them.

“This isn’t over, right?” Bryce asked.

Julian looked towards his older brother, “Not by a fucking long shot. I didn’t even get to tell her….” He cut himself short, “This isn’t ending like this or any other way.”
 

#2
-***-

Entering into the house, Riane took off her jacket and threw it onto the marble flooring as hard as she could. Once, it was laying before her she remembered herself and where she was, however everyone had already seen the display.

Simon glared down at the jacket, while Deidra had rushed into the room to greet her had been stopped in her tracks. She held her hands over her mouth and looked between Simon and Riane.

“Pick it up.” Simon hissed between his teeth as he held his own jacket in his hands.

Riane swallowed and thought to pick it up, but a moment of rebellion overtook her. “You brought me here, you pick it up.” She barked and headed towards the stairs, but Simon was quick to grab her arm.

“Pick it up!” He yelled and pushed her towards the jacket.

Standing in front of it, Riane simply kicked it across the room, where Deidra hurried to pick the coat up.

“Leave it!” He ordered his wife and then turned back to Riane with fury in his eyes, “Pick it up!”

“Or what? You’ll destroy my life? You take the person I love away from me? You’ll threaten to never let me see my brother again?” She hissed back, “What could you possibly do over a jacket that you haven’t already done to me today?”

“Riane, you are working my last nerve. You knew damn well I wouldn’t allow this change of major to go unpunished! There was no other reason for you to do this, then a will to have me return you here!” Simon screamed.

They had been eerily silent in the car and this sudden change in energy had caught him off guard.

“I love music! I want it to be my major! I don’t understand why you won’t let me have this!” Riane moved towards the stairs, “It is such a childish and stubborn way to control me. It’s not as if I do this, I could die. This is just your own anger at my mom! You are punishing me for something I didn’t have anything to do with!”

“Do not speak…”

“Fuck you! Fuck you!” Riane chanted and continued to chant as she headed up the stairs.

The outburst left Simon standing in the middle of the entry way stunned by the way his daughter had spoken to him.

“I am going...” Deidra mumbled, but did not finish her sentence as she hurried up the stairs after Riane.

Riane was on her bed in her room. The bedroom had been cleared of anything but the furniture, and looked to be a guest room now. Anything which would have reminded her father of her was now either thrown away or in storage.

Deidra realized this as she looked at the small girl on the bed with only a fitted sheet on it. “Riane?” She stepped inside.

Riane was not crying, but she stared around the room as if she was in a trance and couldn’t hear anything her stepmother said.

Sitting on the bed beside her, Deidra took her hand into her own. “Sweetie, I am so sorry. I do not know how this happened. I was so careful and it turned out he knew all along, then he found out about your music major. I tried all night to keep him from going after you, but he… well, you know how he is when he makes up his mind.”

Riane looked at the woman sitting next to her, who was nearing tears. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” She spoke so calmly that it was unsettling.

The older woman ran her hand through her hair, “Your hair has gotten long.” She didn’t have anything better to say, but couldn’t stand the idea of silence between them.

Riane swallowed, “I can’t believe he did this. I can’t believe I am here again. I can’t believe… this can’t be real, can it?”

Deidra frowned, as she searched her mind for something, anything to say to this girl she loved, who was so obviously heartbroken. “I am so sorry, sweetie. I… I don’t know what to say.”

Riane inhaled deeply as if she was fighting back tears, “I love him, Deidra. I love him but I picked Russell instead.”

Reaching out her arms, Deidra pulled Riane’s head to her shoulder. “Shhh, shhh. I will help you figure something out. I won’t let him do this to you.”

Keeping her head on Deidra’s shoulder, she let out a loud sigh. “Do not do anything. I do not want to risk losing my family.” Sitting up, Riane looked her stepmother in the eyes, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“I feel more upset seeing you unable to cry then I would if you just cried.” She was holding back her own tears, but they still fell down her cheeks despite how much she was trying to be strong.

“If I go against him. He’ll take my brother away. He’ll take you away too. He has already taken too much from me, so let’s just let him have this. Alright?” Riane held her step mother’s hands tightly. “I don’t want to lose another mom.”

Deidra eyes watered as she looked at the girl in front of her, “Alright, alright. I won’t do anything, I promise.”

“Thank you.” Riane laid down on the bed in a ball, but she still did not cry or even whimper. She merely laid there.

Rubbing her back, Deidra looked over the girl as tears streamed down her face. She tried to keep herself from crying out loud and quietly wiped the tears away as best she could. “Do you want something to eat?”

Riane shook her head in reply.

“Something to drink?”

Again, another shake of her head.

She continued to rub her back, “Russell is asleep, but I am sure he would wake up if he knew you were here.”

“Tomorrow is a school day.” She mumbled.

“So, I can get some blankets and we can all sleep in here. The three of us together. Like we used to do when he had nightmares.”

Another shake of her head, “I just want to be left alone right now, Deidra. Please go.”

She nodded her head even though Riane could not see her. “Yes, of course. Of course, I will leave you alone.” She stood up and straightened out her dress. “I’ll make you a nice breakfast in the morning… all by myself. Alright?”

She nodded.

“Alright. Goodnight.” As she was about to step out of the room, she stopped and looked Riane over. “Do you want a blanket?”

“No.”

Deidra stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind her. She decided she would give it a couple hours then go back in there with a blanket. If anything, she could cover the sleeping girl.

-***-

Seth, Dalen, and Emma all stood in shock after Julian had called them to the front of the school and explained what had happened with Riane the night before. The other students passed around them as if the world had not changed over night.

“Over her major?” Emma asked and Julian nodded his head at her with wide eyes as if he was about to burst from frustration.

“I called her and texted her all night long, but she never answered me. I think he might have taken her phone away.” Julian looked out towards the road as he waited for Riane to arrive.

“I just don’t understand why would he be so mad at a switch in major?” Dalen asked, “It isn’t as if she is untalented and there would be no way she could have a future with it.”

Julian shrugged, “I don’t know. Apparently, he made a deal with my father and she wasn’t allowed to change her major.”

Seth stood quietly as he stared passed all the other students and watched the road for Joe’s car. He couldn’t believe this was really happening. Riane and Julian had posted pictures up all day and Emma had showed him every single one. It was difficult to believe a day like that ended in such a way.

No, when he saw Riane, there would be a different story. She would laugh and tell them how she was handling her father and not to worry. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding, Riane wouldn’t just walk away. Would she?

Emma held Seth’s hand when she noticed the intense stare he was giving the road. He looked more upset than Julian and she couldn’t understand why.

“Is her father really terrible?” Emma asked.

The three men looked between each other before they all mumbled a yes or nodded their heads.

“Before she met us, Riane hadn’t even watched a movie in a theater. Hell, she hadn’t watched anything current at all. Her life consisted of studying and going to school.” Dalen explained. “She was completely isolated from the world except for Joe and Blake.”

As if on cue, Blake appeared from the crowd, “I got your text. What is going on?” He spoke to Emma.

Julian didn’t appreciate the fact Emma had invited him, but he decided it would be for the best to have him on his side. “Riane’s dad took her last night and ended the engagement, because she changed her major.”

Blake looked stunned for a moment, “I should have warned you. He came to my house the other day and asked a bunch of questions about her. He then specifically asked me about her major, and when he realized she had changed it, he blew up. Stormed out. I was going to tell you, but she wasn’t here yesterday.” He was lying slightly and he felt terrible about it, but he had truly been afraid to do anything again Simon Nairne.

Julian didn’t know what to say to the man. He wanted to yell at him, but his heart wasn’t in it during those moments.

“She’s here.” Seth announced.

Riane got out of the car and had a brief conversation with Joe who was in the driver’s seat. Tossing her backpack over her shoulder, she walked through the gates as her group of friend’s moved towards her. Everyone allowed Julian to arrive first and ask the first questions.

“Are you alright? What happened? Why did he take you?” Julian asked even though he knew most of the answers, he still wanted to hear them directly from Riane.

Riane’s eyes coldly looked up towards him, “We can’t be friends or anything else anymore. Don’t talk to me, please.” She began to walk away but he grabbed her hands.

“Riane? What… I don’t understand. If this is about him keeping you from your brother, we can figure something out. Come back to my house, alright?” Julian begged.

Riane yanked her hand away from his own, “We are done, Julian. Do not speak to me again in the future.” She barked before looking towards Blake, “Do you want to walk me to class?”

Emma stepped forward as Blake gave a nod, “Riane?”

She looked towards her school friend, “I’m sorry, Emma, but as long as you are dating Seth, we can’t be friends either. I can’t have anything to do with these people.” Riane began to walk away as if this didn’t bother her at all.

Blake looked towards her then back to Julian, “I’ll talk to her and figure out what is going on. Trust in me, ok?”

He waited for Julian to give him a nod before he ran off after Riane.

Once out of their sight, Riane leaned against the brick wall of a building and looked at Blake who carried his worries in his eyes.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

She slowly shook her head and pressed her lips together, “My father will keep me and Russell apart if I don’t do this. He’ll take Deidra from me too.” She swallowed, “I already lost my mom, I don’t want to lose more family.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder, “I am sure we can figure something out, Riane.” He watched her shake her head, “Why is he doing this?”

“I suspect it has something to do with my mom, but I have no idea.” She inhaled deeply. “Don’t do anything with Julian anymore. It breaks my heart to do this to him and I don’t want you to give him any hope, alright?”

Blake remembered the words he had just spoke to Julian. He had asked him to trust in him, but now Riane was asking him to not allow such a trust between them. He knew where he loyalties lied, but he also thought Julian might be able to stop the pain which was so obvious on Riane’s face.

He decided this wasn’t something he could come to a conclusion on in the moment, and would take some time to think about what he really needed to do.

“Alright.” He said with a little “for now” in the back of his mind.

Riane offered him the saddest smile she could muster although it was obvious she was trying to look strong, “Let’s get to class then.”

He began to walk beside her and kept looking over at her as they moved through the crowds. She wasn’t panicked and remained calm among them, but he could see her mind was somewhere else, with someone else.

He wished he had never opened the door to speak to Simon, and he thought about the lie he had told his new friends. He would have to come clean and explain he acted out of fear soon enough. He couldn’t leave things like this for very long.


-***-

At lunch time, Joe sat in a small sandwich shop attached to her community college. She had before her a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread with no sauce. It was the only thing that appealed to her while she had been waiting in line.

Neil approached her and noticed she was merely staring at her food with a bottle of water beside it. She seemed like she was in only person in the entire place, and the world around her simply did not exist.

He had invited her here for lunch earlier that morning, but when he arrived she was already sitting next to the window watching the students pass by.

Setting his tray down on the table, he looked at the contrast between her meal and his own. His was had pastrami meat, pepper jack cheese, pesto sauce, garlic aoili, and a large amount of various vegetables all on a dutch crunch roll. On the side, he had potato chips and apple slices and to wash it all down was a large soda.

While she was still looking outside, he lifted up the bread on her sandwich to find it completely dry. Simply meat and a slice of American cheese.

He frowned as he dropped the piece of bread, “Are you not feeling well today?” He asked as he tried to gather his sandwich together without it falling apart, then took a huge bite out of it.

Joe looked towards him as if she had just realized he was there. “My stomach isn’t feeling all that great today. I probably should have went with chicken, but a chicken and cheese sandwich doesn’t sound right.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, when you say it like that, you are right.” He opened his small bag of potato chips, “Do you want to share? They are plain.”

She shook her head, “No, this will do.”

Neil watched her take a less than enthusiastic bites from her sandwich then toss it back onto her plate, before staring out the window again. He could tell she meant she wasn’t feeling well emotionally and he tried to think of someway to bring her up.

“Should we do something fun after class? My treat.” He asked as he tried to swallow down a large mouthful of food.

She returned her attention to him, “No, I have to move my stuff back to my mom’s apartment today. You can help if you want… I guess, you can help me move it into the apartment, but you can’t go on the Swithin property.”

He lowered his eyes as he began to understand what this was all about. “I got you fired, didn’t I?”

Joe looked at him blankly.

“I am so sorry, Joe. I know some people around town, I am sure I can find you something. Just give me a couple days.” He offered out his apple slices and she waved them away.

“No, I didn’t get fired. Riane moved back in with her father, so I no longer have a home in the guest house.” She explained with a sigh then took another bite out of her less than appetizing sandwich.

Neil raised an eyebrow, “They broke up?”

She nodded in response.

“That seems highly unlikely. I know I didn’t spend a lot of time with them, but from what I saw from afar they were really close.” He popped a potato chip in his mouth and chewed on it before taking a drink from his soda.

Joe frowned, “I did it.”

“Huh?”

“I got mad after the fight and everything, and so I called her dad to tell him Riane had changed majors. He hates the idea of her getting a degree in music, so he rushed over there and yanked her away.” She spoke the words quickly for fear she wouldn’t be able to get them all out.

Neil stared at her for several long moments, “That’s… that’s terrible, Joe. Why did you do that?”

She shrugged, “I just felt like he was taking my friend away. Riane was changing into someone who was no longer my friend, she was becoming someone else. Someone I didn’t know, and I panicked.”

He sat back in his chair, “What happened when you told her?”

She shook her head frantically, “No, I can never tell her. When I dropped her off at school today, I felt horrible. She cried in the car the entire way there, because she said she didn’t want to cry in front of Julian. She is completely distraught, and I am the one who caused it. If I tell her, she will never forgive me.”

“You don’t tell the truth and apologize to be forgiven. You did it because you are actually sorry for what you have done, and want them to know it.” Neil licked the oil from the pesto off his lips.

“I can’t.” She whimpered as if she was trying desperately not to cry herself, before crossing her arms over her chest.

“You can’t keep this secret forever. Eventually the truth will come out, and you want to be the one telling it, because it will only seem callous if you let it continue on.” He stared down at his food as if he was annoyed he had ordered so much, but in truth he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He never pegged Joe for the type to be so manipulative and vindictive.

In the silence between them, Joe took another bite of her sandwich and then took a big gulp of her water. She exhaled loudly and continued to watch the student pass by them outside.

Neil remained quiet as he ate his apple slices though he was losing his appetite. Riane had never liked him, and he had always been aware of it. He overcompensated in the past to get her to like him, and it only made her hate him more. He made the same mistake this time around which caused the fight to begin with.

However, it didn’t mean he wanted to see Joe’s friend in pain. In fact, Riane having a boyfriend had given him a great deal more time to spend with Joe. He may not have gotten onto the right foot with Julian, but the guy seemed like he might be able to forgive him if he could get Riane to do it first.

“Why does he hate the idea of a music major?” Neil finally asked when he knew no amount of begging her to come clean would work.

Joe shrugged, “I don’t know. I remember when her mom was around, they used to sing and dance. Riane’s mom played the piano and they all seemed very happy, but after her mom left Mister Nairne just became a different person. Just mean and cruel, and no one has any idea as to why.”

“There has to be a story there. Maybe if you find out what it is, you can help fix this problem.”

“That would mean locating Riane’s mom, an impossible task.” Joe snorted.

“Do you want me to help you try?”


-***-


Sitting at the lunch table, the friends weren’t much in a mood for chatting with one another, especially when Julian joined the group.

Adonia’s friends were surprised when she walked right pass them without a greeting and sat down in Riane’s old chair next to him.

“Hi, guys.” Adonia said with a smile and looked towards Emma, “You look cozy today.”

Emma looked down at her baggy, blue sweatshirt and then up at the woman sitting across from her. She was certain calling her attire “cozy” was an insult, but she wasn’t a person to give up comfort for fashion. “Thanks.”

It was the only reply she could muster up. All day long, Emma had been texting Riane and trying to get her to talk to her, but Riane would only respond that she couldn’t have anything to do with Julian and his friends. She would apologize and tell her this wasn’t a manipulation on her part, she was just stating facts.

Dalen and Seth had also tried texting her, but they received complete silence on her end.

“Where is Riane and Blake?” Adonia asked as she cut apart her chicken breast that laid over a Greek salad.

The entire group looked towards Julian, who stared down at the bowl of clam chowder which laid on a tray with a sour dough roll.

Adonia looked between everyone and then at Julian, “Oh my, you two didn’t break up did you? After all you have been through?” A sadistic glee began to burn in her chest.

“We didn’t break up!” Julian snapped, “Her father came and took her away, and now she won’t speak to any of us.”

She took a big sip of her water in an attempt to drown a giggle. “That’s terrible, so she is allowing her father to control her instead of staying with you?”

“She doesn’t want to lose her brother and stepmother, and her father threatened her with it.” Emma explained and she grew more annoyed with the woman as she noticed the smugness on her face and the giddiness in her voice.

“Oh, I see.” Adonia cleared her throat, “Well, there is nothing to be done if she has chosen her family over you. They were obviously more important and you’ll just have to find a way to be happy with that decision.”

Julian glared at her out of the side of his eye, and a slight twitch began to appeared on the corner of his lip. “Why are you here?”

She shrugged, “Riane said she forgave me, and I thought I’d have lunch with my new friends.” She smiled around the table.

The cafeteria was buzzing with people, even at the other side of the table. The murmurs around the room were people living their own lives with no care for what the small group was up to. That was until Adonia sat down and began loudly making a scene, and now some eyes had turned towards them.

Seth could see the metaphorical fire burning out of Julian’s ear, and he wondered why he was even holding back. Normally, Julian would just explode and let her have it, but he was acting reserved as if Riane were still guiding his behavior.

“You need to leave.” Julian said dryly, before eating a spoonful of his soup and continuing to stare into it’s milky abyss.

Dalen looked up from his own meal as he had been uncomfortable with the entire situation, but his eyes focused on Adonia who looked taken aback by Julian’s words. He had no idea what to expect from the woman, nor did Emma and Seth.

They all expected some sort of scene like she had created in Hawaii, but there was no Riane to manipulate.

Instead, Adonia sat quietly for a couple moments, before smiling. “Consider the possibilities now that you aren’t being forced to marry her. You have your freedom back to do whatever you want.” She gently tapped his shoulder with her own as if she was attempting to flirt with him.

Julian didn’t understand how telling her to get lost ended up with her giving him life advice. Inhaling deeply through his nose, he turned his attention completely towards her. “I was not forced to marry her. I wanted to be with her, and there is no freedom without her. So, whatever you are trying to do right now, whatever way you think you can manipulate this to your benefit, just stop. Go sit with your friends, and do not speak to me ever again.”

Adonia raised an eyebrow, before standing. “Very well, your wound is too fresh, I get it.” With those words, she walked away and sat with Parker and Kalei, who were slightly hurt by her brush off before.

Emma watched the woman walk away before looking towards Julian, who was slowly feeding himself. It looked almost as if he was pushing himself to eat. She imagined he didn’t want to, but was more than likely making himself do it for strength.

“Are you going to keep fighting?” Emma asked.

Julian looked up from his bowl towards her, “What?”

“For Riane, I mean.”

He was very quiet for several seconds as he shoveled a couple more spoonfuls of clam chowder into his mouth. Finally, he tossed the spoon into the bowl and sat up straight with his back against his chair.

Dalen and Seth remained quiet as they also watched their friend. They couldn’t decide if he was acting calmly because that was how Riane had asked him to be, or if he was a slowly ticking down bomb which could explode at any question.

“I have no intention of giving up this easily.” Julian finally told her, “Riane can’t move because her father has her stuck, so I’ll have to go to her.”

“What about her brother and stepmother?” Seth asked.

Julian shrugged, “I know she is afraid of losing her family, and it’s a big fear since her mother ran out on her too. It’ll be difficult to convince her.”

Emma shook her head, “No, you just have to remind her you are family too. The problem we are having right now is Riane isn’t fighting. We need to bring her into this with us, and then we can win.”

“We?” Julian scoffed.

She stared him down for a moment, “Yes, we. We are friends, aren’t we? We are losing Riane, all of us, aren’t we?”

Julian pressed his lips together, before giving a short nod and replying. “I suppose so, yes.”

“Oh, thank you for agreeing.” Emma spoke sarcastically, “So, let’s all think on it for a while, and we’ll come up with something soon. Alright?”

-***-

Riane didn’t speak on the drive home, no matter how many topics of interest Joe had brought up. She was completely uninterested in her friend, which Joe didn’t understand since Riane didn’t know she had been the one to tell Simon about her change in major.

Walking into the mansion, Riane ignored her stepmother’s calls from the dining room about how dinner was almost ready. She headed up the steps and entered her bedroom, where she flung herself on the bed.

Her cellphone had been buzzing all day long from text messages to voicemail, Julian refused to give up even when he knew she was in class. Eventually, she had turned the damn thing off for her own sanity.

Remembering it now, Riane sat up and looked at the backpack she had tossed on the floor as she entered. Picking it up, she pulled the phone from the side pocket and powered it back up again.

Immediately sound filled the room. From popping noises for her text messages, to dinging for voicemail, and among other sounds for the various apps and games she played.

Opening up the text contact menu, there were a couple hundred unread texts from Julian and various others from Dalen, Seth, and Emma. Even Blake had sent her a few since they said goodbye earlier.

Julian’s texts were mostly ordering her to answer him or to call him back. Some were angry, others pitiful, and even more were downright sad.

Dialing the number for her voicemail, she entered in her pin number, and listened to the voice tell her how many voicemails she had.

“Riane, ok, ok, so I get it.” Julian’s voice started, “You don’t want to lose your brother, I get that, ok. Ok, but listen, are you really willing to lose me?”

Riane tried to hold back tears but sniffled at the voice message he had left last night.

“Just call me. We can figure something out, alright? Zack, Bryce, and I are all trying to figure it out. I mean, Russell will be an adult someday who can make his own decisions, right? Just call me, please.”

Riane inhaled deeply as the next message played.

“That was super unfucking cool, Riane. Unfucking cool! Why would you act like that?” He was talking about that morning at the gate. “I mean, I can understand me, but you won’t even be friends with people who are my friends? That’s fucking low. I can’t believe you right now.”

That ended the second message, and the third played.

“You know, I shouldn’t have left a message like the one earlier. I was just mad and wanted to vent. I know this is hard on you too, but we can fix this. I am not going to give up so easily, Riane, so please don’t do it either. I love you, and I want you to come home. Please, please, just call me and we can talk about this.” His voice became desperate at the end, “I’ll talk to you soon.”

The tears were streaming down Riane’s face though she tried to cry as silently as possible.

The voicemails went on from there. Each one was either begging her to call him or being angry she was ignoring him. Finally, she couldn’t listen to anymore and hung up. She tossed the phone on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest as she tried to gather herself so she could eat dinner with her father.

The screen of her phone turned on and Julian’s name popped up. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and looked at the accept and reject buttons.

Her thumb hovered over reject, but she knew she needed to put an end to this, before it became worse for her with her father.

“Yes?” She answered.

Julian’s was quite for several moments as if he hadn’t expected her to actually answer the phone. “Um, Riane? Are you alright? How are you? Um, did you eat a good lunch?”

Riane would have chuckled at the questions if they hadn’t made her so sad. “Julian, you have to stop calling me. I have made my decision.”

“Emma said something to me today.” He began before she had the opportunity to hang up. “She said we can fight all we want to get you back, but it won’t work unless you are willing to fight with us. Well, I am paraphrasing, but quite frankly I think I said it better. You know how wordy she can be.”

A gentle smile came to her lips as the tears continued to drip down her cheeks. “If I fight with you, I lose Russell and Deidra, and if I don’t fight I lose you. This is not a battle I can win.”

His voice was filled with fear as he spoke, “Then why does it have to be me? Why are you willing to throw me away? They will be fine, it’s not like you are leaving them on the streets if you don’t go back.”

“I am not leaving you on the streets either. I did it, because you are strong enough to handle it and mature enough to understand why. Russell isn’t. My dad can say whatever he wants to him and poison him against me forever.” Riane wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath.

“Please don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Julian. Just this one time, you are going to have to be the better person and understand I am not leaving you because I rejected you. I am leaving because I have no other choice in the matter.”

“Riane, I...”

“Goodbye, Julian. Please don’t harass me anymore or my father might make me change schools.” Riane hung up before he could convince her to talk more.

The door creaked open and Russell stood in the hallway, she hadn’t seen him that morning since Deidra and he left early for school.

“Hey, Russell.” She tried to smile.

He wasn’t buying her fake happiness, and instead he looked at her concerned. “Dad made you leave because of me?”

“No, it isn’t your fault.” She patted the bed next to her and her brother quickly jumped to sit on it. “It’s just I did something stupid that I knew I shouldn’t do, because I thought I wasn’t under his control anymore.” She laughed bitterly, “He sure showed me.”

Russell stared at his sister as she held back her tears. “You told me you really like him. Dad says he made you end it.”

“Yeah, he did.” She ran her hand through his red hair, “Don’t worry. We all have to be sad sometime in life. It’s my turn.”

“Don’t talk to me like I am stupid, Riane.” He frowned, “Don’t let Dad make you unhappy anymore. You ran away, so keep running. I’ll be fine.”

She slowly shook her head, “But I won’t be.”

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