Act 1 | Chapter 5

The rest of the day from that point went about as normal as you would expect. Riley and I had our Literature class together, followed up by a chemistry class, and finally, my last hour being another art class with Mr. Mcvay. Thankful, Maria wasn't in there with me, so I was able to relax as I continued to work on my projects. Most of the time in that hour, however, was spent planning out my project for the art contest. I already had dozens of ideas drawn out in my sketchbook on what I was going to be painting, but still, haven't settled on one that I really liked.

School ended, and I met up with Riley by the back entrance by the cafeteria. We didn't encounter Maria again from lunch up to this point, but we did find a sticky note slapped onto the front windshield of Riley's car. On it was simply writing that read 'We will scratch your car.' Riley did the simple thing and crumpled the ball up, tossing it towards the crowd of people walking out of the school.

"Back home for your clothes, right?" She asked me, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I just need to unload my backpack and fill it with some things for the night." Riley gave me a nod and started driving. We made our way back through the city and back to my place.

"Man, the last few classes were boring as hell," Riley complained, turning on the radio as her own personal CD soundtrack started playing. It was usually filled with songs from rock bands or lesser-known artists online.

"I usually find them pretty fun."

"Yeah, but your you." She grinned and looked at me. "So, what's this contest about? I know it's art-related, but that's as much as I know about it."

"Oh, well we have to do some sort of artwork on someone who inspires us. Then we have to give a small presentation about it, which is the part of this contest I'm not looking forward too."

"Really? Must be pretty important to you if your drawing someone who inspires you." Riley looked back to the road, changing lanes and making her way out of the city, and into the neighborhoods.

"Y- Yeah. Don't have a whole lot of people though."

"Well you're entering it so obviously you have someone in mind."

"I do, it's just not done yet."

Riley nodded.

"Well the contest doesn't end for a while, so you have time." She replied. "By the way, you wanna go somewhere before the movie? Like shopping or something?"

"Sure, why not. I've been needing a few things."

Riley parked her car in my driveway and waited for me to get out.

"I'll wait here for you."

"Don't worry, I won't be too long," I said, grabbing my backpack and walking to the keypad on my garage door. I stood there awkwardly as the garage door opened slowly, before slipping in under the door and making my way into the house. I was all alone. Both my parents were at work, and my brother was at college, so I usually had the house to myself for a couple of hours. It's a weird feeling, being home alone. I made my way upstairs and closed my door behind me instinctively. Slowly, I began unloading the contents of my backpack, placing my binders in an organized stack beside my desk. After making sure they were stacked up, and forming a straight tower, I dragged my bag over to my bed and began stuffing it with clean cloths. I grabbed a clean pair of underwear from my dresser and got my pajamas from inside my closet. My toothbrush was in the bathroom, so I could grab that on the way out. A part of me was nervous about what would happen to me tonight. The last horror movie I saw kept me up for nights, and if this newer one did anything similar, it was going to be a long weekend. I grabbed a few books I could read to try and help me fall asleep in case of that situation, and made my way out of my room. As I stepped out into the hall, I spotted the dendrobium orchids my mother had near the stairs.

There was something about the flowers I always liked. I wasn't sure what though. Perhaps it was the fact that they were white, and any color could stain and change their appearance completely. Color's where always something I like to play around with. You could use them to draw people's attention to certain parts of paintings, or away from them. Then it hit me. Right then and there. I knew what I wanted my painting to be. Quickly, I ran back into my room and slammed my sketchbook onto the desk. Flipping through the pages rapidly, I stopped on a certain unfinished image and grabbed one of the pencils sitting in the cup on my desk. I started drawing a rough outline of the dendrobium orchids near the middle of the picture. What I had drawn was Riley. She was holding up one of the white dendrobium orchids in front of her and blocking part of her face. That's what I was going to use, that right there.

Yes, Riley is the person I look up to, and while what I'm about to say may make me sound like an asshole, it's also true. I don't really have anyone else to look up to, aside from Riley's mother. She has been my one and only friend for years and has always been there for me during the tough times of my life. I liked Riley, I really did. Maybe I liked her a bit too much. There have been nights where I have fantasized the two of us together as a couple. Those dreams were always the ones that I remembered from the vast sea of my imagination. You'd think after having feelings for her for so long, I would have asked her out by now, but you would be mistaken. There are two things that have been holding me back from asking her. The first is if she didn't feel the same way towards me, and the second being the potential I could ruin our friendship. I don't want it to ever become awkward or weird for us two to hang out. That's why I haven't asked her out. I guess I'm also just nervous to ask, so that would make three things.

On my way out the door, I stopped briefly for my toothbrush and a snack from the cupboard. Chances are that popcorn will be my dinner tonight, but I just decided to get something small and stuff it into my backpack just in case. You never know what can happen. Riley was still waiting for me out in my driveway. She had been watching something on her phone, and as I climbed into the car, she smiled and nodded at me.

"You ready?"

"Yup, let's go," I said a little nervously. Riley started driving us towards her apartment. She and her mother lived near the center of the city, so they get the chance to stay in a pretty nice apartment in one of the city's hotels. It wasn't the same one my dad works at, but rather the competition to his hotel, which I always found ironic in a way. When we got them, Riley parked in the garage built into the side of the building. The lobby of the apartment complex was always interesting to me. They had these red velvet carpet's that served as the main paths between the stairs and front desk, but they also had these nice bushes used to them block anyone from veering off from the paths. On the other side of them where benches with small passageways to sit in them. I never understood why they designed their lobby like a hedge maze, but I'm sure they had a good reason. Maybe because it was fun for kids to run around in, like what Riley and I did for a while when we were younger.

We made our way to the elevator and rode it up to the fifteenth floor of the building. It was quick and didn't take more than a minute. When the elevator reached the top it briefly shook. It was then that kids most often jumped in the elevator to feel that one effect where your stomach feels all weird and stuff. I honestly don't know what it's called or why we do it, but I can relate it to the feeling of being on a roller coaster, only not as intense. The elevator door opened to the hall and we stepped out. The walls were recently painted a new coat of pearl white, making the smooth surfaces look almost like mirrors if you got close enough. The carpet flooring was designed in an octagon pattern, with a mix between red, orange, and black coloring through it. Riley's room wasn't far. I have been here so many times I could practically walk the whole way their blindfolded. The door's to each room looked the same, being carved from a dark brown colored wood. I'm not much of a carpenter, so I don't know if they are oak or pine, but to me, I see no difference. Wood is wood.

Riley's apartment was a single floor home, obviously, with a large living room, and a kitchen connected to it. A bar top separates the two rooms from each other. At the far end of the living room was a sliding glass door that led to a small balcony to stand out on. The living room floor was made from a beige carpet, with a couple of stains from over the years, some being hidden better than others. The couch was purple and in the shape of a large 'L'. A part of it could unfold into a bed, which is where I usually sleep whenever I stay the night. The kitchen had a wooden tile pattern, that almost looked like crosses constantly meeting up with each other and creating several roads like paths. There were a few paintings and pictures hung on the wall. The photos where of Riley with her mom and dad, some of the two of us together, and a couple framed art pieces me and Riley worked on. The living room had a single hallway, that led to both Riley's room, and also her moms. The bathroom was just before both of them and was a lot bigger than you would expect. There was enough room for a toilet, shower, two sinks, and even a large dresser, with a folded towel in each drawer. Across from that was the guest bedroom, but it served more like a storage room than anything else.

"Mum said she'd be back late tonight, so we have the whole apartment to ourselves," Riley said happily, taking her boots off and dropping them on the shoe rack positioned just in front of the door. I watched her walk into the kitchen as I removed my own sneakers and placed them beside Riley's boots.

"Great," I mumbled, feeling a little nervous about it being just the two of us home alone. It was normal, but in the case of what was happening later, it would have been nice to have Riley's mother over in case I have some sort of panic attack.

"You can unpack your things in my room," Riley said, putting her school backpack onto the rectangular kitchen table, and opening up the fridge.

"Not much to unpack, but sure," I replied, walking down the hall and to Riley's room. Upon entering I could see that Riley hasn't cleaned it recently. Her clothes were bunched up into piles around the room, the bedsheets where leaning halfway off, and her pillows were stuffed between the mattress and the bed frame. On the bed was a small stuffed sheep, lying sideways that Riley has always loved. It was a normal-looking sheep, only it had a helmet with horns stuck on it, with a small sword and wooden shield attached to the two front legs. Riley called it 'Dovasheep' which I always found to be a funny name. She's had it for years, and I honestly don't know if she will ever get rid of it. It's like that one stuffed animal you could never part with as a kid. There was a lovely half circle window right beside the bed, that shined a light onto it every morning. Off to the side was Riley's desk with her computer monitor placed in the middle. Riley was a bit of a gamer, and we would play with each other often when I come over. She had a gaming console attached to the living room TV too and played that more than her PC with its games.

Riley's closet was partially opened. Even as kids I never really looked inside. All that I could see from the small cracks in the door was a bunch of hanging shirts, and boxes. They were most likely old toys now, but back then, those boxes weren't in there. After placing my backpack over by the bed, and resting it against one of the legs, I walked back out to see Riley in the kitchen. She was drinking a bottle of her mother's alcohol, but only taking small sips. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I sat at the table and pulled out my phone from my jean pocket. I'm not sure if you would be surprised Riley drinks or not. Lot's of teenagers do, despite it being illegal, and Riley has always been one of those people who has been doing it for years, I'll be it at small sips at a time, but she still did it.

"I'm gonna change real quick," Riley said, putting the bottle back into the fridge, and carrying her bag into her room. After some time, she came out dressed in a pair of loose track shorts and an all-black tank top.

"Hey, what time is the movie?" I asked, looking up from my phone. I still didn't even know what we were going to see.

"About eight tonight." Riley nodded, "So we have some time to hang out before that. Get some shopping done." I gave her a nod and looked back to my phone. Checking the movie theaters website, I came to the conclusion as to what the movie was. The name sounded familiar, but I still wasn't sure what it was about. It didn't matter though, all horror movies were the same to me. Nothing more than jump-scare fests. "Guess I'll just have to wait to find out."