Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-three

RILEY

“So, spill the beans. How was it?” Lucy asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as soon as I confessed that I’d slept with Tristan.

“It was...nice.” I felt my cheeks heat up, and I quickly looked down at my notebook, trying to dodge her probing gaze.

“Just ~nice~? Come on, Ri, I need the juicy details,” she complained, giving me a playful nudge.

I let out a resigned sigh. “Alright, I’ll spill, but you’ve got to keep it down,” I whispered, glancing around the study hall.

We were the only ones chattering away, while everyone else was buried in their books, preparing for the finals next week.

I filled her in on everything that had happened the previous day, and she struggled to contain her excitement.

“Holy shit! That’s so freaking hot. I’m thrilled for you!,” she squealed, clapping her hands with a loud smack.

I quickly shushed her. “Lucy!” I hissed.

She rolled her eyes at my reaction. “Chill, babe. And you should consider going on the pill, because sex without condoms is ~so~ much better.”

She sighed dreamily, while I just stared at her, shocked and confused.

That’s when it hit me.

~Did we use a condom?~

~I had no clue.~

“Ummm…Lu, I—I don’t know if we used a condom or not,” I stuttered, my hands starting to tremble.

Shit, how could I be so reckless?

I should have asked him. We were so caught up in the moment; the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind until now.

“What?!” she shrieked, earning us a few annoyed glares from the nearby students. She yanked me from my seat and we dashed to the girl’s restroom.

“Riley Adams! Are you freaking serious?” she started to rant as soon as we entered the restroom.

“I don’t know, Lu. It’s not like we planned it, or like I’ve done this before. He should have known, right? I mean, I’m not sure.”

My heart was pounding. “I could just ask him, right? It’s just a possibility, isn’t it?” I shrugged, trying to keep my cool.

Lucy grabbed my shoulders.

“You better ask him, babe. This is crucial,” she replied, her face serious.

I nodded slowly, my mind racing. I didn’t want to get pregnant. Not now. I had so many plans for my future.

~Damn it!~

“I’ll ask him during lunch. Now, please distract me, Lu,” I groaned, frustrated.

“Uhhh…well, I finally broke up with Andrew, and he was surprisingly cool with it.”

I looked up, surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah, I was shocked too. I was so worried that I would hurt him, but he understood and told me that he wants the best for me.”

I furrowed my brow, confused.

“That’s odd, because when he called me the other day he sounded really worried, and told me to tell you that he missed you,” I added, fixing my hair in the mirror.

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, I expected a bigger reaction from him, but I’m glad he took it well.”

“Yeah, that’s better,” I mumbled, looking at my reflection with a small frown. My mind kept circling back to the doubt that Lucy had planted in my head.

“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” she asked, as if reading my mind.

“I’m freaking out, Lu. I mean, what if he didn’t use protection?”

“When did you have your last period?” she asked me immediately.

“It ended two days ago.”

“That’s good. It’s hard to get pregnant right after your period. Don’t stress, babe. Tristan has experience; he must have used a condom,” she reassured me.

I nodded. “I’m so gonna kill him if he says no,” I muttered angrily as we rushed out of the restroom.

***

During lunch, I texted Tristan and even tried calling him, but he didn’t answer my calls and he was nowhere to be found. My patience was wearing thin.

I paced through the corridors, searching for him, when suddenly I was yanked to one side. I had a brief moment of déjà vu.

“God, Tristan. You’ve got to stop doi—” I stopped mid-sentence as soon as I saw who had grabbed me.

“Amanda?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” She smirked, flipping her perfectly straight blond hair. Her strong perfume filled the air around me.

“What the hell is your problem?” I demanded.

“~You~ are my problem, Riley Adams. Tristan is supposed to be with me, and he will be soon. You just swooped in and stole him from me,” she spat out, her face twisted with anger.

I took a step back. “Look, I don’t know you personally and I don’t care if you have a history with Tristan,” I said. “Just stay out of my way. I can’t deal with your petty jealousy.”

I stared her down and she gritted her teeth in anger. If she thought I was going to be intimidated by her, she was sorely mistaken.

“He’s just toying with you, Riley. You’re so freaking naive to not see that. This was all part of his plan. God, I feel so sorry for you,” she tsked, letting out a small, malicious laugh.

I wanted to slap her heavily made-up face. She was trying to provoke me, but I wasn’t going to take the bait.

“I don’t believe you.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to appear confident.

“Alright, let me tell you something then. That ad you put in the newspaper for tutoring, do you remember that?” she asked.

My eyes widened at her question. How did she know about that? She had just returned to town a few days ago.

“He knew it was you, but he pretended not to at first. He was just trying to get in your pants,” she said, her words sharp and cutting.

My throat tightened. How did she know about our secret tutoring sessions?

Tristan was the one who insisted we keep it under wraps.

“He saw you as a challenge, Riley. Tristan loves a challenge. Now that he’s had his fun, he’ll come back to me.”

~This can’t be happening.~

She was just trying to mess with my head. I wasn’t going to let her words get to me, no matter how convincing she sounded.

“Screw you, Amanda,” I shot back, my voice laced with anger. I brushed past her, struggling to keep my tears at bay.

Why would she say something like that? Tristan loves me, and I trust him completely. He would never do anything to hurt me.

I wiped away my tears, frustration simmering beneath the surface, and dialed his number again. It went straight to voicemail.

~Great.~

I spotted some of his teammates in the cafeteria and made my way over to their table.

“Hey, anyone seen Tristan?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

The chatter at the table died down instantly, and they all turned to look at me as if I’d grown a second head.

“I think he went home, Riley,” a guy with curly, jet-black hair finally said.

I thanked him and hurried towards the school entrance. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, Amanda had to choose today of all days to mess with me.

I decided to go to Tristan’s house and hailed a cab. It pulled up a few minutes later, and I climbed in.

I had no idea why he’d gone home. We hadn’t spoken since last night, and I missed him like crazy.

Everything was perfect yesterday, and now today was a whirlwind of chaos and confusion.

I took a deep breath and stared out the cab window, hoping against hope that everything would be okay.