𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋. 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔 𝙁𝙄𝙑𝙀 ─── 𝖲𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖮𝖭 𝟮
❝ 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝖳𝖮 𝖩𝖤𝖥𝖥 ❞
❪ 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙋𝘼𝙂𝙀 ❫

𝟥𝟧. ╱ ✷ ❝ i 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 to 𝗷𝗲𝗳𝗳 and i 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 on 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴
that promise ❞

𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗦𝗔𝗧 pressed against Scott's headboard, knees pulled up to her chest as her phone kept buzzing on the bedside table, her Aunt's name flashing across the screen and as soon as it stopped, it started again with her Uncle's name this time."

"Are you gonna answer that?" Scott asked, walking out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, and beads of water from his shower running down his chest, "It's been going off all morning."

"I really don't want to listen to them complain about why I didn't come home last night." Her voice was horse from the screaming and crying she had done the night before Bryce found her, "Why did you come get me?"

"Why wouldn't I have?" Scott questioned, turning from his closet to look at the blonde that he was madly in love with, "Riley, you might be trying and willing to cut me out of your life because of my involvement with Bryce, but that doesn't mean I'm going to listen and just walk out."

"Any other normal person would have." She mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm not any normal person." He shrugged. "Okay? I didn't beg Jeff into introducing us just to walk out of your fucking lie. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but I'm fucking in love with you and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are there by my side, until the day I take my last fucking breath. And like I said, I'm going to prove it to you. Do you get that?"

By now Scott had moved closer and was now holding her face in his hands so that she would look at him in the eyes.

"Do you hear and understand the words that are coming out of my mouth right now? Do you want me to shout it from the mother fucking rooftops, or the fucking school hallway? Because I will. I made a promise to Jeff and I intend on keeping that promise."

Riley looked at him in confusion, "What promise to Jeff?"

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙏𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙊𝘿 at his open locker, textbook in hand as he went over some last minute notes before his history text the next period.

One second the locker was open and the next it was being slammed closed by none other than Jeff Atkins.

"Whoa, dude. You okay?" Scott asked him.

"Look, I know I introduced the two of you." Jeff had a serious, yet dangerous, look in his eyes as he looked at the boy. "I get it, Riley is a really pretty girl and you are one of my best friends, well second. But I'm not gonna watch you degrade her and degrade her down like most of Bryce's posse does with whatever girl they choose to hump and dump--,"

"What? Jeff, that's not what I'm going to do with Riley. I wouldn't have begged for you to give me her number if I was." Scott shook his head. "I have genuine feelings for her. And I--I know you might not believe me, but it's the truth. If I didn't, I would have never asked you to set the two of us up together."

"But you wanna keep her away from your boys?" Jeff raised an eyebrow.

Scott shook his head, "Riley's the one that doesn't want to tell people. And I know how Bryce and the others are. You know how Bryce and the others are. I don't want her around them, because I don't want anything to happen to her."

Jeff stared at the boy, looking for any indication that he was lying before he sighed and leaning against his locker, "Okay, I believe you. But if she comes crying to me one time because something has happened to her when she was with you, I will beat your ass. I want you to promise me, right here and right now, that you will do anything and everything in your power to protect her because she's been though enough shit in her life."

"I promise man."

"Yo, Atkins!" Bryce's voice traveled into his ears as him, Monty, Justin and Zach walked over to them, "Party at my place tonight, you coming?"

"Can't. I have plans with Riley tonight." Jeff's voice was blunt as he brushed past the group, nodding in greeting to Zach as he went by.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

"𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 would protect you and keep you away from Bryce." Scott tells her, "Which reminds me; why did he call me last night instead of you?"

"I got angry at Aunt Lainie and Uncle Matt last night so I left. I didn't intend to break down in the middle of the street, or for Bryce to find me."

"How did you get into your phone?"

Riley raised an eyebrow, "Everyone literally knows that my password is Jeff's birthday. It's that basic. Can you take me home? I need to get ready for school."

"Just shower here." Scott tells her. "You have clothes that you left."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗗 into the school and down the hallway with his hood over his head. He had too many thoughts running through his mind, like how he woke up this morning and not only was Justin gone, but so was his cousin, and she didn't even bother answering her phone when either him, his father or his mother called her.

"Hey, buddy." Bryce spoke, wrapping his arm around Clay's shoulder, "Listen, it's been a while since we talked. I know I beat the shit out of you, and I'm sorry about that, but I got no beef with you, really. We're not enemies. So just mind your business...and I'll take care of mine, okay?"

Clay nodded, licking his lips. "Get your hands off of me."

Bryce grinned, trying to act like there wasn't a problem, "Watch your fucking tone. And, you know, watch yourself. I don't know how you got to Marcus, but this shit--,"

"Mr. Jensen!" A voice boomed in the hallway, both boys turning to find Mrs. Childs standing there, "Principal Bolan would like to see you, now."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗧𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗗 with Monty towards the table that Bryce sat at with Chloe, the flannel wearing boy pouring the contents of his paper sack out on the table as Scott looked around, hoping to find Riley.

He hadn't seen her since that morning after he dropped her off at her own house when she refused to take a shower at his place because he didn't have the right stuff she needed to shower with.

"Ah, dude, what are we gonna do--," Monty sat down, looking at the looks on Bryce and Chloe's faces, "Shit are we, like, interrupting?"

"No, no, it's cool." Bryce says, "We were just making plans for Chloe to come to Italy this Summer. Right, babe?"

"Yeah, maybe." Chloe says, grabbing her bags and standing up, "I--I have to ask my mom first. I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay."

"Seriously? Who says "maybe' to a free vacation?" Monty asked with a mouth full of food.

"Jesus. Chew your fucking food." Bryce tells him before looking at Scott, "How's Riley doing?"

"She's better." Scott shrugged.

Monty looked between the two of them, a frown on his face, "What's wrong with, Lee?"

"I found her crying in the middle of the street last night. Called Scott to come get her. Figured she'd need him." Bryce shrugged, "She said..."

"She said what?" Monty asked, worried for the blonde that he had seen as a little sister.

"She was saying all this shit about how Hannah and Jeff shouldn't be the ones to be dead, that she should. Then she proceeded to talk about how she should've died the night of her overdose and again when she was in the car with Jeff, and that maybe things would be different and okay."

"Shit."

"Riley said something the other day." Scott whipped his hands on his jeans, "When I chased after her during the whole Marcus thing. Said to ask you why she really overdosed."

Bryce and Monty shared looks with each other, sighing.

"Do you know about the thing with her parents?" Monty questioned.

"Bits and pieces."

"Riley's mom was thinking about leaving her dad." Monty says, telling the story that he, and everyone really, had gotten. "When her dad found out, he went on this rampage. Ended up killing her mom, she died before the ambulance could get to her. Riley found her. She was thirteen. And then Mark shot himself."

"She was messed up for a while and then she went to a stupid party a couple weeks after Freshman year. Came to me and asked if I had anything that could take the edge off." Bryce looked down. "And the next thing we know, Justin and Jeff are running to the upstairs bathroom of this random ass house because she had overdosed on the pills I gave her."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗦𝗔𝗧 next to Tyler in Mr. Porter's class, listening to what the two boys next to her were going to be doing to wherever they had planned to target next with a smile on her face.

"Okay, so, three stops in town for supplies; gas station, Walplex, Ralphie's Pet store." Cyrus tells Tyler.

"Pet store?" Questioned Tyler.

"Dude, trust me." Cyrus chuckled, "It was Riley's idea."

Tyler turned to look at the blonde with a raised eyebrow, "The pet store?"

Riley smirked, "You'll love it."

"We're going to wait for dark, take the service road, then we're gonna rusht the stuff in and boom." Cyrus continued to explain.

"Nice."

"Shit. Chill." Riley told the two boys as she noticed her cousin walking into the room and taking the empty seat next to her.

The three shared confused glances, Tyler leaning past Riley to look at the male Jensen, "Hey, Clay."

"Hey."

"Are you in the right place, Clay?" Riley asked him.

"Apparently."

"Why?" Tyler asked, "I mean, what are you here for?"

"Truancy, grudges,the hypocrisy of high school administrators." Clay named off things that he had done, or why he was in the class.

"Dude, we've never officially met, but you helped me fix my bike chain once Freshman year." Cyrus spoke up, Riley giggling at the sentence, "Cyrus."

"Clay."

"Dude, I know." Cyrus smirked. "That Bryce Walker thing? That was fucking hard-core man. I mean, we heard you literally getting the shit kicked out of you. You're coughing up blood. And you still keep fucking talking to him? I mean, damn."

"Uh..." Clay glanced at his cousin before looking back at Cyrus, "Thanks?"

"No. Thank you."

"So, what do you guys actually do in here?" Clay asked the three.

"We plot the complete and violent overthrow of civilization." Cyrus tells him.

Clay nodded his head, "Super. Count me in."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗔𝗧 on the bench outside one of the bus stops as Clay's car pulled up. The passenger side door comes open and Riley rushes out to hug the boy.

"Thanks for coming." Justin mumbled in her ear.

"Always." She grinned, pulling away. "You can sit in the front. "

Clay looked at the two of them, " I found the Clubhouse."

Riley bit her lip as she pulled her phone out of her pocket as Clay talked to Justin about where the Clubhouse was and tried to figure out a plan of how they could possibly get inside, and she started to text Zach, waiting as the bubbles popped up and soon did his message.

𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦
𝘪𝘴. 𝘡𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦
𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. - 𝙍𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮
𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰. - 𝙕𝙖𝙘𝙝