Page 59 of Gabriel's Salvation

“Oh my god!! Are you okay? That's so dangerous. You could have been really hurt,” Izzy gasps, sounding concerned.

“You know Riley, always on her phone, never looking where she's going,” Harper adds.

“Well, I can't exactly fight metal poles for you, can I?” Ava laughs. “As long as you're okay though.”

“Yeah, I'll be fine, just a little bump. Maybe it'll knock some sense into me,” I add, grateful for Harper's quick thinking.

We head to the mall and I go through the motions -“ooo” and “ahhing” in all the right places as Ava tries on dress after dress, though my head and my heart just aren't in it.

“Are you listening?” Ava asks suddenly. I stare at her blankly, as I have absolutely no idea what she was saying. “Sorry, what did you say?” shaking my head, trying to pay attention.

“I said, do you wanna grab some lunch? Then maybe head back to my place for a movie night?” Ava sighs, clearly annoyed.

“Rain check? I just don't feel good.” I admit.

“Maybe you've given yourself a concussion,” Izzy pipes up, sounding even more concerned than before.

“I'm sure I'll be fine. I think I just need to head home, turn off the lights, and maybe sleep it off.”

“What about you, Harper?” Ava asks

“I think I'm gonna head back and take care of Riley,” Harper tells her, and as much as I know she’s trying to be nice, I just wanna be alone.

“You can go, honestly, I'm just gonna take a bath and go to sleep.” I lie.

Harper gives me that twin look. The one that conveys a whole conversation without barely saying a word, “ You sure?”

“Yeah go. Have fun. I'll join you ladies next time.” I silently beg that she agrees.

“I'm gonna go grab an uber. See you at school on Monday.”

“Don't be silly, I'll drop you home first. I just gotta pay then we'll leave” Ava offers.

Knowing what Ava's like when she's made up her mind, I make no attempt to argue.

I stay quiet and smile politely as I wait for Ava to pay, and I don't say much the whole drive home either. Finally, we pull up outside my house.

“You sure you don't want me to stay?” Harper asks again.

“No, go… please” I whisper.

I wave politely as the girls drive away, unlock the door, and run straight to my bedroom. I throw myself onto my bed and begin to sob. I don't even know why I'm so upset. Gabe hurt me, but so what? I've been hurt so many times before. This isn't me though. I'm not the girl who sits at home crying over some stupid boy. I'm the one who moves on to someone else. Heck, when all that shit with Justin happened, it took me barely any time to get over his betrayal and we were actually a couple. Me and Gabe, we were more of a situationship than anything else. Even so, it doesn't hurt any less.

I change into my favorite fluffy pajamas hoping that the comfy material will somehow offer mental comfort, but when that doesn't help, I attempt to distract myself with TV. I spot Sons of Anarchy, but decide against it since it just reminds me of Gabe. Then I turn to The Vampire Diaries, but again the tortured bad guy just reminds me of Gabe, too. This is impossible! I eventually settle on a rerun of Friends hoping that it will make me smile at least. But my mind is too distracted to really appreciate it.

Climbing out of bed, I head to the kitchen to make myself a hot drink. I open the fridge to grab the milk and spot a half empty bottle of white wine. I assume it's what's left from the book club mom holds on Friday nights.

“Mom?… Dad?” I call out. Once I'm sure they're not home and likely to catch me, I swipe a glass from the cupboard, grab the wine, and head back to my room.

One glass turns into two and before I know it, my mind convinces me to text him. I unblock his number and as soon as I do my phone begins pinging with notifications.

I head to the bathroom, and when I come back I have 6 missed calls, 4 voice messages, and 3 texts from today alone.

Dark Horse

Look Riley, I fucked up. I know. Please come back and talk.

Answer the phone, please.

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