Together Again
by Katie

PART 5

Last Day of the Trip (Riley's POV)

Wow what a great weekend this has turned out to be. Mom's actually smiling and Dani and I are having a lot of fun. It's so weird that Dani chose me, just little freshman Riley Singer, to be her friend. I'm glad she did though, because she's been a great person to talk to, a cool person to just be around, and it helps to have someone who doesn't want to rip my guts out during practice. When Dani told me that she planned on coming to every football game and every invitational of mine (I'm in marching band), my heart just about died in happiness. Damn, I couldn't even get my closest friends Alyson and Julian to come within a hundred feet of the football stadium! But maybe that's because Alyson studies 24/7 and Julian spends all of his free time either with his garage band The Beach Bums or working on his latest science fair project. (He's won since the first grade.) Dani and I became friends almost to kind of save each other. We weren't very welcome on the team. I stole one of the senior's spots. I didn't even mean to be on the team! My plans for high school were just to do theatre and band, because I thought I'd never make the team. I think my old coaches Mr. Corr and Mr. Douglas talked about me a lot to Mr. Nadzam because every weekend I would go to the high school just to practice and he was always there. I was just at the field on some Saturday morning and the coach came up to me and asked me to try out. I'm not sure why they don't like Dani though. No one ever seems to talk about it. Whatever it was it must have been pretty bad because they won't even barely look at her unless Coach Nadzam tells them to. So being the two outcasts, we formed a quick but everlasting bond. I really don't think Alyson or Julian miss me too much, they're so involved in their own worlds, and I guess that's good because we all need to do what will propel us into our futures, but I still miss them sometimes.

I can't believe they went out to breakfast without us! Not that I really care that much, but still. When I woke up, I noticed that everything was really quiet so I got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Mom, Jessie, Madison and Kelly left us a note saying that they didn't want to wake us up because we both looked so sound asleep, so they were going out to breakfast and when they get back we'll head for Buffalo. When I went back into the bedroom and told Dani what happened she didn't seem to care.

"Don't worry Riles, it's no big deal. We'll just fix some cereal or something." Dani's voice and demeanor were so soothing. Even when she was really mad, like at practices, she never lets her anger get the best of her. Dani has amazing strength and allure. Hard and rough on the outside, to protect herself, but on the inside, she's just a teenage girl with feelings and emotions. She has a lot of layers; I hope she'll let me see who she really is because we've grown pretty close these past months.

"You're right." I sighed.

"What's wrong Ri?" Without me saying a word, Dani quickly jumped down off the top bunk and crawled into my bed, pulling me along with her. She asked again. Now she was lying on her side, her eyes staring deeply into mine, so she would know if I was telling the truth or just saying something to change the subject. Her brown eyes are very soulful and mesmerizing.

"Well…it just seems like my mom…doesn't really care about me anymore."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, Jessie's back in her life which I don't think is the greatest, but she deserves to be happy. And…"

"And?"

"It just seems like she'd rather have Madison then me as her daughter. The whole time we've been here it's been `Madison this' or `Madison that' and it makes me feel…invisible."

Now I was lying on my back next to Dani to avoid some eye contact. I was telling the truth and she knew I was, I just didn't want to say all that because I thought I was just overreacting and was being stupid.

"Oh Riley. I don't think your mom thinks of you as invisible. But you know what?"

"What?"

She spoke in a soft, almost whisper, "You'll always have me." Then she made a gentle smile.

A huge grin came to my face. What an amazing friend I have! Then something I would have never expected happened. Dani leaned over me and kissed me. Her eyes were closed lightly, but mine, they were wide, almost bug eyed. I didn't know what to do. At first it was very awkward and I wanted to pull away. I'm straight, right? I never had a boyfriend, but they all just wanted to be my friend and that never really bothered me. Am I gay??? I can't be gay. My mom's gay and that's fine with me I suppose but there's no way I can be too. Is it genetic??? I think because I didn't pull away and the fact that I was actually kissing her back despite my confusion, Dani took it as an intuition to continue the kiss. As the kiss progressed, my eyes loosely closed and I too got more into it. The kiss lasted for maybe ten minutes. By the end I was totally confused. I like Dani but do I like her more than friends? When she pulled herself away, she leaned back to her original position, never taking her eyes off me. I just lied there, motionless. After a few seconds, a grin came to my face and I could feel Dani smiling back.

After the kiss we didn't speak to each other. Don't worry, not like a bad not speaking, but a good silence. I wasn't really sure what to do about the situation. I've never had anything like this happen to me before. I was kind of hoping it was all a mistake and things would just go back to normal. That's all I want to be normal, to have a normal family and be well normal. Maybe I'm just too naïve. We both got out of bed and went to fix some cereal. I got the bowls and the cereal and Dani got out the milk. The cupboards were made for taller people so like normal, I was jumping to try to reach the bowls. Dani looked over at me and just laughed to herself. I could tell because I could hear her.

"Why don't you help me then?" I'm only 5'3" while Dani's 5'6".

"Sure." She set the milk on the table and walked over towards me. I thought she was just going to reach the bowls herself, but she did something else.

"Up you go." She put one hand on each side of my hips and picked me up. I grabbed the bowls and then she placed me back on the floor. But she didn't let go. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she pulled me closer to her. Being held never felt so nice.

"Would you mind if I kissed you again?" She was definitely nervous, probably because she didn't know what I was thinking or if I'm `like that.'

"Umm…."

"If you don't want me to it's ok. I just…" She hesitated to finish her sentence.

"You just what?"

"I just really like you, that's all. If you're not into that or into me I'll deal." Dani just looked at her feet, avoiding eye contact that entire time.

What am I supposed to do? I'm so confused. I really like Dani, but I don't know if it's just as friends or something more. Do I want something more?

"I don't know what I'm into Dani, to be perfectly honest. I really like you too. You've been a great friend to me but…" Now I was the one stalling.

"What is it Ri? If you don't want to, I'll understand really. It'll be fine."

"I just don't know what I want. I find myself attracted to you Dani, on so many levels, but I…don't want to risk anything between us, our friendship means a lot to me and I don't want to ruin it." Calm down Riley, we'll get through this. Why was I so nervous about that?

"Oh, well, our friendship will always be first. For now, think of it as friends with benefits. Would that be ok?"

"I guess so, as long as we remain friends and everything."

"I think I can agree to that. So, what about that kiss?"

"I guess it would be ok. You're the first person to ever kiss me, well, you know, and I'm probably horrible at it." God, she didn't have to know how inexperienced I was! Geez, why do I always find the worst things to say?!

"Oh don't worry, for what I've felt so far, you're a natural." And with that she smiled.

Dani turned me around, her hands resting on my hips, perhaps a little too close to my butt as well, but I didn't care. She leaned in and kissed me. It was amazing. I felt like everything in my life was now making sense. Dani was my missing piece. My life quote has always been `Life's a puzzle, I just feel like I'm missing a piece.' Now my life is complete. Not complete as in I'm in love with her instantly or that we'll like get married or anything, just that I know why all these years I never really minded why my guy friends never wanted to go out. Whether we just stay good friends or turn into something more, I have a better incite to my life.

An hour later, Katie, Jessie, Madison, Kelly, Riley, and Dani packed up their van and headed for home. The weekend had proven interesting and life changing for all of them.

Next