Always-Chapter Seven

Snow storms blew across Kansas, hitting Blue Springs at the most. The sky was a permanent pale grey and the clouds were an awning for the sun that desperately wanted to shine. Austin and Riley walked to school that morning, holding hands and feeling warm even in the blizzard.

Austin squeezed her hand tightly, guiding her through the snow and ice. She had a pretty tight grip on his hand also. He stepped over a heavy branch, and forgot to warn her about it. She slipped along the ice and tripped onto the ground. He immediately kneeled down to help her up. “Im so sorry.”He apologized, lifting her to her feet.

She was still kind of sick, so she didn’t respond much. While at her house two days ago, she became sicker over night. She had lost her voice, and only responded by nodding or squeezing his hand, sometimes even kissing him. At school, he had been taking care of her when other people didn’t know what was wrong. She couldn’t talk, so when the teacher yelled at her for not responding, Austin spoke up.

He hooked his arm with hers so she wouldn’t fall again. She felt extremely light as he basically kept her standing. He felt worried now. “Riley..babe..are you sure you want to go to school?”he asked.

She nodded slowly. “I’ll be..fine. I can’t...miss school, there’s this...test I have to take today.”she murmured, holding his hand even tighter.

“You can’t even walk straight.”

“I’ll be fine..”

They walked through the hefty tanned doors of the school building. Austin had to go a different way to get to his locker, so he waited until she got the stuff from hers, then they went to his, and then they went to first period. He watched her plop down in her seat.

Throughout class, Austin looked back at Riley to make sure she was okay. The first time he looked back, he caught her dozing off. The second time he looked back, he saw her rubbing her eyes. The last time he looked back, her head was on the desk and she slept. The teacher didn’t notice though–that was good.

Mrs. Diana called attendance. “Austin Alvaro?”

“Here.”he said.

She called a few other kids names. “Riley Pua.”

Austin glanced at Riley, but she was still asleep, so he answered for her. “She’s here, Mrs. D.”

“Why are you answering for her?”

Riley lifted her head up and gave everyone this dazed, confused look. She didn’t say anything.. She put her head back down on the desk and sighed.

“She’s really sick. She lost her voice from a bad cold, which I personally think is the flu but she wanted to come to school to take your test today. I’ve been helping her study for it all week. “

”If she is sick, she should go to the nurse.”

“Can I take her?”

“Go ahead.”

Austin went over to Riley and woke her up gently. She was delusional and flustered. The entire class watched as he sweetly picked her up like a baby, swung her backpack over his shoulder, and walked out the classroom with her in his strong arms.

He carried her easily to the nurses office–she didn’t weigh much for such a tall girl. The nurse told him to lay her on the cot. He bent down and touched her hair. Her green eyes flickered open. She looked troubled. “Your okay.”He whispered.

“What a sweetheart you are. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her. She will probably report back home, so you’ll see her then. Alright?”The old nurse said, looking over her thin frames at Austin.

“Okay. Bye Riley.”

She smiled, but didn’t say anything.

Walking down the long empty hallway, Austin felt uneasy about her being sick. Since his dad and his newfound worries, Austin felt he had a duty to help people when they were sick. Especially if it was someone he really cared about.

Crack the bone get to the marrow. To be a bee and the flower, before the sweetness turns to sour. What we have we’re gonna keep, always. What we’ve lost we dont need, always. What is it that wont let you sleep, always. Be the arrow and the target, put your head over the parapet, be uncool be awkward. Don’t look in the obvious place. The soul needs beauty for a soul mate..He sung the words to the song Always.

Suddenly, an idea struck his mind. Riley and him needed a song, and Always sounded a lot like what they were going through.

..... ......... ................ ............. ........

Riley lay in her bed feeling queasy. Her phone rang multiple times in a row, but she didn’t feel like answering. The machine picked up and she listened.

“Crack the bone get to the marrow. To be a bee and the flower, before the sweetness turns to sour. What we have we’re gonna keep, always. What we’ve lost we dont need, always. What is it that wont let you sleep, always. Be the arrow and the target, put your head over the parapet, be uncool be awkward. Don’t look in the obvious place. The soul needs beauty for a soul mate. Get down off your holy cloud, always. God will not deal with the proud, always. Well if you dream then dream out loud, always. Eternally yours, always.... I want you..I want you. I want you. Know what to do yourself, always. Go find yourself in someone else, always. And always wear a seatbelt, always. Wait for me im running late, always...This is the moment that we share for, always. Turning slowly into a prayer, always. Now and forever...for always.”

She sat up in her bed. It was Austin’s voice, singing their favorite song. At the end of the message, he said, “Yeah, that was me singing. I think this should be our song, you know. It fits us well. Our little saying should be now and forever for always. It just sounds right. Anyway, call me back later sleepy head. Love you...bye...”

What? What exactly did she hear? She pressed the button again and listened to the end once more. “Love you...bye...”She pressed it again. “Love you...bye...” One word seemed to scream while the others whispered. Love? He loved her? And she loved him back?

Early Saturday morning, Riley woke feeling refreshed and healthy. She had listened to the message over and over again, rewinding and rewinding. She knew they had something different. She knew that what they had was more than a crush. And when he said the word love, she knew that was exactly what it was she felt.

Her mind was refocused. She didn’t feel she had to pretend she didn’t love him. Before, she had been terrified to be happy, but it was so much better this way. There was no one stopping her from being happy, but herself. And knowing that she made Austin happy too, made her all the more jubilant.

She brushed her hair in the bathroom mirror, and then pulled it up in a long ponytail. She brushed her teeth, smeared some gloss on her lips and rubbed vanilla body lotion on every inch of her skin. Then she called Austin.

“Hello?”

“Hi! It’s Riley.”

“Hey! You sound much better.”

“I feel much better. Can I come over? I want to meet your mom and see your house and everything.”

“Hold on, let me ask.”

She waited, and waited, and waited until he came back onto the phone. “Well?”

“She said you can.”

“Great! Im already dressed. I’ll be there in about ten minutes. Kay?”

“Okay. See ya.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Riley hung up the phone and darted to her dads room. She hoped he would agree because Austin had proved himself already. He was a good boyfriend, he would never do anything wrong. “Dad..”

“Yes?”

“Can I go over Austin’s house today? I just called him and his mom already said it was okay. She’ll be there, watching over us just as closely as you did.”As she said those words she realized that Robby didn’t watch them that closely, because they still had the chance to kiss. “Can I please, please, please?”

“Yes.”

She was stunned. “You said yes?”

“Yes, I said yes. I trust you.”

“Thank you!”

“Need me to drop you off?”

“Yeah!”She was excited.

While in the car, she stared out the window as they entered a different section of the neighborhood. She had never been to the east side of RiverView before. She watched the snow falling, covering up the last few inches of brown grass. She kissed her dad goodbye and darted to the front door, where Austin was already waiting.

He peck kissed her on the lips and pulled her into the house excitedly. She saw his mom for the first time. She was really pretty; dark brown hair in a short feather cut, big hazel eyes just like Austin and a really slim figure. “Hi. Im Riley.”

“Hi honey. I’ve heard so much about you.”

She smiled.

“Go have fun, but behave please.”

............................... ........................... ...

Austin took her hand and led her around the house. He almost regretted telling her he loved her on the phone the other night, but when he saw how happy she was about it, he felt it was right. She hadn’t said it back yet, but he knew about her love problems. “This is the living room, bathroom is down that hall, my room is right here.”He said, pushing open the door with his free hand.

She looked around inside. “Wow. Your really neat. What, are you a clean freak or something?”She laughed softly.

He shrugged. “Kinda.”

They held hands again and he showed her the snow covered backyard. She let go of him and kneeled down. She began to form a snowball. “Im gonna make you as a snowman. You make me as a snow woman, okay? As a contest.”

“What’s the prize?”he asked, beginning to make his own snowball. “It better be something worth winning.”He was flirting.

She grinned. “A french kiss?”

He was taken aback by her spontaneity, but he also wasn’t sure about that. “What?”

“I was kidding. How about..umm..whatever I want if I win and whatever you want if you win.”

Austin agreed simply. He did not know what she was trying to do, but it seemed kind of planned. “On the count of three. Ready? One..two...three!”

They ran around the yard, gathering snow and racing to get the best snow boulders. Austin was thinking about what he wanted from her and he couldn’t decide on that.

It took about an hour to build up a complete snowman. There wasn’t much snow to use in the first place. Austin placed two smaller snowballs on the snow woman’s chest, indicated that she was a woman and did have boobs. “Ha! Im done!”he called.

Riley whipped around, her eyes squinting slightly at his finished project. Then she looked down at her own chest. She seemed disturbed. “Are my boobs really that small?”she gasped, covering herself.

He had never said anything about her body before. The snow woman was just a joke, it wasn’t exactly what Riley looked like. Not even close. “No, no, no! They aren’t small..I mean..I haven’t really noticed.”

What was he supposed to say?

“Tell me the truth.”

“They aren’t huge but their not invisible either. Your kind of in between, you know. Big but not implant kind of big. Small but not fifth grade kind of small. You look fine...you look good.”He tried to explain without making a mistake.

She laughed and walked closer, tossing slushy snow at him. “Your so cute. Your not like most guys you know that? Most of my old boyfriends would have just said whatever without caring.”She stopped when she was an inch away from his face. “That’s another thing I love about you.”

“Thanks..so that means you got the message?”

“Yes.”

“And your okay with it?”

“With love? Yeah, I think so.”

“Well?”He was nervous.

“Well I love you too.”