before you read, please take time to check out my new story that is posted on my profile, called "falling apart". it's going to be continued after "forever and always his" is finished, which should be very soon. ): http://www.wattpad.com/story/6163707-falling-apart

and if you like romance and action novels, you should check out @alrightasia's story, "the andrew complex". http://www.wattpad.com/story/6316433-the-andrew-complex

thank you babes, and enjoy reading! :)

Chapter 30

                I was envious of Everett’s eternally long eyelashes that would gently brush against his cheekbones every time he closed his eyes. I found myself unable to stare away as he tapped away on the screen of his cell phone. Everett suddenly glanced up at me from the corner of his eyes, locking his green eyes into mine. Slowly, my cheeks turned red while I removed my gaze from his, clearing my throat with embarrassment. Trying to take my mind off of Everett’s stare, I played with the hem of my shirt.

                I heard a light chuckle escaping Everett’s lips, a knowing smirk lighting up his face. His stare lingered on me for a moment longer before he resumed to tapping away on his phone. A soft sigh escaped my lips, disappointment overcrowding me at the fact that I couldn’t get Everett’s attention away from his dumb phone. I rolled my eyes, pushing myself off of Everett’s bed to head over to Maria’s room to see what she was up to.

                Once I made the slightest movement on his bed to get away, his eyes flickered towards me. “Where are you going?” he asked, a frown apparent on his face.

                With a slight shake of my shoulders, my bare feet touched the soft carpet. I turned my back against Everett, heading towards his bedroom door. “I’m going to see what Maria’s doing, since you’re too busy on your phone.” I muttered.

                An infectious grin spread across Everett’s lips, a melodic laugh ringing through my ears. I glanced back at Everett from over my shoulder, noticing that his lucid eyes were bright with amusement, only causing my blood to boil even further. “Riley,” he said lowly, shivers running down my spine as he spoke my name, “if you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask.”

                My lips parted with shock and it didn’t take long for me to get flustered. I clenched my jaw, gritting my teeth together. “Y-You’re unbelievable.” I stuttered angrily, unable to find my words with my tongue tied. “I’m leaving.”

                Just as my palms touched the cold metal of the doorknob, I felt a warm hand snaking around my wrist, pulling me backwards. I stumbled upon Everett’s chest, my back pressed against his. My eyes widened at our close proximity; I could feel his warm breath tickling the nape of my neck. “You’re so fucking cute when you’re pissed.” He mumbled against my hair.

                I let out a grumble, closing my eyes. “And you’re such an asshole.”

                Everett laughed, his face buried in my mass of hair. He dipped his head low, giving me a light peck on my bare neck after pushing my hair out of the way. “You aren’t mad, are you?”

                I sighed, shaking my head. “I’m just going to see what Maria’s up to.”

                “But you’ll be back, right?” Everett asked, releasing me from his hold, suddenly making me feel empty and cold.

                I suppressed a laugh, raising an eyebrow. “Everett, I’m just going to be down the hall.”

                Everett gave me a soft smile, his palm cupping my right cheek. His thumb gently stroked my cheekbone as he leaned in close to me, our noses nearly brushing. “I know, but I’ll still miss you.” He whispered. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

                Despite how cheesy Everett’s words were, I couldn’t help but feel my heart swooning inside my chest. I let out a chuckle of disbelief before standing on the tip of my toes to give Everett a light peck on the cheek, my lips barely brushing against his skin. “I’ll be back, Everett.” I whispered.

                Leaving Everett’s bedroom, I made my way down the hall, where Maria’s door was closed. Raising my fist, I gently knocked on the wooden door, waiting for a response. “Come in!” Maria hollered as I twisted the doorknob.

                Stepping inside Maria’s room and closing the door behind me, I found her frowning at the screen of her phone, tapping away furiously, nails making a light sound as they pressed against her phone. I let out an exaggerated sigh, unimpressed that just like Everett, Maria was also deeply involved with her phone. “Riley, just give me a second,” Maria muttered, biting her lower lip, “Max has been annoying me with something all day.”

                I raised an eyebrow, taking a seat on the edge of her unmade bed. “Max?” I asked confusedly. As far as I was concerned, Max and Maria weren’t exactly close. They might’ve been friends, but I didn’t know that they chatted outside of school. “Why is he texting you?”

                “He’s just trying to get me to warm up to Cassandra again.” Maria groaned, rolling her eyes. “Frankly, it’s quite irritating. Wouldn’t you agree?”

                “Well not exactly-.” I started, ultimately being cut off.

                Maria silenced me, tossing her phone on the other side of her bed, shaking her head as she closed her eyes. “I mean, let’s consider all the shit she put you through; the shit that she put Everett through. She teamed up with Katie against us, hid the fact that her sister killed Everett’s-.”

                “Maria.” I hissed, shooting her a glare. Maria instantly stopped speaking at my sharp tone, giving me a frown. I let in a deep breath of air, calming myself down before speaking to Maria. “Can you stop it already? Can’t you consider the fact that she was manipulated?”

                Maria looked shocked at my words, letting out a breath of disbelief. “What Riley?” she asked quietly. “So you’re saying that it’s okay that she tried to hook up with my step brother- your boyfriend.”

                I felt myself clenching my fists, my nails digging into my palms. “She was put into a tough situation by Katie.” I snapped. “It shouldn’t be Cassandra you’re so pissed off at, it should be Katie.”

                “Cassandra could’ve easily done the right thing and said no to Katie. But instead, she chose to fuck everything up before she realized she was wrong!” Maria’s voice grew loud, giving me a demeaning stare.

                My expression immediately softened when I saw that Maria’s face began to slowly crumple. I finally took notice that there was a lot more to whatever anger Maria had against Cassandra. “Maria,” I started off slowly, “is there something wrong?”

                Maria’s jaw was clenched, and there was a faraway look in her eyes; as if she was recalling a memory. By the way her eyes grew wide and dark, I could tell that it wasn’t a very good memory. “I know that I might’ve blown things out of proportion when I found out that Cassandra was deceiving us this entire time, but it just brought back a lot of crap that happened to me a few years ago.” Maria whispered in a barely audible tone. “I guess I was just so defensive because I didn’t like being lied to. A few years back before my dad and my mom split up, my dad used to disappear off into the middle of the night and not come back home for a few days in a row. He used to tell my mother and I that he had emergency calls from his law firm and we were dumb enough to believe him. I came home with my mom one day from the mall and we found my dad in bed with some slut that worked as an intern at his work place. When I found out that Cassandra was lying to us, it just brought back memories of how my father lied to me and ruined our family.”

                My lips were parted, and I had no words. My throat was dry and I was completely and utterly speechless. I could tell that while Maria was speaking, she tried her best not to cry, but she couldn’t help but let a few tears slip. But, it was alright, because it just goes to show how human she was. “I had no idea, Maria.” I whispered.

                Maria gave me a quivered smile, shrugging weakly. “No one did.” She sighed. “But, I guess you’re right, Riley. Just because I’ve been fucked over, doesn’t mean that I have to be so hard on Cassandra. I’ll apologize to her tomorrow at school.”

                I gave her a weak smile. “Do you want me to grab some ice cream from downstairs while you sign on my Netflix account?”

                Maria mustered a strangled laugh as she nodded. “Sure.” She smiled. “That sounds perfect.”

*

                Maria fell asleep somewhere into our third movie of the night. She was lightly breathing when I quietly turned off the TV and crept out of her room. It was a little past two in the morning, and all of the Rosenfeld residents were sound asleep. I slid into Everett’s bedroom, where I found a beam of light coming from under his bed sheets.

                “Can’t sleep?” I asked amusedly, crawling into bed with him.

                Everett was watching rerun episodes of The Walking Dead, pausing the screen right when a walker’s face was being shot. I cringed at the bloody sight, turning my attention away from the screen and onto him. “No, not without you here.” He yawned, giving me a lazy smile. “I thought you said you would come back.”

                “I did, didn’t I?” I smiled innocently, watching as Everett closed his laptop, tucking it away on his nearby night stand.

                “Yeah,” Everett paused, raising an eyebrow, “you came back six hours later.”

                I suppressed a laugh, closing my eyes, resting on his chest. “I still came back,” I pointed out, “better than nothing, right?”

                Everett nodded, playing with the tips of my hair. “Of course.” He murmured. “Did Maria have another break down, again? I noticed all of the ice cream gone from the freezer.”

                “Yeah, she did, but I think she’s fine now.” I chuckled. “Sorry about the ice cream, by the way. I ate most of it.”

                “And to think my father just brought that ice cream last night.” Everett grinned, kissing my hair. “You know Riley, for a girl who barely weights anything, you do eat a lot.”

                I playfully glared at him, sticking my tongue out teasingly. “Of course, Everett.” I raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you forgetting the time when we were ten and I beat you in a watermelon eating contest? You got so mad that you wouldn’t talk to me for two straight hours.”

                Everett remained silent for a moment, suddenly worrying me. Was he mad that I brought back this memory? He couldn’t have that bad sportsmanship, could he?

                “You still remember that?” he whispered. My cheeks turned scarlet red as I felt myself getting warm. I groaned, wondering why Everett must have to ruin the moment. “You don’t have to blush, Riley. I think it’s cute.”

*

                                Age 14- Freshman Year

                I played with the hem of my floral dress, sitting at one of the white sun chairs that Everett had set up in his backyard, just near the edge of his swimming pool. The smell of charcoal from his barbecue filled my nose, and the sound of some teen pop song filled my ears. My eyes scanned the mass of people that showed up at Everett’s birthday party, wondering where Everett was. I had a red party cup in my hands, filled with apple juice, of course.

                This was the first party that Everett held that has parents didn’t supervise on. All of the adults promised to leave Everett alone for the fourteenth birthday, and they disappeared off into a country golf club in another town. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenfeld trusted Everett and I enough to leave us on our own to hold a party. At first, I thought that only a dozen or so people would come to Everett’s party, but it turns out that Everett invited the entire ninth and tenth grade. People were jumping into the pool, creating a mess, and somewhere at the party, alcohol was being passed around. I mean, what kind of fourteen and fifteen year olds could get a hold of alcohol in the first place?

                For the past two years now, I’ve secretly had feelings for my best friend. I promised myself a year ago that I’d tell Everett that I love him on his fourteenth birthday. But at the moment, he was nowhere to be found.

                “Riley, hey!” Elfie, from English class, giggled. Elfie’s eyes were red and bloodshot, and I couldn’t help but notice that she had been slurring her words this entire time. She pointed to the red party cup she had in her hands, which was filled with some kind of unusual substance. “Have you tried this drink? It’s so good!”

                I frowned, raising an eyebrow curiously. “Elfie, are you drunk?” I asked quietly.

                Elfie threw her head back in laughter, her messy blonde hair falling over her features. “What?” she asked, flabbergasted that I accused her of being drunk. “Of course not!”

                I sighed, shaking my head as Elfie began to mutter incoherent words under her breath, rambling on about her pet sheep and rainbow pigs. Elfie was absolutely deluded, because she was piss drunk. “Okay, fine.” I muttered, shaking my head. “Have you gotten any idea where Everett is?”

                Elfie frowned, as if she didn’t know who Everett was. It took her a while before she gasped with realization. “Oh! Are you talking about the birthday boy?” she giggled, her eyes turning dangerously bright. “He went upstairs to his room with Teddy!”

                I suddenly became alarmed at the news that Elfie told me. I glanced over at her drunken state, wondering if I should even use the effort to believe her or not. Curiosity got the best of me, and I got up from me seat by the pool. “Thanks, Elfie.” I muttered; walking away just as Elfie passed out, face first into the pool.

                I knew Everett’s house by heart, since I’m literally at his house every day. I made my way inside, going up the stairs to his room. My heart rate increased when I noticed that his door was closed, and I started to debate on whether or not to knock first. Without my permission, my hand stretched out, touching the cold metal of the door as I pushed it open.

                Immediately, two figures sprang apart quickly, as if they had touched fire. Everett’s lips were swollen and red, and Teddy’s pink lip gloss was smeared over his neck. I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach as I let out a weak laugh. “O-oops, I thought this was the bathroom!” I squealed before making a run for it.

                I heard Everett cursing under his breath, footsteps chasing behind me. I forced myself not to cry, and I swallowed the massive ball that was pushing against my throat.

                “Riley, Riley!” Everett called after me, pulling my wrist. His eyes scanned my face, and he knew that something was wrong. “What’s wrong? Why are you upset?”

                I’m upset because I love you, and I just saw you kissing Teddy Hawthorne.

                “No reason.” I shrugged, letting out a weak laugh. “I think I just got some dust in my eye, that’s all.”

                Everett didn’t believe my lie, but he chose not to question me, either. Obviously, he didn’t share the same feelings I had for him. “Okay,” he muttered before a grin stretched across his lips, “but you know Teddy? I just asked her out a few minutes ago and she said yes!”

                I forced myself to be happy for Everett- a girl he liked, liked him back.

                Go figure.

                “Congrats.”