THIA

"They're gaurds," explains River, smirking as I study them suspiciously, "I had them posted outside your house after you scared the sh--crap out of me last night."

Narrowing my eyes at the stoic female before me, I cautiously lift my tennis racket. "These people aren't human," I hiss at the naive man behind me, "I think they're robots."

"Whoa, now," he quickly grabs the racket from my hand, stopping me from smacking her emotionless face. "They aren't robots."

"But when I put pepper in her nose, she didn't even flinch! How am I supposed to believe that she's human?!" This boy is so ridiculous.

"Baby, do robots breathe?" His tone is gentle, as are his hands as he takes my wrists in his warm hands.

"Pfft, you can't seriously expect me to fall for that! Robots don't have to breathe, but they can sure fake it," I exclaim, struggling against his iron grip. Heavens to Betsy! How is this boy so strong?!

Is he a robot?!

Crap!

No, no, he can't be a robot. Because robots can't possibly have eyes as pretty as his are. I believe that he's human, despite his, seemingly bionic, strength.

"Alright," he sighs, pinning me to his chest, "What would make you believe that she's human?"

Good question.

After a moment of precise deliberation, I smirk evilly at the robot.

"Robots can't cry." Of course, if she were human, I would be acting horribly rude. But I am quite confident that she isn't.

River sighs heavily, "You want me to make her cry? Isn't that a bit...excessive? Surely you could just...I don't know, make sure she has saliva or something?"

Scoffing, I shake my head, "No. That's dumb, River--no offense."

Unhappily, River groans, but addresses the female anyways, "Crystal. Cry, will you?"

Her eyes widen in surprise and she speaks for the first time, "Seriously?! You've got to be joking."

"Unfortunately," River looks down at me pointedly, "I'm not."

Carefully, I study her with squinted eyes. And now that she's talking to River, she does seem rather expressive.

One of the other robots smirk, his eyes shining humorously, "She hasn't cried a day in her life!"

"Not helping," she hisses at him through clenched teeth, her eyes focused on me. "Listen, girly," she begins, clearly trying to make a deal of sorts, "How about you just watch me go to that bathroom or something?"

"That's nasty," I grimace, pressing my back tighter to my man's chest. "Besides, I'm sure they  an make electronic bladders or something like that."

"And they can't make it so I can cry?" She acts like I'm dysfunctional! Looking at me as if I'm a dumb kid.

Rolling my eyes at her pestering, I sigh in aggravation, "I don't care about the tears, I was gonna see if you could actually get emotional! But I can see now that you do and that you are!"

"Did you just call me emotional," she growls, her gaze turning harsh.

All the guys snicker, River hiding his smile in my hair.

"I also said you weren't a robot," I declare, smiling at her uneasily.

She doesn't reply, only glares at me as River pulls me towards his car.

The moment we close the doors, he bursts out laughing, his face turning red with the effort. "Oh--oh, my g--baby, that was so--she gonna be so mad--I can't wait to--" he continues laughing, his whole body shaking as he does so.

Eventually, I get caught up in that contagious laugh of his, chuckling alongside him.

It wasn't that funny. Certainly not as funny as River's laugh!

He sounds like a donkey!

Gradually, he calms down and pulls out of my driveway. Beginning the lengthy journey to Amanda's house, he continues smiling to himself.

×××

When we arrive, he leads me to Amanda's green front door and presses the doorbell.

After a few moments, Amanda reveals herself, looking ragged and hungover in those polka-dot pajamas of hers.

She leans on the open door, rubbing her tired eyes. "Hey, guys," she greets groggily.

Immediately, River's expression turns cold. "Why did you take Thia out last night?!"

Startled, I jump and look up at him with wide eyes. Why is he being so mean?

Amanda sighs heavily, "I don't know, I wasn't really in my right mind. It was a bad idea and I'm sorry--"

"Wait. So I did go out last night?!" Holy chlorophorm!

She blinks at me before continuing her apology to River.

Why isn't she apologizing to me? Aren't I the one who was drug from my bed last night?!

After apologizing to an angry River, she turns to me, "It was pretty fun, though, right?"

I don't appreciate her lack of commitment to this apology.

Narrowing my eyes at her, I huff, "I donno. I don't remember it."

She just laughs. She laughs while I frown.

"That's a shame," she chuckles ruefully, ignoring mine and River's frown, "Really, it is. I'm sure that Brody will be unhappy."

"Brody?" Why am I getting a bad feeling?

"Yeah," she continues, The guy that was kissing you last night."

"WHAT?!" River yanks me against his chest, his entire body trembling with rage.

"Just relax," she sighs, rolling her eyes, "She pushed him away. But after he gave her his sob story, she gave him her number."

"You don't have a phone," mutters River, clearly trying to remain calm.

"She gave him your number," chuckles Amanda, her eyes shining with mirth.

"Ahhh," he groans, tightening his grip on me, "Why, Thia? Why?"

"I don't know," I shrug, lost.

"Well," Amanda smirks, straightening, "Bye, guys." With that, she closes the door in our faces.

On our way back home, River gets a phone call.

"Hello?" He switches on the blinkers while he listens to the person on the other end of the line. "Mmhmm...yes...I see...WHAT?!" His eyes widen in horror, "You've got to be kidding!"

"What is it," I whisper curiously.

He ignores my question, "No! Ugh, fine! Da--darn it, Caleb! Why can't you ever have good news when you call?!"

Moments later, when he's done shouting into the phone, he hangs up and sighs heavily.

"What's wrong?"

Glancing my way with his tired eyes, he says, "Davion's been kidnapped."