Just Another Fan of Riley

Pushing open the doors, she was met with an empty and silent gym.

"Just why are the lights switched off?"

She brought out her phone and turned on her flashlight.

Taking a step into the dark room, it dawned on her that she never bothered or should it rather be remembered to call you Riley's number.

Calling his number, it rang and rang, but no one picked the call. She did this a second time, and the same happened. She was about giving up the idea of calling him, when an idea popped into her mind. She now had a smile on her face as she kept on dialing his number.

'Didn't that boy claim that Riley is here, and he definitely should be with his phone. So long as he is in here, I should hear the phone ring. Even if it doesn't ring, this place is so silent and dark, I definitely will hear the sound the vibration makes or I would probably see a light.'

With these in mind, she tried his number over and over, hoping she would see a ray of light no matter how small, but no, she couldn't see any thing of such.

She stepped out of the gym and wandered aimlessly until she met herself at the pool. She stood dazed for a second then jumped into the water.

Though the water was clear, the tiles could be seen, and there was no one in it, she just could not help but believe hemight, he probably might be in the water, unable to swim to the surface.

She came out of the pool, a bit disappointed and sad he was nowhere to be seen, but also happy she didn't find a lifeless body in the pool.

BANG BAM

Hearing the sound, she ran off towards the direction, seeming to ignore how heavy her school uniform now weighed.

The sound continued, and she continued. Finally getting to where the sound was coming from, she met herself in front of the basketball court.

*****

At the basketball court, practicing were two seniors.

"Yo, pass the ball." said the one who looked tougher.

But the other just stood there looking past his friend.

"Ain't that your girlfriend over there Henry?"

"What!"

Henry turned back to see who the so-called girlfriend of his was, afterall, he knew his girlfriend was not attending the same school as he.

Standing some distance in front of him, was, what could he call her? A mermaid? No, mermaids are believed to be beautiful. A witch who fell off her broom into a pool of water sounded better to him.

He chuckled before bursting into laughter. He and his friend laughed out their heart for half a minute.

"Just take a good look at the thing, there's no way I will ever date such a thing." said Henry as soon as he stopped laughing.

He looked at the girl, looking disgusted and amused at the same time. He turned to face his friend and saw him with a wide grin on his face. Henry scoffed

" Don't tell me your lilʼ bro is getting aroused by such a thing?"

"Even my eyes are getting hurt just looking at it, ain't no way my bro is gonna stand upright with such a ugly duck in view."

They both laugh again, amused by their own words. Seeing her move forward, they both, unconsciously took a step back.

*****

Natasha stood still for a second or so before rushing in. But as soon as they took notice of her, she stopped for a minute or so. She stood still, taking note of their physiques, wondering if she really could beat them both, if she might need force to get an answer out of them. They were both tall, taller than her so to say, but she was not going to believe they were any more than five inches taller than her.

They both looked tough, but one looked more muscular than the other. She was beginning to think she seriously would have to fight an answer out of the bully like seniors, but upon hearing their discussion, she believed it would be easier to get an answer, since they found her to be a pain to their eyes.

She moved closer to them, and seeing them both take a step back, she took them as those who only look tough, but are nothing but scared cats.

"Have you seen Riley?"

She was sure she didn't have to explain what Riley looked like, after all, Riley was a very popular name among students, and she was very sure that no one in the senior classes will deny knowing him since they are took pleasure in seeing him in pain.

The boys chuckled, and as though she didn't just ask a question, they went back to practicing.

She got angry. She stood still, fuming with anger. Seeing them throwing the ball at each other, she jumped in and caught the ball. And just as she was about to throw the ball at one of them, she heard a door open. Dropping her hands but not the ball, she looked in the direction of the sound. Trooping out of the dressing room were five seniors.

*****

The five boys waked out of the dressing room, each and everyone of them laughing as they kept on snatching the camera from themselves.

They all walked past a girl who looked rather strange to them. They ignored her and approached Henry and the other guy.

"You guys got it?" Henry asked as they got close to him.

They handed the camera to him. Those big wide smiles on their faces made him so sure they did their jobs well. He gave the camera to the other guy who was with him before. "Let's go guys."

Walking past the girl again, the five boys got a little curious.

"Hey James." said one of them.

The guy who had been with Henry before their arrival looked at them.

"What?" he replied.

"Who is she?"

James looked at the girl and smiled, seeing her just standing there with an angry look on her face made him much more amused than he was.

"Just another fan of Riley."

"Oh." They all said with a grin.

"What about the boy?" asked James. And he did not fail to catch that look of curiosity on the girl's face.

"We left him in the bathroom. It's such a pity that we don't have bathtubs here, but we did leave the shower running."

"Hmm, that's good."

*****

After hearing all they said, Natasha ran straight for the dressing room. She went straight to the bathroom, opening a door after the other.

She looked panicked or rather, she was panicked. She kept hoping that the so-called boy was not Riley.

"Why are you this panicked?" said her inner voice again, with a hint of mockery.

"Why? Are you worried that what happened to Carrie has happened to him? Did I not tell you, you suck at protecting friends. If the same has happened to Riley what would you do? Fight the boys? Beat them up? Ruin their lifes? Do you seriously think that will make up for the pain Riley must have gone through?

She did her very best at ignoring all her mind said. If what happened to Carrie had happened to Riley, then she was going to do her possible best to make sure he does not end up dead.

Opening the very last door, she saw a small figure on the floor, the shower left on, kept pouring on him, his uniform was beside him on the floor, leaving him in only his underwear. She rushed to his side, kneeling beside him, and she could finally see the face of the student.

*****

Riley remained on the floor, unconscious of his surroundings. All he was conscious of, was the fact that it was in pain. He felt hot all over, felt the need of the touch of someone, anyone at that moment would do. He remained there under the running shower, wriggling, trying hard to keep himself in control of his situation.

Tears rushed out of his eyes, which soon got washed away by the water pouring from the shower, as images of what the seniors did to him came playing in his mind. He laid flat on the floor and began crawling, since he could not gather enough strength to get up on his feet.

Upon all of his efforts to leave there, he got mad at himself for not being able to move much from his former position. He kept on trying to move, but even his body refused to listen to him. He kept on feeling weak, he did everything he could to stop himself from being totally unconscious, but his weak body could only hold on for so long, it already was past its limit.

He closed his eyes, as he gave up the fruitless fight, and as soon as he did, he became completely unconscious.

*****

Seeing the face of the student, Natasha got scared, wondering just what the seniors had done to him.

She moved him away from the shower and placed him on a dry spot. She took off her wet jacket and wore it for him, although it could not cover his exposed body completely, it was far better than putting on his soaked uniform. She placed him gently on her back. She felt his soft breathing, and she let out a sigh of relief, but that didn't mean she was not worried. His body was very hot, so of course she was worried, and the fact that she knew nothing of what the seniors did to him, she became much more worried.