Rich lies & poor truths

Chapter 1- First sight

His jaw clenches as he holds a polystyrene cup gently in his long fingers. He drums his fingers on it as if his impatiently waiting for something.  Then he smiles. My eyes drift towards the person he is looking at and of course it is Lisa Corby, the gorgeous blonde girl, with icy blue eyes, a tall and slender body, a tan that never fades and also my best friend. 

A goofy grin plays on her face as she looks at the beautiful stranger, making her way towards our table. I notice girls catching shy glimpses at him, walking past him and guys gossiping out of jealousy. 

"You gonna eat that?" I slightly jerk at Chase's sudden voice. He sits in the seat in front of me eyeing my half eaten chicken sandwich. I gesture for him to take it and he takes a big bite out of it as if he hasn't eaten for ages. 

Chase is my other bestfriend and also happens to be my neighbor.  Although he's a year younger, we still hang out whenever we can. 

"Have you seen that guy." Lisa almost squeals and plonks herself next to me.

Chase's turns, "You mean my brother?" 

Me and Lisa's jaws drop in shock. 

"Your brother?" Lisa says in awe and that's when I clearly can see the resemblance. His angelic face, sharp jawlines and light green eyes, matches Chase's beautiful features. I bite my lip, trying to think of why his brother is sitting in a professional suit alone at one of the cafeteria's tables.

"What is he doing here?" Lisa asks for me. 

"He has to go around schools and talk to the business classes, so he's visiting for awhile." Chase says in between chews. 

"But why is he talking to  business classes?" Lisa asks, intrigued. 

"Cause he's the CEO of some kind of business company." 

I watch as a young teacher approaches Chase's brother, a flirty smile on her face. 

"Yo bro's." Carlos appears, looking tired. He is Chase's best friend and also ours.  We all hang together including Trench. Trench is the smart guy, always top in class. Even though he has a geeky personality, his dimpled smile and big brown eyes, makes the girls fall at his feet. 

Carlos is the funny guy, not having a care about what people think of him. He isn't necessarily hot with his afro styled hair but gets the girls laughing. 

And together we are the popular group in our school and how I'm in it, I don't know.  I definitely don't have a bubbly personality like Lisa's or do flips in the cheerleading squad, as there's always something that makes a person popular.  As for me it's probably being the best field hockey player in school. 

"What's up." Chase and Carlos fist bump each other and Lisa stares at Chase's brother dreamily with her head resting on her hands. 

"Hey!" Chase swiftly clicks his finger in front of Lisa's face, "Stop dreaming." 

Lisa's rolls her eyes and puts her attention on our table. 

"How old is he anyway." Lisa asks taking out a container consisting of her usual green salad. She's always on a diet, saying it's necessary being a cheerleader. 

We all moan in disgust and she just jokingly shoves us on our shoulders.

"I think 23." Chase answers scratching his head. I shake my head at him not knowing his brother's age. 

"Cool." Lisa says. 

"Yeah, too old for you." Chase's raises his eyebrows at her. 

"What I'm like turning 18 next month, which makes him like 5 years older." she states obviously making Chase snarl in disgust.  He mocks her, fluttering his eye lids. 

"Why didn't the chicken cross the road?" Trench' s familiar deep voice immediately changes the vibe at our table. 

We all reply with long dreaded voices, "Cause he didn't want to become kuntecky fried chicken." 

"Wow you guys are clever." Trench says in a goofy voice and squeezes himself next to Chase. 

"Why do you look so down, Charlos." Lisa asks concerned. 

I look at Charlos seeing is slouched posture and tired eyes, wondering the same. 

"I got a B in maths." We all sigh at his ridiculous reason of not being himself. 

"Man, that's better than a F."  Trench says looking at Abigail walking past us. She shyly smiles at him before continuing talking to her friends. 

"You have beef for Abigail?" Chase asks dreadfully. 

Trench lift his shoulders, putting a fry in his mouth. 

"Dude you know like the whole school went through her." Chase says in disgust. 

"Yeah well she changed." Trench says defensively. 

I look at Abigail, chatting with her cheerleader friends. Her golden brown skin and dark curls makes her stand out and I can see Trenchn and her being a couple. 

"Why are you so quiet Riley?" Chase asks me with a raised eyebrow. 

"Aren't I always." I say, stating the obvious. 

"Yeah but today you're like extra quiet." Lisa comments. 

I bite my lip amd shake my head, my eyes falling on Chase's brother who is looking at our table.  Our eyes meet and I see his face slowly turn into a frown and I quickly let my head fall down. 

The bell rings, saving me from my red cheek embarrassment. 

The boys pats us on the back before scattering in their own directions. 

"How do I look." Lisa asks pouting her lips, and throwing her hair backwards. 

"Great." I say, squinting my eyes. 

"I'm going to the thing." She eyes Chase's brother, "You know accidentally bump into him." she winks at me and I laugh. 

"Pure Lisa." I say, knowing it being her move at getting a guys attention. 

"Wish me luck." She says, holding her posture tall. 

"Good luck." I give her two thumbs up. I glance at him as he slowly stands from the table, his eyes fixated on the cellphone in his hand. I note at how tall ans well built his body is, before I turn around and walk towards the bathroom. 

"Hi Riley." Tina says in a small voice, entering the bathroom behind me. 

She's a beautiful redhead in my hockey team. 

"Oh hi, Tina." she smiles, washing her hands. 

I skim at my reflection in the mirror and massage my stiff neck.  My light brown hair lays lifelessly under my shoulders, my fringe hiding my eyebrows. My eyes drift towards Tina's reflection and her tight clothes showing off her small curves. I look in disgust at my dark and baggy clothes, almost covering every inch of my skin. Tina smiles at me before exiting the bathroom, leaving me staring at my reflection.  My green eyes are dark almost seeming black, making me look eerie and scary. I think of wearing shorter and more colorful clothes and doing something different with my hair, but goosebumps erupt on my skin at the thought. I look at my wrist, covered in dark red lines and nod at myself, thinking of keeping my style the way that it is. 

I swiftly splash my face with cold water, easing my hot skin and leave the bathroom. 

I bump into someone, biting my tongue in the process. 

"Damn, is this school like bumping cars or something." My eyes widen, seeing Chase's brother before me. I open my mouth to say something but seeing him so close makes me lose all words.  His eyes are the purest color of light green it almost looks unnatural. 

"No." I finally utter. I feel my face scrunch up in pain, wondering how someone can be so perfect. 

He stares back at me, his eyes intense. 

"Sorry." I say and make my way past him but gliding on the slippery floor with my sneakers, almost falling but he catches me on my elbows. His hand is warm through the fabric.  With my cheeks heated I look at him seeing a smirk on his face. 

"Sorry." I say again. He looks at me from under his long lashes. My heart starts to drum hard and fast as his eyes doesn't move away from my eyes. I suddenly feel vulnerable, as if he's intently eating up every secret I have.  I take a gulp of all my gathered spit and yank my arm out of his hand.

I clench my teeth before walking away. 

"You're late, Riley." Mrs.Polly says sternly as I enter the biology class. 

"Sorry." I say feeling stupid to apologize so much. I sit at my table at the back and try to focus but my knotted mind keeps tumbling back towards the incident with Chase's brother and each time my hearts start to race and I'm engulfed with unnecessary adrenaline. It happens in all my last four classes and I take deep breaths trying to calm myself from the feeling but it doesn't help. I feel irritated when the bell rings, signaling the end of the day.  I quickly change into workout clothes in the bathroom before making my way towards the field. 

"Hey." Lisa calls and runs towards me in her cheerleading clothes. 

"What's up." I say smiling. 

"I always wonder how you never get warm in those clothes." she frowns at me confused.  I look down at my tights, oversized T-shirt and second skin underneath it. 

"I wonder too." I say raising my shoulders jokingly.  I smile at her and jog towards coach and my other team mates. 

"Two times around the field." coach yells, "and make it snappy." 

Most of us sigh before running, me always taking the lead. We jog past Chase and his team practicing football and I wave at him. He waves back ogling all the other girls behind me and I roll my eyes. 

Beads of sweat form on my forehead and my breathing is like a wildfire.  The more air I take the more I need. 

I team up with Tina and we hit the ball for each other before coach instructs us to stand in our usual hockey positions. The younger team makes their way in the opposite side of the field. 

"Play." Coach scream almost angrily and we all look at him strangely. 

He violently gestures with his hands in the air and Kathy unsurely pushes the ball at me and I run forward dodging a girl before passing it to Malin.  We keep on playing until coach blows the whistle and we slowly walk towards the end of the field and my eyes catch Chase's brother sitting wide legged and hunched over on the bleachers. A cigarette sits on the end of his mouth. 

"You're dismissed." Coach says, speed walking away from us. 

"What's his problem." Malin asks, clicking her tongue. I bite my lips. 

"Yeah he was a total dush today." Tina comments. 

"Well I overheard that we're losing some players, that's why we had a match today." Priya says, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. 

I frown and some girls gasp. 

"Why?" 

"Don't know." Priya declares and swiftly walks away leaving worried faces behind. 

Before I can encounter in their troubled talk I walk towards where Chase is laying on the grass and fall down next to him. 

"Hi." He throws me with a piece of grass. 

I click my tongue and throw him back. 

"So I saw you playing a match today." 

I hum in response. 

"And also that they will be moving some of the younger players up." 

I look at him, biting my lips. 

"Yeah?" I ask and he nods. 

"Why though?"

"They say some players isn't good enough and that your coach isn't being fair." 

I pucker my lips, "That's not true." I say thinking of every girl on the team being good. 

"Who do you think they're going to take of the team?" 

I think deeply. "I really don't know." 

"Well obviously not you, as you're the best player, I think Priya and Mavis are safe, " He scratches his chin. "Tina is okay but I'm not so sure about Lily," he nods at his decision, "Yeah I think Lily is definitely going off." 

"Don't know." I say and close my eyes. 

"Come you scumbag."  I lift my lips seeing Chase brother standing impatiently in front of us. 

Chase lazily stands up, offering me hand. I hesitantly take it and he pulls me up. 

I try not to look at his brother, nervousness creeping up on me knowing that I have to ride with Chase. 

"Come." he says and I quietly follow behind them. 

I take my bags laying in front of the bleachers and sling it over my shoulder. 

Chase and his brother does small talk before we stop in front of a fancy black Mercedes. 

"Nice ride, Stephen." Miss Kelly calls, walking past.  I make a mental note in my mind that Chase's brother's name is Stephen. Stephen smiles at her eyeing her body from behind. 

"So you're Riley." he says, opening the back door for me. My cheeks heat up. 

"Yeah." I answer. 

"Nice to meet you bumping cars."