I Bet I Can Make You Speak

Chapter Two

(Riley's P.O.V.)

I wake up to Michael throwing a pillow at me. I yelp and sit up in bed. "Hey, dork, time to wake up," Micheal says and I glare at him.

"I'm not a dork, idiot." Michael rolled his eyes and walks out of my room. I yawn and get up to change out of my pajamas. I put on an oversized sweater, a pair of blue jeans, and my converses. I run down the steps and skip into the kitchen. Mom and Dad are already at work, so it's just Michael and me. Michael throws me an apple and he takes a bite of his.

"You ready for your first day back?" Michael asks. I haven't been in school because I had the flu, so I missed a week.

"Yeah, I'm terrified of all the makeup work I'll be getting."

Michael nods and says, "Why are you terrified? You'll have a week to make it up."

"True, let's go," I say and take a bite of my apple. We walk out to his car and I'm about to get in the front seat when Michael stops me.

"You know the drill, you sit in the back so Nathan can sit up front."

I roll my eyes and say, "Why can't Nathan sit in the back sometimes? I'm your brother and you treat him better than me."

"Just get in the back." I huff and get in the back.

"Jerk," I mumble.

"Retard," he says.

I hit his arm and say, "Don't ever say that! That's rude and I draw the line at calling people retarded!" He rolls his eyes and starts the car.

"I can say whatever I want. You're the little brother, I'm the big brother. You don't tell me what to do," he says and I sit back in my seat with an irritated look on my face. He drives to Nathan's house and picks him up.

"Sup, bro. What's up with Riley?" Nathan asks as he gets in.

"He's just being a drama queen, as always." I kick the back of his seat and he turns around and says "Don't kick my seat or I'll kick you out."

"I hate you." He seems a little surprised that I said that. I've never ever said I hated anyone before. But he's just so rude!

"Whatever, the feeling's mutual," he says and starts to drive to my school. I guess you can say Michael and I don't get along too well. He's always showing off to his friends by being rude to me and making me seem like a complete i***t. But when I said I hated him, I really just meant his attitude. I guess I should have said that. . .but now I know that he really does hate me.

I sigh and feel my chest hurting. That really bums my mood out, but I must be happy! If I'm not happy then my friends aren't happy and if they're not happy then I feel bad. I already feel bad enough for saying I hated Michael. I sigh again and he pulls up to the middle school.

"Get out," Michael says. I grab my book bag and step out of the car. As soon as I shut the door he speeds off. I walk into the school and to my locker. I decide not to let Michael bother me and forget about it. I smile as I walk down the hall after getting my books. Some people wave to me and others smile. I love school! I have so many friends! I'm about to go to class when my friend Joshua comes up to me.

"Hey, Riley," he says.

"Hey, Josh, how was your weekend?" I ask.

"Pretty good, are you feeling better?" I nod and thank him for asking. Just then the bell rings and Joshua walks to his class. I'm going to my art class when I hear someone crying. The halls are pretty clear now, so I turn the corner to see if someone needs help. I peek around the corner and see a janitor kneel down beside a blue haired boy. I don't want to be rude and listen to their conversation, so I decide to let the janitor help him.

Huh, I've never seen that boy before. I wonder what's wrong. I shrugged and walk to art. I go to my table with my friends and Chester, Becky, Sarah, and Kyla all smile at me. Joshua doesn't have this class with us.

I smile at them and say, "Good morning! How are you, guys?" They all say they are fine and I smile.

"So, did you ask Mrs. Poe if you have any new assignments?" Kyla asks.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me!" I get up and go up to Mrs. Poe. "Um, do I have any new assignments?" I ask.

"Yes, we're painting or drawing a portrait. I'm giving class time to work on it today. You'll have a full three weeks to work on it." I nod and thank her.

I go back over to my table and Chester says, "What is your portrait going to be of?"

"I don't know yet," I say. He nods and we all start to talk about random things. As they are talking, I go back to thinking about Michael. I can't believe my own brother hates me. I sigh and look at the table.

"Riley?" Becky says. I look up at her and smile. "Are you okay? You seem a little down."

"Fine! Just thinking of an idea for the portrait," I say.

She smiles and says, "Okay good, just making sure." Oh, great, now I'm lying to my friends. I'll tell them at lunch what really happened. I get out a sheet of paper and start to draw a cartoon cat. Cats are like my favorite animal, so I have lots of drawings in my notebook of cats. As I'm drawing my mind keeps wandering back to the kid in the hallway. I have to know who he is, and I'm going to find out one way or another.