Since Forever Ago (10 page)

“From a guy’s perspective, yes,” Max replied with a sniff.

“Give it up, Fletcher,” Liz said, narrowing her eyes at Max. “What’s the deal?”

“What deal?” Riley’s voice called out from behind them, causing Max to choke on his beer in surprise. “Liz, why are you harassing Max?”

“Yea, Liz, why are you harassing me?” Max blurted out with an obnoxious smirk.

Liz playfully glared at Max once again before letting out a disgruntled groan and sliding off of the stool. “I’m way too old for this,” she muttered under her breath before leaving the two of them alone to go search for Audrey.

“Was she bullying you again?” Riley teased, hopping onto the seat that Liz had just vacated. “Is poor little Maxie going to cwy his wittle eyes out?”

“That was
one
time,” Max grumbled, cursing his six-year-old self for breaking into tears when Liz the Bully had declared to him that Riley was
her
best friend, not his.

“Don’t tell her this,” Riley began in a whisper with a tiny smile on her lips. “But I always liked you better anyway.”

Do not fucking blush, you piece of shit
, Max instructed himself as he watched Riley reach across the table for a can of soda, blissfully unaware of how her words had made a little piece of him die on the inside.
You’re a full grown man, not some 14-year-old girl in a teen romance movie.

“You’re not going to drink?” he casually asked, eyeing the can in her hand. “Don’t you want to charm all of the boys with your drunken humor?”

Riley let out a tired laugh. “Ugh, Liz and I killed an entire bottle of tequila last night. You won’t
believe
what we ended up—”

“Tequila?” a high-pitched voice squealed out, followed by a fit of giggles. “I
love
tequila!” the owner shrieked, throwing her body into the space between Max and Riley.

Why does the universe hate me?
Max groaned inwardly, tightly shutting his eyes as the ear-piercing titters of an entire army of drunk sorority girls bombarded his auditory nerves. Letting out a shaky sigh, he opened his eyes to find April, one of his past drunken flings, hanging onto his arm.

“Maaaax,” the pretty auburn-haired girl whined out in a nasally voice. “Are you trying to start a game of hide-and-go-seek with me?”

“Hi, April,” he glumly replied, attempting to shrug off her grip to no avail. “I’m kind of in the middle of—”

“You don’t want to play with me?” she breathily replied. “
I
want to play with
you
!”

At this, her two friends broke out into another frenzy of laughter, though Max didn’t find it funny at all. He looked over at Riley with a pitiful expression, though she merely shrugged her shoulders with an amused look on her face. “
Super
fun,” she sarcastically mouthed to him before April blocked his view once again.

“Go play with Evan, or something,” Max muttered in annoyance, trying to pry her hands off of his arm. “I’m having an important conversation with my friend.”

April turned to give Riley the once-over before shooting Max a puppy dog expression. “Why are you being so mean?” she whimpered flirtatiously, completely ignoring Riley’s existence once again. “
I
can have important conversations
too
!”

Oh my God, please make it stop
, Max silently pleaded, staring blankly at April’s pouting face.
Make it stop, and I promise I’ll try to be a better person.

The ditzy sorority girl had caught Max’s heavily inebriated eye that previous Halloween, attracting him with her charming smile and equally charming assets on display in her slutty cat costume. “Don’t do it, bro,” a bear suit-donning Evan had warned when he saw the two headed up the stairs together. “Total Stage Five Clinger.
Don’t
hit that,
trust
me.”

Of course, Max had proceeded to ignore his friend’s sagely advice, choosing instead to begin a short-lived dalliance with the extremely hot sophomore. After a few weeks, he had found himself growing tired of her vacuous comments and incessant texting, and ultimately let her off as gently as he could shortly after finals. April, however, had interpreted this as his playing hard to get, and had been popping up uninvited at events and badgering him ever since.

“Yea, Max, why are you being so mean?” Riley joined in, raising her eyebrows at him tauntingly.

“See? Everyone else thinks so too!” April squeaked out, slapping him playfully on the chest.

“What the fuck?” Max mouthed back at his supposed friend with an incredulous look on his face.

“Oh my God, I just
love
your sweater,” April sighed out, smiling brightly at Riley now that she no longer viewed her as the competition. “You look
so
warm!”

“And you look... really cold,” Riley offered, glancing down at April’s microscopic dress.

“I know!” April cried in response before turning her attention back to Max. “I’m
super
cold. Can we go to your room and get a blanket?”

“There’s a pile of blankets in the living room,” Max distractedly replied. “Just get one of those.”

April pressed herself more closely against him, prompting her two friends to exchange a knowing look. “But I want one from
your
room,” she cooed in a tiny baby voice.

“Go and get her a blanket, Max,” Riley told him with a smirk, hopping down from the stool and slinging her bag onto her shoulder. “I’ll just see you tomorrow.”

“No!” Max blurted out, grabbing for Riley’s wrist. As the tips of his fingers grazed her warm skin, however, he immediately felt his cheeks grow warm and quickly let go. “Just... stay and chill for a bit,” he added after awkwardly clearing his throat.

Riley scrunched her nose at him and shook her head slightly. “I should get going anyway. I have to go wedding dress shopping with my sister in the morning,” she told him.

“Weddings!” April gushed loudly. “I just
love
weddings,” she added in a breathy whisper, staring at Max intently.

“Er... yea,” Riley replied, holding back a snort of laughter. “So, see you tomorrow?”

No
, Max whined to himself as he shot her a pained expression.
Don’t leave. Just hang out with me forever.

“Have fun with your sorostitute,” Riley whispered into his ear as she brushed past, letting out an evil cackle as she walked away.

Dammit, universe,
Max thought bitterly as he scowled at a rapidly blabbering April in distaste.
And just when I thought we were going to be cool.

––––––––

“I
t’s just a stupid dress. Pick one already! Who really gives a shit?”

“Shut the fuck up, Riley,” her older sister, Taylor, snapped back, adjusting the front of the gown as her friends cooed at her reflection in the floor-length mirrors. “I’ll strip you of the title of Maid of Honor, you know. Don’t think I won’t!”

“God forbid,” Riley muttered with a dramatic roll of her eyes.

“For heaven’s sake, will the two of you
please
stop bickering?” their mother drawled out, taking a long sip from the glass of champagne that was clutched in her hand. “This is supposed to be a pleasant experience.”

“If Riley would stop being such a pain in the ass, everything would be just peachy,” Taylor hissed out as she turned to glare at her sulky younger sister.

“Relax your face,” Amanda, Taylor’s best friend and Max’s older sister, instructed in a soothing voice. “You don’t want wrinkles on your wedding day!”

As Taylor nodded in agreement and began taking deep yoga breaths, Riley let out another frustrated scoff and slumped lower in her seat as everyone proceeded to ignore her once again.

Why the hell am I here?
she groaned inwardly to herself as she gazed around the room.
Does she
really
need emotional support from a room full of girls
just
to pick out a damn dress? What a fucking poster child for Histrionic Personality Disorder.

After arriving back at home the previous evening, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness had hit Riley like a ton of bricks. Audrey and Liz had stayed behind at the party, so the apartment seemed awfully quiet once she had flipped on the lights in the living room.
At least my future apartment will be filled with cats
, she had mused miserably to herself while surveying the empty space.
Riley Benson and her twenty fucking cats.

Standing by as random frat boys hit on her roommates and watching on as April climbed all over Max had been surprisingly depressing, and she had honestly wondered if she would ever meet anyone ever again. And, in a moment of weakness, she had broken down and pulled up Noah’s contact information on her phone.

Fuck other guys, fuck independence and
fuck
deserving better than this!
she had grumbled to herself as she pressed the button to dial his number.
Noah’s the only one who’ll ever love me!
she had decided, holding her breath as a clicking sound signaled that the call had been initiated.
I don’t deserve to find someone new. I deserve Noah!

Much to her disappointment, the call had ended up going straight to voicemail, leaving her feeling vulnerable and out-of-control. Going against her better judgment, she had then scrambled to check up on him via Facebook, only to find that she was no longer friends with him.
He deleted me
, she had thought to herself as she surveyed the screen with bleary eyes, her face growing numb in shock.
He actually fucking deleted me
.

As a result, the rest of the night had been spent cursing herself for not answering his texts earlier that morning and crying into her already tear-stained pillowcase until she passed out from fatigue. Needless to say, the cranky girl wasn’t in the best mood for an hours-long trip to a frilly bridal boutique with an entire crew of overenthusiastic bridesmaids.

“I fucking picked one!” Taylor snapped at her younger sister once the unflinching boutique assistant had handed back her credit card. Apparently, expletive-filled screaming sessions were commonplace during bridal fittings at the posh designer showroom. “I picked one, so are you happy now?”

“Fucking ecstatic!” Riley barked back as she stomped towards the exit.

“Jesus Christ,” their mother muttered under her breath as she followed after her youngest daughter.

Once they had bid farewell to their mother and the other members of the bridal party, Taylor and Riley trudged in silence as they made their way to Taylor’s car, a confused Amanda in tow.

“What in the world’s the matter?” Amanda asked, holding back a laugh as she observed Riley’s stony expression. “Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

“More like woke up on the wrong side of
life
,” Riley grumbled in response.

“She and Noah broke up,” Taylor told her in a bored voice, rolling her eyes at Riley’s theatrics.

“What happened?” Amanda gasped out as she smoothed down Riley’s hair. “You two were so adorable together!”

“We aren’t
hamsters
,” Riley brattily replied, snarling at Amanda’s choice of wording. “And Noah is
far
from adorable. He’s a fucking asshole!”

“Fair enough,” Amanda replied, an amused smirk on her lips. “So what exactly led you to that grand conclusion?”

“He cheated on her,” Taylor flatly explained as they reached her car, causing Riley to narrow her eyes once again. “Using that hookup app. You know, the one that Megan used that one night we went downtown?”

“Oh, God,” Amanda groaned out, patting Riley reassuredly on the shoulder. “He really
is
an asshole.”

“He is,” Riley agreed with a nod, angrily flinging open the door to the backseat. “But if a supposedly good boy like Noah turned out to be a serial cheater, then what the fuck am I supposed to do now?”

“Boys will be boys,” Amanda said with a laugh. “But they get better with age, don’t worry.”

“Well, I can’t
wait
to be old like you two, then,” Riley dramatically sighed out, prompting Amanda to wrinkle her nose in distaste.

“We’re not
that
old...”

“And who am I supposed to take to your stupid wedding?” Riley suddenly grunted out at her sister as she climbed in and slammed the door shut. “You’re so selfish, you know that? Why would you plan your wedding for when I’m lonely and single?”

“Yes, I was desperately hoping that your little shit of an ex-boyfriend would cheat on you and leave you single on the exact date that I’ve had picked out since last September,” Taylor replied dryly. “I am indeed terribly selfish.”

“You really are,” Riley muttered under her breath.

“Why don’t you pick someone up using that app?” Taylor sarcastically suggested in a sickly sweet voice.

“Do you want to have bruises on your wedding day?” Riley seethed back as Amanda blocked her fist from reaching Taylor’s face.

“Whoa there,” Amanda said with a laugh. “You
definitely
aren’t a hamster, I’ll give you that.”

“No need to take your anger out on me,” Taylor huffily remarked as she started the engine. “Besides, you can just come with Max,” she added, exchanging a knowing look with Amanda as she did.

“What the fuck was that?” Riley demanded as she peered at the two of them suspiciously.

“What was what?” Amanda innocently asked.

Riley shot a ferocious glare in their direction, slumping further in her seat as she did.

“Cheer up, buttercup,” Amanda teased as she shot the grumpy girl another smile. “How about we take you out for a drink? A couple of margaritas should help you take your mind off of it for at least a few hours.”

“I can’t,” Riley drawled out in response. “I don’t have time to join in on your elderly fun.
I
happen to have a party to attend.”

“Dressed as a bag lady?” Taylor asked with a sniff, glancing over her shoulder to observe Riley’s disheveled getup of an oversized cardigan and tattered jeans in disdain.