Not before prom

chapter 2

After they were out, Riah rehashed the whole thing in her mind, she had never agreed to this, yet Mr. Burg had taken her silence as an agreement.
         “Yo, yo” Raoul walked beside her, “Riah right?”
         “Yeah” she inwardly rolled her eyes
         “So… can I get your number?”
         “What?” she paused to look up at him, she was only 5ft 4. 
         “Your number, you know, so we can figure out how to meet, cause I can’t do after school” When he said that Riah’s jaw practically dropped.
         “You know how far my house is? It’s a whole hours, a whole hour, I’ve already missed my bus, now I have to wait out in the cold”
         “I’ll drop you off” he said shrugging
         “You know where Devonshire Heights is?” she frowned at him
         “Devonshire Heights” he whistled, “What are you doing all the way over here?” he looked down at her in amazement
         “I use to live with my mom, in tenth grade I moved in with my dad, I didn’t feel like switching schools” she shrugged
         “That’s crazy, but it’s your life, so you want me to give you a ride or what teach?” he grinned at he, it was that lopsided grin, his dimple winked.
         “Sure, am not paying for no gas bills” she warned
         “That’s cool, let me get my jacket though” he said, without waiting for her he walked away, living her in the hall by herself.
         
Raoul hated the idea of staying after school, what was he going to do with French? He really saw no point in learning something he wasn’t going to use, but he really did want to graduate along with his friends.  As he closed his locker door, he saw the dark haired girl, Riah, absently tapping her feet in impatience.  She had a ton of books in her arm, a big jacket hid her, the scarf was wrapped around her neck, with her hat and gloves on, she looked ready for a snow storm.  He wondered how she could possibly breathe or see where she was going; she just looked like a big fluffy puff of clothes. 
         “Awright, let’s go” she had barely seen him coming; he knew he surprised people, he was such a big guy, yet he managed to walk so softly.
         “You scared me” she managed to finally say after catching her breath
         “You’re too jumpy, relax” he said
As he went outside, it really was cold, snow was everywhere, he hated driven in the snow, it was really hard to control his car.
She followed him, opened the front passenger door and climbed in.  He put the heater on blast.
         “It’s going to get warm in a while” he said without looking at her
         “No need to waste your gas on me, am warm enough” she said when he had gotten out of the parking lot
         “Well then, am not warm, so am goanna live it like that” he said glancing at her
         “Okay” she murmured
         “Where did you get the name Riah?” he asked, she was surprised 
         “It’s short for Kamariah”
         “Kamariah?”
         “It’s Malaysian”
         “What’s that?’ he hated looking stupid, and that’s how she looked at him
         “It’s a type of Asian”
         “You don’t look Asian”
         “Am mixed” she snapped
         “Okay, don’t make it a big deal, am mixed too” he grinned at her
         “I know”
         “Why do you keep doing that?”
         “Doing what?”
         “Like am stupid or something, it’s okay to not know certain things you know” he shrugged, Raoul looked like the type of guy who never took anything seriously, he looked like the type that just went along with everything.
         “I never said you were stupid” she murmured
After that, the ride to her house was pretty quiet, except for the once in a while directions. Raoul blasted the music; Riah huddled closer into her jacket although it was really hot in Raoul’s car. 
When they got to her house, she turned to look at him
         “This is it, look uh am sorry”
         “For what?” he didn’t look at her
         “Look, I don’t know you anymore than you know me, I was asked to tutor you, no, I was told to tutor you, and I don’t know… am just not used to people, or mainly you”
         “Fine” since he didn’t say anything after that, she packed her things, as she opened she heard him say
         “You could at least invite me in for hot chocolate, I mean really" He said looking exasperated
         "Wanna come in for a drink?" hands on hips
When finally parked, he entered her house and stood at the door.
         "What's wrong?" she asked frowning at him
         "Your house is big as shit, is your parents rich?" he asked in awe
         "Nope, my mom's an archeologist" she said taking her jacket and things off
         "Doesn’t that mean she travels a lot?"
         "Yeah, that's why I moved in with my dad, they're divorced" she put her hand out, "Your jacket?" and he gave it to her
         "What does he do?" he followed her to the living room where she turned the light on and put the flat screen, large TV on, then she went into the kitchen
         "He's a lawyer, so I have a lot of time by myself in this big old house" she didn't sound bitter about it, Riah really didn't care, she was used to it
         "You don't have any brothers or sisters?"
         "Nope, am an only child, hot chocolate right?" she turned to him
         "Yea, no water though"
         "What?"
         "No water, you have milk?"
         "Yeah..." she stressed it out as she looked at him
         "Just pour the milk in instead of the water, you still make it the same way" he shrugged
         "Does that taste good?"
         "Fantastic, that's how my mom makes it" he said looking chagrined, "You should try it"
         "I just might" She made two cups, "Let's go to the living room, I never use the kitchen"
         "My mom never lets us eat in the living room" he said
         "Oh, you have a sister right?"
         "Three, am the only boy, I would’ a liked a brother though, girls are so..." he looked at her
         "Yea, you better not finish that or am goanna kick you out" she grinned at him, "Wanna watch something?"
         "Sure, cool Comcast" he put his cup down only to flop in the sofa, "Oh yeah, that's comfortable" she laughed, he turned and looked at her
         "What?"
         "You should do that more"
         "Do what"
         "Laugh" when she didn't say anything, he just stared at her more, "You look really pretty when you laugh"
         "No I don't, my cheeks go up and look like somebody blasted a light on it" she said sourly
         "You looked cute" he smiled, "Why do you wear contacts and glasses?"
         "Am not wearing contacts" she said, she took her glasses off, "This is my real eye color"
         "Man, what color is that, that's not blue" he said in awe
         "Lilac"
         "Like a flower" he whispered
         "I thought you wanted to watch TV" she snapped, she felt uncomfortable with the attention he was paying her, he shrugged
         "Wanna watch some college football?"          
         "Don't like football"
         "Basketball?"
         "Nope"
         "Do you like any sport?"
         "I like a lot of sport"
         "Like?"
         "Like soccer, badminton, volleyball..."
         "Those girl sport"
         "So what? I don't wanna see some idiots knocking each other down"
         "You just called me an idiot again"
         "Somebody sure is soft" he laughed
         "I better be going, what time is it anyway?"
         "Like 5!" she said aloud, "I missed my show"
         "What show?"
         "It's 5:35; I have a show at 5 o’clock"
         "What is it?"
         "One on One, I never miss that show”
How she came to feel comfortable with Raoul was beyond her, but she liked this side of him, talkative, funny and friendly.