“Plus, with all that traffic,” I added.
“That, too.”
“Uh-oh.” Riley looked at me with wide eyes. “We haven’t changed our clothes or done our hair and makeup.”
I shrugged. “We look okay. Good enough.”
“Good enough? What kind of attitude is that? Give us ten minutes, you guys.”
I turned to regard River and found him looking at me, chuckling.
“Have fun,” he said.
◈ ◈ ◈
In Riley’s bedroom, she rifled through every article of clothing I’d packed, deeming all of it to be unfit for the occasion. She marched to her closet and threw clothes at me over her shoulders. Not wanting to make us late for the concert, I unquestioningly donned the outfit she’d selected: a pair of high-waisted jeans, a tank top, and some kind of vintage sports jacket. She changed into a different pair of overalls, these ones black and tight, and then she ordered me to sit on her bed as she sprayed dry shampoo into my roots and teased my hair. She did the same to herself and then finished us off with her tube of bold lipstick. The process reminded me of Cambria doing my makeup for me back in Freya, except Riley’s technique was much more frenzied and inexact.
“Behold, Drew. Now, we are ready.”
We stood side-by-side in front of her full-length mirror as Riley admired the makeover.
“It’s like Prom all over,” I said.
We managed to get to the concert venue early and secure spots only a few rows away from the stage. The concert was a whirlwind to me. The opening bands seemed to come and go in violent seconds. Even when The Cure took the stage, it seemed as though they were playing their songs in double time. There was one point when everything finally slowed down. They were playing Pictures of You—Robert Smith, with his messy black hair and red lips, was swaying as he sang, and then I felt someone press up against me from behind, and a warmth wrapping around my waist. It was River, his arms encircling me and moving us from side to side. I was surprised at first, but then I noticed Riley and Zach in the same position next to us. I let my head lean back against River’s chest, and we swayed with the crowd, with Robert Smith, like we were all under water.
“Zach, my love, thank you so much for getting us those tickets last minute.”
It took us forty minutes to drive back to Riley’s neighborhood, and this time, we had to park six blocks away from her house. The four of us were walking on the sidewalk in between the rows of houses and cars—spent, slothful, satisfied.
“That was great, Zach.” River added to Riley’s praise.
I made sure to get in my appreciation, too. “Thanks, Zach. I never thought I’d get to see The Cure live. With Riley. In Seattle.”
“No problemo, my friends. Happy to be of service.”
As we continued strolling down the sidewalk, I asked him, out of the blue, “How did you two meet?”
“Beauty school,” Riley answered for him.
Zach expanded: “I used to go to the beauty school for the discounted haircuts.”
“And he learned his lesson. He was unfortunate enough to get me as his student hairstylist, and I one-hundred percent screwed up his hair.”
“It wasn’t that bad, Riley.”
“It was, too. I had to call Teresa to come help me fix it. I was completely freaking out, thinking he was going to complain to my instructor or something. But instead, he gave me a huge tip and asked for my number at the end of it all.”
“How could I do anything else?” I saw Zach squeeze Riley’s hand.
“And now he comes to Strike for his haircuts. But, Teresa has been doing his hair ever since. You just have weird hair, Zachary. I just can’t figure it out.”
It had been sprinkling on our heads as we neared Riley’s place block-by block, and no one seemed to mind, as tired as we all were. But suddenly, the rain transformed into heavy drops. Seconds later, the drops had become relentless.
“Hot damn,” Riley exclaimed over the downpour. “We’ll see you guys back at the house.” She took hold of Zach’s arm, and they sprinted off down the sidewalk, leaving me and River behind.
“You okay?”
River’s voice was somehow perfectly clear amidst the drumming cacophony. As I tried tugging Riley’s vintage jacket up over my head, I answered, “I’m okay.”
“You’re looking pretty wet, there, Drew. Race you back to the house?”
I eyed him knowingly. Before he could say anything else, I took off running.
“Hey!” I heard him call from behind, and then he was closing in on me, right at my tail. I picked up my pace, my feet pounding on the sidewalk.
One block left to go. I twisted my trunk as I ran, planning to direct a teasing comment back at River, but then something happened.
My right foot slipped underneath me—maybe on a soaked leaf—and I tried to regain my balance. All in one second, my body tilted at an odd slant, I felt a sharp twinge in my ankle, and I went down, colliding onto the hard, damp sidewalk.
“Drew—are you okay?”
River was kneeling down beside me, his body acting as an umbrella over mine.
“My ankle.” I got the words out in a grimace.
His hands shot out toward my right ankle, and I gasped when he touched it.
“Do you think you can walk?”
He helped me stand up and kept his arm around me as I attempted a couple steps. My left ankle was fine, but as soon as I set my right foot down on the sidewalk, I felt a biting pain, causing me to gasp again.
“Nope,” River said. “Come here.”
He leaned down, placing his arm under my knees, and he scooped me up so that he was carrying me, my arms holding onto his neck. Somehow, he managed to jog with me in his arms, finally getting us back to Riley’s house.
Inside the house, River carefully set me down on one foot and took a breath. He looked at me.
“Ready?”
I nodded my head.
With me in his arms again, River transported us up the staircase to Riley’s unit. She had left the door unlocked, and when we made it inside, there was no one to be found. Riley’s bedroom door was closed, a strip of light issuing from underneath it.
“Guess they called it a night,” River said.
He was still holding me. We were both drenched, and I could feel our clothes sticking together, my wet fingers clinging to his neck. His face was close to mine, and I could feel his breath on my cheek. His hair had been darkened from the downpour. I now had a very clear view of the stubble around his jaw. I could even see some raindrops that still adhered to his skin. When my gaze moved to his eyes, I realized that he, too, was scrutinizing me up-close. His brows were knit together, and then his eyes seemed to focus in on my lips. I felt my lungs tighten.
“Um,” I broke the silence. “Maybe you could set me down on the sofa?”
“Yes. Sorry.”
He took me to the red sofa and carefully lowered me down to its cushions.
“This purple one actually has a pull-out bed.” He moved over to the couch he spoke of and started tossing its cushions to the floor. “I’ll get it set up for you.”
“Is that where you’ve been sleeping?”
“Yeah. But I don’t mind taking that red one for the night. Riley’s cousin is out of town this week, but I don’t think she’d appreciate some random guy sleeping in her bed.”