Fallen

Chapter Four: "Iris"

"And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you'd feel me somehow
You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be
and I don't wanna go home right now"

--Iris, GooGoo Dolls

   We had vehemently worked on our literature project. We had to reinact a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Riven and I discussed, argued, and finally agreed that the scene where they met would be the scene we'd reinact.

   Imagine my surprise, though, when Stacy Milian showed up.

   "Ohmigod, Riven, is that you?" she squealed, eyes widening with false innocence. "What are you doing here?" She was completely ignoring my presence, which was completely fine with me.

   "I could ask you the same question, Stacy, isn't it?" He brought her hand to his lips, then smirked at me. He didn't see Stacy stared at him. Like she was a lion and he was a gazelle.

   "I'm just making fun of all the nerds," she said, looking at me pointedly.

   "I happen to find nerds...intoxicating," Riven murmured in his silky voice.

   Stacy's eyes snapped back to him and she backpedaled. "Ummm...yeah...of course. I've been known to be a little bit of a nerd." She laughed nervously.

   I rolled my eyes at how desperate she was. She probably didn't even know how to open a book.

   "Do you mind, Stacy?" I asked in a sugary voice. "We have a project to work on."

   She glared at me, then turned to Riven, smiling up at him sweetly.

   "Of course. I'll leave you to it then." One last glance in my direction before she flounced off.

  Riven chuckled as he turned to me. "Jealous, Lane?"

   I rolled my eyes and snickered. "As if. I just wanna get a good grade on this project. You're a newbie, so you don't know how crazy Mr. Mann can get when it comes to these things."

   Riven seemed to be holding back laughter. "Whatever you say, Lane," he managed to say.

   "Let's just do this stupid project," I grumbled.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

   A few hours later, I realized it was 2:00 p.m.

   "Ah, crap." I cursed silently.

   Riven's eyes widened in surprise and he looked at me, his expression quizzical.

   "I have to get home," I said, hopping up.

   His mouth formed a little "o" of understanding. He stood.

   "Do you need a ride back?" I think I imagined the hopeful note in his voice.

   "Well, I need a ride back to the park. My car is there." I bit my lip at the thought of being alone with him some more. My heart raced.

   He smiled that famous half smile and jingled his keys. "Allow me to be your chauffeur, oh, gorgeous one."

   He gave a full grin as I blushed when he called me gorgeous.

   The ride to the park was anything but awkward. He managed to make me laugh as he mouthed the lyrics to Birthday Cake by Rihanna. I couldn't remember ever laughing so hard in my life.

   "Well this was fun," Riven murmured as he pulled the car to a stop.

   "Yeah, it was," I admitted.