Ellie settled into the vinyl chair, the one Ethan had practically bonded with over the last ten weeks, while Riley remained leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and a predatory, playful glint in his eyes.
"So," Annie whispered, her fingers tracing the edges of the light hospital blanket. "If we're such good friends... how did we even meet? I remember the town, and I remember the bridge, but I don't remember you two being in the picture back then."
Ellie looked at Riley, then back to Annie. "You moved away right after the bridge, remember? You were gone for years. You only came back about eight months ago. You met Romeo over there first."
Riley let out a soft chuckle, stepping forward as he began to recount the story. His voice was smooth, painting the picture of a cinematic meet-cute that Annie listened to with wide, curious eyes.
"It was about two days after you got back to town," Riley started, a nostalgic smirk on his face. "I was out at the park doing my morning cardio- Coach likes us keeping our lungs open. I was switching a song on my phone, totally in the zone, and you were jogging in the opposite direction."
"I was jogging?" Annie asked, surprised. "I haven't felt like running in years."
"You were," Riley confirmed. "And you were fast. I didn't see you coming until we collided. We both went down hard. I remember looking up and seeing these big blue eyes staring at me, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, even if my knees were scraped up."
He described how he'd helped her up, the way she'd dusted off her leggings, and how he'd tried to use his best lines immediately.
"I told you it wasn't every day a large man tackled you," Riley grinned. "And you just chuckled and said you were alright. We walked together for a bit. I told you I'd never swept a beautiful girl off her feet before, and you were so cool about it. You told me it wasn't your first time."
Annie tilted her head, a small smile appearing. "I said that?"
"You did. You were a tough nut to crack from minute one," Riley said. "I found out you were the girl everyone was celebrating that night at the Hawthornes- Ethan's house. I told you every party would be better with you there, that every man's eyes would be on you. I called you 'all that and a bag of chips.'"
"And I'm guessing I shut you down?" Annie asked knowingly.
"Hard," Riley admitted, unbothered. "You told me to stop flattering you. I told you that you clearly hadn't looked in a mirror lately, and you asked if I practiced those lines in the shower. You called me 'Einstein' and 'Romeo' all in the span of ten minutes. I even tried to get you to go for omelets, and you hit me with a 'solo caffeine' line."
Riley sighed dramatically. "I claimed a full day of your time as a finders fee for finding you in the park. You just said 'no promises.' I knew right then I was in trouble."
Ellie cleared her throat, cutting into Riley's ego trip. "And that night was the pool party at the Hawthornes'. That's where I met you. I was sitting by myself, wearing this green dress and feeling like an alien because I didn't fit in with the 'cool' girls like Vanessa and Peggy."
Annie's expression darkened at the mention of those names. "Vanessa and Peggy... I remember them. They weren't nice to me before I left."
"They didn't get better," Ellie said grimly. "But you walked right up to me and introduced yourself. We sat on the edge of the pool, dipping our toes in, while the guys were being idiots in the water. Riley did a cannonball right next to us just to get our clothes wet."
"He sounds like a lot of work," Annie muttered, glancing at Riley.
"He is," Ellie agreed. "He tried to flirt with you right there in the pool- asked if he got you wet in that low, gross voice he uses, and I told him to keep his hands off you. I told you right then that he was the biggest playboy in school and not to sleep with him."
Annie laughed- a genuine, warm sound that made Ellie's eyes brighten. "And what did I say?"
"You giggled and told me it would take a lot to break you down," Ellie said. "Then you asked who the biggest player was. I told you it was Kyson. I called him the literal definition of 'pissed off.'"
"That hasn't changed," Annie whispered, thinking of the quiet, sad version of Kyson she had seen just yesterday.
Ellie's voice softened as she reached the part of the story that still made her blood boil. "The whole group sat down for food. I sat at the far end, and you sat right next to me. We were trying to stay away from the drama. That's when the 'Mean Girls' started."
Annie's smile faded. She could almost hear the whispers.
"One of them called you 'Fattie Ann,'" Ellie said, her jaw tightening. "Then they called me 'Ellie-Belly.' They said once a fatty, always a fatty. Ethan tried to tell them to stop, and Riley... well, Riley actually stood up for us. He told them to stop making fun of his sister and his 'girlfriend.'"
Annie looked at Riley, her eyes softening slightly. "You said that?"
"I did," Riley said, his cocky persona slipping for a second. "Even though you immediately told me you weren't my girlfriend. I told you that you would be in time- that I was persistent."
"And then," Ellie continued, "Ethan sat next to you. He took your plate so you could fix your chair. He was being... well, he was being Ethan. Quiet, but protective. Someone asked about the cookies, and Ethan told everyone you made them."
Annie remembered the cookies. Her mother had taught her the recipe.
"And that's when Vanessa said it," Ellie whispered. "She said it made sense you could cook because 'fat people know how to cook good food,' and told everyone to be careful because the cookies were probably full of grease."
The room went silent. Annie felt a phantom sting in her chest, a memory of a hurt that her brain couldn't quite access, but her heart remembered vividly. She looked at Ellie, then at Riley.
"What did I do?" Annie asked.
"You didn't have to do anything," Riley said, stepping closer. "Because Ethan looked like he was about to flip the table, and Ellie looked like she was going to drown Vanessa in the pool. But you? You just sat there with this quiet dignity that made them all look like trash."
Riley leaned in, a flicker of that persistent flirtation returning. "See? I told you. You're a goddess. Even when people are throwing dirt, none of it sticks to you."
Annie looked at Riley. He was charming, and clearly, he had been there for her in his own way. But even as he leaned in, she felt a strange, instinctive urge to pull back.
"Riley," Annie said gently. "You're very sweet. And I'm glad you stood up for me. But I think I need to focus on finding my own head before I let anyone else into it."
Riley felt the sting of the rejection- it was the same wall she'd built months ago, but instead of being annoyed, he felt that familiar spark of attraction. He liked the "no." It made the "yes" he was hunting for feel like it would be worth the wait.
"Like I said," Riley murmured, winking at her. "I'm persistent. I can wait for the goddess to finish her research."
Ellie groaned. "Alright, Romeo, out. She needs to rest, and I need to tell her about the time you accidentally dyed your hair orange before she loses her memory again."
As Riley laughed and headed for the door, Annie looked back at the empty chair where Ethan had sat. She didn't remember the eight months, but she remembered the cookies. She remembered the feeling of someone taking her plate so she could sit down.
She didn't know the boy Riley was, but she was starting to understand why the "stinky" boy with the green eyes hadn't left her side for seventy days.