Free Taking Risks by Cassie Allee Page A

Girls snickering at me in the middle of class. I rolled my eyes at them and made sure that they saw me do it. Right before lunch time I received a text from Risk that said, “ Hey I don’t know what happened last night, but I hope we’re okay. Couldn’t make it to school today but I’ll be back tomorrow. See you then xoxo”
                  I didn’t know what to think about the “hugs and kisses” part at the end, but I wasn’t unhappy about it. The whole relationship with him was becoming way too complicated, too fast. He and I needed to talk as soon as possible before I freaked out and never spoke to him again just to avoid the stress. I’ve never liked wondering and waiting.
                  The rest of the school day passed and I had a slow night at work. I had gotten a few more texts from Risk throughout the day, but I never replied to any of them. Remi wasn’t working that night so she wasn’t there to grill me about the night before. I was sent home from work an hour early because of the lack of customers. When I got home I joked around with Gray a bit, who followed me all day to make sure no red eyed weirdo’s got me, and then I went to bed to get some sleep.

TALKING IT OUT
     
     
     
                   “Ugh, school again. Damn it.” Gray laughed as he watched me struggle around to pound my alarm clack to dust. I had the nightmare again, but I was scared to tell Gray about it. I didn’t want him to overreact over a silly dream. I made sure to pretend like I was a little peppier than normal so he wouldn’t catch on to me.
                  I took my time getting ready, not wanting to deal with the Risk drama, but eventually I made it out of my house and to school. I was starting to worry a little about how tired I had felt lately. Was it the nightmare? Was I working too much? I decided that I’d figure it out later, or just eventually slip into a coma.
                  At my locker I felt a warm hand lightly grab my waist. I jumped at the contact and spun around, only to come nearly nose to nose with Risk. I could feel his warm breath on my lips and it smelled sweet. His hand was still on my waist and our groins were barely touching. I was completely aware of every spot that he was touching me and I tingled in all of the right places.
                  “We need to talk.” He said. He was starting to breath heavier and he was looking at me funny again.
                  I let out a breathy reply, “Absolutely.” And then Risk grabbed my backpack and keys and led me out of the front door of the school.
                  Gray raised an eyebrow at me as he followed, and I only shrugged my shoulders because I was just as confused as he was. We got to my car and Risk motioned me into the passenger side as he opened the door for me.
                  “Um, you are driving my car?”
                  “Yes. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. I’m driving.”
                  Risk hadn’t even known me for weeks so I wondered just how bad I really looked. Gray followed his comment up with, “You really do look like shit today. Sorry, but you do.” I stuck my tongue out at him as he appeared in the back seat. Risk caught me out of the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow at me in confusion.
                  “Where are we going?” I asked. We were headed north away from town.
                  “I know a place where no one will bother us.”
                  We drove for about twenty minutes and I started to get nervous as I saw how secluded we were.
                  “I hope you’re not bringing me out here to murder me. No one likes me so you’ll never get famous for my death, also, I have weapons stashed all over this car.” The farther away from civilization we got, the more I realized just how little I actually knew