Favorite Crying Spot

It was the last drop of salt that made Riley's cup run over. It drained from her eyes, streaming onto her cheeks. She was getting another detention. This was going to prevent her from spending an afternoon with the few friends she'd managed to collect so far. Even worse, it wasn't even for a good reason as far as Riley was concerned - just a bunch of demerits for uniform violations and speaking out of turn in class.

Uniforms were stupid. Mrs. Nguyen was a fascist. Riley would be the first to tell you. All she could do was complain or cry, though, and she'd found a great place to go hide and do the latter. It was behind one of the administrative buildings, away from the entrances and exits and pathways people typically used. In a pinch, she could come here and let it out without anyone bothering her.

Riley hated being here. She hated the schedule. She hated having to wear this dumb bracelet that took away her powers. She hated people being afraid of her or bossing her around all the time. Worst of all, she hated giving in to their demands as much as she did. She felt like a weak coward. If her parents were here, they'd be able to give her the strength to fight back, she was sure. She missed them so much, every day - every time someone bossed her around she told herself that only her parents were supposed to do that, and all these other people were trying to replace them, and she couldn't let them.

She let the anger and despair drip down her cheeks in quiet sobs. She was curled up in a ball against the back wall. Riley just wanted to be home again.

@Lazzy

Riley didn't want to be seen like this. It was a display of weakness, and it happened far too often. She didn't want to talk about her feelings with some counselor, she didn't want to open up, she didn't want people trying to change her anymore.

"I'm not okay," she said through sniffles, trying to be defiant and mad. "I never wanted to be here. I want to see my mom and dad again, and they want me home too." When she looked up at him, she fought against the sadness pulling at her face.

He didn't look like such a bad guy though. Riley could almost describe him as 'pretty,' maybe even 'dreamy,' like the prince charmings in the princess movies her parents didn't want poisoning her mind because monarchies were inherently evil. She found a way to see them anyway, in secret.

Riley looked at Asger like he had just told a cruel joke. Call up her parents and ask if she could go home for the day. If only that was possible. She didn't answer him, she just hid her face in his offered handkerchief.

"I'm Riley Keegan." She used her full name because there were other Rileys running around. "My parents can't come get me 'cause they're in jail. And the school says they can't raise me anymore." She said all of this through the handkerchief covering her face, punctuated by a couple of sobs. Part of the handkerchief got caught between her wrist and her power-nullifying bracelet.

She could see her parents again!? Riley started to light up. It wasn't as good as being able to go live at home with them again, but she would happily take it. It was the best news she'd gotten in over a year. Her crying stopped.

And Asger thought the fact she had to wear the bracelet was stupid. Riley thought it was stupid too - and finally someone was agreeing with her. Even Dalia didn't agree with her about her bracelet. "I dunno how long they want me to wear it," she told him. "They said they were gonna make me go to a counselor in a bleeding month, then he'd decide. But they hate me, so that could just mean I'm stuck with it forever."

Even though she'd already had her lunch period, she wasn't going to turn down chips. But when she looked in the bag, she learned that Asger actually just had crisps. Nobody on this island seemed to know what proper chips were. Still, crisps were good. "I'd like just the crisps. If that's ok?"

"Thanks, Mr. Asger!"

She was really starting to like him. And now that her eyes were less watery and blurry, she could tell that he really did look like a Disney Prince type of person. She dried her eyes a bit more on the sleeve of her uniform.

Riley frowned a little at the suggestion that she would lose the bracelet if she proved she could behave. She hated that advice. She didn't want to be easy for them to control. That felt the same as giving up or being a coward or something, and she didn't want any of that. But she was tired of arguing about it.

If she was honest, a part of almost her liked the bracelet. If they decided she didn't need it anymore, that meant they weren't afraid of her anymore.

"I'm from... I mean I've lived in most parts of the UK. But everyone you know is wrong," Riley said this about the crisps with absolute certainty. "You get proper chips when you slice up a potato and fry the slices. Like in fish and chips. these are crisps." She took one of the crisps out of the bag.

Was she a Demigod? Riley was almost offended. "Actually, I'm a reincarnated god of destruction. A demigod would be if one of my parents was a god and so I was half-god. I'm really just a god." She munched a chip. "How could you tell I was like that?"