PART I
Prologue
Riley
Fifteen Years Ago
Six Years Old
When I was in first grade, there was a boy who used to pinch me on the bus, and every day I would go home crying. He was older than I was by at least three years, and he had a snotty nose and dirty hands. I hated him with as much passion as a six-year-old could hate a boy. And one day, in my bravest voice, I told my mom that I no longer wanted to go to school on the bus because of this horrible little boy. The day after I told her, my mom found out the boy’s name from the bus driver and took me to his house so that she could speak to his mom. That was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I sat there on the couch in the living room, waiting in fear. I was so scared that the boy was going to come in and pinch me again. But he didn’t. Instead, my mom brought him over to me and he apologized with a big dopey grin. A grin that told me that he didn’t think he had really done anything wrong. My mom told me that he was going to look after me on the bus and at school and make sure that no one ever hurt me. He was going to be my very own protector. He called himself Batman, I called him Dopey, and his parents called him Hudson. Hudson Blake. From that day on, he never pinched me on the bus again. But I can’t say that I’ve never cried because of him since.
Chapter 1
Hudson
Ten Years Ago
She sat in the corner of the couch crying, her sobs loud and her face red and splotchy. I walked past her into the kitchen and grabbed a can of Coke, ignoring the tug of my heartstrings as I watched her.
“What’s wrong, Riley?” I sighed as I questioned her. She looked up at me with big brown eyes full of tears and I was taken back to the days when I used to pinch her on the school bus.
“Nothing.” She gulped and looked down at her legs.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” I sat on the couch next to her and awkwardly put my arm around her shoulders. “Maybe I can help.” I had no idea what I’d be able to do to help, but at fourteen, I felt years ahead of eleven-year-old Riley.
“Eden won’t...” She paused and sobbed some more. “Eden won’t let me borrow her nail polish.”
“What?” I frowned, confused.
“Eden won’t—”
“I heard that part.” I stared at her for a few moments before continuing. “I don’t get why you care. Nail polish just looks cheap and gross anyways.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She shook her head and I sighed.
“Get up, Riley. Let’s go and talk to Eden.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch, and she held on to my hand as we walked up the stairs to go talk to Eden. Eden was my sister and Riley’s best friend, but many times I felt as if I were closer to Riley than I was to Eden.
“Eden, open up.” I tried opening the door and then banged on it.
“No!” my sister yelled back in a whiny tone.
“Eden, I don’t have time for this!” I shouted, annoyed. I was fourteen and at the age where I felt like I was a man, not a boy. “Open up. Now.”
“Whatever!” she cried out as she slowly opened the door. “What do you want?” She stuck her face out at me and raised her nose up in the air.
“Let Riley play with the nail polish, please.”
She rolled her eyes. “I told her she could already.”
“I wanted the red one, not the pink.” Riley looked at me with wide eyes and I sighed.
“The red one, Eden?”
“No, that’s my favorite.” Eden shook her head. “You can’t make me.”
“Riley’s your best friend,” I huffed. “You should be generous. You know that’s what good little girls do.” I gave her a big smile like my dad always did to try and convince her. “Okay?”
“No,” she said obstinately, as only an eleven-year-old could.
“Eden.”
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.” She gave me a superior look.
“You’re so childish.”
“You’re such a brat,” she shot back at me.
“Whatever. Come on, Riley.” I grabbed her hand and walked away from Eden’s door. “See you later, Eden. Riley and I are going to hang out in my room.”
“Kissy kissy time!” Eden called out and made kissing noises, and I frowned at her.
“You’re disgusting.” I shook my head and let go of Riley’s hand. “Come on. We can go and hang out in my room.”
“Okay.” She smiled at me weakly and followed me into my room.
“You can sit on the bed,” I offered generously. I really was magnanimous. I wanted to call Luke and tell him to come over so that we could play my new wrestling video game, but I knew that would be no fun for Riley to watch. “I’m going to play video games.”
“Okay.” She nodded and smiled at me. She sat on my bed with her legs crossed, and I stared at her for a few seconds before speaking again.
“You can play too...if you want.” I held back a sigh, not wanting her to know that I didn’t really want to play with her. Girls sucked at video games, especially her and Eden. Whenever they came to my room to play, they always giggled and fell on the ground. It was so annoying having to let them play when my parents were home that I was surprised I had asked her to play now of my own volition.
“I can watch.”
Yes! “Okay.”
“Are you going to play the car racing game?” she asked eagerly, and I groaned. I should have known that she didn’t really want to watch.
“No, I’m going to play my WCW game. Practice my wrestling.” I flexed my arms to show her my muscles, but she didn’t look too impressed. Typical kid. She had no clue that I’d been lifting fifty-pound weights for the last couple of months.
“Wrestling is boring,” she spoke innocently, and I tried not to let it annoy me.
Wrestling was my life. I wanted to be in the WWE when I grew older. I was going to be called ‘The Real Batman’ and I’d wear a black cape and mask and be totally awesome.
“You’re too young to understand.”
“I’m not too young to know it’s boring.” She grinned at me and I laughed.
“Very funny, Riley. Don’t make me pinch you.”
“I’ll tell my mom.” She gave me a look, and this time I didn’t hold back my groan.
“Please don’t. I don’t need her coming over here again, begging my parents to make me be nice to you.”