A Change of View

Here is the second chapter, in the third we meet Nate's friends and Riley face's her attempted rape


Nate didn’t like how perceptive Riley was. Why was he even doing this for Kate anyway? He didn’t like talking to the non-social types because—amazingly—they didn’t want the company. Like now, for example, Riley had pulled out her headphones and was listening to her iPod.

He knew why he was doing it, he just didn’t like it. He had been dating Kate off and on throughout the summer and was hoping to take the next step into a more mature adult relationship. One of the ways to do that is by making her happy. Kate’s newest mission in life is to socialize Riley.

Nate glanced over at her and was surprised to see her watching those they passed by. Most quiet girls kept their eyes trained to the ground, like this morning when she walked into him. He figured it was to prevent anyone from approaching to socialize. The more quirks he learned about her, the more interesting she became. Nate knew he would enjoy spending the semester with her.

Riley stumbled over the flat ground—probably stuck her toe on the air, Nate thought—and found her elbow caught firmly in his. Nate suddenly got this overwhelming need to protect her. But the protection feeling was that of an older brother. He knew she had no brothers or sisters and wondered how she would react to his feeling.

“Thank you.” Riley mumbled trying to remove his grip. When he didn’t release her, she glared at him. Nate grinned and pulled the ear piece out of her ear. “Hey—“

“How can I tell you ‘you’re welcome’ if you can’t even hear me? Besides it’s rude to ignore people.” Nate was laughing at her. Riley continued to glare at him.

“Let go.” She said in a low voice that radiated anger. He chuckled but released her, pleased when she didn’t replace the ear piece but let it hang in front of her. Nate decided, since she could hear him now, to start on Kate’s mission. “So, are you going to join Kate and Emily’s little get together tonight?” Small talk,
Nate thought, a good way to start up a conversation.

“No.” The one word answer irritated him. Small talk was suppose to grow into a conversation, not die with one word.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to go.”

“Why ?”

“Are you four-years-old or something? What is the point of the ‘why’ game when I obviously don’t want to go, end of story.”

“You know, maybe I should call Kate.” Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he made a production in dialing her number instead of looking it up. “She won’t be very happy you don’t want to come, maybe she can get an answer as to why from you.”

“Don’t you dare call—“

“Hey, Kate! Listen, I was just talking to—“ Riley pulled the phone out of his hands and ended the call. “You know—“ trying to hide his smirk—“that was very rude.” He was amused by her reaction, someone was afraid of Kate’s wrath.

“Look, you even said this morning, I’m not a social butterfly. I don’t want to go to the ‘get together’ just to sit in the corner. I can do that just fine in my room, away from the noise.” Riley was irritated she had to explain herself. Nate’s phone vibrated in her hand—Kate was calling back. “I told you why, now can you please get her off my back?”

Nate smiled with a gleam in his eyes and took the phone back. “Hello? Hi Kate… oh, must have dropped the call… Yea… good guess… anyway, I was talking to her,” he looked directly at Riley and knew Kate was right—she needed to help with her social skills, “and she said she wasn’t coming tonight…” The choking sounds coming from Riley made him chuckle again. He listened to Kate yell in his ear and watched Riley’s face go from shock to anger—good. Finally Nate handed Riley the phone. “Kate wants to talk to you.” She glared at him and reluctantly put the phone to her ear.

“HYDE!” Riley winced. “How could you!”

“How could I what Kate? I didn’t say I was going to participate tonight. I plan on keeping to myself tonight. Thanks to you Dr. Frankenstein, my daily social capabilities have been stretched to the limit. You can’t push my social capabilities to far, the consequences could be severe.”

“Shut up Hyde! I’ve planned this for too long to have you screw it up with your stubbornness!”

“Planned what Kate?” Riley was confused and furious. Nate caught the question and the look on her face. He grabbed the phone out of her hands before Kate said too much.

“Katie, honey, calm down. There you go… deep breaths… yes you did… it’s ok… yes… I’ll talk to her… see you tonight… bye.” Nate looked at Riley with a line between his brows and sighed. Riley put her earphones back on, she didn’t want to be convinced to join tonight’s “get together.” She started towards her next class and Nate fell into step with her. When Nate reached up to pull out the earpiece again, she slapped his hand away and started walking faster. Nate took her elbow and pulled her off to the side out of the pedestrian traffic.

“Don’t—“

“Shut up Riley. Kate just wants to help. She doesn’t like seeing you so lonely and closed in.” Nate’s intense expression made Riley uneasy and his words made her guilty. “She’s your friend and wants to include you in her plans.”

“I hate the guilt card.” Riley mumbled, and then sighed. “I’ll make an appearance for a little while then I’m done. You cannot expect me to participate the whole time. That’s asking too much.”

Nate looked relieved. “Thank you, we need to get to class before we’re late.” He took her arm again, gentler this time, and began walking towards class. Riley knew that day was about to get much worse.




When Riley walked out of her photography class, thinking about the portfolio she had been assigned, she tripped over the uneven concrete and landed in Nate’s arms. He stood her upright, looked at her surprised expression and being caught, and burst into laughter. Riley’s face turned beat red and started to stomp off towards the bus. She only got about ten steps before Nate grabbed her and turned her around in the opposite direction.

“Kate asked me to drive you home.” Was all he said. She considered shaking him off and making a run for it, instead she decided to go for payback.

“Will you just tell her you love her and leave me alone?” When Nate froze dead in his tracks with an audible gasp she knew she hit her target with the first arrow.

“What are you talking about?” His voice was barely above a whisper. Riley thought he was about to go
into shock.

“Oh, please! You’re an idiot. You love her and will do anything to make her happy.” Nate’s eyes were wide—definitely shock—“look, you even said this morning how perceptive I am and you’re right, I am. I pay very close attention to the details. The way you were able to calm her down over the phone so quickly means she also trusts you and cares about you too. She actually listened to you. Kate is very emotional and to calm her down in person is not as easily done was what you just did over the phone.” He looked sick.

He felt sick. Nate thought he hid it so well. He’s only known Kate three months and was afraid he would scare her off. He gulped loudly and remembered to breathe. Riley look quizzically at him “Um…”

Huh—Riley thought—he’s scared. “Nate, I won’t say anything, but maybe you should get around to telling her.” This time Riley took his arm and started pulling him in the direction they were going. “By the way, I need to stop by the store, we’re out of milk.”

Nate could only nod, no sound leaving his throat.

“Nate, which way is your car?” He looked dazed and confused. “If you don’t snap out of it I’m going to take the bus. I’m not going to walk around dragging you looking for a car that I have no clue what it looks like. And if you start drooling I’m going to change my schedule so I don’t have to be near you anymore.” He blinked. “Ok, you sit here and when you snap out of it I’ll be back at the house.” He blinked again when Riley sat him on a bench. “See you later Nate.”

When Riley started to walk away, Nate grabbed her hand. “Do you think Kate or Emily have noticed?” He was desperate to know. “They talk about everything together. I was hoping I could get Kate to realize that she could be happy with me. I would do anything for her.”

“Ok, don’t be a door mat. If you are a door mat, Kate will get bored and she won’t want to have a permanent relationship with you. Also I don’t think either of them realizes how much you care about her because they haven’t talked about it at all. I am typically apart of the boy-friend conversations. I’ve heard her talk about you but I didn’t know who you were. I was never told you were Emily’s cousin. I will tell you that Kate is happier when she is with you. When you two aren’t together she gets bitchy and I tend to ignore her until you two start seeing each other again.”

“How long have you known them?” Nate was hopeful. He now had someone one the inside to help with Kate.

“About two months. I moved in a month ago when my last roommates moved out on me without any warning. Can we go now? We need to get to the store and I need to get home before Kate does otherwise she will ransack my room for tonight and I want to head her off.” Nate smiled, the dimple flashing again. “Oh no, she already did it didn’t she.” Nate’s smile grew bigger. “What has she done?”

“It’s not pink.” When Riley groaned and covered her face he chuckled. Oh how different the female race was, Nate thought.

“Please tell me she hasn’t changed my wardrobe. She’s been threatening to take all of my clothes to charity and buy me more girly things.” When he didn’t answer, Riley dropped her hands and paled. The look on her face made Nate laugh so hard his sides ached. Riley wanted to cry.

“Come on; let’s get you to the store.” He felt a little sorry for her. What was he going to do with this trio of women? All three he cared about in different ways: one was his best friend, another he loved, and the third was the sister he never had. Each girl was an only child and each had a personality all of their own. He couldn’t wait for the party tonight.

“What has she done Nate?” It was Riley’s turn to be sick. She didn’t care what her style was, but she didn’t like to get dressed up. She didn’t like to get all dolled up every day, or to spend hours deciding whether or not to wear her hair up or down. She liked her personal style because it was simple.

“Don’t worry; she didn’t take anything out, just added to it. I think she also chose your outfit for tonight.” Riley started banging the palm of her hand on her forehead. “Relax Riley, you’ll like it. I was there when she picked it out. It’s a mix of your styles.”

“She took you shopping with her? Did she ask your opinion about stuff for herself?” Riley looked at him intently.

“Sure. I’ve gone with her a couple of time. She bought this awesome blue dress that I told her I liked, she couldn’t decide between it and a red one. I told her I liked the blue better. Why?” Riley was smiling.

“She cares a lot about you. She doesn’t take men shopping unless she really wants to know more about them. It was a test. She takes a guy she likes shopping and asks for their opinion on two dresses. One is very flattering on her, sexier because of the cut and how it molds to her body. The other dress is more revealing. It fits her just as well but too low cut and too short. The test gives her an inside on what this guy is really after. Have you seen her wear the dress anywhere yet?” Nate was taking in the situation and realized how close the dress descriptions were to what Riley just described.

“Holy crap.” They reached Nate’s car and he stopped to pull his keys out of his pocket. “That was a test. No, I haven’t seen her wear it anywhere. Does that mean she returned it?” He opened the door.

“No.” Riley answered when he was in the car and backing out. “She would have liked the more flattering dress and would have bought it anyway no matter which dress you chose. Sort of like the answer to the test. If you chose the blue one and that was the dress she bought then you passed. If you chose the red one and she bought the blue one then you failed. How many times has she taken you shopping?”

“Twice, the first time was her dress. The second time we bought a few outfits for you. I gave my input on those too.” Shopping as a test, Nate never even considered that.

“I’ll bet you ten bucks she wears that dress tonight.” He was surprised, those were never words he would have heard from Kate or Emily.

“You’re on. One better, I’ll bet you ten bucks you like the outfits Kate and I chose for you.” Riley looked skeptical.

“You actually accepted the bet. Do you know how many times I say that to people and they just ignore me thinking it’s just a saying. I’m serious every time I say it but no one believes me. Before I accept this bet you just made, are you honest about your bets. I’ve had bets with other people who aren’t honest about it and it pisses me off. I will tell you now, I am honest. If I like the clothes I will give you the money.” Riley’s expression was serious and Nate was a little shocked to see how much this mattered to her. One of her personal tests about people Nate thought.

“Yes, I am very serious about bets I make. To some it may be a game, but to me it’s a character judge. Many people don’t understand that going back on a bet is very tacky and not very trustworthy.” Nate pulled into a parking space in front of a grocery store. “In a way we are making promises to each other and I don’t break my promises.”

Riley nodded, pleased with his answer. “In that case, I accept your bet in return. Good because I could use twenty bucks.” Nate laughed

“Yeah, so could I.” They smiled at each other as they got out of the car to get the milk. When Riley’s phone announced a text message, her smile dimmed a few notches but remained in place.

*R u at the store yet?* Since when does Emily only text her? She usually calls Riley whenever she has a question no matter how simple the question.

*We just got here. Do you need something?* Riley began to wonder if Emily was beginning to avoid her. This is what happened when her last roommates moved out on her. Riley was just getting use to her new roommates; she wasn’t ready for them to ditch her yet.

*Can you get some sodas 4 2nite, just 4-6 ppls plz*. Now Riley was worried. Six people? Since when were their parties so small?

*Sure, what kind do you want?* Riley’s smile completely faded away. Something was wrong with Emily, she just didn’t know what. When she got back to the house she would corner Emily and find out what was wrong.

*Ask Nate, he’ll know.* Huh, interesting, Riley thought.

“Nate, Emily wants me to pick up some sodas for tonight and she said to ask you what kinds.” Nate frowned for a second then as realization dawned on him she sighed and shook his head.

“Come on let’s get some and go. Emily’s going to be mad at me and I need to calm her down before Tony shows up.” He said it like that would explain everything, but Riley was still confused.

“Who is Tony and why does Emily need to be calmed down before he shows up?” Riley was getting really irritated with all of the secrets being kept from her.

“Tony is my best friend aside from Emily. They don’t care for each other. When we were ten, Emily beat Tony in an arm wrestling match and ever since then Tony has teased her. Not in a rude way but just enough to piss her off. He points out whatever flaws she has for the day: a piece of her hair fell out, if she lip gloss has rubbed off, and heaven forbid she gets a zit and he sees it. Anyway, they taunt each other. Although it was really funny when Tony met Emily’s first boy-friend, the comments got worse, although they were more geared towards how she flaunts herself. He still never made one crude remark but they can’t be in the same room for very long without making some comment to start an argument.” Nate smiled, and then winced. “Some of their arguments get pretty mean.”

“Wow, this has been going on since they were ten?”

“No, Tony and I were ten, Emily was eight.”

“Oh, man. When did the first boy-friend enter the picture?”

“Um, we were seventeen and Emily was fifteen. Why?” Nate gave her a strange look as they waited in the checkout line. She was laughing so hard she was crying. “What’s so funny?”

“God! You don’t see it? Emily’s, what, twenty-three? Don’t you see?” She waited a second to see if he would understand. “You are so blind! It’s foreplay. They have been having this sexual frustration building up for at least eight years. I say at least because I don’t know all of the situation, plus it really hasn’t been noticeable since Tony probably still saw her as the eight year old who beat him at arm wrestling. When he met her first boy-friend he became jealous. He wants her but won’t let himself have her. And not that it matters but Emily hasn’t kept a boyfriend for more than three months—ever—probably because of Tony.” Nate looked sick again “You never noticed that?”

“Holy crap, you’re right. Damn you are perceptive.” Riley laughed again. Nate liked her laugh. He thought of what tonight would bring and laughed right along with her. “Ok, now you and I get to plan. How do we get them together?”

“Excuse me? How do we? I don’t date so I have no clue where to start.” Nate paid the cashier before she could and Riley frowned at him. “You know this stuff isn’t for you, you’re not supposed to pay for it.”

“The sodas are for me, an extra few bucks on milk isn’t going to do much. Besides in about half hour I’m gonna have twenty bucks in my pocket from you when I win our bets.” Nate’s dimple flashed at her.

“In your dreams, you are not only going to be out twenty but also the grocery bill. But thank you for paying.” Nate was shocked. Riley was not like most girls. Tonight was getting better and better.

“Your welcome, come on, we have to go calm Emily down before Tony shows up or tonight is going to be a disaster.” He chuckled at what had been so obvious in the last eight years that he had not noticed. “So how do you think we can hook these two up, because let me tell you, they don’t even like being in the same room as each other and I bet you Kate let it slip when she wasn’t suppose too.”

“Why is Kate trying to hide so many things? And don’t play dumb because I know you are in on this too. What is Kate trying to do?” Nate looked resigned about the way the conversation had taken.

“Well, Kate didn’t factor one thing into her plan. You are very observant. You catch every little detail we do, which is probably why you are such a good photographer. Is that what you’re going to school for, photography?” Riley looked irritated.

“No, that’s just a hobby. Now don’t get off topic. Kate and Emily try to do that all the time and it doesn’t work. What is Kate trying to do?” Nate was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Which girl does he do battle with: Kate or Riley? He knows Kate, he can judge her reactions, but Riley was a constant surprise. Nate sighed.

“Okay, fine. Kate is playing match maker. Although now I have to talk to her about whom she is trying to ‘pair up’ because Tony was meant for you.” Riley’s mouth dropped open and a strange squeak came out of it. “Yeah, just remember: Kate’s idea, not mine when you are coherent enough to speak again.”

Riley could hear a strange buzzing in her ears. This was the plan! “How long has she been planning this?” She could only whisper the question.

“About two days after you moved in she started thinking about it. Then she said she took you to some party and how you actually dressed up for it and, in her words, ‘you looked so hot that if she were gay she would have made out with you as soon as she saw you’ she became determined to match you up with someone.” Riley’s face turned bright red, whether it was from either anger or embarrassment, neither knew.

“I am never going to another party with her again. After tonight, I’m going to become a hermit. I’ll go to school and then come back to my room and that’s it.” Riley was working her way up to a very comfortable rage.

“I don’t think Kate would let you. I’ve never met three more determined women then the three of you. Look, let’s just get tonight over with, and then you can fight with Kate, okay?” Nate looked pained as he waited for her response.

“Fine, but I’m still mad. She is going to get an ear full tomorrow.” Nate was relieved that tonight was still on the agenda. “Come on; let’s get to the house so I can get my twenty from you.”


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So there was chapter 2, chapter 3 will be going up soon because according to a friend it was really good. TTFN