266

266
  Chapter 266
  Riley Burke 
  ~•~
  It was fun having my friends over for the weekend. 
  And it was a total flop trying to pretend like I was surprised when they first arrived. They saw right through my pretense. Even if we hadn’t been friends for so long, they knew me well enough. 
  I barely even thought about what I had gone through while they were around. Having them around was a good distraction. I was sad that they had to leave. 
  But I couldn’t do anything about it as I walked them to the car. During their stay, I realized that it was actually my mother’s idea to invite them over. 
  Now it made sense why she was so welcoming. 
  My mother didn’t usually like it when I had my friends over. I mean, my friends from high school. Our family was always under scrutiny, so she didn’t trust anybody. 
  It was nice to see her giving my new friends a chance. 
  The weekend was over and it was a new school week. 
  I hadn’t completely healed but even when I assured my parents that I would be okay, they claimed it wasn’t the right time for me to resume my school activities. 
  I wasn’t ready to resume school activities too, I just wanted to hang out with my friends on campus. Even if I just saw them, I still missed them. 
  It was better than being alone in my room at home. 
  Rowan and Jason weren’t even around. They left for school without me. 
  After trying to convince my parents for a few minutes, I saw how determined they were to stand on their decision. So I just gave up and went back to my room. 
  It was going to be a long and boring day for me because I would be the only one in the house. Aside from the security guards, I mean. 
  Dad had tightened the security after that incident happened. Rowan and Jason even had to be escorted to school with security. 
  Dad didn’t give them any chance to protest against his decision. 
  I knew my parents were just concerned about my safety, but were just using my health as a front. If they had their way, they would want me to stop living at the dormitory permanently. 
  But there was no way in hell I would ever agree to something like that. I was also worried about my safety and decided I was going to be more careful. 
  I didn’t have anything planned for the day. 
  Since I was staying at home, I decided to have a lazy day and rot in bed while I watched my favorite shows. I didn’t forget to get a ton of snacks from the pantry. 
  Just as I was about to start the first episode, my buzzing phone interrupted me. I picked it up and saw it was a call from my mother. 
  “Hey, mama,” I said as I answered the call. 
  “Hey, baby. I’m just calling to check if you’ve taken your drugs.” My mother knew I hated drugs, so she made it her mission to make sure I always took them. 
  I smiled, rubbing my eyes with my hand. “Yes, mama. You reminded me to take them before you left for the office.” I replied, shaking my head. 
  “Okay. But I still wanted to remind you.” 
  “Alright, please buy me ice cream on your way back.” 
  My mother laughed. “When will you ever outgrow ice cream?” She asked. 
  “Maybe when I have kids of my own.” I let out a dry chuckle. “But for now, you have no choice but to get it for me.” 
  “Alright, I’ll see you later.” 
  After the call ended, I focused on watching my show. 
  I was so engrossed in my show that I had no idea how much time had passed. The familiar sound of my father’s car horn made me check what time it was. 
  “Wow,” I muttered to myself when I realized that I had spent over four hours glued to my laptop screen without taking a break. 
  I turned off my laptop and grabbed a bottle of water to take my afternoon medications. The time had already passed but I still had to take it before my mother would lecture me for three hours. 
  After I was done with the medicine, I decided to check up on Mason. I had already contacted him with my new phone number the previous day. 
  But we didn’t talk much because I was with my friends.
  Now that I was bored and less busy, I wanted to speak to him for a few minutes before my parents would come over to my room. 
  I watched as the phone rang, waiting impatiently for him to answer the phone. I was about to end the call when he finally answered. 
  “Hey, baby. I’m sorry I took so long to answer, I was in the bathroom.” He apologized, his voice soft and gentle. “How are you doing?” 
  “I’m fine, I just wanted to check up on you,” I replied, playing with a strand of my hair. “Are you good? Did you attend class today?” 
  “Yes, I’m good.” He replied. “But I didn’t attend class today because I knew you weren’t going to be there. There was nothing to motivate me to attend.” 
  I bit my lips to stop myself from smiling. 
  Mason was so sweet and his words always made me blush. 
  “I think your bad grades should be enough to motivate you to attend classes.” I teased him and we both laughed. His grades weren’t completely bad, they were decent but I still liked teasing him about it. 
  Mason and I talked for a while until our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. “I’ll call you back,” I said before hanging up. 
  I dropped my phone before climbing out of the bed. 
  As I answered the door, I saw my father standing in front of my room. “Your mother said I should give this to you.” He handed me a bag which contained a cup of ice cream. 
  “Thank you.” A smile flashed across my face as I took the bag from him. 
  “I have something else I’ve been wanting to tell you.” 
  I froze and looked at him. He sounded so serious, like what he wanted to say was really important. “What is that?” I asked in anticipation, raising a brow at him. 
  He let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry for ruining your date with that boy. If you’re interested in having another one, I don’t mind paying for it.” 
  I wasn’t expecting my father to say something like that and I couldn’t hide the shock in my face. “What? Does it mean you approve of our relationship?” 
  Mason and I weren’t in a relationship yet but I still had to keep up with my pretense. I’ve been wanting to talk about Mason with my father, but after everything that happened, I felt it would be insensitive. 
  My father nodded. “Sure, I think he’s a decent boy.” My father replied, rubbing his temple. “I’m sorry for saying rude things about him earlier.”  
  I couldn’t help but wonder what made my father change his mind. Maybe it was because Mason’s family tried to help me when I went missing. 
  Either way, I was happy that he didn’t have a problem with it anymore. 
  I couldn’t contain my excitement as I pulled my father into a bone-crushing hug. Nothing was stopping me from being with the boy I liked anymore. 
  “Thank you, Daddy.” I expressed my gratitude when I finally broke the hug. 
  “Anything for my princess.” 
  I couldn’t stop smiling as I went back inside my room, I couldn’t wait to tell Mason about the good news.