Chapter Twenty Nine: food?
RILEY'S POV
It was a few minutes past noon, and I still hadn't opened my door.
I lay lazily on my bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to distract myself from what I'd been doing for the past hour.
Thinking about Xander.
Which was very annoying.
I had actually planned to go back downstairs after a while… act normal… pretend nothing happened.
But then Jason showed up.
"Fridge problem or Xander problem?" he asked, leaning against my door like he had nothing better to do.
I didn't even respond.
I just shut the door in his face.
And now here I was.
Still thinking about it.
The way he looked at me like he's talking to child which I can't seem to get out of my head.
The way his hand had closed over mine when he opened the fridge.
I groaned, turning over and burying my face into my pillow.
Why am I like this?
A knock sounded on my door.
I froze.
Another knock.
I sat up slowly, staring at the door.
"Hello?" I called out.
No response.
I got off the bed and walked over, opening the door carefully.
No one.
I frowned.
"Kayla?"
Nothing.
But then I looked down.
A tray of food sat neatly on the floor.
Still warm.
I blinked.
Okay… that's weird.
I stepped out slightly, looking down the hallway.
Empty.
Completely empty.
I picked up the tray, glancing around one more time before going back inside.
Closing the door.
I placed the tray on my desk and stared at it.
Who dropped this?
Kayla?
Maybe.
But she would've said something.
Right?
I hesitated for a moment before sitting down and taking a bite.
Yeah.
I was definitely hungry.
By the time evening came, I finally left my room.
Dinner.
Everyone was already seated.
Jason.
Mason.
Kayla.
Mrs. Natalie.
Mr. James.
Kai
Everyone.
Except him.
I sat down quietly.
"Look who finally came out of hiding," Jason said.
"Shut up," I muttered.
"Careful," Mason added. "She might fight the fridge again."
I ignored them.
My eyes moved around the table.
Still no sign of Xander.
"Where's Xander?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
Kayla shrugged slightly. "Not around."
Oh.
I nodded, looking down at my plate.
For some reason, I suddenly wasn't feeling that hungry anymore.
It was later that night when I stepped out of my room again.
The hallway was quiet.
Then I heard footsteps.
Coming up the stairs.
I froze.
Xander appeared.
He looked normal.
Calm.
Unreadable.
Like nothing ever happened.
His eyes landed on me for a brief second before he looked away and walked past me.
Just like that.
Like I wasn't even there.
Something about that annoyed me.
"Did you eat?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He paused.
Just slightly.
Then—
"Not your concern."
Cold.
Flat.
And just like that, he continued walking.
I stood there, staring after him.
My chest felt… weird.
I didn't like it.
Back in my room, I sat on my bed in silence.
Then my eyes drifted to the empty tray on my desk I had forgotten to return.
The one from earlier.
I stared at it for a while.
No knock after.
No explanation.
Nothing.
And somehow…
I couldn't stop thinking about it.