-The Next Day, 12:19, Lunch at the cafeteria-

Riley… Riley…

"Riley!" Tasumi yelled.

"Huh?!" Riley grunted back, being pulled back to reality from her thoughts. Tasumi giggled. "You alive? You were just blankly staring out into space." Riley tried to collect herself, throwing on a smile and trying not to look like she was worried. "Yeah, um… Yeah, I'm good." Riley really wasn't "good". She had been lost in thought over what had happened between her and Todd the night before. She hadn't been able to sleep at all because of it, tossing and turning all night with the same thoughts in her head: What am I supposed to say? What am I going to say? Will he kiss me again? Will he hate me if I say no? Will he kiss me again? He seems depressed and ashamed because of this… will he do something drastic? I can't believe he kissed me like that… All those thoughts going on, plus Todd texting her almost every period asking if "Any1 was giving [her] crap", (until she turned off, plus her phone) dealing with the questions about Todd beating up Donny Rottweiler and her not having an answer (It's not like she could say he was being as protective as usual – anyone that knew him had never seen him be protective, because he was never so in public), and all the while acting like everything was normal when it was far from it, she felt like she was going to explode!

She excused herself from the lunch table , which got her some strange looks since she wasn't finished eating. She dumped what was left of her meal – she didn't feel much like eating—and headed for the restroom. She opened the door to the girl's restroom and had to dodge a group of popular girls (including Sierra) as they barged their way out of the exit. Once they had left the only person in the room was Riley. The room was overrun with the smell of smoke, and Riley needn't make a guess as to what the girls had been doing in there. She walked to the closest sink to her in the room (which was thankfully the farthest from the stalls), and she turned on the cold water. She lowered her head, and splashed the water into her face; she hoped that the water for some odd reason would calm down the raging ocean of thoughts going on in her head. Sadly, it did not. Should I say yes? What happens if…when it doesn't work? Will he kiss me like that again? Riley wasn't sure if that last thought was asked out of curiosity, or in longing.

"Ugh," She sighed frustrated and thudded her forehead into the glass mirror in front of her. In the reflection of the mirror, Riley saw the door the door open behind her, and Abbey stepped into the room. Abbey shook her her head as if she had expected this, and walked up beside Riley. "OK," She said mildly concerned, "What's wrong?" Riley picked her head up and shook it from side to side in a spastic no. "Nothing's wrong!" She insisted, obviously lying. "Nothing at all! Why would you think that?" Abbey raised an eyebrow. "Well, besides the obvious, you've been acting weird all day." She said. Riley shook her head again. "I'm not acting weird! You're the one who's acting weird! You're the one who's-"

She was cut off when Abbey said "Riley," sternly. Abbey had a serious look on her face and stared dead at Riley; to Riley it seemed as if Abbey was staring through her. Riley sighed, knowing she couldn't keep it a secret any longer. She had to tell someone, so who better than someone you trust? "There's this boy..." Riley started hesitantly. Abbey raised both eyebrows in a mildly shocked look and asked "Name?" Riley shook her head and said "I can't say. Anyway, we're, uh, friends, but lately he's been acting really weird. Last night, I asked him what was wrong and he kissed me! He said... he said he wanted me to be his girlfriend, and I told him I didn't know what to say, and said I'd have an answer for him today... I don't know if I can let him down easy." "Why are you so set on telling him no?" Abbey questioned. "Is he ugly?" Riley thought for a moment, and realized that Todd was fairly attractive. She shook her head no. "Well, is he incredibly dumb?" Lazy, Riley thought to herself, but not stupid. Again she shook her head. "Well then are you seeing someone else?" And again, another shake of the head no. "Well then why aren't you willing to give him a chance?" She simply shrugged, unsure of what to say without giving away that it was Todd they were talking about. "Well there you go. You should give him a chance! At least give him a week. If you still feel this way at the end of the week, then call it off. But if not..." Abbey grinned widely and happily, letting the silence finish the sentence for her.

Eventually the silence wasn't enough, and Abbey asked "What do you think?" Riley was torn. She didn't want to, out of fear of the repercussions of anyone finding out they were dating, but... Todd, the way he was so depressed, so sad looking, he deserved something to cheer him up. But won't it just tear him back down when I call it off? She shook the thought off, and realized something momentarily happy is better than nothing at all. Riley took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes?" Abbey asked. "Yes. One week." Riley replied. "Awesome!" Abbey squeaked. "So, are you going to ever tell me his name?" Riley smiled and shook her head no. "Aw!" Abbey played. Riley smiled.

- After school, Daring household-

Riley walked through the front door to a quiet house. Wondering where everyone was, she dumped her things onto the closest part of the couch and headed up the stairs. She heard no noise coming from any room. She opened her parents room and stuck her head inside, saying "knock knock: as she did so. No one. Behind her, she heard a door open. "What are you doing?" Todd asked as he stepped out from his room. Riley stepped out of her parent's room and shut the door behind her. "Nothing," she said looking down the hall at Todd. "Just didn't hear anyone home. Where's Mom and Dad?" Todd shrugged. "Mom's at work, AKA I have no idea, and Dad and C.A.R are at the grocery store." "Oh" Riley replied.

They stood in an silence, the awkward tension between them palpable. Todd decided to be the braver of the two, and started to speak. "Look," he said, rubbing the back of his head and neck. "I, uh, I shouldn't have done what I did yesterday, kissing you and all..." He averted his eyes to the floor in shame. Riley walked up to Todd and placed a hand on his left shoulder. "Hey, it's...it's OK," She weakly comforted him. "...Look, I figured out what to say about last night." Todd looked up at Riley scared. "You... you did?" he asked, fear clear in his voice. Riley nodded. "What I realized I should say was... yes." Riley felt relieved that she finally got that last word out. Todd looked at his sister strangely. "Yes?" He asked. Riley took a deep breath, and said "Yes... I'll be you're girlfriend. For one week. If I feel something... a spark, and I want to keep going with this. If not..." She let the sentence trail off into silence. "If not..?" Todd asked. "Then we break up, and you see a shrink." She semi-joked. Todd caught this and asked "Does C.A.R. count?" Riley, relieved that Todd wasn't focusing on the "If not" part and smiled at her brother/now boyfriend. Todd smiled back, and caught Riley in a loving and thankful hug.