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Riley paused as he heard footsteps behind him, hesitantly turning back to see Lucy heading toward the doors. He frowned, then burst into a jog in pursuit. Damn... Why was he doing this...? Shaking off his thoughts, Riley put on a final dash to catch up with Lucy - catching the door just before it fell shut and following her into the school grounds. "Lucy." He called quietly, hesitating a moment before jogging after her and falling into step beside her. "What's up?" He asked quietly, keeping his gaze downcast as always, and his hands in his pockets - yet his ears were open. And besides - he was there. That in itself was a miraculous feat. Usually he did not even bother to offer his company to others. The reasons for that went on and on - but what was important was that this time he had chosen to do something differently. He supposed he would probably regret it, but he didn't care.

Riley stood in humble silence whilst Lucy spoke, then dropped the book on the ground. Sympathy stabbing through him, he gnawed his lip in uncertainty for a moment as she began to walk away. Finally, he made his decision. Riley grabbed the book and quickly caught up with Lucy, falling into step beside her. "Look..." He murmured softly, "It's true that 'the wearer best knows where the shoe pinches'," he went on, quoting an Irish proverb he had learned in his youth, "but that being said, I think you're being a little hasty... I mean, I don't know the full story, so I can't even tell you that it's wrong to blame yourself, but I do think you've been punished enough. The way I see it, there's light at the end of the tunnel here." He broke off then, unable to bring himself to explain any more. He never knew the right thing to say anyway, so he'd probably just end up making it worse. "Here." He murmured softly, his Irish accent still strong with his words. He held out the book to her, which for him was a larger gesture than it seemed, for it exposed the half-healed wounds on his hands, which he always hated showing... Whenever they were there. "Don't throw away what you've got left because you lost the rest." Riley concluded, his tone seeming almost dull and lifeless as he hid the empathy from his voice. If only he had followed his own advice... But he was a fool. He always had been. She was not, and he would not watch her make the mistakes he had already learned from. Not if he could help it.

Riley glanced away at her comment, feeling a slight heat creeping into his ears, and glad of the presence of his hood to hide the flush of colour. He kicked the ground in shy embarrassment for a moment, then glanced toward Lucy as he listened to what she had to say. "I am sorry." He said earnestly, meeting her eyes with a sincere gaze for a moment, but quickly jerking his eyes away - unwilling to hold the contact, even for a split-second. "But you know..." He mumbled softly as an afterthought, "We can all play the blame game. Truthfully, there is seldom, if ever, a sole bearer of blame. It is a chain that goes on and on... Just as easily as blaming yourself, you could blame Mr. Sanchez for teaching you to play. You could blame the driver, you could blame the traffic lights... Hell, you could go as far as blaming your own parents for bringing you into the world. The cycle is endless... My point is: I know it's easiest to just shift the blame to where it suits you best, but you'll only end up hurting yourself - and the people nearest you as well..." Riley trailed off for a moment, then glanced toward her, though not quite meeting her eyes. "Trust me, I know." He added solemnly, a slightly subdued smile curving his lips. "And don't give up on this place just yet." He went on, his smile showing a touch more sincerity with his gentle words. "Give it a chance - I'm sure you'll find your place again." He lapsed into silence again, shyness engulfing him as he realised how much he'd spoken. Still... He had come this far... He might as well send it home. "And take it from a guy - You're still a stunning girl, with or without the scar, eh?" He added with a wink, his words escaping with a full Irish accent this time. He managed a friendly smile, and his enticing ice-blue eyes dated to her face for a moment, but as usual it was short lived, and he soon found himself staring pointlessly into the distance.

Riley shrugged vaguely at her question, looking away as he pondered over his answer. “It’s not about the music…” he began tentatively, “It’s just… Well, I can see how much it means to you, and I don’t want to see you let it go, I suppose.” He explained simply, his Irish accent thick in his voice. He glanced briefly toward her, a slight awkward smile touching his lips at the sight of her blush, “I just hate to see anybody make the same mistakes as me.” He concluded with a slight chuckle, “Why should a person suffer to learn from a mistake that somebody else has already made and learned from?” He shrugged vaguely, casting a brief smile toward Lucy before glancing away again – shy as ever.

[i]Lucinda-
i glanced at him putting the book back into my bag. "Thats easy. Because others would rather watch ones suffer so others can prevail." i spoke simply. "Are you coming home with me? Dr making me stay?" I asked him. Not entirely sure where i stood with him. He seemed to not want me around then now he seemed to want me in school... I didn't know. I just didn't anymore.

"Not all of us." Riley replied simply, still staring into the distance. At her next question, however, he turned and watched her with a confused frown. Of all the the things she could have said, that one was the most unexpected. Why on earth would he want to go home with her...? That was... No, no, no... He couldn't even comprehend that. It made no sense: simple. "Do what you want." He replied with a shrug. "I'm just a classmate, right? What would I know." He smiled slightly, then turned away and began walking back toward the school building. "You'll regret it if you don't make full use of your opportunity to get an education, though." He called back to her as he walked, "Trust me on that one."
He walked in silence for a while then, pausing as he reached the building to tug open the doors and step inside. He paused in the doorway, glancing back at Lucy. "I'll be in the caf if you need me, yeah? Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he offered a final smile and turned to walk away.

Riley paused at Lucy's words and glanced back at her. "That makes a welcome change." Riley replied with a soft chuckle, "I barely remember the last time I was right, let alone the last time somebody admitted it." He fell silent then, his lips curving into a smile as he watched her for a minute, then glanced away. "Well, are you coming, then?" He asked, gesturing in the direction he had been going. "Break is almost over, and I can't afford to be late after I've already cut class once today..." He trailed off, pursing his lips thoughtfully. The principal was not going to be pleased... Not at all. Riley did not look forward to facing that disappointed stare, much less trying to explain why it was that he had chosen to skip a class on one of the very rare days that he actually showed up for school.

Riley remained calm and ignored Lucy's snappish retort. It made sense that she was bitter, and that she would take it out on him, so he was willing to simply knuckle under and take whatever she threw at him. It had always been like that for him... He stood back at a distance and watched the way everyone in the world became so consumed in their own problems, that they could not see past their own self sympathy to the people around them. Everybody always thought their problems were the worst, and that nobody else could understand their suffering... He had, too... Once. But eventually, he had learned that there were far worse things in life than what he had faced. He would hate to have gone through what Lucy had, for one thing... But then again, to each person, their most painful memory would hurt with the most pain they could feel. It didn't matter if other people had been through things they considered to be worse... The pain was the same. That was why Riley had vowed to be understanding and sympathetic to all causes, regardless of the circumstances. Selflessness always went down well with those who could not escape the cycle of self sympathy... "I didn't ask you to run." Riley replied simply. "We have enough time to walk slowly and still make it without having to rush, as long as we leave now. I did take your pace into account, you know." Riley explained with a slight smile, a soothing tone mingling with his words to pacify Lucy. He still evaded her gaze. Even after they had shared that rather heartfelt talk, he still would not meet her eyes. Perhaps he never would... "I'm not as much of an eejit as I look, you know." Riley added suddenly, tapping his watch with a grin, "I know enough maths to plan my timing, at least." He concluded, his Irish accent showing strongly in his words.

((Note: 'eejit' is the Irish version of 'idiot' ))

Riley jerked his head away as she flicked his ear - skittish as ever - but he managed a slight smile all the same. "It's English." Riley assured her, "My head just hasn't quite left Ireland yet, I guess." He added with a chuckle. "And no, you're not an eej- Uh, idiot... Well, no more so than the rest of us, anyway." He smiled in slight amusement, though his expression faltered as his glacial blue eyes followed the progress of her fingers as she swiped the blood off her chin. You know, you really should-" He began, but before he could finish stating his protest to her not wanting to go to music, a string of foreign words had sprouted from her lips. Riley stared at her for a moment as though she'd grown an extra head, then replied, "All I heard was 'stupid'." He admitted, throwing his hands up helplessly. He reached into his pocket then and drew out his timetable, clutching it in his mangled hands. "I have accounting next." He announced, his brilliant blue eyes scanning the page. "And double science after that. You're in that class as well, right?" He glanced up at her briefly, but after accidentally meeting her eyes for a moment he quickly looked away - glad as always of the hood that hid the tinge of redness creeping into his ears.

"Right you are." Riley replied with a soft chuckle. He nodded in response to her next words, then leaned over to view the timetable she showed him. It was as he said - they were in the same register class, and they took Maths, Science and English together. She had a period of music next, whilst he had accounting, then they would meet up again in science afterwards. He hoped Lucy was good at it... He supposed she ought to be, seeing as how she was pretty clever when it came to maths. He certainly hoped his guess was right... Science was another subject he had got too far behind in to catch up... Maybe she could help him again... "Well, I'll see you in science, right?" Riley confirmed, glancing vaguely in Lucy's direction with a slight smile.

Riley wandered into science class looking distinctly stressed. Random numbers squiggled through his head like bubbles drifting just out of reach - and popping abruptly if he did manage to capture one. He simply couldn't grasp the knowledge... Debit, credit, debtors, creditors, assets, liabilities... He new it all, he understood it all, but each time he showed up for class, he had to try remind himself what he had forgotten, the grasp that concept before tackling the new work the rest of the class was busy on. By the time he began to understand, his time was up. How could he ever catch up...? Riley shook off his negative thoughts and dragged himself over to a desk, plonking down in the chair before it and shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He was looking rather tense and twitchy as opposed to normal, and his sweaty skin held a grayish hue. In fact, Riley seemed to look rather sickly. Then again, it was most likely just the stress that was getting to him... That was what it was: He looked stressed to the ends of the earth. Worried that he would fail again... Worried that he would fail in life... Just worried. Endlessly worried...

Riley glanced over at Lucy and nodded in acknowledgement as she sat down. For a while he simply sat and took notes, but soon after, he found himself unable to focus - since the long, foreign words just went straight over his head. He glanced toward Lucy as the scratching of her pen ceased, and found her smiling distractedly at her. "What are you writing?" He asked quietly, gesturing toward the page. Okay, so he should have been paying closer attention, but he didn't understand anyway... So what was the point? He'd be putting his time to better use trying to make some friends. It was about time he found some true friends outside of Ireland and quite hanging on to the past... He figured Lucy was a good place to start. She seemed like good friend material...

"That's really good." Riley commented, his lips twitching into a smile as he read the lyrics - his hood hiding the expression on his face. His head jerked up as the teacher questioned them, but he released his pent-up breath with relief as Lucy answered accurately - thus pacifying her. Riley scanned briefly over Lucy's lyrics again as the teacher turned away. "You really do have a talent for this, you know." Riley stated with a slight smile, his glacial blue eyes lingering on the page. "I'm glad you decided to carry on. It'd have been a huge waste otherwise."
Riley glanced up suddenly as the bell rang - signalling the end of the day. He got to his feet and hitched his bag, glancing at Lucy wit a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He asked, his voice showing his thick Irish accent clearly with his words.

"You'd better not." Riley scolded, waggling his finger reproachfully at her. "Well, I'll see you around then, yeah?" He concluded with a wink, smiling at Lucy and raising a hand in farewell before walking away. He left the science class, then the school building, then the grounds. Taking a deep breath, Riley released it in a sigh before wearily treading the well-worn path back to his house.

The next day, Riley didn't come to school. The day after, his absence was even more obvious, yet as usual - nobody paid it any mind. Nobody knew him well enough to waste time wondering where he vanished to, or worrying that he might be ill. They accepted his absence with the same lack of interest that they accepted the weather, or their schedules. They either changed, or they didn't. It was not in their power to alter them. So they accepted them, acknowledged them, and ignored them. Riley was just another part of the scenery. Whether he was there or not made no difference...

On Thursday, Riley returned. He ignored any curious stares that followed him - for the students by now had begun to take more interest in when he was there than when he wasn't. Riley kept his hood tugged determinedly over his head - hiding as much of his face as possible. What his hood didn't hide, a pair of dark sunglasses did. Riley's hands were shoved deep into his pockets, where they remained - regardless of any greeting he received. If it was possible, he seemed even more tense and skittish than before, and he avoided people whenever he could - doing his best to keep to himself. Riley's eyes lingered on the ground as he walked onwards - heading toward his register class.