Chapter 10: The Set-Up

For the rest of the day, I was in a constant fear that something worse than usual was going to come out of the confrontation with Riley. My mind often wandered to thinking about getting punched to the ground by Kyle because he probably thought I put her up to it. Little did Kyle know, Riley obviously had a mind and fire of her own. It was something I had admired about her. It was a spark I would always hope would never go out, and I feared it would if she stayed with Kyle. She didn’t seem too pleased with him, so maybe it would be the end of it. I could only hope.


The bell soon rang, waking me from my day dream. I looked at my notebook and noticed I had at least mindlessly copied the notes off the board on my paper. I really needed to focus on my studies. Graduation was only a few months away. I needed to keep my eyes on the prize. The school would be announcing the valedictorian soon, and I wanted it so badly. Although I was feeling confident I would get it, I still needed to keep focused my studies. I closed my notebook and stood up from my desk, being the last one to exit.

I rushed towards the door, knowing it was lunch and that meant I could talk to Riley. I stepped out of the door frame only to have my books pushed out of my hands and spill all over the ground. A bit surprised I turned to see a grinning Seth. “Hey Marcel!” he sneered in my face.

Shit! I thought to myself. I turned my face and pushed my glasses further up my nose while I kneeled down to collect my belongings.

I stacked my books the way they were before when Seth stepped up to me and kicked me over, making land on my bum with my hands hitting the floor hard. Seth let out a devilish laugh, “Oh! I’m sorry Marcel. It was an ‘accident,’ you know… kind of like punching you was an accident.”

I knew exactly what he was getting at. Seth was pissed that he took the heat for the situation, and he didn’t ever even get the chance to actually harm me to deserve it. I supposed he was going to now. I stayed down, per usual, knowing what was coming.

I flinched towards the ground expecting another sting to come along my jaw line that hadn’t even fully healed from Kyle’s blow. Seth spoke first, “Kyle didn’t tell me that when he was blaming me for this shit that I was going to get bitched at for it.”

I squinted in his direction. His face was stern and glaring at me. I stuttered a response, “I-It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything…I’ve kept my end of the deal. I didn’t put her up to that earlier.”

He chuckled a little at me. “Of course not. You just took whatever he gave you… because you’re a little pussy. I just wanted to let you know that. Don’t worry. I’m not going to punch you. I would probably get one in return from Kyle for fucking things up further with Riley. I just wanted you to know where I really stand with you.” He kicked my restacked books over once again, and began to take a few steps away from me before turning back on his heels. “Oh… and remember Marcel, this stays a secret.”

I rolled my eyes. I hated being treated this way all the time. I gathered my books once again and stood up a bit uneasily. This was yet another encounter I would have to hide from Riley in order to protect her. They were starting to build up and I hated lying to her so much.

I stumbled down the empty hallway to my locker and threw in my books. I proceeded to the cafeteria where I found Riley sitting at our usual table with her back facing me. There were still somewhat long lines, so I decided to sit down before getting food. As I approached Riley I noticed there was a second tray sitting on the table. I wondered if Kyle had switched lunches for the day, or maybe one of her other friends was sitting with us today?

I walked up behind her and pulled the chair out next to her. A big Riley smile spread across her face, “Hey Marcel! I got a tray for you! It was yummy pasta for lunch today, and it was going fast. So, I got you some since you seemed to be running late.”
I lowered into my seat next to her as she passed the tray down the table towards me. “Thanks Rils. You’re too sweet.”

She bumped my shoulder a bit and covered her mouth with her hand before speaking, “It’s nothing. You do nice things for me all the time.” She swallowed the food in her mouth and removed her hand to show a lovely smirk. “What took you so long anyways?”

“Oh…I-uh I just had a question after class.”

“Marcel… had a question?” She giggled.

“I know. It’s hard to believe.” I attempted to joke.

I suddenly forgot all the bad stuff that was happening. Riley had a way of unknowingly making me feel better. We ate in silence for a few moments. It was delicious, one of my favorite school lunches. Riley’s tray was soon empty, since she had been there for a while before I arrived. She began scrapping her fork against the plastic in deep concentration. I faced her with raised eyebrows. She smirked a bit and said, “I’m sorry about earlier. I know you didn’t want me to confront Seth ever… but I couldn’t help it.”

I wiped my face with a napkin. “Yeah… I think it will be okay.”

She slammed her fork down on the table a bit roughly, “I can’t believe Kyle knew, and didn’t tell me. Even worse he didn’t do anything!”

I half laughed at her serious statement. “It’s not really that surprising Riley. That’s Kyle for you.”

“I know.” She frowned. “I am seriously trying to work on him Marcel. It’s not fair how terrible his friends are to you.”

It was almost comical how oblivious Riley could be. I brushed it off, “Yeah… don’t worry about it too much Rils. School will be over soon, moving on to different things.”

“Bigger and better things.” She corrected with a smile.

I nodded my head. “Yeah… one way or another.”

She cheekily responded, “Or just one way.” I rolled my eyes and proceeded to finish eating while she stood up to dump out her tray. When she returned I was nearly finished. She spoke again, “So I also wanted to talk to you about your date.”

My face tightened up, as I had completely forgotten all about that set-up she had planned for me. “Oh yeah.” I stated rather unexcitedly.

She completely moved past my lack of enthusiasm. “I was wondering what you had in mind of asking her to do?”

“Uh- I haven’t really thought about it…since this morning Riley. I’ve had other things on my mind.”

She giggled, “Still sorry about that… but I was thinking… I could help you maybe?”

I smiled, “Yeah. That’d be great.”

“Great! You are going to text and talk to Hayden tonight, right?”

“Uh-Yeah… sure, Rils.”

“I get the feeling I am more excited about this than you are.”

I pushed my glasses up my nose. “That’s because you probably are.” I joked.

She pushed at my shoulder, “It’ll be great! You’ll have a little more experience with a girl… which will help you loads later on. You’ll see!”

“Sure!” I tried to state somewhat happily as I rose from my seat to go rid myself of my own tray.

By the time I had placed it on the counter, the bell had rung signaling it was time for afternoon classes to begin. I attempted to find Riley through the crowd, but it was worthless. I was being forced out the lunch room doors by the hordes of my peers before I had the chance to even catch another glimpse of Riley. I would have to talk to her soon since she seemed even excited about setting me up… on my first date I guess. A date I wasn’t all too thrilled to go on since it wasn’t with the person I wanted.

I attended my afternoon classes keeping focused as I had promised myself earlier, before my encounter with Seth earlier. I made sure to take great notes and answer all the questions I knew, which I’ll be honest was all of them. I received numerous sniggers from classmates, but I was way beyond caring what any of them had to say about me. I simply sat up straight in my desk and pushed my glasses to my nose, blocking any of them out. It sometimes proved a difficult task, as I didn’t understand why people had such a problem with me when they didn’t even know me at all.

The final bell rang for classes and I assumed Riley would be headed out with Kyle, as usual. I had to get to get to work, so I rushed between people on my way to my locker, also hoping to dodge anymore of Kyle’s goons for the day in the process. When I was finally off school property I let out a large sigh of relief knowing that I was on my way to see some very sweet ladies.

The walk was rather chilly, yet fast. I entered the customer filled bakery, chiming the bell over the door. I inhaled deeply as I could never get sick of delicious scent filling the place. Barbara who was standing at the registered noticed me with a wide grin plastered across her face, “Marcel, dear!”

“Hullo!” I shouted. I loved her greetings, as they always made me feel welcome. I walked through the swinging door to get behind the counter, placing my bag in the corner. I grabbed out my apron and threw it over my head, tying it behind my back. I turned back to Barbara who was configuring something at the register. “What needs to be done now?”

She closed up the register after finishing up with a customer and walked a bit closer to me. “We’ve actually been waiting for you to come in all day today. I’m just happy you are so punctual, Marcel.”

I chuckled out a bit, “Anything for you ladies.”

She brushed her hand along my shoulder, “You’re very kind, dear.” She began walking towards the back room. “We have got a cake that needs some detail done again. They will be here in an hour’s time. Their event is tonight, so we will need you to get straight to work. Sorry to rush you, love.” She gave a weak smile, and I could tell she was exhausted from a long day.

I reassured Barbara and entered the back room. There was a large five tiered white cake. Margaret and another sweet woman, Emilia, were working on batter and pastries to finish up for the night and for the following morning already. I greeted them with a happy face, and found the order sheet to see what the cake needed done. I read that it needed blue piping. Piping was one of my favorite things to do, it took such intricacy. I found the icing and placed a nozzle on the tube, and got straight to work. The cake was larger than I was used to, and I didn’t have much time. I had come to realize what sort of perfectionist I was, and would do nothing less in anything I attempted.

I had been so concentrated on every line, I had to take my glasses off at one point. I didn’t want to get so close to the cake that I bashed my head and glasses in, ruining the whole thing.

Once the crowd had died down in the actual bakery part Barbara came into the room. “Oh, Marcel dear! Don’t you look handsome?”

I gave her a confused face, but then smiled realizing she had never seen me without glasses before. I tensed up a bit feeling self-conscious about the whole Harry Styles thing. “Oh, I guess so.” I continued to face the cake, finishing up a line of piping.

Barbara sat on a stool next to me letting out a long sigh. “Ahh. It’s nice to finally let my feet rest.”

“You need to take a break every once in a while Barbara!” I stated concerned. All the ladies in the bakery worked too hard for their own good. I wished I could give them more than my time.

She giggled. “I’ll just sit a few minutes here with you if that’s alright.”

“Of course it is!” I stated while beginning another line of blue along the side of the cake.

There were a few moments of silence while Barbara examined my work. She spoke again with her usual question, “So how are things with that Riley now?”

I had to let out a chuckle at how drastic things had changed since I last talked with Barbara. I decided to leave out all the drama of it. I definitely didn’t want to tell her of all people what had happened, so I stated what the most recent occurrence with Riley was. “Well… Not as I’ve been hoping. She is trying to set me up on a date with one of her friends.”

Barbara along with Margaret and Emilia across the room let out short gasps. Barbara stated, “Have you told her your feelings.”

I set down the tube of icing. “No. I just can’t. She has ah- a boyfriend…”

Barbara rolled her eyes sassily, “I don’t think she could do any better than you Marcel.”

I pursed my lips to the side a bit. “Yeah… I don’t know about that.”

Margaret chimed in, “It’s the truth! She doesn’t know what she’s missing!” Emilia nodded her head agreeing while continuing her work.

I picked the tube back up, continuing with the piping. “I wish I could tell, but there are just too many circumstances holding me back. She also went through all this trouble of setting up this date for me. It would be my first date actually.” It was quite odd that I didn’t feel odd seeking relationship advice from those women. They were very sweet and caring.

“First date? How exciting, Marcel! It could be fun just to have the experience? Maybe make her jealous, eh?” She bumped at my arm a bit. Luckily I had the tube away from the cake. “A little jealousy can go a long way?”

I laughed at her logic. “Isn’t that the opposite sort of advice you should be giving me, Barbara?”

She giggled along with me. “I suppose it is, darling, but I think she’d come to her senses and realize what she really wants.”

“I’m not so sure about that. She seems…pretty happy I guess. I’m nervous enough about the whole thing without having to worry about having to impress Riley as well.” I gave out a short huff.

“Nothing to worry about! You’ll be such a charmer. Be yourself, your date with appreciate that.”

I nodded my head smiling, but I somehow very much doubted that. After a few more minutes of advice from Barbara she headed back out to the main part of the bakery to continue work. I finished the piping on the cake, and I was rather pleased with myself. I checked the clock, and I finished with only minutes to spare.

I placed my glasses firmly back on to my face and began cleaning up when the ladies took notice of my work. Margaret placed her hand on my shoulder. “You get better and better at this every time, Marcel. I know you’ll be taking off for a university next fall, but you’ve always got your job here.” She patted my shoulder a few times before smiling at walking out to the front. I knew then no matter where my life took me, I’d always want these ladies in my life.

The customer for the cake soon arrived, and I was too busy cleaning up and taking out trash to begin to close up for the night to hear her thoughts for myself. Barbara relayed the news, however, that she absolutely loved it. I gave a humble smile before grabbing the broom and began to sweep out the front of the store.

A little while later, we were closed for the night, and I was on my way home in the brisk night time air. It felt rather refreshing as the day’s events played out in my head. So much had happened, it was nice to be able and wind down at the bakery.

I stepped up on to my porch and swung the unlocked door open to the scent of some sort of supper cooking in the kitchen. I dropped my bag off at the foot of the steps and headed back to the kitchen. My mom and Gemma were in there chatting when I entered through the archway.

“Hey Marcel!” Gemma beamed.
“Good even, dear sister!” I stated in a joking manner. “Hullo mum!”

She turned with plates in her hands, “Hi Marcel! You’re just in time, how was work?”

“It was fantastic! They let me decorate a cake again tonight.”

“That’s great, love.” she stated as she turned back to the counter to grab the chicken and dumplings she had made for supper.

We all sat down and enjoyed a family meal together. I allowed them to chat about their day, leaving out all that had happened to me. I left out everything some things for obvious reasons as I was keeping it a secret from them, and I kept the date a secret as I knew they’d completely gush about it even though it means absolutely nothing. I was already nervous enough. When we were finished I helped Gemma wash the dishes and then headed upstairs in my room to do my homework. I plucked my text from my bag and opened it up to the proper page to begin reading.

It was beginning to grow late when my phone buzzed and lite up. I looked at it a bit confused. It was from Riley.

Marcel,
Don’t forget to text Hayden and setup something for the weekend! ;)
Xx, Rils

I had completely forgotten by getting caught up with my homework. I shot Riley a quick message in reply.

I totally forgot Riley. I don’t even know how to ask her out.
-Marcel

Riley was almost instant at responding.

Don’t be afraid! Remember this is a learning experience, and she is my friend! ;) Just text her, you guys could almost do anything you want! Just be confident, you got this “Harry” ;)
-Rils

I rolled my eyes lazily and texted one last message to Riley.

Gee… thanks for all the help Rils… ;)
-Marcel

I received a one more text before attempting to plan something for the weekend.

All it said, or didn’t say, was:
;)

I dug out the piece of paper Riley had handed me earlier with Hayden’s number in it. I programmed it into my phone and opened a new message. I sat there for quite some time before deciding what to say.
It ended up like this:
Hey Hayden, this is Marcel.
I’m not sure if you really want to, but I was just wondering if you would be interested in doing something with me this weekend?

I decided keeping it short and sweet would be for the best. I packed away my backpack, with more nerves filling inside my body as there wasn’t an instant response. I thought to myself, maybe she didn’t really set this up? I shook it off. Riley wouldn’t do something like that to me if she wasn’t for sure it would work out the way she wanted.

I grabbed some sweat pants and a t-shirt from my dresser drawer and entered my bathroom. I washed my hair of all the gel quickly in the shower and threw on my bed clothing. I gathered up my dirty clothes and threw them into the hamper before entering back into my bedroom. I walked up to my phone, which was face down lying on my bed. I picked it up and saw that there was one new message from unknown. I clicked it open and began to read.

Hey there Marcel!
I have been waiting for a text from you. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to ask me out. I will definitely do something with you this weekend? Umm… how about the movies? Does that sound alright?
-Hayden

I moment of relief flooded through me that she hadn’t responded with some cocky comment. I could have sworn she had been the one who told Riley she wasn’t sure why she hung out with me. Granted, it was a while ago… but still.

I sent a reply, trying to sound as confident as possible.

The movies sound good. We can just pick when we get there, have a bit of a surprise? I’ll pick you up Saturday around 6:00? Do you want to do dinner maybe?
-Marcel

I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over my body, when my phone buzzed once again.

That sounds like fun, Marcel. Umm… we can go to dinner if you want. Is it okay if I just let you plan everything? I like surprises. ;)
-Hayden

I don’t know why, but her wanting me to plan everything gave me a weird feeling. I know it was just for “the experience” like Riley had stated, but it seemed like a lot pressure.

I replied:
Sure thing. :) See you Saturday.
-Marcel

I got up and stumbled over to the light and flicked it off. I walked around the side of my bed to set my phone and glasses along my night stand, before crawling back into my sheets. I pulled the warm covers back over my body and laid my head back against my fluffy pillow. I stared up at the ceiling, knowing I only had a few days to plan out my whole first date. I was in way over my head, and I knew it.

Notes

Chapter 11 done! Whoo! I hope you all like it!
Thanks to everyone who is reading this story and also to those commenting! Keep it up as I LOVE reading them! :)

What did you think about Seth and Marcel's encounter? What do you think about Marcel's date?

Please comment! ...and also rate and subscribe if you haven't already!
Love you all,
Jen