Chapter 20

                                    

                                          
Emily's POV
                          
I opened the front door, surprised to see Michelle, Giselle, Chloe, Thalia, Stephanie and Amanda standing outside. "Hi guys...... What's going on?" I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion. 
"Well, we wanted to hang out with Riley for a bit. Get her mind off everything." Giselle explained. The others nodded. I sighed, shifting awkwardly. 
"That's really nice. It's just, I don't think Riley's really up for visitors." I told them softly, hoping they'd understand. 
"I know she's upset, but she seemed relatively okay at dance, everything considered." Michelle answered. 
"Unfortunately, dance was her showing the good side. Come in, I'll show you what I mean." I responded. 
                          
Giselle's POV
                          
We all entered the house, and Emily led us upstairs. She stopped outside Riley's room, indicating for us to be quiet. Then, she silently opened the door. Riley didn't notice the open door or us watching her. She was laying on her bed, her knees curled into her chest as she faced the wall. She was wearing a pair of black leggings along with a grey hoodie I recognized to be James's. Her hair was messy, her face was bare and stray tears were rolling down her cheeks. The curtains were drawn, causing the room to be dark. Items were tossed carelessly around the room and her garbage was overflowing. I could see in the garbage a large amount of tissues, and what I was pretty sure was a crumpled up ultrasound photo. Emily closed the door quietly, turning to our sympathetic expressions. "God." Thalia muttered. "Poor Riley." 
"We can talk downstairs." Emily stated, redirecting the group. 
"This is hitting her hard." Stephanie said as we sat on the couches in the living room. 
"She was 12 weeks. She was going to tell James about the baby the day she lost it." Emily replied. 
"He-he does know about the baby now.... Right?" Michelle questioned. Emily nodded. 
"Yeah, after Riley and Eldon, he was the first to hear of the miscarriage." Emily answered.
"Does she know when she can dance again?" I inquired. 
"Nothing's definite. The doctors have to she how she's healing. There were some complications with the miscarriage." Emily said. 
"Michelle, how did you know about them?" Chloe asked. Emily's head whipped to look at Michelle. 
"You knew they were dating?" Emily questioned, looking shocked and not very happy. Michelle sighed. 
"Yeah, I did. I caught them flirting and being overly 'couple like'. When I confronted them about it, they told me, rather reluctantly. They wanted to wait to tell everyone until the time was right, so I promised I wouldn't say anything. I don't know why the time was never right." Michelle shrugged. 
"I get why they waited." I said. 
"You do?" Stephanie asked, an eyebrow raised. 
"Yeah. Think about it, we were a mess. We are a mess. There is so much drama all the time. If they told us they were dating, could you imagine the drama? On top of everything we've dealt with and are dealing with, we'd have Eldon pissed off, Riley and him would be fighting, he would want to kill James, I can't imagine them getting along enough to be in the same room." I explained. 
"You're right." Chloe sighed. The room was silent as everyone thought about what I had said. They knew I was right. Emily exhaled, biting her thumb nail anxiously. 
"She won't talk to Eldon." She mumbled, staring blankly. "I mean, she'll barely talk to anyone, but especially Eldon. She won't even look at him." 
"She just needs some time." Stephanie reassured Emily. "She needs to grieve, then she'll be able to move on."
"What if she doesn't?" Emily asked. She didn't look concerned or anxious. She looked straight up terrified. 
"She'll be fine." Stephanie replied, although I could tell by the look in her eye that she had doubts.