“They’re the KINGS of this school, though. What if it gets worse if I ask?” She highly doubted they would allow her to get away with questioning them and their motives. To them, she was FRESH MEAT; not a person affected by their words and actions, no matter how harmless they seemed to be. Riley probably wouldn’t be, either, if she were a normal person. She wasn’t, though; she had a heart that swelled with joy over the littlest things -- like a puppy on a tv commercial, frolicking and playing -- and the same heart that deflated when she felt like she had done something wrong; when she was just too much for anyone to handle. Being sensitive in a world that was notorious for being cruel was going to be Riley’s inevitable downfall. “I don’t know, Lucas.” It made her nervous to think of him talking for her. As much as he liked to play the knight in shining armor, he wasn’t invincible -- what if they started treating him just as bad as they treated her? She would absolutely HATE herself if Lucas was treated badly just because he wanted to protect her. “Can’t we just ignore it until it goes away? Maybe it’ll be a couple weeks or maybe it’ll be all year -- but it’ll eventually stop. I can handle it.” Except she doesn’t know if she can, but if it calms him down, she’s willing to LIE.