Chapter Three ⢠Good Times
I can't believe he actually got the principal to ask me to give him a tour. I mean, come on, she's the principal. Shouldn't she be super busy "running the school" or something?
I'm grumbling pointlessly to myself as I trudge down the hallways with Ryder by my side. He's hearing me complain and chuckling at my expense, but I'm not amused in the slightest. I know I'm being a bit of a sore loser, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
Walking without slowing down to properly explain where anything is, I point to all the doors we pass and mutter what they are to him.
"Gym."
"Locker rooms."
"Bathrooms."
"Frenâ" Ryder pulls me to a stop by gently wrapping his hand around my wrist. "Angel. . . this isn't what I had in mind when I asked you for a tour. This is honestly the worst tour I've had in my entire life."
"What did you have in mind then?"
"I don't know," he says, but the way he shifts awkwardly and averts his eyes, just screams: 'I'm lying.' His following sigh sounds sad and disappointed. "Look, if you're really that miserable showing me around, then you don't have to. I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do," he cringes, ". . .again."
My answering laugh makes his eyes light up. "No, you're not, it's okay. Honestly, I don't feel miserable. I'm just being a sore loser, that's all."
"Well, at least I got you out of class."
"That's true."
My tour continues on at a normal pace after that, leaving room to talk about things un-school related. Which is what we end up mostly doing.
And I notice that the more we talk, the slower my pace gets and the more I stop pointing out where doors lead to.
Until, students start flooding into the hallways and we realize that an entire period was spent with just us talking to each other the whole time.
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"Freedom!" Is the first word I yell when I walk out of the school doors with Amber and Ryder right behind me despite the fact that I practically ran to get out here.
I stop to soak in the sunlight for a minute before walking towards Wes's car. When I don't see him anywhere inside or around it, I frown. He usually gets here before me.
"Where the hell isâAHH!" My heart stops as I feel something grab my foot and I swear I freeze in shock. I snap out of it a bit when Ryder steps protectively in front of me and that's when I hear it.
"Is that. . .laughing?"
Wes rolls out from under the car, laughing like a hyena on crack. "Oh my gosh! I got you good!"
Ryder relaxes slightly, but his eyes stay alert and tense.
"What the hell, Wes!?" I step around Ryder to slap him on his chest. "How long have you been under there?"
"For like a minute," he's still laughing and Amber decides to join him from behind me, "I heard somebody yell the word 'freedom' and rightfully assumed it was you, so I hid."
"Who does that?" I give him a little shove. "Are you stupid?"
When he raises his hand to playfully shove me back, Ryder takes a step closer to me and Wes finally notices him. "Hey."
Ryder looks at Wes up and down as if he's sizing him up and then holds out his hand, without saying a word.
"I'm Wes." They shake hands, but instead of releasing them, their hands stay connected until I see Wes wince like he's in pain, quickly trying to pull away from Ryder, who just smirks, lets go of Wes's hand and says, "Ryder."
Wes chuckles nervously, now seeing the unfriendly look on Ryder's face and even I take a few wary steps back. This is not the same Ryder I talked to all morning.
Wes opens the car door for me, suddenly eager to leave. "Ready to go now, Em?"
Ryder seems to grow even more angry at this, so with a quick goodbye to both him and Amber, I hop in the car, laughing as Wes scurries to the driver's seat before peeling out of the parking lot.
"Do you know that guy?"
"Kind of. I met him today."
"Well, I don't think you should talk to him anymore," when I give him an incredulous look, he blinks. "What? Did you not see the murderous looks he was giving me? Or how he almost broke my hand because he shook it so hard? Something's off about that guy, Em. And until I get to the bottom of it, I think you should stay away from him."
"Calm down, Nancy Drew. I talked to him most of this morning and he didn't seem aggressive or harmful. He only started acting like that when you were around. Who knows, maybe he has a crush on you," I tease.
"Oh, please, he is so not my type," he mocks in a I'm-a-stuck-up-rich-girl voice.
I laugh and I could see him fighting the urge to laugh too, so I poke him in his side."Hey, don't do that while I'm driving!"
I stick my tongue out at him and he copies me, which eventually turns into a game on who can annoy the other person more by copying every little thing they do. I win before we even get home.
Which leads to where I am now. After eating, showering, doing my homework, watching some shows and reading, I'm lying in bed talking to Amber on the phone.
"So what exactly happened today with you and Ryder?"
"Oh, he kissed me."
"What!?"
"Uh huh."
"Was it good?"
". . .why does that have to be the first question you ask me?"
"Because he's hot."
I roll my eyes even though she can't see me. "I wouldn't really know if it was good or not, because I punched him almost as soon as it happened."
"Damn girl! Who knew you could be such a boss?"
"Maybe I'm born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline," I sing.
We both burst out laughing and it takes a while for us to calm down. "No, but seriously, he's hot, why was your first instinct to punch him?"
"Hot or not, I don't take kindly to strangers touching me without my permission."
"That's my girl! I'm so proud of you. Mama raised you well." I know her well enough to figure out that by saying 'Mama' she was really just referring to herself.
"Well, goodnight Mama, it's late and your child is tired. It'd be very irresponsible to keep her from her beauty sleep."
"I suppose you're right. So, goodnight my little cheesecake, I'll see you in the morning." I have to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing. What kind of nickname is cheesecake?
"And darling?
"Yes, mother?"
"This conversation isn't over." And she hangs up.
I assume she's talking about the situation between Ryder and I, which I don't mind telling her about, because there honestly isn't that much to tell anyways.
I sigh and turn on my side to glance at my clock.
12:06. Just great, I have to fall asleep right now if I want to get at least seven hours of sleep.
I close my eyes.
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Hey! I just finished writing this at 3:00 in the morning, so sorry if there are mistakes or just general bad writing. I was too tired to check it over properly so if are any mistakes then tell me please!
Oh and vote please. â¥