He was amused and I was beyond mortified. In a tanned hand he held up my opened planner, the list clear for him to read, "Number one, lose my first kiss, Jesus that is pitiful," he looked up at me with a playful expression, the ends of his lips curled, "Alice, I've known you my entire life, and I never expected this from you."
I twirled the ends of my deep brown hair, a habit that often came out of my anxiety. What was I supposed to say? Oh hey Ryder, no that's nothing, and that's most definitely not your name on number 3... "Ryder that's private," I'm sure my cheeks were flushed beyond normality, my eyes flitting down to stare at the tiled floor.
When he spoke again, it was in a soft voice, "Alice," I looked up. "This isn't something to be ashamed of, in fact I think it's kind of cool," he flipped the planner closed and held it out to me.
With a slightly shaking hand, I accepted it from him. "So are we still on for tonight?" He asked, leaning on the wooden desk behind him, practically crushing the teachers bag of chips.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. "Okay, I'll see you at five," he passed me on the way out of the classroom, and then, stopped at the door to turn his head to look at me once more.
"Alice?" he called out, expression determined, "I'll be damned if I don't help you with this." He smiled triumphantly with a wave in my direction as he shut the door after him.
I raised an eyebrow at the closed door, doubtful of his words. Ryder was a adventurous character, to say the least. I had no doubts that he'd want to help me with the list, but I supposed, that he'd get bored after we managed to finish the first few items.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, I picked up my scruffy bag from the floor and exited the classroom Ryder and I were in, heading to my last class of the day, Calculus AB.
Once outside, I was bombarded by a frantic curly-haired girl, whose words kept spilling out of her mouth so quick I had no idea what she was saying. "Claire!" I smiled at her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"
She took a breath, "I have an American History test tomorrow and I have no idea who the heck any of these people are or what Operation Torch is and I really need your help, can you come over today?"
I bit my lip, if I went over to tutor Claire after school, I'd be cutting it tight with Ryder's session. "I don't know Claire, I'm tutoring Ryder tonight and I don't know if I'll have the time," I trailed off, noticing her brighten at the mention of Ryder's name.
"Ryder?" She asked with glee. "The Ryder Thompson? As in the school's biggest partier?"
I pursed my lips, "Being the biggest partier of our school isn't Ryder's only redeeming quality Claire."
I began walking with her, toward her English class and my Calculus class. "I know," she sighed, "but fuck- he's so dreamy."
I grinned at her, I couldn't deny what she was saying, because it was absolutely true. Ryder Thompson was one of the most beautiful human beings I had ever seen, and probably will ever see.
He was tall, and still, his height didn't inflict a dominance, rather, he imposed a kind of warmness and comfort that many sought after, aiding to his bountiful amount of friends. He had brown, shoulder-length curly hair that was always perfectly styled to frame his square face. And, miraculously, he was one of the few boys at our school who really knew how to dress well.
As we came to stop at my classroom I said, "I'll send you my history notes okay? Text me if you have any questions."
She beamed at me, "Thank you Alice! What would I do without you?" With that, she turned away from me, skipping to her classroom with glee.
I shook my head at her retreating figure, she was something alright. I turned my head, entering the classroom and finding my normal spot in the back row, middle of the classroom.
It wasn't like I didn't pay attention, because truth be told, I really did, it was just that, having someone behind me made me oddly uncomfortable, and so when possible, I preferred to sit in the back.
When I got to my desk, I was surprised to find a white envelope with my name written on it. Opening it, I found two crisp $20 bills and a note that read:
Thanks for the help Alice! I think I did really well on that English essay, and it's all thanks to you. I know this is a little less than usual, but money's tight this month. If you really need the extra cash, let me know.
-Harrison
I smiled at the note. Harrison was a sweet guy, and I was glad I was able to help him with his essay.
It wasn't like I was a professional tutor or anything, but most were gracious enough to tip me a little for my time.
I tucked the envelope in my bag, keeping a mental note to give the cash straight to Angelica today, then assuming my role as a student to pay attention to the teacher.
Once the school day ended, I exited the school, pulling out the keys to my mom's old car, eyes focused on a figure across the parking lot, Ryder Thompson.
He was surrounded by friends, all laughing and talking, seemingly having a good time, but off to the side was a slightly lankier boy, that whispered something in Ryder's ear and got in his own car and left.
Frowning, I slid into my own car, watching him. The boy was Eros Zane, the only boy to ever get higher marks than me in every subject.
"Hello!" My sister, Angelica cheered as she entered the car, breaking my train of thought.
I glanced over to her, smiling, "Hello little missy," I turned over the engine, backing out of my space. "How was your day, how's Erik?"
Even though my eyes were on the road, I felt her gaze. "It was fine, and I don't know Alice. Erik's kinda boring, and he's a bad kisser."
I laughed, "Angelica! You can't just decide not to date someone because they're a bad kisser!"
She giggled in response, "We're not dating, we're talking," she emphasized.
"Ah, I forgot that was a thing."
"You really need to start dating Alice," She sighed, relaxing in her chair, unlocking her phone, tuning out our conversation.
I bit my lip. I'm sure she didn't mean for it to be hurtful, but the fact was that it did hurt. Tutoring took up most of my time, and thus, I didn't have time for boys, or anyone really. I kept to myself for the most part, and usually I didn't mind, but it sometimes got lonely.
"Uh," I cleared my throat, "there's an envelope in my binder with 40 bucks, take it."
She rummaged in my bag, retrieving the cash, and read the note. "Harrison's cute Alice, you should try and date him," she slid the note back into the envelope, placing it back in my binder.
"Harrison?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, he's nice and all, but isn't he dating someone?"
"It's not going well," I glanced over to see Angelica's eyes glittering. "Gotta swoop in before things get well."
I shoved her with one hand, rolling my eyes, "Angelica, that's evil, I can't."
"Ah, I forgot, you're the nicest girl on the block," she crossed her arms, "got a reputation to keep up."
"It's not a reputation," I countered, "it's doesn't hurt to be nice you know."
She changed the subject, "So are you tutoring today?"
I pulled into our neighborhood, that we in fact, shared with Ryder Thompson, though if we were being completely honest, his house was bigger than two normal houses on my street.
"Yeah," I said, pulling into our driveway, "and you wouldn't guess who it is."
"Who?" She asked, grabbing her bag as I turned off the car.
"Ryder freaking Thompson."
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to all new readers, hi! the name is ashti (pronounced ash-tea) as all authors realize as they finish a novel, i cringe reading my first few chapters. LOL. but if you don't mind it and get past it, it does get better and it does get cuter.
this is a story that i felt needed to be told and im very excited for you to all read it. thank you for clicking on my story and i hope you love it! please vote and comment, and provide criticism if you feel it's necessary.
all my love