Ryan shivered in the dark and pulled Justin’s small blanket around him. The bed was uncomfortable with lumps and springs out of place. He rolled around, trying to find a comfy spot, but there didn’t seem to be one. He sighed and rolled over one more time, only to find himself rolling off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud, “thunk!”
Then, the alarm went off and Ryan jumped with surprise. He tried to untangle himself from the blanket and ended up unraveling on the floor before he could turn it off. He sighed, relieved that the sound was gone, but on his way back to the bed he stubbed his toe on one of Justin‘s school books on the floor. He tried not to yell profanity and stumbled back to the bed.
With all of the noise, Olivia had woken up and was giggling at the scene. “Morning, Justin,” She said sitting up.
He mumbled back and pulled the blankets over his head. Olivia stared at him, confused at her brother‘s strange behavior.
He never went back to sleep after he turned the alarm off. Usually, he would get dressed and wake her up, before making them both a meal. “Aren’t you going to make breakfast?” She said.
“I’m really tired today, Olivia. Can we skip breakfast?”
She thought for a moment. “Okay Justin, I’ll make YOU breakfast today, but don’t make it a habit!” She said, smiling. Ryan shrugged and rolled over. He heard her small feet pattering down the hallway to the kitchen.
After a few minutes of rustling around in there, he soon heard her footsteps coming back. He heard a small sniffle as she came in the room. When he turned to face her, he saw that she had a tear sliding down her cheek.
He finally sat up. “What’s wrong?”
Her lip trembled. “I was going to make you oatmeal, but I can’t remember how to make it.”
He motioned for her to sit next to him. When she did, he put his arm around her and wiped her baby tears away. “It’s okay, Olivia. We’ll pick up something to eat on the way to school.”
Her eyes went wide. “You mean we can BUY something?!”
He nodded. “Under one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Will you help me find something to wear? Something that Samantha might like?” He asked.
She smiled, and nodded shyly. She tumbled off the bed and scurried to the closet. After handing him the few things she had picked out, she grabbed her own clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom.
Ryan walked alone down the high school hallway he had seen just a few days ago. This time it felt different, like he belonged here.
Finally he found the face he had been searching for, and walked over to meet her. She was at her locker, searching her bag for the books she wanted to put in there.
“Samantha,” He said, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Her head shot up to look in his eyes in surprise. “Oh hey, J. Will you hold this for a second?”
She handed him a notebook and finished putting her books away. He watched her finish up and noticed a few hairs fall in front of her eyes. He fought the urge to brush them away, reminding himself that he was supposed to just be her friend. He smiled, at least for the moment.
Suddenly, someone pushed him from behind and he nearly fell into the lockers. He turned to face the person who did it and was met with several laughs. He didn’t hide his anger as he shouted at them, “What the h*ll was that for?”
The person who had done it was a guy who was dressed pretty nice. Ryan noticed the group of people standing around him, and figured he was probably a leader of the popular crowd. Everyone, even Sam, looked a little surprised that Ryan had talked back to him.
The guy smirked at him. “I was just protecting Sam, here.” He said putting his arm around her. “I was afraid your fleas were bothering her.”
Samantha pushed his arm off of her and grabbed Ryan’s hand. “Come on, Justin. Just ignore him.”
Ryan looked down at their joined hands and smiled inside. He felt angry at how he was treated, but he realized he better just let this go.
“Looks like Samantha’s going to be the one protecting YOU today,” He said and squeezed Sam’s hand. They walked away.
“I’m proud of you for speaking up for yourself today, J,” She said, letting go of his hand as they walked to their next class. He frowned, wondering if people treated Justin like that often. “For a minute there I thought you were going to fight him.”
He smiled. “I thought about it, but thankfully I had you to distract me.” She looked over at him, questioningly, but he just winked at her.
“Are you feeling okay?” She said, putting a hand to his forehead.
He took her hand from his forehead and held it. “I’m feeling great, Samantha.”
“Why do you keep using my full name? You’re acting so weird today,” She said, sitting down at a desk.
He laughed and sat behind her. She frowned. Justin always sat next to her, never behind. She shrugged and took out her notebook and a pen. A few more students shuffled in and then the bell rang.
Ryan leaned forward close to her and whispered, “Are you doing anything after school, Sam?”
Chills ran down Samantha’s spine as she felt his breath on her neck. She remembered his question shook her head.
“Olivia’s going to a friend’s house. Let’s hang out.”
Sam felt her stomach flip flop. ‘Why am I having these feelings about Justin?’ She thought to herself. ‘He’s my best friend and it’s just in my head. It’s only because he’s wearing my favorite shirt and is whispering in my ear.’ She nodded and tore out a page in her notebook.
~Do you wanna go out for pizza? I know you don’t have the money, but I’ll pay. It’ll be fun. -S.
~Don’t worry about money, Sam. Anyway, Pizza sounds great. It’s a date. -R. He looked at his note and laughed. He scribbled out the -R and wrote, -J.
She read his note to herself and frowned, confused. ‘It’s a date?’ She thought. ‘He must have written that like saying “it’s settled”.’ Deep down, though, she was hoping he really meant it.
