Miscommunication

Chapter 7

Ryu couldn't wrap his brain around who took the photo of him. He couldn't stop thinking about it all day, even when he got to lunch. He was acting paranoid. It was time for his and Erin's presentation. He walks to the front of the class, his heart beating. All the eyes on him cause him to pick his thumb more aggressively.

"Okay! Our presentation is on homelessness!" Erin announces loudly to the class. Daren snickers and covers his mouth.

Mrs. Howard sighs, reaches under her glasses, and rubs her eyes.
"Erin, Erin. Lower your voice," she says quietly.
Erin turns to her and nods. Ryu looks at Erin's eyes. The redness has gone down since the morning. It's almost as if he didn't get enough sleep at night.

"Anyway, we decided to go to a homeless shelter and get some interviews from the people inside. We made a little video so you didn't have to hear us talk." Erin clicks the play button on the smart board, letting their video play.  Ryu turns off the lights and steps aside. Erin steps to the side next to Ryu and sighs.

"You did good with the editing," Erin whispers. Ryu glances at him and nods dismissively.

"Thanks. You did a good job... talking to people!" he adds. Erin chuckles and rubs his eyes.

"I don't know how I'm going to get through this party. I am so tired..." Erin yawns and shakes his head to wake himself. Ryu laughs and glances at the class and then the teacher. Mrs Howard was asleep on her desk. Guess his voice is soothing...

"I'm pretty sure Amy has an energy drink in her locker. She says I can take it for "emergencies", but I'm never gonna use it." Ryu rolls his eyes and laughs.

"You'd really give it to me?" Erin's eyes widen with a mix of confusion and suspicion.

Ryu shrugs.
"Come on, she's passed the fuck out." He smiles and inches over to the classroom door, secretly slipping out. Erin just smiles, opens the door, and walks out, following Ryu down the hall. They walk down the hall, looking out for superintendents. When they make it to Amy's locker, Ryu groans upon noticing the lock. 

"Shit, she doesn't usually lock it..." he says, standing in front of the lock.

Erin glances at him and then the lock. He scoffs and moves Ryu out of the way.
"Here." He takes the lock in his hand and puts in a combination. The lock clicks open as Erin steps to the side with a smug grin.

"Woah, how'd you do that?" Ryu opens the locker and grabs the energy drink.

"It's a code you can use on all the lockers. I can open any locker I want," he chuckles. Ryu's eyes widen. Any locker? He shakes his head and laughs quickly.

"Oh! Uh, here!" Ryu shoves the small energy drink in his hands.
Erin looks at the drink and says nothing. He opens the lid and throws his head back, chugging the whole thing. With a small gasp, he shakes his head.

"That tasted awful..." Erin gags and tosses the bottle behind him. The sound of the bottle hitting the floor echoes down the hall.

"Found you!"

Ryu and Erin turn to the voice down the hall. It was Daren, and he had a cold glare pointed at Ryu. Now knowing it wasn't a teacher, Ryu takes a relieved breath and rolls his eyes at Daren.

"What do you want, Daren?" Ryu grumbles.

"Nothing, just saw you two slip out and I wanted to see what's up!" Daren smiles coldly.
"We excited for the party tonight?" He turns to Erin and daps him up.

"Yeah, still giving you a ride?"

"Yessir." Daren nods.

"I'm also riding along with Amy." Ryu grins. Daren glares at him.