Well, I May Have Faked It

Chapter 1

Ryan's POV
Ryan cracked his eyes open and lazily reached for his phone. He squinted when the bright light of the screen shone over his face. 7:50. He had only 15 minutes to get to school and then race to his first period class. Ryan quickly jumped out of bed, pulled on the first things he saw and headed to the bathroom. He ran his fingers through his hair and decided he didn't have time to do his hair today. Nonetheless, he applied a border of black around his eyes. He grabbed the lunch he had made yesterday and his backpack before sprinting out the door.

The school was just a few blocks away so Ryan raced down the sidewalks and crosswalks that lay in between his house and the school. It seemed as if he was flying, his feet barely touching the ground the whole way. The bell rang as soon as he came through the doorway of his first period classroom. Ryan was out of breath and breathing heavily as he sat down in his seat over in the back corner of the room.

• • •

English had been boring and science was no different. The teacher kept droning on and Ryan just sat there, taking notes and hoping he didn't fall asleep.

When the bell finally released him to nutrition, Ryan went to his locker to get the textbooks he needed for his next class. While standing by his locker, his stomach growled and he remembered how he hadn't had time for breakfast. Ryan stuck his hand in the lunchbox that sat in his locker and dug out a bag of chips. He closed his locker, looping the arm of his lock through the hole of the handle. He heard a satisfying click that told him his stuff was safe before he opened the bag of chips still clutched in his hand.

Ryan popped one of the thin potato chips into his mouth, sighing in contentment as the salty treat put off his hunger for at least an hour. He was tempted to shovel the whole bag of chips into his mouth, eating a handful at a time, but decided against it, finding it would last longer if he savored it instead.

He began on his way to his next class, bracing himself for yet another boring two hours. When Ryan was near the 200 rooms, he saw his friends hanging by the lockers nearby. Jon seemed to be closing his locker and talking to Pete when Ryan walked over.

"Sounds like you've got it good for him."

"You really think so, Jon?"

"Hey, who's Pete got his eye on this time," Ryan butted in.

"Some fedora-wearing kid in his English class," Jon replied. "Pete claims he's new." Jon's face showed he didn't believe Pete.

"He is! I've never seen him before," Pete says defensively. He crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance.

"Well," Ryan said, displaying a face a lot like Jon's. "When you have your eye on someone, Pete, you become oblivious to everything else. You could have had a sub for a whole month while you were dating and not even noticed."

"Hey! That was only once and I'm pretty sure that sub wasn't there until after I broke up with Ashlee."

Ryan and Jon both rolled their eyes and dropped the subject. Pete could be stubborn at times. The five minute warning bell rang and the three teens parted ways. Ryan went into a room whose door was marked 201 in black paint for math. They were being assigned new seats so Ryan stood around, waiting for the rest of the class to appear. Students came trickling in through the door until the bell rang once again to signal the beginning of the period.

"The seating chart is on the board so go to your assigned seats," the teacher announced.

Everyone scrambled towards the front of the classroom. Underneath a magnet on the board, there was a piece of paper with boxes containing the names of the students in the class. Ryan Ross was scribbled in a box near what looked like the back left hand corner of the room.

Once sat at the appropriate table, Ryan watched everyone else take their places. Two new faces came and sat at the same table Ryan was at. a third person came over but Ryan recognized her to be Sarah Orzechowski. She had probably the most ridiculous last name Ryan had ever heard but Sarah was nice.

"I guess we're at the same table again, Ryan," Sarah stated.

"Guess so," he said back.

"And who might you guys be?" Sarah pointed the question straight at the two other guys at the table.

The one who sat across from Ryan gave a simple, "Spencer Smith," and the one right next to Ryan went with, "Brendon Urie. We transferred from a different class."

Spencer had long, dark brown hair and bangs swept to one side. His piercing, blue eyes were inspecting Ryan and making him feel uncomfortable. Brendon had long, black hair that framed his face and bangs that were swept in the opposite direction of Spencer's. He also seemed to be looking at Ryan but not in an intimidating way. Brendon's chocolate eyes were friendly and kind.

Both boys voices matched their appearances. Spencer's had a low and straightforward feel to it while Brendon's was smooth and full of energy. Ryan preferred Brendon over Spencer and felt more alive and happy around him. He didn't get much time to spend talking to Brendon before the lesson started but Ryan already knew they would become friends soon.