Come At Me, Alpha

Chapter 27

Silence. That's all we've got from Ryder the past few days. He hasn't really spoken since Harmony took off. He'll greet with a quick nod of his head and walk away without a word. He answered questions with a shrug of his shoulders and never meet your eyes with his own. You could tell he was broken, only holding on by a thread.

Star has been quite upset as well. I never got around to asking her why she left that day and snuck around like that. She's been quiet, but at the same time she's been planning her party. Mixing her sadness with her personality is actually sort of scary.  She'd be dull and pouty, and all of a sudden she'd be commanding workers to place decorations on the ceiling... And then she'd be on the floor face down.

I got up from the vanity Logan had placed in our room. Mhmm... We share and I'm okay with it. My makeup was done with a smokey eye look, which I've never actually done before. I mean, I've watched tutorials on the internet but I've never tried. My dress was white and short, but not revealing. It had long, flowing sleeves and a  gold belt around the waist.

I headed towards Star's room, but before I even got to the door I could hear her crying. She was sat on her bed with a blue blazer over her cream colored dress with her head in her hands. "Star?" I called, making her head snap up.

"I-uh... I don't..." She gave a sad laugh before the tears weld up in her eyes again. I ran over to comfort her as she started to cry again.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm not really sure what was wrong, but it'll all be okay." I cooed. I was lost as to why she was upset but I let her cry on my shoulder.

"Promise not to hate me?" She hiccuped. I answered with an obvious 'of course' so she continued. "The reason I left the other day... I'm just going to say it! I like Ryder. Like, a lot! And when I saw him walk in with that toe-muncher, my heart just shattered."

I knew it!

"Why would that make me hate you?" I asked.

She chuckled, "I don't know." She lifted her head from my shoulder and sighed, "I was just hoping that Ryder was my mate. I mean, we've been best friends since kindergarten. I actually went to boarding school for about a year and came back around the time you met Logan. That's when Luke- my ex- and I broke up and I started feeling something towards Ryder. Every time I was near him, my heart fluttered like a bat in a jar; and bats don't fit in jars, trust me. I learned from experience. Ryder would hold my hand and my skin would start to burn, but it was always a good burn, you know? I just... I was just hoping..."

I hugged her as she sighed sadly. She suddenly jumped up with a plastered smile on her face, "What am I doing? It's my big day! I'm turning eighteen! Time to get this party started, am I right?" She strut out of the room without a second glance.

I got off the bed and looked out the door, watching Star just leave with her head held high. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up! There's something I want to do first." Not that she heard me, I turned in the opposite direction and headed down the hall. Seeing the tall oak door, closed as it had been for the past few days, I halted in front of it. I knocked, "Ryder? Can I come in?"

He grunted but didn't open the door, so I took it upon myself to walk in. Ryder was sitting on the floor, leaning against the footboard of his bed. "Ryder what are you doing?" He shrugged. "C'mon, the party's about to start!" He shrugged again. I frowned, "Ryder, listen to me. I understand that you're hurt, I get it. We are all here for you and we will give you the time you need to heal. But you made a promise to Star," he stiffened, "and you need to keep that promise. I'm not saying you have to go down with a smile and pretend to have a good time. I'm saying the least you can do is go down there and say happy birthday to your best friend." He stared at the wall and didn't say a word. I waited but I guess he had no feelings on the matter. "That's all I had to say. Have a good night, Ryder." I made sure to close the door as I left.