broken | shyland ✓

chapter two

s h a n e

the next day, at 9pm on saturday, i saw him crying. i felt kinda sad, even though i didn't know him. he was sat on the wall which parted our two houses, clutching his phone to his ear as he spoke.

he was dressed differently today. all black: jeans, sweater, socks, shoes, coat, hat, thick rimmed glasses which resembled harry potter's own. everything was black, even the weary circles underneath his eyes.

i really wanted to go and speak to him. ask if he was okay. my fingers were twitching, my skin itching for interaction. i watched from my window seat as he hung up and threw his phone to the ground with an exasperated yell.

i widened my eyes at this, surprised, and it looked as though he was shocked himself. wiping tears from his face, he knelt down next to his iphone with haste, carefully picking it up and inspecting it for damage. his shoulders seemed to relax and slump, so i assumed it was working fine.

he took his position back on the wall, staring at his phone screen. the light illuminated his face. i was becoming infatuated by him; he was beautiful, and seemed mixed up. he had me intrigued, desperate to know him.

i jumped off my window seat and reached into my school bag, pulling out my notepad and the biology homework sheet i'd been given just before we broke up for summer. i wondered what school ryland would go to. the same as mine, perhaps? lakewood high was a pretty good school, so it was probably the one his parents would have chosen. i hope it was.

after returning to my seat and checking if he was still sat there (he was, still staring at his phone), i clicked the top of my ballpoint pen and begun to answer the questions. i finished in around twenty minutes, only stumbling upon the function of the mitochondria for a few seconds before remembering that it was the powerhouse of the cell. of course, once i became a director of movies, information like this would be essential to my everyday life.

ryland was soon ushered inside by his mother and i was alone again. maybe he wasn't really company - he didn't know i existed, to be honest - but he felt like it.

my thoughts were interrupted by a knock as my little brother's head peered around the door. 'mom and dad want to know if you're coming to watch a movie with us?' his voice asked.

'sure, jerrid. i'll be down in a second.' i looked towards him and softly smiled, facing the window again. there was silence for a few moments, so i assumed he had left.

'shane?' broke the silence, sounding timid and small. i spun around for the second time, furrowing my eyebrows with concern. jerrid sniffled a little. 'i wish jacob would come home.' he whispered.

'me too. but he had to go to uni, lil' bro. he's going to become an award winning doctor or some shit.' i exclaimed drastically, gesturing my hands to try comfort him.

he giggled, shaking his head in amusement. 'mom says we're not allowed to swear.'

'well, i'm eighteen and you're seven, so... it's different. now go choose a good movie before mom puts on a romance one.' i grinned and he scampered away, laughing as he ran.

turning back to the blackening sky, i stared longingly at ryland's house. this is when i vowed to myself that tomorrow, i would speak to him and find out who he really was.

because god, he already had me wrapped around his little finger.