The Undeniable

Chapter 37 - Unexpected Guests

Chapter 37 - Unexpected Guests

For the rest of the night, I made every effort I could to avoid Ryan. I think he caught on at one point because he followed me to the kitchen when I went to get more popcorn. 

'Kara, are you alright?' Ryan asked, crossing his arms on top of the kitchen counter as I reached up to get some stuff out of the cupboards above the cooker. 

'What do you mean?' I asked, not looking at him but instead concerntrating on standing on my tippy toes to reach the snacks. 

God, I hated not being taller sometimes. 

He came behind me, reaching up easily and grabbing a couple more bags of popcorn. I moved away quickly, so he wasnt touching me. 

'I mean like that' he motioned when I slid away from him, 'you're being weird'. His eyebrows were pulled together annoyed that I was being so off with him. 

'Nothings up, I'm fine' I said, knowing he wouldnt believe me. The truth was I was absolutely terrified with my revelation earlier on in the night that there was something I felt with Ryan which was more than friends. 

My issue was, I didnt know if he felt the same way. 

'What are you thinking about?' Ryan asked, leaning on the counter top again as I stood on the other side looking back at him. 

'Food' I replied, opening the bag and stuffing a handful of popcorn into my mouth. 'See?'. A few bits of popcorn flew out of my mouth when I spoke, considering I hadn't finished my mouthful. 

'God, you're a stunner aren't you Kara Waldor' He smirked at me, lightening the mood a bit. He acted like he hadn't just been gently tracing patterns on my arm. 

Maybe it wasn't a bit deal, maybe it was purely friendly. 

On the other hand, I couldn't see myself doing that to Sarah anytime soon. 

'How's the college situation?' I asked him, changing the subject and refering to how he didn't want to go to the colleges his parents had already picked out for him. 

'Not good', he furrowed his eyebrows, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bag I was holding. 'I've been doing a lot of practice for this big running competition coming up where the scouts are going to be from the colleges. It's in two weeks' 

I leaned on the counter, listening to what he was telling me intently. I could tell he felt completely trapped because on one hand he didn't want to upset or disappoint his parents, but on the other hand he wanted to do what he wanted to do. 

'What is it you actually want to do though, Ryan?' I asked, realsing I never really asked him. 

He perked up at this. 'For a while I didnt actually know', he started, clasping his hands in front of him. 'but I've realised I really want to go to the business school at Columbia' 

I took a sharp breath in hearing this, considering the university I had chosen I wanted to attend was NYU which was also in New York, although I hadn't told Ryan that yet. 

'They wouldn't give you a running scholarship?' I asked

'No, they don't do scholarships for running and that means my parents don't want me to go there' He sighed. 'I just don't know what to do' 

I sighed too, realsing there really was nothing I could say. My dad was completely accepting of me doing whatever I wanted to do, and it really didn't matter what my mum wanted because I still wasn't talking to her. 

'Whatever happened to the Ryan I used to know?' I asked

'What?' He asked, looking up at me confused, and standing up straight.