honeydew

chapter two

Ryland's POV

"Come on Rye bread, it'll be fun."

I groan in annoyance, picking up a random rubber ball sitting on the side of my desk and throwing it in the direction of the continuous pleading.

"I don't want to go to a fucking park. Do I look like I'm three?" I snap, half for the nickname and half for the question.

"On a scale from 1-10, yeah." He shrugs his shoulders, and I can almost feel his smirk from across the room.

Tommy is the closest person I'd consider to be a best friend. Meaning I can tolerate him the most out of everyone else.

Except in moments like these.

"It's just going to be a couple of us meeting up and kicking the ball around a bit. Nothing terrible."

It has been a while since I've kicked the ball around.

"Who's going to be there?" I look over at him, trying to keep the fact he'd slightly convinced me out of my tone.

He grins, obviously seeing through my attempt.

"Will, Ezra, and Theo. It'd be just us five."

"Glad to see you can do basic addition."

"Come on." He whines obnoxiously and the urge to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze becomes a tad bit stronger.

"Okay, okay, just shut up." I sigh, stretching as I stand from my seat.

"Fucking finally." He mutters under his breath, leaving my room so I can change.

Fifteen minutes later we're all playing on the grass. Trees and a gated brick wall surround the area and a path separates the grass from a fountain surrounded by benches and planters of flowers.

Tommy passes me the ball and I dribble around Theo, faking left and smoothly kicking the ball into the bottom-right side of the net.

I roll my eyes as Tommy loudly brags to Theo and Ezra about the goal he didn't even fucking score.

I walk off the grass, pouring a little water into my hair and running a hand through it. We had been playing for about 10 minutes and those fuckers were already jumping on top of each other like twelve-year-olds.

I settle on a bench by the fountain, looking up to see two little kids chasing each other through the benches. My eyes stray from them to another two people sitting on the edge of the fountain.

And then I see her.

Long blonde hair cascades to about her shoulder blades, dancing in the light breeze. The sun falls on her skin, but it has nothing to do with how she glows.

She's always glowed.

Even in sixth grade, she glowed in a way that my 11 year old ass couldn't help but gawk at her. She always smiled, and fuck.

That smile.

I feel my jaw clench looking at her smile right now. I can hear her soft laugh over the falling water in the fountain, and it's fucking melodious.

I swallow harshly, ignoring the effect she has on me just by looking at her. I watch her get up and stand on the space she was seated, tapping the boy next to her before running off.

She runs past me and I hear her scream "Tag, you're it" back at him before running like her life depended on it.

I stare after her to see the boy following her and recognize him as Sammy, her best friend.

As if on cue, Tommy comes up behind me, climbing over the back of the bench to sit to my left. He slings an arm around my shoulder which I immediately shrug off, but he remains unaffected, only a stupid grin on his face.

"Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?" I snap, slightly unsettled.

"She's pretty isn't she?" He answers smugly.

"I have no idea who you're talking about." I grit out, looking forward.

A part of me is slightly pissed he called her pretty, but those feelings need not be addressed.

"Oh you know who." Tommy keeps that stupid fucking smile on his face, and I swear to God, I'm a few strands of self control away from drowning him in the fountain.

"Lizzie."

AN: heyy

How'd you guys like this chapter?

Sorry guys, rye bread's got a bit of a potty mouth.

SECOND CHAPTER WOOHOO

i hope to see you all in the next chapter, but if not, thanks for reading this one!

- riti <3