Glowing Eyes || Adopted by Josh Dun

ryan

Lynn's POV

I was always kind of nervous in first period, especially when I felt the girl behind me glaring at the back of my neck the whole time. Turned out that I broke her nose, which I feel awful about. Everybody was aware of it, too, because she had a huge white, plastic strip protecting the bridge of her nose. Her friends all hate me now, too, but the good thing is they associate themselves with the high-income part of the school. They don't really talk to anyone I know that much anyways.

Still, the tension in the classroom was palpable every time I walked in. The only person that wasn't either scared, angry, or at least apprehensive of me was Ryan. Actually, he was the one that kept me sane every morning. A good example was Tuesday, the day after the... you know.

The girl I punched in the face (her name's Zoe) had come in with the news that her nose was broken, and before Mr.Altman even got the chance to open his mouth, her hand was up in the air.

Mr.Altman cleared his throat apprehensively, "Yes, Zoe?"

She poised herself like a Barbie doll, her perfectly curled blond hair falling over a dress that couldn't have been more than a week old. I almost didn't feel bad as she pursed her lips and announced, "I'd like to address what happened yesterday."

I sunk into my chair as all eyes shifted away from her to me, even Mr.Altman's (though it was only for a second).

"I think it's important for you to know that my nose is broken," she shot an icy glare at me out of the corner of her eye before continuing on. "And I think we'd all agree that it's ridiculous that Lynn didn't get punished at all. Let alone suspended, as she should've been." She looked around the classroom for people to agree with her, which was surprisingly forceful. Everyone slowly nodded or mumbled begrudging words of agreement.

I sunk farther into my chair, and noticed Ryan raising his hand next to me. I turned to him and hissed under my breath, "Ryan, don't."

I knew he saw and heard me, but he chose to ignore it. His icy blue eyes were hard, staring straight ahead. The hand that wasn't in the air was clenched tightly in a fist. Oh god, this'll be fun.

"Ryan?" Mr.Altman asked.

Zoe's neck practically snapped she turned to look at him so fast. There was no way she wasn't plastic if she was able to pull that off.

"I'd like to say something too, since it's apparently sharing time," he didn't even bother to look at Zoe, she knew it was addressed at her. "Yeah, Lynn probably shouldn't have punched Zoe in the face, but did any of you actually hear what she said to make that happen?"

He looked around the room, only met by wide eyes, eagerly feeding on the drama. "Then allow me to do the honors," Ryan's tone stayed rigid. "Zoe was making fun of Lynn because of how her mother died. She was laughing with her little friend over there at a horrible accident that orphaned Lynn, like it was her fault."

Ryan's words became more venomous the longer he spoke. "Now I don't know if any of you have any morals, but I do, and that's the sole most evil thing I've ever, personally, seen anyone do. So, Zoe," he cast a plastic smile full of malice over at her. "To answer your question, no. I don't think it's ridiculous that Lynn didn't get in trouble for it. Actually, I think it's ridiculous that you haven't gotten in trouble for it. Clearly Satan put in some good hours on you."

The entire classroom gasped, followed by 'oohs' and laughter of disbelief. I covered my mouth with my hand, trying desperately to process what had happened.

Ryan just sat back in his chair, smiling contently. Zoe's face had turned bright red, and she balled her fists in anger. "Are you not going to say anything?" Zoe growled at Mr.Altman.