Triple Trouble

26|| A Ryder Holiday (P2)

Okay, I had to say, that kind of stung. In all honesty, I didn't really expect for her to say she felt the same way, but it didn't hurt any less.

Since I was a little Ryder, I learned not to expect the best because if I expected the worst and it came true, I wouldn't be disappointed as much. If, however, I expected the worst and something good happened, I'd be even more ecstatic. It's just better that way. 

"Yeah, sometimes I think that too. Friends."

~~~~~

I woke up, breathing heavily and sweat trickling down my forehead as I sat up and took the glass of water that sat on my bedside table. It was still dark outside.

I tried not to make so much noise, remembering that Josh was still sleeping soundly beside me. Lucky for me, my cousin was a heavy sleeper and was still snoring lightly.

It was actually supposed to be him and Dave staying in my room, but there really wasn't enough open space in my room to put a mattress on.

Dave was bunking with Jackson because there was either enough space on the floor for a mattress or there was enough space on the bed for a Dave. Josh just stayed in my room, no problem.

But that wasn't really the best thing in my situation, was it?

It was the amazing fact that I wasn't really bumped into the friend-zone. It was all just a nightmare, one of the few I had, unlike Lexi and Alex.

My sisters' dreams were haunted with horrible memories they could never let go of. Me? One of my plans to confess, a scrapped one for sure, came to my dreams.

I calmed myself, laid back down on the bed, and within the span of five to ten minutes, I was able to fall back into a, thankfully, dreamless slumber.

I don't think any nightmare could've topped the one I had in the "give Ryder heart problems" department.

The dream put two of my fears into one horrible moment, monkeys and being rejected. I just knew I had to not mess up when I finally told her.

~~~~~

Waking up that morning, I felt the most scared I had in a while. I actually woke up earlier than usual, at eight in the morning, still slightly shaky after remembering the dream I had just a few hours before.

Just saying the wrong thing could lead to the downfall of my plan.

Josh was still asleep beside me when I sat up and stretched my arms. It was actually quite odd because he usually was up at seven thirty to work out in our home gym.

Deciding to sleep in, I guess, was the option he chose for the day because of the small family goodbye party we had last night for them. They were leaving already to catch the new year, or at least be there on the day itself in London.

Even though sleeping more sounded fun, I went against it and decided to take a shower to get the day started instead.

I must say, I was far more calm and collected than I was expecting, but hey, nobody was complaining, especially me.

I already worked out how I was going to go through with the dare, but not, hopefully, end up like how it was in my dream. I just had to hope all went well.

Just as I shrugged my clothes on, I unplugged my already fully charged phone and left the room, noticing Josh waking up groggily.

That was either because I closed the door with a little too much force or he just got a whiff of Jackson's annual New Year's Eve day pancakes. Sometimes he made them on New Year's day itself too.