Oneshots | Ryden

Serenade In Blue

Ryan put on a burst of speed, racing between the last scattered school buildings and past the freshmen playing with a hackeysack and into the tree line just beyond. He swerved sharply to the right to avoid Jon's vile attempt to cheat by knocking Ryan over, and flung himself gracelessly into the softest and best chair, his chair.

"I win!" he declared with the little breath he had left, and then Jon toppled over on top of him and knocked said remaining breath right out of him.

"Ooof," Jon said, while Ryan wheezed pointedly beneath him. Jon seemed in no hurry to move, so Ryan started to apply elbows where necessary, until Jon yelped and jumped up.

Ryan glared at him. "I win," he repeated.

"You cheated at the beginning," Jon said, standing up and going to sit in one of the other chairs. Ryan gaped at him in horror.

"I did not," he said.

Jon stared at him. "You said, 'tag, you're it' and took off while I was talking to Bill," he pointed out.

"It's not my fault your reflexes suck," Ryan said.

"You suck," Jon countered, and Ryan laughed. Jon grinned at him and said, "Why'd we have to run away like that, anyway?"

"You don't get enough exercise," Ryan said. "I'm concerned about your health."

The good thing about Jon was that he accepted things readily enough most of the time, in a way that Jon called "trusting" and Alex called "gullible as fuck". Just then, he laughed and stretched idly, and Ryan sank back into his seat, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. In about five minutes, he thought, the others would get there, and then Ryan could steal Alex's guitar and spend lunch thinking about nothing in particular.

It was a good plan, and Ryan enjoyed it for the thirty seconds he had before Z leaned over the back of his chair and said, "You look really funny when you run, did you know?"

"You didn't fall over this time!" Charlotte said, coming up behind Z with Tennessee and giving Ryan two thumbs up. "Getting better, Ross."

"Also Jon played along," Tennessee added, while Z climbed over the back of Ryan's chair and landed heavily in his lap. "Which added credibility to the overall effort, we thought. In conclusion, we gave you a six point five."

Z dug around in her pocket and unfolded a white square of paper that had 6.5 printed neatly in the middle. She held it up and turned it slowly from side to side. Jon applauded politely.

Ryan stared at them. "I don't look funny when I run," he said finally.

"Tennessee," Charlotte said, and Tennessee nodded, running around the group in a slow circle and flailing her arms wildly out at her side, kicking up her heels with each step. Z laughed so hard she had to bury her face in Ryan's shoulder, and Charlotte flopped into a nearby chair to avoid falling over.

"Oh!" Alex said, arriving behind them. He beamed hugely and pointed at Tennessee. "You're doing Ross!"

"I should be so lucky," Tennessee said, stopping to leer at him.

Ryan stared blankly back at her, and Z looked up crossly. "Hey," she said.

Tennessee blinked at her. "Z," she said kindly. "You're sitting in his lap. You really want to have this argument now?"

Z cocked her head to the side. "C'mere," she said, and then Tennessee came and sat on Ryan as well, because apparently that was something they did now, and he glared at them both.

"You don't even go to our school," he told Tennessee. "Why are you here all the time?"

Charlotte grinned. "She's an exchange student," she said, waggling her eyebrows.