I've Fallen

Part 1 (Now Edited)

Ryan's POV:

There's always that one noise that everyone hates hearing. It could be fingernails on a chalkboard. It could be a cat screeching. But for me, it's that bell that marks the beginning of a school day. Of course, I love learning. Back in middle school I never felt challenged. The sound to start was just marking the beginning of another boring day. But this year, well, it'll all be different. High school. Just the word makes me a mix of nervousness, with its share of excitement as well. Today that sound rings through my ears. I heard it during the bus ride to school, and now here, as I'm starting this whole new chapter of my life, walking through the doors of Kent R. Swain High School.

I push my glasses back up my nose as I look around. Suddenly, a familiar voice rings through the hallway. "Ryan!" I hear my best friend shout. "Serena!" I exclaim back. Serena and I have been friends for longer than we can remember. My mother met hers at a grocery store when they were both pregnant, and they only bonded after that. Serena ended up being born months before me, but we were great friends from the start. She even had a goldfish she named after me, but it was tragic when we accidentally knocked him out of his fishbowl during an epic game of hide-n-go seek tag. I hadn't really seen Serena this summer because her family had been off in the Bahamas, visiting her family that lived down there. Sometimes I was jealous of her beautiful olive colored skin. That would take too many bottles of spray on tan for me to achieve, and that stuff was bad for your skin anyways.

"How were the Bahamas?" I ask her, when she catches up. "Amazing. I missed my family so much and it was great spending time with them. Zach even came down for a month." Serena says. Zach was Serena's boyfriend. They met in seventh grade, but didn't admit their feelings until later that year. They ended up dating, which left me third wheeling on their relationship all of eighth grade. He also had family from islands in the Bahamas. "But the water was beautiful. Not polluted a bit. I loved it. You could see all the fish!" She continued. We keep chatting, and following the map I printed, to homeroom. Not long after, we realize we are lost in looking for Ms.Smith's homeroom. This place seemed so much bigger than it had on orientation. As I check the map, another person walks up. "You ladies look like you need help." says a deep voice. I feel a sharp pain in my foot as Serena steps on it, with slight urgency, and I immediately look up. I make eye contact with the tall, dark haired boy in front of us. There's a moment of awkward silence, as I stare awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. Being Ryan Cevas, I am extremely shy. Yet, Serena seems at a loss for words as well, which is unnatural. She's a pro. Suddenly, the silence is broken when the mysterious boy sticks out his hand to me. "I'm Cade. Cade O'Connell. You two must be freshmen." "I'm Serena. This here is my friend Ryan." Serena replies. I nod and blush as I shake his hand. I'm obviously embarrassing myself, my hands are slightly clammy from gripping the map. It's only the first day of high school and this guy must already think I'm some kind of freak. After a bit of small talk, he points us where we need to go on the map. "I had Ms.Smith for homeroom last year too. She's really cool." He tells us. "Thanks for the input. Your a lifesaver. No idea how we would have found our way without you. Bye!"  Serena says, as we walk away. I simply turn and wave. He just waves back.

"What is it?" Serena asks me as we sit down at lunch. I shake my head. I feel so embarassed about what happened this morning. It kept replaying in my head, only to help me know I was so stupid. I mean, sure, I get shy, but I don't want him getting the thought I'm some creepy freshman. Words can only spread. And the more they spread the more I could possibly become the biggest laughing stock in the school. I can only see it now. When I snap out of it I look up to see Cade sitting down. His table is filled with lots of tall boys just like him. All of them are wearing a football jerseys. He must be on the team here. I might explain the larger masses of girls I caught staring at us earlier. "Ryan, is this all about what happened this morning? Because I see you looking over at Cade." She taunts. "It just caught me by surprise. You know I don't talk to strangers. There are a lot of strangers here" I reply coolly, as I motion across the entire cafeteria. I roll up the sleeves of my sweater, and smooth down my napkin across my lap as I open my lunch box. This morning had gone by so fast. But my classes had been interesting. Almost fun! I smile as Zach comes and takes a seat with us. "Zach!" Serena says with a slight giggle, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Serena!" He says, imitating her reaction as he sits down. "Hey Ryan." he says. "Hey back." He and Serena get lost in conversation, so I zone out as I eat my sand which. I do a quick re-run of my day, and mark down in my agenda what I need to finish. Serena calls me OCD. I call it organized.

As I leave the lunch room, I assume one of the girls sitting with him during lunch, was the same girl who had seen Serena and I's run in with Cade this morning, because after lunch she pulled me aside. "You. Stay off my man freshman. Don't think I didn't see what happened this morning. He was just being friendly. Don't get your hopes up." She snarls. She pulls the front of my shirt up close to her, lifting me off my feet. I gasp slightly as my toes life off the ground. She was at least a head taller than me, without the heels she was wearing. "You hear me?" She threatens. I nod quickly, wanting to get away from her as fast as I can. Her breath smelled like old tuna and it was really starting to gross me out. I straightened my glasses and took a step back. "Take that as a warning" She says, and in a flash of her pearly whites, she turns and skips off. "Noted" I whisper to myself, as I stand with my eyes shut, leaning up against the wall, to regain my composure. As if on cue, I see Cade. It's  not like I'm interested in him. I just met him. She is way overprotective of "Her Man." But that scared me, a lot. I learned my lesson. It's only the first day of school but I already know I want nothing ever to do with Cade O'Connell.

(1225 words)