Your Sweet Six Six Six | Sitkolson [C]

Chapter 52 | Roses Are Red

For once, almost everyone was in a good mood. Almost. While Devin was still over the moon following last night's events, and Ricky and Ryan were enjoying their newfound love, Chris wasn't exactly on cloud nine. The only thing that's worse than dealing with a breakup is having every couple around you being all happy and gushy. For the most part, Ricky and Ryan were actually hiding the fact that they were involved with each other now. Regardless, the wide smiles on their face were sickening, to more than one person.

From across the courtyard, Ryder just glared at the two. It was one thing for Ryan to go and cancel their Halloween plans last minute, but then he went off with someone else? Ricky, especially? Sure, it was hypocritical, considering he cheated in the past and he went after Ricky himself. Plus, him and Ryan weren't really dating, but he was still allowed to be pissed. 

Ryan excused himself from the table for a moment. He came up with an excuse to walk back to his locker. Considering the fact that he was normally pretty quiet, they didn't mark him as a troubled kid, despite his long hair and band t-shirts. Ryder, being the kind that was a troubled kid, knew all the back ways around the school. He quickly slipped off into a back stairwell and hurried upstairs to cut Ryan off. It might be his only chance to do so.

"What the Hell's goin' on?" He barked at Ryan as he caught up with him.

Ryan stopped himself from opening the locker he was in front of and turned around. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me you're mad at me for yesterday. I told you when you asked that I wasn't sure." 

"It's not that. I don't care about that. It's just-" He sighed, frustrated and at a loss for words.

"It's just what, Ryder? You're pissed I fucked with your head? Look, I'm sorry I used you for a few hookups, but you knew damn well there was no way we could ever make us work."

He threw his hands up in the air, replying, "So, that's just it, huh? Ricky barely looks at you and I'm suddenly trash. I see how it is. Whatever. I already knew you've always been cold like that. It was my fault for ever thinking that would change." Ryder turned back around and rushed down the stairs. He didn't want to hear Ryan's response, on the off chance it might make him turn around. In truth, it'd probably just be another burn he didn't need in his life.

It bothered Ryan a little bit. Only because he wasn't a big fan of hurting people so deeply, even if they deserved it. However, he was much too focused on his current task at hand to give a shit about Ryder and his usual bullshit. 

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After lunch, everyone typically went straight to choir. They didn't really need any books for that. It was a pleasant, more toned down day. Once they were done, everyone fanned off in the halls to go to their final class for the day. Ryan knew today Ricky had study hall and he'd go straight to his locker to get his books. He watched nervously from across the hall as Ricky put in his combination. 

Ricky opened his locker, greeted with rose petals and a note suddenly falling out. At first, he was so shocked, he didn't even know how to react. A smile brushed over his face when he recognized the handwriting on the outside of the note. Ricky leaned down and picked it up. As he stood back up, he felt someone lightly grab his ass. He turned around, seeing Ryan walking away. Ryan looked over his shoulder and smirked before continuing on to his last class for the day. 

The note unfolded to read, This Saturday, fall fair, be my date? with little hearts drawn all around. He found a pen quickly and wrote down his (obvious) answer on the back. Then he stuck it through the slots on the front of Ryan's locker.

"Olson! The bell rang!" Mrs. Wolfgram called out as she stepped out of her classroom.

"Sorry! I was just cleaning up a mess!" He replied, picking up the flower petals.

"Oh, alright, then. That's okay. Just don't take too long." She said.

She was a pretty relaxed teacher, thankfully. She just liked to give people a hard time. Nothing could possibly shake Ricky's good mood now. He couldn't stop smiling, and of course Chris noticed the second he walked into study hall. At the moment, Chris was preoccupied helping someone from a lower grade review Chemistry flashcards. He was rather thankful that section of his life had passed. 

"What's got you so damn happy?" He asked Ricky as he sat down.

"I'll tell you later." He responded.

Unfortunately, school was school, and he had plenty of shit to do. It was hard to focus when he couldn't stop thinking about how the weekend will go. Not too long ago, he'd never even thought about dating Ryan. Now, he's already planning their wedding in his head. Funny how those things can go. 

As he began to read through the assigned chapters of his history book, taking notes as he went along, he couldn't help himself from overhearing some mutterings from the girls behind him. Chris was distracted talking to that lower grade he was helping. Ricky placed his hand on Chris' wrist, giving him a look of concern. He stopped what he was doing, his ears zeroing in on what Ricky was hearing.

"You guys will never believe what I heard. You know that super, like, feminine guy in 11th? Devin, he's in choir." 

"Yeah, what about him?" 

"He's a tranny." The girl said it was such disgust. 

"Madi." Another sneered, probably pointing out the fact that Chris and Ricky were right in front of them. 

"They probably know." She replied, now in a more hushed tone. "And that skater guy that you've been crushing on, he's gay." 

"And how do you know?" 

"I overheard one of the seniors talking about it."

"It totally makes sense. No straight guy's gonna have hair that nice."

"That's such a waste." 

They continued to bicker on, arguing over the legitimacy of the info. Obviously some of them were having trouble accepting the fact that Ryan was gay. He had women hit on him from time to time. In the past, they've definitely come in hoards when it comes time for the girls' choice dance. How no one figured it out until recently is actually a surprise. 

"Keep a close eye on her. People are going to get over Ryan, and I'm sure once they find out about me, they won't care too much either. But, being trans is still a pretty new thing to a lot of people. I'm worried." 

"Trust me, I am too." He sighed. "I promise, I won't let anyone hurt her. And even if I fail, rest easy knowing Kuza will murder anyone that lays a hand on her. He's overprotective. Maybe a little too much."

"I can picture that." Ricky chuckled.

He went back to his work, but he still couldn't shake this feeling that something bad was brewing. Nothing good could come out of all this gossip. As of recently, Chris has also had that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.