Never Say Never

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

“Shut up!” Ryan whispers, his eyes wide in astonishment.

I raise my eyebrows at Ryan, giving him my best what-the-hell look.

“Sorry, that sounded really stupid.” He mumbles, looking down in shame.

I chuckle, “Some hip popping and finger snapping and you would have qualified for an A class teenage girl.”

His gaze narrows, “Shut up, I’m just shocked.”

“Yeah, sure. You were just teenage-girl-meeting-Justin Bieber-shocked.” I shift on the couch, dodging Ryan’s attempted slap.

“God, please don’t associate that thing with me.” He whines, scrunching his face as if he just ate some bad fish.

I chuckle at his antics, “Come on Ryan, I know you. I bet you have a shrine of the dude hidden in your closet. You probably know the lyrics to every song. Do you cry when you hear him sing?” I lean forward, poking him in the ribs as I tease him.

“Yeah sure Lea, and I throw my underwear at him.”

I laugh as Ryan grabs my hands and pulls me forward and due to the size of Mike’s furniture I practically topple off the couch. I shout and laugh all at once as I land with one leg on the floor and the other in the air. I can feel Ryan shaking with laughter as he tries to pull me back onto my seat. I flail around like a handicapped ape before managing to heap myself onto Ryan’s lap. The miniature apartment is filled with the sounds of our laughter. God! I miss the feeling of laughing until your stomach cramped.

I calm down after a few minutes, my chest rising and falling from breathing heavily and cheeks paining from smiling. Ryan is grinning down at me while running his fingers through my hair.

Ryan’s voice is soft as he speaks, “Do you remember the day you turned seventeen. We were sitting at home eating junk and nursing bruises,” I nod my head remembering that day like it was yesterday, “I dared you to do something crazy. You ran to my room and came back holding a pair of scissors and grinning like a mad person. I thought you were about to slit my throat because I ate all the Skittles, but you dropped the scissors in my lap, plopped down in front of me and ordered me to and I quote, ‘Chop it off!’ It took me half an hour to cut all your hair off until you were left with nothing but uneven spikes.”

I’m chuckling, shaking my head as I remember how I had stared at my reflection for a full five minutes before laughing for ten. Ryan had been so afraid that I was going to freak out and kick his ass. The highlight of having my hair cut however came when I saw my mother the next day. I have never seen a person go so red so fast in my life.

“That was probably the best birthday I’ve ever had.” I say and watch Ryan’s eyes darken as his face turns serious. I feel my own smile fall away as I remember what else happened that day. It was the day that shifted our relationship. The day we thought that maybe we could be more than friends. 

“Do you regret it?” Ryan’s voice is a whisper and I know he isn’t talking about my hairdo.

I swallow, attempting to get past the lump stuck in my throat. I gaze up into the blue eyes of my best friend. Handsome is too mild a word to use to describe him. When Ryan smiles, he was breath taking.

“Never.” I whisper back, finding it difficult to think while lying with my head in his lap and his fingers in my hair. I will never regret what we did that night and it had been truly a special night. My feelings for Ryan however lost its sense of direction after that night and it sometimes fluctuated at times like these. I love Ryan with all my heart but it lacked an ingredient. What that ingredient was, I had no idea.