One Shots

I Dare You (PG-13)

A/N: Inspired by the user PaperWork, although it isn't exactly how you asked it to be (sorry!) 

                                            I Dare You

   I sighed at the mess I was staring at in the mirror. I was attempting to flatten my hair down with a bit of water, considering it was sticking up all over the place like I'd just been flung through the air at two hundred miles per hour. It wasn't really working.

    I was so damn tired today. School was being a real drag, it was only second period break so I had fifteen minutes to get myself together enough to face another classroom full of wild teenagers. I was already starting to get a dull ache from the mere thought of it.

    I ran my fingers under the running water and then through my hair once more. One last attempt to try and tame the dull strands of hair that used to be a dark brown. The dye had soon wore off, and I didn't have the money to keep up with maintaining the colour.

    It was then that the door to the restroom opened. I had otherwise been alone, but now I was joined by a taller boy, he had a little more length to his legs than me, who headed straight for the urinals. I watched his back in the mirror, my hands had returned to the running water in order to make it look like I was washing my hands and not just standing there like a moron.

    As he approached the sinks by my side, I quickly squirted some soap into my palms and washed them off, taking slightly longer than usual due to being distracted by the fact that I frigging knew this guy. I'd sort of recognised him as soon as he walked in, but it was when I saw his face clearly that it hit me.

    We had classes together all last year, but we never really spoke. Well, he just never seemed to acknowledge me, really. I'd crushed on him for far too long, and I was just beginning to let go of my hopes of ever getting to know the guy, now that we no longer shared classes.

    Life clearly had other, more frustrating plans for me as we were now sharing sinks in the damn toilets where I'd spent far too much time hiding and thinking about him and god damn just wishing he would look at me. At least just look at me. See me. Smile at me? I don't know, was that pushing it?

    I almost choked when I glanced back up at the mirror to see his eyes staring back at me, brown irises matching mine almost identically. He'd noticed my presence for once, and there was a smile on his lips. It was slight, but it was there. I smiled back at him and then ducked my head timidly.

    “You hiding from the chaos out there?” He said, drying his hands with a paper towel, balling it up and tossing it in the bin once he was done with it.

     “Yeah,” I rubbed at my eyes awkwardly. “Too tired to deal with it all today.”

   “Yeah, I get that.” His smile grew a little wider. It made my chest tighten. “I know you from somewhere, don't I?”

    I leaned against the sink and crossed my ankles, trying to appear calm and casual as I said, “We had classes together last year, I think.” I don't think, I know. I didn't want to come across too eager, though.

    “Oh, really? What's your name?”

    “Ryan Wentworth.”

    “Wentworth, yeah! I remember hearing that quite a lot. You had a pretty shitty attention span. Teachers were always calling out your name, telling you to focus.”

    My cheeks very nearly turned pink. He actually remembered something about me. I didn't know how to react so I simply laughed, averting his gaze. Eventually the silence between us stretched for far too long, so I had to think of something to say.