Hold on for the Ride

Part Two

Once I got home, showered, and put on a little bit of makeup, I began my drive to Ryan's to pick him up. When I ran up to his door I thought I heard some screaming but I figured it was the neighbors. Before I could even knock, Ryan burst out from the door knocking me right in the face with the side of their outside door. He slammed it shut and then realized what he had done.

"Rose, oh my gosh! I didn't see you there, are you okay?"

"I'm good, but the real question is, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, see my eye is doing better Rose!" He said with a smirk.

"You're right," I made a straight face, "but are you really okay?"

"I'm fine, now let's go get my truck, I missed her!"

I rolled my eyes and started my vehicle up. On our way to Moe's Ryan played his favorite CD that I owned while singing as if he were in concert himself. I was cracking up the whole way. Either he was actually okay or he was really good at acting.

"Ry, do you just wanna pick your truck up after school? I think we'll be late if we go now."

"Okay, fine." He replied in a wining tone.

Upon arriving in the parking lot, he clutched his stomach while getting out of my car. I pretended not to notice, but I couldn't just let things like this go. Maybe he was just sore from practice. We walked into the front doors and then made our separate ways to homeroom. I walked in to my best friend Raya greeting me with her ever-present smile and a much needed hug.

"Rosalie, why didn't you tell me you were driving Ryan in? I saw you guys from the window!" She said with the excitement I don't think I could ever muster up at that hour in the morning.

"Oh, he just needed a ride, sorry I didn't inform you!" I said chuckling.

"Mhmm 'just needed a ride', sure. " She replied while air quoting her freshly painted nails.

"No really, Raya. It wasn't anything special."

"Okay-"

Then Mr. Nelson began to take lunch count and talk about the assembly we were having during seventh and eighth period that day.

"Hey quiet down! So anyways as I was saying, a woman will be coming in and-"

By this point I began to drown him out. I couldn't stop thinking about Ryan, I just cared too much about him. Why did he have a black eye? Why was he clutching his side? Was that yelling actually coming from his house? The more I thought about this, the more sick to my stomach I felt. I couldn't help it, Ryan meant too much to me. I just didn't want him to get annoyed by me. The day went on pretty slowly and anytime I saw Ryan in the halls he was looking down, and he was still wearing his jacket from that morning. It was pretty hot in the school building, I wasn't sure why he would still have it on.

When the early bell rang for sixth period I went to grab my books and noticed Ryan getting a drink from the water fountain, his Hoodie sleeve had slipped down his wrist a little bit and I noticed some red lines. Not just a couple, but a bunch, all the way down and I could tell they continued past where I could see. I couldn't believe my eyes, was he cutting himself? I ran off to Mrs. Carson's class before he could see me with tears in my eyes. I knew at that moment that I needed to talk to him before things got more serious.

I ran to my locker, packed up my backpack and then ran to the auditorium in a matter of minutes after sixth period ended. I caught Ryan just before he walked in. I grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him toward the hallway.

"Wow Rosalie, didn't know you were so strong? You alright there?"

I had giant tears filling my eyes and I'm pretty sure my face was all blotchy from holding back from crying the whole last period.

"Rose, do we need to talk?" He said, concerned.

I nodded and before we could make it out of sight I heard our principal walking down the hall saying that if anyone wasn't in the auditorium they'd get an automatic detention. I pulled him into the janitor's closet with me before Mr. Nero caught us. Ryan pulled the little string that lay just above our heads and the small room became enlightened immediately.

"Rose whatsup?"

"I want to know the same thing Ryan. You never told me what happened last night, I've been worried sick."

"I already told you, I don't remem-"

"Bull crap, I don't believe it one bit. You need to tell me."

"Rose, I don't remember."

I looked into his eyes and already began to regret what I was about to do, but I knew it was the only way to get his attention. As I reached for his arm, he grabbed my own and stopped it. He already knew my next move and stopped me in my tracks. I tore his hand away from my own and pulled his sleeve down. There before me lay a whole row of deep cuts in his arm. He couldn't even look at me.

"Ryan, you need to tell me what's going on, I can't let you live like this."

He turned around, sniffling and grabbing his nose, what he always did when trying to hold back his tears. His right hand pulled his jacket back over his arm. This was a sign to me, he just wanted to cover up his problems, I guess these things were too personal or important for me to understand. Suddenly he turned on his heels with tear streaks covering his face and grabbing my arms, saying,

"Rose, you would never understand. This isn't something for you to dig into, okay?"

He was about to walk out when we heard another group of teachers walk past, there was no way out of this. He looked to both sides, then down again.

"Okay listen Rosalie, I just don't want to talk about this right now, can we do it some other time? How about tonight, at your place?"

I nodded.