I couldn’t stop grinning as I hopped into Kyle’s car, unable to take my mind off Ryan being jealous of Kyle. I knew he wouldn’t admit it, but it was so obvious! His face was just so comical, and unbelievably beautiful at the same time. The corners of my lips suddenly sunk, realizing that I was away from Ryan now. How long would it take him to get back? I was getting way too attached – he needed to live his own life. I wondered what would happen when I started school again. That meant less time spent with Ryan, and I was too much of a chicken to start skipping school. Ryan seemed to be a little responsible, so I’m sure he wouldn’t be impressed if I started missing out on my education just because of him. Sinead would murder me if she found out, anyways.
‘I really can’t believe you’re still a virgin,’ Kyle chuckled out of nowhere, turning the corner away from Ryan’s apartment. ‘Virgin. I wonder what Ryan was thinking … I didn’t think he’d start going after good girls, unless you’re lying … He’s usually a badass, you know? You’re a highschooler, and everything! Virgin!’
I gasped, staring at him. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You’re seventeen years old and you’re a virgin! Going to be a senior and you’re still a virgin!’ he was now laughing at me. Who the hell did he think he was? ‘How can you live like that? I lost my virginity when I was only –’
‘How the hell would you know?’ I demanded, blushing furiously. Immediately I wished I hadn’t got into his cool, fancy red car. The red was amazing on it. I didn’t even know what it was called, but it was quite a sporty car. Probably really expensive. And fast, of course. My stomach churned, my nails digging into my seat for support. It was like a death-trap.
‘You’re not even denying it. That’s adorable. Don’t worry, I’m sure Ryan will change that for you soon enough,’ he winked, causing me to blush furiously. ‘Let me guess, Ryan was your first kiss too, huh?’
‘You don’t even know me! Stop speaking to me like that!’ I nearly yelled, my temper now raising rapidly in embarrassment. How dare he tease me just because I was still a virgin! I was so angry!
He glanced at me and then turned his attention back to the road ahead of us. ‘You know, Ryan told me nearly absolutely everything so far. In fact, when he rang me last night he never stopped talking about you. I’ve never seen him so excited about a girl before.’
‘He doesn’t even know me –!’
‘Yet he claims that he’s in love with you. That’s funny. Well, I’ve never heard of it happening to anyone I know before. Then again, trust Ryan to get himself into something like this. What are yous, Romeo and Juliet, or something?’
I glared at him, unbuckling my seatbelt. He was the second person to compare us to Romeo and Juliet. I didn’t like it one bit – I didn’t want my relationship to end in tragedy. Although, we were being crazily alike the two of them. We were being rash and impulsive. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ryan proposed to me today. That was how Romeo and Juliet went like, right? I pushed the thoughts of a wedding away, nearly laughing at my own stupidity. We only knew each other three days now. He was also in love with me. Or was he joking … ? Why did I always think of worst-case scenarios? Anger was an understatement of how I was feeling at that thought.
‘What’re you doing, crazy woman? Planning to jump out of my car? Jeez, it’s not that bad. Do you always do this?’ Kyle asked, grabbing the belt and buckling it again. I tried to push him away, but, he was much stronger than me. I huffed, feeling helpless. Maybe I needed to start kick-boxing lessons soon, or something …
‘Let me out – I’d rather walk home.’
‘Do you know which way to go?’ he grinned, cocking an eyebrow. ‘Where do you live, anyway? Ryan told me it was near the park –’
‘Just drive and leave me alone,’ I growled, realizing I barely had a clue about where I was, even though I thought I knew this town like the back of my hand. Were we even in the same town? I wasn’t paying much attention on my way to Ryan’s, too busy staring at him and trying not to throw up with the speed of his driving.
Kyle suddenly took a sharp turn, causing me to swerve violently to the left, slamming my already aching head against the window. ‘Whoops,’ he chuckled.
I glared at him. ‘Now I understand how Ryan doesn’t get along well with you. I actually can’t believe how annoying you can be in less than fifteen minutes!’
Kyle laughed. ‘You know, he actually thinks of me as his bestest friend in the world. Soon enough you’ll be thinking that of me, too.’
‘Bestest isn’t even a word,’ I snapped. ‘And, I already have best friends. None of them are as bloody tormenting as you! In fact, you’re nothing at all compared to them!’
‘Do I look or sound like I care?’
My words echoed in my head. I was being so mean, too mean actually. ‘Sorry, Kyle, I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. It’s not fair … Haven’t a clue what’s gotten into me …’
He chuckled. ‘It’s okay, Laura. I’m only joking. It would be nice if we were friends, though, don’t you think?’
I nodded, smiling meekly.
‘It’d make Ryan jealous too if he saw you with me,’ he added with a wink.
‘Kyle,’ I warned, rolling my eyes.
We were silent for a few more moments after that, and I tried to occupy myself by looking out the window. Millions of trees were shooting past us, making me realize how fast we were going. Just as I was about to tell him to slow down, he interrupted me.
‘You’re really pretty, you know.’
In shock, I unbuckled my seatbelt again. I couldn’t believe he just said that. I was going out with Ryan, for crying out loud! Besides that, I wasn’t even pretty. No one ever called me pretty, especially not male. What was wrong with him? Maybe he needed glasses … He didn’t even have the excuse of being my boyfriend.
‘So I call you pretty and you try to kill yourself again. You don’t even thank me … You’re really funny, you know that? It’s no wonder that Ryan loves you. Hey, I think I’m even starting to like you.’
I blinked at him, unable to talk for a moment. My mouth opened and closed, making me look like I was a goldfish. ‘I’m not pretty.’
‘No, you’re not,’ he snickered.
I stared at him.
‘I’m only joking,’ Kyle chuckled, taking another sharp turn. ‘Is it okay if I stop off at the grocery store? My dad wants me to buy him some milk for him before I get home … You don’t mind, right?’
I shook my head, still not able to talk. He frowned at me for a moment, before switching his gaze back to the road. I heaved a long sigh and flopped my head back onto the seat, closing my eyes. His driving was making me feel dangerously sick. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I thought of Ryan. I wondered where he had to go … Would Kyle tell me if I asked him? Why didn’t Ryan tell me in the first place? Maybe if Ryan didn’t want to tell me, Kyle wouldn’t. Or would he? Would Ryan get angry if he told me? Why was it such a secret? Or was it a secret? Was I over-reacting? Yeah, I was probably just being paranoid … but usually people told you where they had to go if they had to be somewhere … Was he hiding something from me?
‘Kyle, where did Ryan go?’ I asked, after a minute or so of internally debating myself.
‘I thought you’d never ask!’ Kyle laughed. ‘Um … why do you have your eyes closed?’ he added in a confused tone.
‘You drive crazy. Answer my question.’
Kyle suddenly pressed a pedal with his foot, slowing the car down, a terribly awkward silence between us. I drummed my fingers along my thigh, wondering when he’d eventually decide to answer me.
‘I can’t tell you,’ he finally said. I peeped my eyes open to look at him. He was biting his bottom lip nervously. ‘I’m sorry, Laura, but I can’t say a thing about it. He’ll basically kill me if you find out. All of them will kill me if you find out …’
My heart seemed to drop down to the bottom of my stomach. I shook my head as the words sunk in. ‘He has another girlfriend already …’ I whispered, feeling the blood rush down from my face. Soon anger pulsed through my veins, and my heart ached horribly in sadness and betrayal. ‘That absolute jerk. I can’t believe it! But I should’ve known … There’s no chance in hell that he’d be interested in m–!’
Kyle pulled up beside the entrance grocery store. ‘No! No, he has no girlfriend! You’re his girlfriend! You’re his only girlfriend! It’s nothing like that! I promise, there’s no even females involved!’ he told me, looking more worried by the second. ‘Don’t even think that at all! Jeez, it could ruin it all for the both of you. Can we please just change the subject … quickly?’
I frowned. ‘So he has no girlfriends … That’s good, I suppose … Was it a job interview, then?’ I guessed, ignoring him.
‘Nope.’
‘He was going to be late for work?’
‘No. He doesn’t even work.’
I raised my eyebrows. A twenty-one-year-old man not working? That wouldn’t have pleased my dad. I gulped. Not the time to think about him now! ‘Late for college?’ I tried again.
‘Doesn’t go to college. Look, if you keep guessing, I’m still going to say no even if you get it right, although I doubt you will. Just let it go, Laura. Ryan might tell you when he’s ready, or you could find out by yourself …’
‘How can I find out by myself? You won’t even tell me!’
‘Do you want to come into the store with me?’ he said, opening his door and completely ignoring my question.
I jumped out without hesitation, hoping that he’d answer my questions if I kept pestering him. ‘So, if Ryan has no job, how can he afford a car like that?’
‘I’m not going to tell you. Now stop asking me questions,’ Kyle said stubbornly, leading the way to the door. I followed behind him, thinking of a way to persuade him to tell me. I really hadn’t a clue. I wasn’t what you’d call the manipulative type. Maybe if I begged him he’d give in … I wasn’t good at the puppy dog eyes, but it was worth a try.
‘Oh, Kyle, please tell me. Honestly, it’s harmless. I barely know anything about him yet, so it’s only fair if someone tells me a tiny bit about him. Won’t you just tell me? We can be the bestbestest friends in the whole world,’ I pleaded, now finding it hard to catch up with his fast pace. I looked down at his hand and grabbed it, hoping that he’d stop trying to run away from me. To my surprise, instead of pulling away, he stopped on the spot, nearly causing me to knock into him.
‘Laura, I’m not the one to tell you anything. Just ask Ryan. It’s simple. I just can’t say a thing about him. I mean, I’m his best friend. You wouldn’t do something that your best friend specifically told you not to do behind their back, would you? It’s just really complicated.’
‘Why is he making such a big deal about it, though? The two of you are acting like it’s a big, dark secret!’
‘Well maybe it is. Now, let’s go,’ Kyle said, dragging me into the shop by my hand. ‘No more questions, okay?’
‘What does Ryan do in his spare time?’ I asked curiously, completely ignoring him.
Maybe if Kyle told me it’d give me a clue to what Ryan’s little secret is. I wondered why he didn’t go to college or work. What if he was a vampire? Seriously, what the hell was wrong with me? I really needed to get over the Twilight Saga.
I knew for a fact that Sinead wouldn’t be too happy about Ryan when she found out. I wasn’t too happy about it, either. Well, maybe he could watch the kids while I went out to work. I clapped my hand to my forehead. I had to stop thinking like this! Who said he was going to be a part of my future? Who said I was going to have children with this stranger that I’ve only known for three days? I was so stupid!
‘He just hangs around with me, and stuff like that,’ Kyle shrugged. I wondered what the ‘stuff like that’ were … Just as I was about to ask him, he interrupted me. ‘Are you feeling okay? Why do you have your hand on your head?’
‘I’ve just got a stupid headache,’ I lied.
‘Do you want me to buy you some Tylenol? I think there’s some around the corner. Hold on and I’ll grab some milk …’
‘No, it’s fine. Thanks,’ I smiled, following him down the dairy aisle. I had never actually been in this grocery store before. Where were we?
‘Um … what milk should I get?’
‘I don’t know,’ I shrugged. ‘Milk is milk to me. I only use it for cups of tea, though. I don’t really like the taste of it.’ Why was I rambling on about milk with him? Gosh, I was getting so strange. Maybe Ryan was having a bad influence on me. Well, after all, I was crazy in love! I shook my head. Nope. I wasn’t. Only three days did I know him, and that was certainly not enough time to fall in love with a man.
Kyle frowned for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He reached towards some semi-skimmed milk, but stopped, his hand moving to hover over some buttermilk.
‘Don’t buy that – it tastes absolutely disgusting,’ I told him, grimacing. ‘Well, it actually made me puke the first time I tasted it.’
‘I thought you said milk is milk?’
‘Okay, then. Every milk but buttermilk is milk,’ I laughed. Why was I laughing with him? Wasn’t he just annoying the hell out of me only a few minutes ago?
‘Laura?’ said a voice.
‘What, Kyle?’ I frowned.
He turned around, frowning at me. ‘I didn’t say anything?’
‘Laura?’ said the voice again. It wasn’t Kyle, but someone on the other side of me. I turned around to face Travis. That didn’t make sense. ‘Laura, what’re you doing here? Why aren’t you with Sinead?’
‘Trav, what’re you doing here?’ I said, equally confused.
Travis’ eyes flickered to Kyle beside me and his shopping basket full of groceries dropped. It landed painfully on my feet. I screamed in agony, sinking to the floor to get the metal off my poor little toes. Travis nor Kyle even bothered to react. Was I now suddenly invisible, or something? My toes could have been broken, for crying out loud!
‘What’re you doing here?’ Kyle growled, sounding absolutely furious as he glared at Travis.
My eyebrows raised at his tone. What was going on? Did they know each other? I rubbed my toes soothingly for one last time before standing up. Kyle’s hands were clenched into fists. My mouth popped open in shock.
‘What the hell is wrong with you two?’ I demanded, standing between them.
Travis pushed me gently out of the way, his eyes fixed on Kyle. ‘Shh for a minute, Laura.’
‘Don’t tell me to –!’
‘Laura!’ the two of them yelled at me.
I inhaled sharply, my eyes widening. I looked between the two of them, trying to think of a way to stop them fighting, or whatever they were planning to do. This was crazy. Why were they so hostile towards each other? Why wasn’t no one explaining anything already? My patience only stretched a little, this was going too far.
‘What are you doing with Laura? How do you know her?’ Travis ordered, still not bothering to pick up his basket and all his groceries that had spilled all across the floor. I decided to bend down and pick them up.
‘How do you know her?’ Kyle hissed.
‘I’m her sister’s boyfriend!’
‘Well I’m her boyfriend’s best friend!’
‘What?’
‘Trav, I already told you about Ryan!’ I cried in frustration. ‘You were the first person I told about Ryan!’
‘That Ryan! You never told me it was that Ryan! Laura!’
‘Well, who else do you know that’s called Ryan Morris? Sorry if I can’t read your bloody mind, Trav –!’
‘Laura, we’re going now,’ Travis told me, picking up his basket and grabbing my hand.
I yanked it out of his grip and refused to walk any further. ‘Oh no I am not! Neither of you have even explained yourselves yet! Tell me what’s going on right now!’ I yelled, stomping down my foot childishly.
Kyle and Travis both stared at me, their eyebrows raised and jaws dropped to the ground. Being the usual and stupid me, I blushed at the sudden attention. However, despite my warm cheeks, I glowered up at the both of them. Travis turned to Kyle.
‘I suppose Ryan hasn’t told her yet, has he?’ he sneered.
‘Told me what?’ I insisted. The two of them ignored me, Travis trying to shoo me away with his hand. I shoved it away in my temper. ‘Tell me what he’s hiding from me now!’
‘Hold on a second, have you told your girlfriend?’ Kyle scorned.
Travis opened his mouth to reply, but soon closed it, glancing nervously towards me. His hesitation made Kyle grin wider by the minute.
‘Why didn’t you tell her, Trav, afraid that it won’t make you look good? That’s all you care about, isn’t it? You and your so-called ‘good looks’. Yeah, well you’re an ugly little brute, that’s what you are. If your girlfriend finds out, I don’t think she’ll be impressed knowing what sort of shit you’ve done. In fact, she’d probably go running to the police and get us all into shit –’
Before Kyle could finish his sentence, Travis suddenly raised his hand and swiftly smashed his fist against Kyle’s jaw. I shrieked, rushing over to Kyle to push him away from Travis, who was now chasing after him. Kyle grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away, and, despite my attempts to protect him, he threw a punch right into Trav’s stomach. Travis groaned, but soon came launching at Kyle again. I screamed again, this time for help. Someone had to stop this, as I hadn’t got a clue. I was glued to the spot, staring in shock at the two of them.
About half of the grocery store soon came rushing over, including two security guards, who separated Kyle and Travis away from each other. I couldn’t talk, unable to understand what exactly had just happened. Immediately I hurried to Kyle’s side, staring incredulously at Travis. Kyle’s bottom lip was bleeding, so I reached into my pocket to get a tissue. I dabbed it carefully against his lips, the tissue soaking up the blood. He winced slightly.
‘Do we need to call the cops?’ said one of the security guards, glowering at the three of us. He was fat and baldy, while the other one was tall and skinny. I nearly giggled at the sight of them, before his words finally threatened me.
I shook my head violently. ‘No! We’re going now. I’m really so sorry about this. We’ll never come back here again. Promise. Come on, Kyle.’
I looked up at Kyle, who was nearly growling at Travis. He nodded reluctantly and turned around, grabbing my upper arm roughly. I struggled out of his painful grasp, my head fuzzy with confusion. Why did the two of them hate each other so much? Was Sinead going to find out? I was going to get into an awful amount of trouble, and so was Travis. I looked back over my shoulder to see a furious Travis being pulled back by the two security guards. He was actually trying to go after us. I couldn’t believe how angry I was at him!
This was just beyond crazy, and my questions needed answering. Whether they liked it or not.
*******
IT’S ANOTHER CHAPTER! :D Wow, it took me like three days to write this, and I’m still not happy about it … Oh well … My internet isn’t working in my mam’s house because my little sister threw the modem thingy in her big aquarium. I was so angry! She’s lucky to be alive because I really could have killed her. Au revoir!