2.10: No history when you're with me
The pink haired girl was called Bella.
Which literally meant 'pretty'.
My name was April.
Which, literally meant April, the fourth month of twelve.
I was actually curious about the process of Bella's parents on choosing this name for her. Do parents of beautiful children know that their children would be beautiful? Is that why they were so confident that they'd choose the name 'Bella' for their wrinkly babies?
I mean, what if 'Bella' turned out to be a big-nosed, pimpled faced, genetically fat girl? Then everytime anyone called her name, she would feel like they were throwing them an insult.
But then again-
"So you're Ryder's girlfriend?" the manifestation of beauty talked to me, and who was I to get lost inside my own world when such creature bequeathed me her attention?
"Yes, yes I am!" I said as I bowed my head towards her. I heard that asian people liked to bow their heads. Confirmed from the few animes that I watched.
Bella and Ryder looked confused at my behavior.
"I thought that you'd like to see me bow," I explained myself, "because asians like to bow to each other. That, and I can't seem to look at your face for very long because that would inevitably remind me of my own uneven skin tone or boring dirty blonde hair."
That put a smile on Bella's face. She surely knew for sure that she was another level of beautiful. "No, no. You're so pretty, too. Finally, Ryder got himself a 'normal' girlfriend."
My eyes widened because I wouldn't consider myself the very definition of 'normal'. "I'm not normal. I irritate Ryder a lot because of my non-normalcy." I pondered about it. "In fact, sometimes I irritate myself because of my non-normalcy."
Bella raised her dark eyebrows. She pointed her index finger at me as she turned to Ryder.
"She's like that," Ryder said in a gentle voice. "She's got the innocence of a five year old."
"And you're a five year old when you're drunk!" I protested.
"I know, right!" Bella chipped in. She started ruffling Ryder's hair, and if my eyes didn't deceive me, Ryder's face started to form a dark shade of red. "He comes here whenever it's school holidays, bringing something to drink with me. But he's always the first to get drunk and do embarrassing things!"
I nodded, recalling the experience of him asking to sleep in my room after he got thrown out by his father for getting drunk on a school night. "Yeah, he asked to sleep with me once."
Ryder's face was now a semblance of healthy eggplant. "I'M NOT-"
Bella didn't lose a beat. "Yeah? Well, he asked me to kiss me once. We were just 12."
"12 year old kissing?" I scrunched my face because I couldn't even remember what my concern had been when I was that young. But I knew that they must have used too much tongue and too much saliva. "It must have been awful."
Bella smiled sweetly as she ruffled Ryder's hair even harder. "One time, he also confessed to me when he was drunk."
"He confessed about how he loved reading steamy Harlequin romance book?" I offered.
She squinted her eyes. "No..."
"He loved them so much! Did you know that? We live side by side and he never shows anyone that he's such a romantic, but he loves those 'girly' books and is actually a huge sucker for romance."
Bella was quiet for a few seconds as she glanced at Ryder. 'He was, wasn't he?"
"Bella," Ryder warned her.
"You know that he has a tattoo on of a bird on his left rib?" she asked me the obvious.
"Of course I do!" I replied excitedly, for I had witnessed it even before we ever interacted with each other. "The bird tattoo's so pretty."
For some reason, Bella kept turning her right hand back and forth towards me. The expression on her pale pretty face was unreadable, but nevertheless beautiful. I wondered if she modelled on Instagram and got effortless money that way. It seemed that a lot of pretty girls do that these days.
"You have the very identical bird tattoo," I said to her.
There was a really huge smile on her lips. I almost wanted to give a friendly advice to her to not smile that way. She had a naturally cute face, but nobody could pull off that kind of extra-huge lipped smile.
"I know, right," she linked arms with Ryder. "We got it together."
I stared at her, and then at Ryder. I didn't know their full story yet, but it seemed like they were so close, and Ryder had had a crush on her. It hurt me in ways I thought I wouldn't get hurt. It made me feel vulnerable, invisible, and once again I was reminded that even though he was my Precious Person and I was his, there had been a time when we weren't anything to each other.
"That's... really cool," I cringed at myself because how obviously fake I sounded. It wasn't that cool. In fact, it was actually scary. Getting a tattoo means that you willingly let a stranger prick your skin over and over again in a form of a picture (or words, if that's more to your liking). It must felt like hell, and it must took weeks for your skin to heal.
"I didn't really want it," Bella said, "But Ryder insisted."
"Bella," Ryder sighed. "Just stop it. You're-"
"We're just talking throwback times," Bella intercepted him.
"Listen, I know that we have a lot of... history, but that doesn't mean-"
"Can I get one too?" I said, not really listening to their childhood bickering.
Both Ryder and Bella blinked.
"Come again?" Bella's mouth moved so fast she spit a little.
"April?" Ryder took my hand, and the warmth from his body brought me back to a familiar place. I sighed, finally realizing the tension on my shoulders. For the last ten minutes and thirty three seconds, I hadn't been breathing freely, holding my breath in the face of a statusque beauty. Bella's obvious past with Ryder did make me wonder, but the way he held my hand now and not hers assured me.
I grasped the back of Ryder's head and then kissed him a little bit on his lips. Normally, I wouldn't even do this when there was someone around, but I was so overwhelmed with feelings. I felt so free after holding my breath for so long. There was a beautiful girl any guy would have chosen instead of me, but still Ryder preferred to hold my sweaty, clammy hand. I bet even Bella's hands were soft and smooth and she never sweat her whole life.
I smiled at Ryder, and then smiled at Bella.
"I want to get the bird tattoo, too," I announced to both of them. "I want to be part of your closeness."
And then Ryder started to guffaw uncontrollably.
-
-
-
"I'm really sorry."
I already lost count on how many times Ryder had said it, which was quite a feat to me because my mind automatically count things if there was even a single repetition.
And this said a lot.
Ryder had never been one to say sorry. In the months when we started dating (lol that word dating. For more than 2000 years we lived, and in the end, humanity decided that the word 'dating' is enough to describe two people getting together?), I could count in one hand on how many times he had said 'sorry' to me.
Now he had already said it more than seven times before I told my brain to stop counting.
"I didn't know that she'd say those things to you," Ryder bit his lips. "Most of them weren't even true! I was literally speechless." He bit his lips so many times that they were red. I liked seeing his lips red, because the kind of 'just bitten' red-lips was wholly different than the whole instagram-lippie-hoopla that I'd been secretly stalking.
"Sure," I reminded myself to say something. It was polite to at least let out monosylabble grunt in amidst of someone else's apology. But then my mind, and my eyes were set on his very red lips.
"There's nothing between us. Never have. Never will," he was still frantic. And with every sentence, he bit his lips nervously.
"If you keep doing that, you'd be bleeding," I pointed out the obvious.
"If I don't keep apologizing, then I'm afraid you wouldn't understand." He totally missed my point. But there it was; the winning lip-biting! Ah, if only my hands were fast enough to grab a camera and then freeze the moment. It truly was a memento material I had there!
"That's just how she is, okay? Bella's pretty and she knows it and she wants to-"
"I know it, too," I said.
"Argh," there was frustration in the guttural sound that Ryder let out. "What I mean is, what she did to you was the exact reason why she never has female friends." At this point, he shot dagger glares towards the pink haired girl.
Bella had been quiet all this time, but I came to realize that her silence wasn't without sacrifice. Her feet was tapping on the floor quite violently, and I could hear her chewing gum as if she wanted to grind her pretty teeth.
"Look," she finally stalked over the both of us and I could see Ryder visibly flinched at her presence. "I just swallowed my gum and then threw it up back into my mouth. That's how nauseating your conversation is."
"That's not sanitary," I commented. "There might be a lot of bacterias inside your mouth now."
Ryder nodded. "Thank God we only kissed once, years ago."
"The thing is, I was just messing with you, sister," Bella raised her hand to show me her bird tattoo. "This? We got this not as a couple, but as friends. There's another friend who had this stupid bird tattoo. Ugh. Can I just cover it up with something cooler?"
"W-Wait, so..." I didn't know why but I started to stammer. "You three were in a triangle relationship?"
"It's called polyamorous relationship, and no, you idiot," Bella flicked my forehead. "I was just messing with you. I like to check on any girl who tries to get into Ryder's pants. Make sure she's at least a 7 in terms of guts and look. That's just how things are since we were kids."
"Se-se-seven?!" I blurted out, suddenly aware of my own numbers. I knew I wasn't laden with crippling insecurity. I can safely say that I was a 10 in the movie-analysis department and a 9 in clothing department (my large array of My Little Pony t-shirts proved that). But in comparison of this asian barbie, I might be lucky to get an overall score of 4.
"You're not being nice, Bella," Ryder said.
"And were you being nice to Kyle, or Zach, or Chad?" Bella retorted.
"For fuck's sake, Bella. Even those names screams mediocrity and 'no-job-but-got-drugs' lifestyle. I don't know why you always choose the biggest losers."
Bella flicked her pink hair. I was curious on how many times she had to bleach it to get it that light. "As if you didn't. First you got yourself an insecure af cheerleader, and then a sick 30 year old. And now-"
There was something akin to murderous glare on Ryder's eyes as Bella squeaked the last two words, suddenly losing her previous zest.
"You upgraded a bit to this girl," Bella finished. She turned to me. "I bet the late Mr. Black didn't like you."
I remembered the puke-and-run incident. "I imagine whenever he plays the harp from heaven, it's titled 'Curse You April For Dating My Only Son'."
There was a snort coming out from Bella's mouth, before then she stopped herself. "At least she's quite funny."
"You know how I feel about her, Bella. You don't get to say anything that's less than 'amazing' when it's concerning April."
"Ah, drop the protective boyfriend act. I'm not who you should be worried about," Bella took a chair beside me and then propped her feet onto the desk. There was another tattoo on the inside of her thigh. This girl must have been a huge lover of pain. "Your grandma's going home in a few hours. That's why you brought both me and her here, right?"
There was a groan coming from Ryder's mouth.
Bella's phone rang (she owned a really old iphone model when the design was still super bulky) and she stormed away from the room.
"Must be her 'current' boyfriend," Ryder commented. "If you must know, my childhood friend changes her boyfriend once a week."
"I thought you were one of the lot," I said, and then finding myself imagining little Bella and little Ryder running around together with matching tattoos. It seemed cute, if only it didn't pierce my chest like I had just willingly walk into a spear.
"We were just kids, April. It's nothing like that."
"I... I bet she was your first kiss," I said, imagining how it must had felt. Ryder had been my first kiss, and he was my first everything, including my first hug with a boy that didn't involve my family. "But I'm not your first anything. I don't think I'm even your first 'hug'."
"Wait, so you put 'hugging' in a higher priority list than 'kissing'?" Ryder commented. When I pouted because it should be obvious, he chuckled.
Hhrrrr.
"I want to be your first something," I said, and then surprised myself because I was being so bold just like the pretty girls on teenage tv-shows. "And I know I'm not your first love, because you did love Linda." (*The ex-girlfriend who died from cancer.)
My body temperature suddenly went up when I felt Ryder's hand on my cheek. It was one of those rare times he touched me without permission. I was about to protest, but then stopped myself. "You know, I almost thought you're starting to nag," there was a small smile on Ryder's reddish lips. "I really want you to nag me, sometimes."
I didn't like where this is going. I wanted to stop him from saying more words, and thus I put a hand onto his mouth. He caught my hand and then kissed my knuckle instead.
Right now, I imagine that my insides yelling MAYDAY because my body heat reached maximum. I believed if this went on for another minute, my head would form a volcano crater.
"But you're not nagging, are you? You're just saying whatever comes in your head. Without filter."
Ryder kissed my knuckle again. Volcano rising. I believed it was his revenge because I had been too bold before.
"So you're not my first everything," he whispered on my hand, "but you raised every standard that I previously had. On kissing, touching," he paused and then smiled at me. "And yes, even hugging."
At this point, I was basically a human potato.
"B-But I'm a noob. You taught me everything," I said.
"Then it seems that you're surprisingly an expert. That, or I just like you so much better than the girls I used to date."
"I don't like thinking about that," I pouted. "I don't like thinking that you used to hug and kiss other girls other than me."
"So why don't we stop that train of thoughts?" he said as he put his hand over my eyes, effectively darkening my sight, and then pressed his lips unto mine.
Just like that, I forgot everything. Ask me about when Sherlock Holmes were born, and I'd forget. Ask me about all the fan-theories about Star Wars, and I'd gape in nothingness. I was lost in Ryder's embrace, and all of a sudden, my chest felt like it was about to explode.
He hugged me, and just a moment later, I was up in the air. He guided my legs so that they circled his hard torso, and then he pressed me against the wall.
"Waa!" I flailed my arms, afraid that I might fall. "I-I'm flying?"
He shushed me, and then kissed me deeper than before. And the sensation... felt different. Since he still had his hand over my eyes, all I could see was darkness. This heightened my other senses. The smell of his neck overwhelmed my thoughts, and when his teeth bit the skin on my shoulder, I gasped.
"W-What are you doing?" I panted.
"What? This?" Ryder sucked on my neck, and I gasped even harder. I could feel his mouth forming a smile on my skin.
"You're playing with my body!" I pounded on his shoulder. "You're taking advantage of my extreme sensitivity to your touch! You're-"
He pressed me even harder to the wall, and that was when, much to my dismay, all languages were lost on me.
"That's a really cute voice you're making, April," Bella's voice suddenly broke the magic.
We scrambled away from each other, although I still found it hard to talk or think of anything.
"Okay, so we only have.. What? Around 2 hours before Nai-Nai comes home. You want to continue your... ah, little adventure?" Bella chewed on her gum, and her eyes seemed even more slanted than the usual. "I can wait."
"I don't mind a little audience," Ryder challenged her.
There was a sadistic glint on Bella's dark eyes. "And I don't mind commenting on every single thing you're doing to each other. WOOT, here comes Ryder, propping April up to the wall! Now April here is flailing her arms and then kissing him back with such rigorous fervor! Ooohh yeah baby, suck those luscious lips. Whoopsie, Ryder, I think you got a little too excited there-"
"Okay, okay!" Ryder exclaimed. "We get it. Let's just get started."
"What start?" I was still in a half daze. "Start what?"
"You said that Mr. Black -bless him- didn't like you?" Bella shot me a pretty glare.
I nodded because I couldn't trust myself to say anything without sounding too broken.
"So here's what you gotta do, my sweet white April," Bella tipped my chin and then stared at me square in the eyes. Her eyeliners were symmetrical and inhumanly even on both eyes. "imagine Mr. Black, but ten times scarier with a zero soft spot on anything. That's what Ryder's going to introduce you with today."
"S-Sounds like a super-villain."
"Super villain? No way, sister, it's fucking worse. Alyssa Phillipe Valencia Black is one scary-ass Dragon Lady. Even I'm afraid of her, and I've dated two gangsters from different gangs before."
"Wow," I said. "So you have three grandmothers?"
"It's just one," Ryder sighed. "Although yeah, she's got all the scary qualities of three domineering, annoying, headstrong grandmothers."
"And since you seem and sound like a wimpy asshat with slushy ass, Ryder called me here," Bella pounded herself on the chest. "To toughen you up a bit before you meet the Dragon Lady."
"Sorry," I heard Ryder whispered on my ears. As I felt his breath on me, my knees turned into jelly.
But this time, my mind was clear. Clearly in panic-mode.
Yeah, you better say sorry this time, mister.
-
-
-
AN:
i'm excited to write about Ryder's grandmother!
thank you for all the comments and votes for the last chapter <3 <3 what's your favorite part of this chapter? please tell me so that i'd know which kind of things i should add :) after all, a story should make its readers happy when reading. sorry if the plot is rather slow, i'm just introducing each of the characters and the situation so that when the moment comes, it will all be worth it. :)
I'm also making a new story called NO SAVING NEEDED. It's a little darker, with a much more badder female main character and even badder guy character. Check it out <3
don't forget to comment and vote :D
mwah <3