Robyn was shocked to find the door unlock when she reached her mum's flower shop. She had double-checked as she locked up the day before, as she did with everything. Her heart thumped and she cautiously stepped in. The back kitchen light was on. From the doorway, Ray emerged carrying a tray of cupcakes she had baked yesterday.
Her bag slipped from between her fingers.
"Good morning, Robyn," as if she wasn't already, Ray dazzled her with his smile.
"What--How?" She absent-mindedly reached for her bag and threw it by the cast iron chair, making her way to the counter.
"I met Laila yesterday when I went to pick you up," he looked down at her, still smiling, "and since I know you're being tutored, I offered to take care of this," he waved a palm around the space, "for you."
Robyn's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Or is it that you want to spy on Rick and I?"
Ray crossed his arms, leaning forward on the counter, "so what if I do?"
Before Robyn could utter her disbelief, the bell jingled and Rick made his entry.
"Morning--Ray?"
"Morning, Rick?"
Robyn shook her head and walked to her chair, taking a seat. She saw Rick give an awkward smile to Ray then he joined her.
Robyn shrugged before he could enquire anything. To that, Rick breathed a laugh, his dimple sinking deep on one cheek. Robyn smiled back, pulling her biology notes out.
They started going over their notes straight away. Every time Robyn would get stuck, Rick would slow down and walk her through the text again. More than the complexity of the subject, Robyn blamed Ray for her lack of concentration. His energy was palpable, making her extremely conscious of his sharp, blue eyes on her back.
The first customers brought in a gush of cold air with them. They were also sixth form students from a different, more posh school. The girls were dressed in smart, expensive looking clothes, their hair silky and lips painted red. They laughed with confidence, and upon seeing the boy behind the counter, they flicked their hair behind one shoulder and smiled charmingly.
It became even harder to concentrate. Especially when she would hear Ray pass a friendly comment at which the girls would giggle and shamelessly flirt.
"Hey, Robyn, are you with me?" Rick snapped his fingers under her nose.
She blinked back to her revision, taking a deep breath. "Yes, just trying to make sense of this," she lied, flipping a page. Her pen rolled off the table, falling behind her. Robyn rolled her eyes, feeling aggravated by the minute occurrence. She turned, and instinctively looked at Ray.
He was handing a drink to one of them, smiling. And then he winked. Robyn was certain she saw the girl's knees buckle. Grabbing her pen off the floor, she whipped back around to face Rick.
With the same patience and calm, he explained everything over again. Robyn tried her hardest to keep focused, but her mind wandered with every new customer. The hour dragged on, slowly and torturously. By the end of it, Robyn was uncomfortable to be sitting there. She wished her mother never had allowed Ray his temporary part-time voluntary job--or whatever it was.
Robyn didn't waste a second more when it was time for them to leave for school. She packed her things away hurrirdly and stood, heading for the door. She figured Ray would lock up since he had opened the shop, too.
"Robyn," Rick jogged up to her, fixing the shoulder straps of his bag, "what's the rush?"
He combed his fingers through his curly, brown hair. "Umm..." Rick slowed to a stop, making Robyn follow suit.
He glanced back at the shop, seeing Ray's tall, lean figure pulling the shutter down over the shop window.
"You coming with me? Or..."
"Yes, I am," she didn't think twice, her arms folded across her chest.
Rick smiled and nodded, leading the way to the bus stop. Robyn checked the time, tapping her foot on the pavement. In the next second, their bus rounded the corner. Her hand flew out, waving up and down as if that would make the bus reach faster. In its sweet time, the tires rolled to a stop and the doors swung in. At the same time, Ray jogged up behind her.
She walked in briskly, flashing her pass to the driver and went straight for the back end. Most of the seats were already taken by students from her school. The bus would be packed by the time they would reach.
She plopped down on the seat next to the aisle. Since the coach incident Robyn never sat next to the window--ever. She gave room for Rick to squeeze past to his seat next to her by the window.
The seconds that followed blended into a dejavu. Ray's heavy footsteps, his silhouette against the windscreen, the way everyone hushed and followed him with their eyes as he walked down the narrow aisle, to the back where Robyn was. Their eyes met, he looked down his nose at her and Robyn tilted her head up.
"No seat for me?" He questioned, his voice smooth, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.
She just shook her head and looked away, her arms folding tighter in her body.
From the corner of her eye, she saw his hand slide in his trouser pocket and his other arm reaching up to hold the strap for balance. He stood there, right next to her face. The bus started and his hips swayed back and forth.
Feeling her cheeks burn Robyn stood up, catching both him and Rick by surprise.
"Actually, you can sit here," she grabbed a pole and walked to the front before Ray would see her face. Robyn plugged her earphones in and played her songs on shuffle, never looking back at him through the rest of the ride.
"Ugh, why am I being so petty?"
Robyn let out an exasperated sigh, leaning back in her chair. She was in the art room, lucky to be there by herself. No one else would be comfortable listening in on her self-talk.
She was supposed to be with her class in another art room, but she insisted with her teacher to let her work in solitude. She didn't actually want to work alone, she just wanted to be by herself so she could talk through all her thoughts and emotions.
Her lesson would last another ten minutes before it would be lunch time. And then she would have to see him. She wasn't certain she was being or feeling normal yet to speak to him.
"Why does he have to be so--so--" Robyn rested her cheek on her palm, trying to grasp the right word. The way he smiles and looks at you, the way he talks, the way he carries himself, why did he have to be like that?
"...so himself." Robyn concluded, her hand sliding to rest on the table. What was the problem then, she wondered. Although he had asked her to trust him, how could she convince her heart. The weight of it landed on her, she had to trust him. As in, give her heart to him and trust that he would--
The buzzer shrieked, jerking her out of her reverie. Taking her time, she packed her things away and cleared her desk. As soon as she had left the building, she spotted Ray standing with his crew, on their spot under the willow trees and the picnic benches.
They had taken over both the benches, some sitting on the table. Most of them had their books out, trying to get some revision done since their exams started earlier than the rest of the school. Ray was leaning on the tree trunk, with Nick by his side. There was also Jasmine, Chloe, Caleb and the dreadful Trevor among a couple others she didn't know the names of.
The closer she walked to them, the more she questioned whether she should say hello and stay or ignore them walk past like she had somewhere else to go. She couldn't come to a decision in time, because someone called her name.
"All right, Robyn? Coming to hang out with us today?" Trevor smiled, creepily.
Robyn tried not to grimace. Shifting her weight, she looked at Ray and replied, "yes."
She registered Nick greeting her with a nod, but remained focus on a pair of deep, blue eyes. Ray held her gaze.
"Hello, Robyn," he greeted.
He's so formal sometimes, Robyn thought.
She faked a smile, and looked at the others. Jasmine didn't acknowledge her, which she found awkward. Caleb waved, Chloe and the other girls all ignored her although they had seen her join. Robyn didn't mind that, she barely knew who they were. They could have, at least, pretended to be friendly though.
Quickly, Robyn scanned her brain for something to say that would spark a conversation.
Finding something, she began, "so how's--"
"Oh my God," Jasmine interrupted, "have you seen Amanda's hair this morning?" From the corner of her eye, she looked down at Robyn, "it looks like a bird's nest," she finished.
The girls giggled, some stealing a quick glance at Robyn. Suddenly, Robyn felt conscious.
"Yeah, and its dyed so bright you can't miss it from a mile," Chloe added, while they others laughed.
Robyn's hair wasn't so bright, but it definitely stood out in a crowd. Feeling awkward, she looked at Ray. He seemed to be in a serious conversation with Nick, his body half turned away from the girls.
She turned just in time to see Chloe eye from head to toe.
"By the way, Robyn, is it true that you're dating Ray?" The way she emphasised 'you're' made Robyn feel inadequate being herself.
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a scoff.
"Are your serious?" Jasmine combed her fingers through her hair, letting it fall on one side of her face. "You know how he is. He doesn't date."
Frowning, Robyn started again, "actually--"
"Ugh, how could I forget?" Chloe laughed.
Robyn looked around, and to her surprise, found the spot where Ray was standing empty.
He left without saying?
"Speaking of Ray, what have you planned for him for this weekend?" One of the other girls asked.
"What's this weekend?" Robyn finally got out a complete sentence.
"Well, it's a surprise so don't tell him yet," Jasmine smiled.
Of course they'd ignore her.
"In fact, let's talk about it now. Want to go somewhere else?"
And like that, the little group walked away. No good byes, no waves. Robyn stood there a second longer, feeling stupid. But what had she even done to feel stupid? She took in a deep breath, adjusting her bag on her shoulders. She couldn't believe Jasmine was the same girl who had given her dinner, let her stay the night at her house and had drove her home only a couple weeks ago.
What had changed?
Curiosity got the best of her. If it was concerning Ray, Robyn couldn't not know what it was. After Jasmine had left her hanging she went to hunt down Nick. He was by himself, in the student admin office doing student admin work she guessed.
She got directly to the point with him, and learned that it was Ray's birthday that Saturday.
Robyn found solitude on the field, standing against a tree, eating her sandwich and thinking hard about what to do for Ray. It would be his first birthday with her, and she wanted to make it memorable. After a lot of pondering, she looked up at the sky in defeat.
And there, she found her answer.
Smiling, she finished her sandwich and pushed off the tree. She walked around, looking for Ray and found him under the same spot as before. This time though, Jasmine was clung to his side like a snake. Robyn pushed the discomfort aside but made a mental note to talk to him about that.
He was mid-conversation with Jasmine, but Robyn couldn't care less.
"Um, Ray?"
He looked at her, "yes?" Ray tried to pull his arm from Jasmine's grip, but she held tighter.
"Can I--"
"So you're coming over to my--"
"Ray, I need to speak to you, now," it came out more forcefully than Robyn intended, but she had had enough of being interrupted.
Jasmine reared back in surprise, "okay, chill," she held out her palm at Robyn, "he's not running away anywhere," she breathed a laugh, turning back to Ray.
He looked between her and Jasmine in confusion.
"As I was saying, you're coming over to my house on Saturday, right?"
He tried again to pull his arm free, and succeeded. "Yes, sure, I already said I would."
Jasmine smiled, "just needed to hear it once more."
Robyn's heart thumped wildly inside her chest, she was so consumed by rage.
"Hey, you wanted to speak to me?" He turned his full attention to Robyn, reaching out to touch her arm.
She stepped back.
"Actually, I just remembered something. I need to go."
The last thing she saw was a deep frown on his perfect skin. But she couldn't say what she had in mind now. Her steps were loud and heavy as she created distance between them.
Hey! How are you doing?
Hope you liked this chapter! I wanted the focus to be Robyn so we know how she really feels about Ray. At the moment she's extremely insecure and jealous lol and also a bit of a pushover when she's with Jasmine 🤔
What do you think Robyn's going to do for Ray's birthday, btw?
Anyway! Please vote/comment if you enjoyed reading ^-^ it would mean a lot to me.
I'll see you soon,
~ Mich♡