" the beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you. "
—————
a book clattering on ryan's desk jolted him from his slumber. the incoherent mumbling coming from him was enough to tell jody that he was, at least, waking up.
"what the hell?" he asked, gradually coming to his senses. jody ignored his obvious fatigue and slammed the book open, emitting a loud groan from the boy.
"i went to the library earlier and found this." she said, flicking through the pages with a delicacy that only a book lover could posses.
ryan glanced over at his alarm clock, "earlier? it's nine am." he remarked in disbelief.
"so?" jody shrugged in reply, already moving on, "anyway, it's this old book that teaches the importance of self control. i skimmed a few pages earlier and i think it could really help." she smiled.
ryan ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "okay then. how are we gonna do this? it would look kind of suspicious if we were suddenly buddy - buddy and always staying in my room."
jody pulled a face before replying, "let's go into the kitchen then. it's a warm day so no one's likely to be inside. besides," she wiggled her eyebrows with a giddy smile, "it's better to hide in plain sight."
—————
"jeez, ryan. it's not that difficult." jody groaned, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes.
ryan rolled his own in annoyance, "yeah, not for you. you have no way of knowing if this would actually work for you." he gestured at the book to emphasise his point.
jody sighed, not wanting to admit aloud that he was right, "i'll get another towel." she said tiredly, glancing at the water covered table.
ryan put his head in his hands. they had been reading through the book for hours and he was desperately bored by this point. to be fair, it had helped him control it to an extent, but the techniques didn't always work. jody assured him that practice would help him to get better.
as jody was grabbing a towel, floss decided to enter the kitchen. ryan froze for a second but the girl completely ignored the mess on the table and headed for the biscuit tin. once again, jody seemed to be right. hiding in plane sight really is just as effective.
jody sat back in her chair and lay the towel over the puddle of water before reading through the book again. they only sat like that for a few more seconds until they were interrupted.
"has anyone seen charlie?" mike asked as he entered the kitchen. both ryan and jody shook their heads, not bothering to look up from the book.
floss shrugged before walking out, chocolate biscuits in hand. mike sighed and began mumbling to himself in worry, "she always comes back on time. what's changed?"
jody and ryan shared a look. mike was right, charlie was known around the house for being obsessed with cleanliness and always being on time. something had to be wrong for her to miss her curfew.
just as mike began filling a glass up with water, the front door opened. he immediately placed it on the side and quickly headed over to the door.
ryan bit his lip. that was not the reaction mike had given him the day he had died.
he tried to ignore the thought as jody grabbed his wrist and pulled him up from the the table, but like a leech it was still clinging to the back of his mind. he knew he wasn't the most likeable person, but surely he had deserved a concerned 'are you okay?'. was that too much to ask?
jody stared at him for a second as they walked. she opened her mouth to speak but decided against it, a nagging part of her already knew what was wrong. instead, she merely gripped his wrist a little bit tighter and hoped he saw it as comforting.
they stopped and circled the front door, along with the other residents as charlie walked in. to put it simply, the girl looked like a mess. her clothes were dirtied and there were a few tear tracks still visible on her face, to top it all off her bag was missing. it didn't take a genius to figure out she had been mugged.
mike and may li rushed around her, telling everyone to give her some space although no one did. the pity filling the room was almost suffocating to ryan and it wasn't even directed at him. well, not all of it. jody wasn't as subtle as she liked to think she was.
out of the corner of his eye, ryan saw tyler frowning at him slightly. he shifted his gaze to his and jody's interlocked hands and internally rolled his eyes at the frizzy haired boy. it would be more of a shock to ryan if something happened between him and jody.
he looked back at the scene before him and chewed on the inside of his cheek. he felt awful that this happened to her, he really did. he just couldn't help but ask himself where she was when he had died. (where were they all?)
it was selfish and a shitty thing to wonder but god, it was the only thing he could think about. they didn't even know the real story, but they didn't know charlie's either.
the only difference between their stories is that they all cared about what happened to charlie, even his own sister looked on with pity, not the disgust she held in her eyes when she saw him. the realisation was a real blow to the chest.
ryan watched alex run over to the shaken girl when she stumbled and wrapped an arm around her waist, taking her hand and helping her into the lounge to sit down.
a pang of jealousy shot through his heart but he instantly ignored it. the poor girl had been mugged, what gave him the right to feel bad for himself? (everything.)
he looked down on himself with shame. whilst he was too busy thinking about himself, charlie had been fighting off an attacker, probably terrified out of her mind.
(they never looked down on themselves. whilst they were too busy thinking about themselves, ryan had lost his life to the rushing water, terrified out of his mind.)
as everyone filtered into the lounge, he and jody stayed in the doorway and watched on quietly. she noticed ryan's down hearted aura and quietly spoke up, "penny for your thoughts?" she asked, holding out the coin for him to take.
he smiled lightly, despite himself, and replied, "i just wish i could've done something. i mean, charlie and everyone here are the closest things to a friend that i've ever had," he admitted, looking away from jody's pitiful gaze, "the worst part is most of them don't even like me. sad, i know." he scoffed, picking at the rips in his skinny jeans.
"i like you," jody offered, punching his arm jokingly, "you're funny and smart, two things i never really noticed about you before."
ryan huffed out a small laugh, no humour evident in his tone, "you only like me now because it was you who walked in on me freaking out. if it were anyone else, i'd just be saying this to them and you would still hate me." he murmured cynically.
jody opened her mouth to argue but no words came out. he had hit the nail on the head. she lowered her head slightly, feeling awful about all the times she had ever been mean or distant towards him, "maybe you're right. maybe, if it had worked out differently, you could be talking to candi - rose or taz or anyone. that's the thing though, it didn't work out differently, ryan. i'm here now and that's not going to change."
ryan finally glanced at her, eyes slightly glassy but she didn't question it. he turned away again before speaking up once more, "i've been thinking." he began.
jody followed his line of sight, unsurprised to see him watching alex and charlie's interactions. another wave of pity crashed over her for the boy. nothing ever seemed to go his way.
"maybe..." he murmured in thought, jolting jody from her muse. she turned to him in curiosity as he spoke, "maybe i could do something. no one else is going to step up, right?"
"i guess not." jody answered him, unsure how to approach his vague question without sparking any bad ideas in his head.
ryan sighed when he saw her expression and crossed his arms self consciously, explaining what he meant, "i just- i don't want to be another freak, jodes. i mean, look at me," he gestured to himself with one hand, "now that i can do all of this, when stuff like that," he nodded his head towards charlie, noting the way she hung her head, "happens, i feel like a damn coward because i know i could at least try and help."
jody paused for a second, trying to gather if the boy was being serious or not. when she decided that his face showed no sign of lying, an ear - splitting grin made its way onto her face, "i was hoping you'd say that."
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ik this has been a pretty slow start but i don't believe in the 'oh i discovered i had superpowers an hour ago time to save a bank' crap. i mean, you've gotta at least get used to the idea for a few days and then make a thought through decision, let alone figure out what you can actually do, yano?
lol i'm not dead, just lazy. sorry for the wait