Chapter 5
Ryder walked into the house after school and slammed the door shut behind him. I didn't ask him what was wrong since he seemed kind of mad. I just watched him from where I was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of fruit. I didn't go to school today because I had a check up at the hospital, so I had no idea why Ryder was so mad.
Thought if I could guess, I'd have to say Jerome was involved.
The door opened again and this time, Orchid and Alan walked inside. "Next time, wait until we're inside before you slam the door shut," Orchid said.
"You were inside," Ryder said.
"In the foyer," Orchid said. "Alan and I were following you up the stairs. We were right behind you."
"Yeah, if you want to be dramatic, just come in last so you can slam the door," Alan said.
Now I was getting a bit too curious about why Ryder was angry right now but I still didn't want to ask him. Ryder was a bit hard to approach when he was angry.
Orchid walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to find an after school snack, so I looked over at my sister. "What's up with Ryder?"
"Oh, he's mad because Jerome is coming over so they could work on their project," Orchid said. "Ryder wanted to go to Jerome's just so Jerome couldn't mess anything up here, but Jerome refused."
Ryder was listening to what Orchid was saying, so he looked over at us and said, "I also wanted to just stay at school, but he refused that as well."
"You could have said no to him coming here," Alan pointed out. "It's not like he can force his way in here. Wait, never mind, he probably would."
"And I really didn't want to argue about finding a place to work," Ryder said. "I just want to get this stupid project done and over with so I don't have to work with Jerome anymore. Speaking of, he's going to be here soon so I would make myself scarce if I were any of you."
"You know, I suddenly remembered that I promised Mom andDad I'd help them in the clinic today," Alan said.
"And I promised them I'd watch Tulip, William, and Rose," Orchid said, heading towards the stairs that led directly to the clinic. "That way, they can focus solely on the animals and... Yeah."
"Wait for me," Alan said, following Orchid down the stairs, so the only ones left here were me and Ryder.
I didn't move from my spot. I just continued eating out of the bowl of fruit I had in front of me. There was no reason why I should leave right now, especially because I had to eat and chances are, I'd still have to eat something after I was done the fruit.
Ryder looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed. "Aren't you going to find an excuse to leave?"
"No?" I said. "I'm..." I gestured to the bowl in front of me. "I'm eating."
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," Ryder said. I just gave Ryder's a thumbs up before grabbing a slice of banana out of the bowl, popping it into my mouth.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang so Ryder sighed heavily, heading down to the foyer to go answer it, knowing that it was Jerome. A few moments later, Ryder came back up with Jerome following him.
Ryder still didn't look pleased.
"There's going to be some rules with you here," Ryder said.
"Wow, it's just like I'm at school," Jerome said, making himself at home and flopping onto the couch. He propped his feet up on the coffee table, receiving a harsh glare from the table.
"I get you're not too happy about this project, but can you at least have a tiny bit of respect?" Ryder asked.
"I am showing some respect. If I didn't have any, I would have just walked into your house without ringing the doorbell, let alone knocking or texting you to let you know I'm here."
Ryder kicked Jerome's leg to get him to take it off the coffee table. "This is the only place you're going to be allowed. No going upstairs, and definitely no going downstairs to the clinic. I don't need you kicking puppies."
"Says the guy who just kicked the leg of an injured man."
"Your arm is injured, not your leg."
"And I'm surprised you didn't punch my arm."
"Of course I didn't. I'm not violent, like you."
"You get into fights with me all the time."
"You start them!"
I should probably try to stop the argument before it got out of hand but at the same time, it was kind of amusing me. This was some good entertainment, even better entertainment than the shows and movies I always watched.
So I just watched, eating the fruit in front of me.
Too bad Ryder took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Look. I don't want to work with you anymore than you want to work with me. Let's just get this project done and over with so you can leave my house."
"Awe, but I want to stay here," Jerome said. "See what your house is like. Find any secrets."
Ryder glared at Jerome. "This is exactly why I didn't want you here."
"Relax, I don't care about your life. Got anything to eat?"
"Not for you."
"You can at least be a bit hospitable."
"Again, not for you."
"That's rude," Jerome said, getting up from the couch. "Fine, I'll just get something myself." He walked over to the kitchen, opening the fridge to look for something to eat.
"And I'm the rude one?" Ryder asked.
"Pretty much. Ooh, you got chocolate cake."
Ryder walked over to the kitchen. He grabbed an apple, shoved it in Jerome's chest, said, "Eat that," before closing the fridge shut.
"You're not even going to offer a drink?" Jerome asked.
"Couch, now," Ryder said. "We're getting this stupid project done so you could leave."
As Ryder walked back over to the couch, Jerome leaned over to me. "Is he always this moody?" he asked in a voice that was slightly above a whisper.
However, Ryder heard him anyway and immediately turned to look at him. "No. Another rule is you're not allowed to talk to my brother. You're not even allowed to look at him." He then looked at me. "Although, he should really be anywhere else."
"You're being too overprotective," I said. "And, again, I'm eating."
"Can't you eat somewhere else?"
I moved stools so I was now sitting on the one beside the one I was previously on.
"Not what I meant."
I shrugged. He should have been specific.
Jerome walked over to the living room so he and Ryder could actually start their project instead of arguing the whole time. Though it probably wouldn't take long for them to start arguing again, especially since they were going to have to agree on everything they did otherwise they couldn't get anything done.
And I was right.
Not even ten minutes into their project, they started arguing about what route they should take. Ryder wanted them to write a paper and Jerome said he wanted to do anything but that. Neither of them bothered to listen to each other's points about why they should or shouldn't do it.
Now I was starting to see why Ryder was complaining about his teacher pairing them up. If you knew two students really didn't get along, why force them to work together?
Alan walked up the stairs from the clinic, seeing Ryder and Jerome arguing. He looked at me. "Is it safe to interrupt them?"
I shrugged. "Beats me. I haven't seen any of their arguments or fights before. But it's really entertaining." I popped a blueberry into my mouth. "Though it might be good to interrupt them before it breaks into a fight? Do they really physically fight often?"
"Oh, yeah," Alan said before walking over to them. "Ryder, Mom and Dad need your help in the clinic for a bit. They said it will take five minutes, max."
"Thank goodness," Ryder said, standing up from the couch. "I need a break."
"Take your time," Jerome said. "Really. Take an hour. Maybe even the whole day. I can just go home right now, in fact."
"Not when we barely got any work down," Ryder said. "This is due in a week and I'm not letting my grades fall because I got paired up with you." He started walking to the stairs but he stopped to look at Jerome. "Don't leave. Seriously. Don't go upstairs. Don't go downstairs. Don't even go into the kitchen. And again, don't talk to my brother."
"Sorry, what did you say?" Jerome asked. "I tend to tune you out when you talk."
Ryder gave a mocking laugh before walking down the stairs to the clinic.
"Well, I'm just gonna... be anywhere else," Alan said, heading there as well. He walked down a few steps before turning around and walking back up to look at me. "Oh, also Mom wanted me to tell you to drink some wheatgrass if you haven't done it yet."
I whined. "But I hate wheatgrass."
"She said it, I didn't," Alan said before walking back down the stairs.
I sighed heavily before standing off of the stool and grabbing the wheatgrass powder out of the cupboard. I hated the taste of it, but my doctor recommended I have some every day to help with my blood cells.
Jerome got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen, despite Ryder telling him not to go into the kitchen. "Are you doing okay?"
"Yeah," I said. "Why do you ask?"
"I didn't see you at school today," Jerome said.
I really didn't want to go into the details because it would mean having to talk about something I was ashamed of, something I still did no matter how hard I tried not to, so I just gave him a simple answer. "Doctors. So I heard you decided to throw paint in the teacher's lounge. And at my brother."
"Yeah, but that apparently wasn't enough to get people to stop talking about those false rumours about you," Jerome said. "So Brandon and I did the whole weed thing, but with fake cocaine this time. Now everyone's talking about how I was trying to sell coke at school."
I was scooping some of the wheatgrass powder into a glass, but I stopped and furrowed my eyebrows when he said that. "Wait... You... You did that just to get the rumours off of me?"
"Yep."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because the rumours were really bothering you, and I know what it's like to have to listen to false rumours about you. I mean, I personally ignore them but just because I can doesn't mean everyone else can. It's not easy."
"Yeah... It isn't... Well, thanks... For selling fake cocaine to get the rumours off me..."
"No problem," Jerome said. "So do you always just add some water to the wheatgrass powder."
"Yes, and it's disgusting."
"Why don't you add it to a fruit smoothie?"
"...Can I do that? I mean... Will I still get the benefits of the wheatgrass? Because that's the whole reason I'm suffering with the taste. I... kind of need it. Personally reasons but... Yeah. Sorry, I talk to much."
"You don't have to apologize for talking," Jerome said. "That's kind of how conversations work. And yeah, you can still have wheatgrass in fruit smoothies to get the benefits. The best part is the fruit masks the taste. I have it sometimes to give me a pick me up before I dance."
"Can you share a recipe with me?" I asked. "Because I really can't stand the taste."
"Sure," Jerome said before telling me some ingredients, and even helping me make it the way he did. I really hoped this turned out good because then I would actually have a reason to want to have this every day. Every single day.
Ryder came back up the stairs right as I was pouring the smoothie from the blender into a glass. "I thought I told you to stay out of the kitchen. And to not talk to my brother."
"You did, but I don't listen to anyone," Jerome said.
"Clearly," Ryder said. "Nolan, if he tries talking to you, ignore him. Please. He's bad. He was literally selling cocaine in school today."
"I can take care of myself," I said.
"I'm just--"
"Seriously. I don't need a babysitter. I'm fine."
"Okay," Ryder said. "Jerome, can we please get back to working on this project? And because I just want you out of my house faster, we'll do what you want for the project. I just want to get this done and over with."
"Wow, we actually have something in common," Jerome said.
___________________
jerome is already so soft for nolan <3 but who wouldn't be because like:
i still can't get over how perfect axel and maxence are for nolan and jerome. i kept saying i wouldn't change their cast again but then i just had to because they're perfect <3
also is it bad that i like skam france more than the og? i kept telling myself nothing would beat the og but, like, skam france.