It was Saturday morning already, and Jaxon was all set to go back to college. I was going to miss him, though. Mum and dad had already hugged him goodbye inside, but I escorted him out to his car.
"I'm going to miss you," I whispered, watching him throw his bag into the passenger's seat.
"Going to miss you too, little sis." He gave me a tight hug and then got in his car. I watched him drive off and waved at him. Guess it would be just me now.
I went back upstairs to my room and got started on my homework; I had a ton of them. Lauren said Ryan was going to pick me up by four, so I wanted to be done before then, and maybe get a quick nap.
Mid-way through with it, I got a call from Alex.
"What's up?"
"Hey, you coming for Charlie's party tonight? What do you say I pick you up by eight." She offered but I wasn't interested.
"Nope. Not going." I declined.
"But why?! Jane isn't going; you aren't going, then who's going to come with me?!" She whined like a ten-year-old.
"I can't, Alex. I have...things to do today," I answered hesitantly. I didn't want to tell her I was going over to Ryan's.
"What things?" She sounded suspicious.
"Just things." I could still make it after leaving Ryan's place, but I just didn't want to go.
"Ugh...you're boring. Just know if anything happened to me, it's both you and Jane's fault for abandoning me." I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me. She was such a drama queen.
"Bye, Alex."
"Wait..." I cut the call before she could say anything else.
By 3:20, I had a long shower. By 3:40, I was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a black wrap top. By 3:55, I was biting my fingernails out of nervousness, and by 4:05, I had already changed my top five times, trying to find the perfect one. Now I was wearing a black top with three red hearts on it.
I was nervous as a girl on her first date!
Okay, just relax, Sam. He's only picking you up so that you could go over and help his mum out, that's all. Remember what Alex said, just talk it out with him, and everything's going to be okay.
But then why did my heart feel like it was about to launch out from my throat at the thought of him coming here to pick me up? It was already eight minutes after four, what was taking him so long?
I sat there for another five minutes before I heard a knock on my door, almost giving me a heart attack.
"You okay, honey?" My mum stood by the doorway, curiously staring at me, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I'm good." I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, then. Ryan's here already." And my heart attack was back. I tried to calm my erratic beating heart and act normal as I got up, pocket my phone, and glided towards the door. I had already told mum before about Lauren asking me to help out, and she had been cool with it.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Mum asked again, with a worried look on her face. "Your look a little bit pale."
"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She doesn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything either as I followed her downstairs.
Ryan was seated leisurely in his car outside, looking as handsome as ever with his hair slightly disheveled. I felt goosebumps crawl up my arm, and my palm became sweaty just by looking at him. My mum followed me out, offering him a smile.
"You take good care of her for me, Ryan," Mum said while patting my hair.
"I will, Mrs. Kendall." He flashed his set of pearly white teeth at us, making him look gorgeous. He was acting like we were on perfectly good terms, and nothing is wrong.
I slid into the passenger's seat waving at her, as Ryan drove off.
We both were silent for a while, none of us attempted at a conversation. I peeked a glance at him through the corner of my eye and watched as his muscles budge when steering the steering wheel. He kept staring at the road, not once glancing at me.
I recollected all Alex had said then. We needed to talk it out. It was really bad for us to keep acting like kids, even kids made up. And I missed my best friend.
"Ryan?" I called out but got no reply or reaction, but I did notice his hand tightening on the steering wheels.
"Ryan, we need to talk," I said softly, and hoped he was even listening to me. But still, nothing.
"Ryan, look..."
"I don't want to talk." He deadpanned, making me frown.
"But we need to..."
"I said I don't want to talk!" This time he glared at me, and I could see the anger etched all over his face. Why was he so angry at me? He was the one who said I was ignoring him, and now he didn't even want to speak with me.
He stared back at the road, while I kept quiet and could feel the tears forming in my eyes. What did he want from me? Did he want me to talk to him or leave me alone? Just because I left him he was treating me like an enemy. I could feel tesrs pool in my eyes and my heart squeeze painfully in my chest at the thought of that.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, till we reached his home. He stormed out of the car, slamming the door shut in anger while leaving me seated in the car.
After a few seconds, I also got out, and before I got to the front door, Lauren was already there with a worried look on her face.
"I saw Ryan storm in looking angry. I hope he didn't do anything stupid?" She asked worriedly, then ushered me in..
"No, I'm fine," I assured her.
"Okay, then. How have you been?" I followed her into the kitchen, which was already filled with so many ingredients and foodstuffs. I guess we would be doing a lot of cooking.
"I'm fine."
"What of your grandma? How was she before you left?" She sat at the head of the dining table, and I took a seat near her too.
"She was better when I left. I call her every day to check up on her."
"That's good. Let's get cooking then."
And with that, we started making dinner. It turned out some of the business associates were vegetarians while some weren't, so we had to make different meals that they could choose from. She also wanted to impress them because her husband was trying to make a deal with their companies.
While cooking, we chatted a little about my stay at my grandma's and even fashion. She might be in her late thirties, but she sure acted like she was twenty, and talked like one too.
Kira kept sneaking in to steal some cookies, or some other snack, then she blabbered on for a little while before skipping away. Then she would come back and repeat the cycle.
"It's been long I've talked this much with anyone. Everyone around here is never at home, and when they are, they coop themselves up in their room. Except for Kira, she's a handful." Lauren added with a chuckle, and I joined her. It was good talking with her..
"Oh, yeah. That reminds me. Are you and Ryan...okay?" So far Ryan hadn't come here which I'm glad of, but when she said that, I paused and kept quiet. Were we okay? Of course not! We were far from okay.
"Look, I don't know what happened between you two, but I want you to know something." She stopped what she was doing and faced me. " As a kid, Ryan wasn't always the talkative type or the friendly type. He doesn't bring friends home, though I'm sure he had at school. But he never brought home, and he had been extremely shy and always cooped himself up in his room." She paused for a moment to check if no one was around while I stood listening to her.
"But then when you came around, he changed...a lot. He was extremely happy whenever you came to visit, and he always wanted to go visit you. He wanted to go out anywhere, as long as you were there, and even though he was still shy, he was different whenever you were around. He always wanted to impress you, and I thought my baby was finally able to act normal around his mates without fear." She paused again, and I could see a smile on her face as she recalled those days.
"But then when you left, I kept hoping he was okay. He had already built his courage. But then I saw him returning to his former self, that empty shell of his where he didn't want anything to do with the world, and I tried to bring him out of that place, but I guess I wasn't as effective as you." I didn't know what to say, so I only looked down at my feet, feeling my cheeks warm up at her narration. Was what she was saying true?
"You know puberty hit him very late." Yes, I did. Ryan had been too short when he was little, but he had a big brain then. "But when it did, he came home one day saying he wanted to try out for football, and I was so happy that he wanted to finally do something for once. He even came and introduced his girlfriend to us, and I was so happy for him even though I didn't like her." She muttered the last part, and I couldn't help but smile a little.
"But something was still missing, a spark. That spark he always had in his eyes whenever you were there. I haven't seen it in him for a long time, and I guess maybe it's because only you could bring out that spark. Football...girlfriend..these things couldn't complete with the work you did.
"Listen, as I said before, I don't know much that happened between you two that you stopped you both from being friends, but you need to talk it out." Why was everyone saying that? How can you talk things out with someone who doesn't want to talk?
"I know he still cares for you, he's just...angry. If you want to talk to him, his room is the third one on the right." She motioned to the stairs before she went back to cooking, while I stood there, staring at the stairs with a forlorn look.
Is all she said really true? Had I really had an affect on him? I know he affected me...a lot.
Should I go up and try my luck to see if he wanted to listen? But what if he yelled at me again? Then what?
I think I should finish cooking first and deal with that later, even though I know Lauren wouldn't mind me leaving her to go meet him.
Before seven, we were done cooking but the business associates weren't here yet with Joseph Adams. Lauren said he called and mentioned they would be running a bit late.
I thought since we were done, I should go up and talk with Ryan, but before I could try to, he sauntered down the stairs dressed casually but it was obvious he was heading out.
"Mum? I'm going over to Jenny's, will be back before eleven." He announced, and I don't know why, but tears pool in my eyes at the thought of him going over to that bitch's place, and I could feel a dull ache in my heart.
"Okay, dear. Just be careful." He was already out before she could even complete her sentence, and he didn't even once glance at me.
I felt like crying at how he ignored me while that...that bitch was enjoying all of his attention. I didn't know why, but I hated Jenny so much now.
"Should I call a cab for you?" Lauren offered, with a sympathetic look on her face, I guess she noticed my reaction.
"Not to worry, Lauren. I'll be okay." I declined before heading out, while I heard her say goodbye, but I couldn't answer because my throat was clogged with tears.
God, what was wrong with me? Why was I so emotional over a little stuff? Was it my period? It wasn't near, but it could still be it.
I needed to get my mind of all of this. I needed something to distract me from thinking of Ryan, so I called Alex.
"Hey, what's up?" She was the first to speak.
"About that party...you still going?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah I am. You coming too? That's so awesome, I'm going to come pick you up." She squealed and didn't even wait for me to speak.
"I'm not at home. Could you hurry in picking me up. I'll text you the address."
"Not to worry. I was already on my way to the party so I'll just turn around and come pick you up." She said before hanging up.
I texted her the address and decided to wait back in with Lauren.
I only hoped I knew what I was doing.