A/N: btw this first two chapters are somewhat of a prologue so yeah just a heads-up
A/N #2: 'recess' is lunch. my bad; i aint american </3
And in case you haven't read the tags/description, this is a slow-burn wholesome bxb romance novel, so have fun :))
__________________________
Ryder
School. Ugh.
Actually, school is alright, I guess, because I can be with my friends and all (News Flash: living by yourself is very boring), but sitting down for seven hours and listening to teachers drone on and on? No thanks, I'd rather have Aunt Cam teach me again.
Being the first day of school today, Fernwood High has this tradition of doing a small play followed by an orientation. The plays are done by FHS Drama Club and it's usually the 'best' plays they've done. It's boring, honestly, and the plays get more ridiculous every year:
In Grade 9, they did one about a utopian future where robots and humans live in perfect harmony until one robot malfunctioned and started a revolution against humankind.
In Grade 10, they did a play about a dystopian future where robots and humans lived together but the robots were the ruling party and the humans had to work for them. Basically, it's the sequel to the previous year's play (not to mention kinda clichéd).
Then, last year, they did a one-man play about discovering the wonder of Las Vegas (to be honest, it's kinda funny, and the song's kinda catchy too). I wonder what this year would be, but I'll no doubt sleep through it (if I can).
"Ryder!" A voice greets me as I enter the canteen. Poe waves at me, his red hair sticking out everywhere as usual.
I start to walk towards our table but I am interrupted by the flow of students who just entered the school. The juniors this year are so short, you would've thought they were still elementary school kids. It's a miracle my level looks passable for high school students.
At our table, Vahn, Derek, Ethan and Poe are waiting for me and Nick. Typical Nick, always the last to arrive. I sit beside Poe and scroll through my Instagram feed mindlessly. A few minutes later, I feel a presence on my right side. I turn my head and I stare into Sinclair's crimson red eyes. ("Are those contacts?" I asked him when I first met him. "Nope." He told me, though I'm sure they were.)
I jump back, startled.
"Boo." He smiles, eyes twinkling with mirth, his jet black hair parted to the side.
"God, Sin, you atrocious knave." I swat him away like an irritating mosquito.
Sin laughs and ruffles my hair. "Cute," he says and sits beside Vahn. "Where's Nick?"
"He said he's coming soon," Ethan replies, not looking up from his phone.
He runs his hand through his sandy blonde hair and then he looks up, making eye contact with me. I shrug nonchalantly and return my gaze on my phone, though I feel my cheeks heating up. Sin snickers so I look up and stare daggers at him. It's not that I like Ethan or anything, I mean, making accidental eye contact is embarrassing enough, right? Plus, he's not my type, and he's got a girlfriend from some other school. But he does look good in that navy blue polo shirt. Sin wiggles his eyebrows at me teasingly.
"Shut up, Oliver." I sneer and Sinclair scowls at me. Calling Sin by his middle name is the only way to make him stop. Vahn snorts and Sin punches his arm. Derek starts to make a comment just to be extra but I don't listen.
I hate Derek Mitchell with such a fervent passion usually reserved for the sun and paedophiles and math since grade 10. It's just that he's just shitty at being a decent human being, and I hate him for that.
Then, blessedly, Nick finally arrives and we all go to the hall.
*
The play was surprisingly okay. It started with a guy texting a random number by accident and ended up falling in love with the woman he was texting. Then they decided to meet up in this small restaurant in town and there was this cheesy candlelit dinner shit and then the big bomb:
"So, what's your full name, Ana?" The guy - Jack - asked her. (What kind of question is that? Probably not a candlelit-dinner question, I guess.)
"Annabelle Worthington," Ana replied, then Jack's eyes widened - the actor playing Jack was so bad at portraying shock, I almost cracked up - and said, "But that's my last name too! Jack Worthington."
Then they consulted Jack's mother and she wept at the sight of Ana and said, "Ana! Oh my sweet- Ana, baby, I can't believe you're alive." Jack and Ana were so confused so Jack's mom explained that when she was a teenager, she had an unexpected pregnancy and she had to give that baby - Ana - away, but her dad put Ana in a small tub and left little Ana to die at sea. (Pretty cruel, honestly.) (And besides, isn't that, like, an 18th-century thing?) A huge storm came the next day, so it's natural to assume little Ana drowned that day, but here she is, miraculously alive and unknowingly in love with her brother. The play ended with Jack and Ana dramatically parting ways and ridiculously sad music playing in the background. Overall, the acting and the music are bad but the plot's okay, I guess.
Yelp review 3.5/5.
*
Our new homeroom teacher, Miss Laura, starts roll call. Miss Laura is a thirty-something, petite (like two heads shorter than me) woman and has medium-length wavy brown hair.
Her eyes meet mine for a moment before flitting away, narrowing slightly. I sigh. She must've heard from the other teachers about all the atrocities I've done, but I don't care. Most of the teachers here hates my guts but I'm fine with it; I mostly get away with my wits and good grades.
While she gets through the class list, I rest my head in my arms.
"Nicholas Harris?" she calls.
"Nick, here," Nick replies beside me.
"Poe Howarth?"
"Here."
"Pearl Wilkinson?"
"Here, Miss Laura."
"Ryder Anthony Dela Cruz?"
"Ryder, here," I say, grimacing inside. I hate my full name being called. I don't know why, I just do. She carries on with the roll call and after ending with Vahn, she plays a mini icebreaker with us. The rest of the day is pretty chill, no classwork, all games. It's still kind of lame but I'd rather do this than work.
*
Aunt Cam messages me sometime in the evening.
Aunt Cam: How's school?
Me: It's fine so far, Tita Cam
Aunt Cam: Any boy that caught your eye?
I kind of came out to my family last year, and Aunt Cam kept on trying to set me up with a boy from school, but he wasn't my type. Actually, I don't even know what my type is. Besides, I don't think I have enough brain cells and/or the balls to actually ask the hypothetical boy-I-like out. That's too much work.
Me: No one
Aunt Cam: I think you're joking.
Me: I'm not!
It's the truth. No boy has stood out to me yet. Yet. I quickly change the subject.
Me: I miss being taught by you because I don't actually have to go to school
Aunt Cam: I have my own class to teach, Ryder.
Aunt Cam is an English Literature teacher at Millerview University. She used to homeschool me until I was nine but sent me to real school because she was awful at fractions, and besides, I needed human interaction anyway.
Aunt Cam: I have to go now, Josh is crying again. Bye Ryder, good night.
Me: You too, Tita
I get up, make myself cheesy chicken baked-rice for dinner and rewatch the same series on Netflix. I should start watching those anime Sinclair has repeatedly recommended to me, but it's not really my thing. My thing is mostly low-key homoerotic hot British detectives and doctors.