"SO, I'M GUESSING you didn't know where the music room was?" Ryan crossed her arms and huffed, slightly annoyed.
Tate gave her that huge speech about how he faced challenges head on and how he'd already agreed to help the 'devil' but he still managed to forget all about it by lunchtime.
She brought him to a small corner, and by now almost all of the students should've already taken their seat for lunch. So that was one thing Ryan didn't have to be worried about.
Tate mirrored her annoyed expression and crossed his arms as well. It was kind of odd to see an ALH student without the blazer (as the white shirt was such a contrast from their obsidian blazer) but she and everyone else was used to Tate not wearing it.
"Jesus, I'm sorry okay? I got a bit distracted." He held his hands up in surrender and annoyance and Ryan tried to hold in her anger of being ignored.
"Whatever I guess, I must be really forgettable if you managed to forget about me even before lunch." She muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing." She muttered again. Her phone started vibrating in her pocket and the blonde took it out, her expression turning from annoyance to extreme, absolute disdain.
Her Stepmother.
She gulped and swallowed bile back down as her phone kept ringing. Her hands shook slightly and she wondered if her dad would get mad at her if she didn't answer.
If she didn't, her stepmother would've snitched to her dad about Ryan's attitude.
"Ryan? Are you â uh going to answer that?" Tate's anger seemed to have subsided and to Ryan's surprise (there was no ending it with him) his mouth was slightly agape and his forest green eyes were staring at her confused.
His gaze was aimed towards her waist â no, it was aimed at her hands which were still slightly shaking.
Without thinking she accepted it and she held up a finger to Tate, motioning for him to wait. She turned the other way and spoke gently to the receiver, hoping to god that her step mother couldn't hear the annoyance in her voice.
"Hello?" Victoria Sawson reciprocated, her gentle voice filled Ryan's ear. "Ryan? Sweetie why didn't you answer sooner?"
"My bad stepmother, I was just busy eating lunch." This time Ryan was unable to retain her disdain for the soft spoken woman that was married to her father.
She couldn't believe her. What if she was in class? Only Ryan would get in trouble, not her. Briefly she wondered if that was the reason she called, but she dismissed it.
"Oh no I'm so sorry."
Ryan blew hot air. "It's fine. So, do you want anything from me?" She gritted her teeth in frustration. She could feel Tate's gaze on her but she also sensed that he wasn't trying to pry or anything.
Which she found hilarious for a second, considering the only reason she's even in his line of sight is because she pried into his life and got him here.
"Oh not really," she replied cheerfully. Ryan found her patience growing thin. "You rarely call home, so your dad and I were a bit worried."
"It's only been four days since I left home." She deadpanned, she put her free hand on her hip in annoyance.
"Well yes but â "
"I need to go stepmother, lunch break is almost over and I need to finish my food." She cut her off and lied smoothly before ending the call, not bothering to hear Victoria Sawson's reply.
She sighed and turned, "Sorry." She said.
Tate shrugged and then crossed his arms. "You know," he said lazily. "I still don't know what you want to achieve through this."
Ryan stiffened. "It's none of your business."
"My sister is none of your business. But I guess we can't have what we want right?"
He struck a nerve. "You don't need to know anything. All you have to do is do what I tell you to do." She persisted, crossing her arms as well.
Tate's lips formed into a snicker. "Either you tell me or I'm going to guess that you probably have a big crush on one of my friends and the only way you can get close to him is through me. Let me tell you, introducing yourself as my girlfriend isn't going to make whoever like you."
Blood rushed to her face. "Believe me," she snapped. "I'm not gunning for one of your friends. I'd rather die than be associated with any of you. I just need to get close, that's all you need to know."
"Why would you need me then? Or was I the easiest one to get dirt on?" He laughed bitterly. Ryan wanted to slap him across the face. He definitely wasn't as easy to handle as she thought he would.
"That's not it, it has to â"
"Then you don't need me. Why don't you just find someone else to help your crimes? Or to get popularity or whatever." He snapped back, green eyes glistening as natural rays of light struck through the cracks of the windows.
"It has to be you." She replied quietly. "It could only be you, only you would've helped me. Or understood."
He fell silent. Before he was about to reply the warning bell rang, and Ryan jumped in surprise.
"I gotta go," he brushed some strands of hair away from his forehead. "Mr. Barso doesn't like it when I'm late." Without waiting to hear her reply he turned and walked away.
Ryan waited until he was out of sight to slump on the ground, her legs buckling.
â¡Ì·â¡Ì·â¡Ì·
CARTER COVINGTON was bankrupt.
Not really but he was close to it. Ever since Covington Prep â the Covington Prep with so many years of lineage and prosperity â was shut down, his parents' source of income had reduced to well, zero.
He had already had a talk with the Headmaster, and for once the man was agreeable to a condition that entailed Carter to have a full scholarship, considering that it was his last year.
It was surprising that he was able to come to such pleasant terms but Carter had to give it to his parents' name for that.
Now his problem was the rest of the formalities that came with being bankrupt. It was no surprise that Carter was unfamiliar with not having cash at his beck and call. (unless his dad cut him off, which happened quite often)
He still had his trust fund, but it wasn't accessible until he was 25, which obviously wasn't going to happen soon.
It doesn't matter if we're close to being bankrupt. We have our name, and that's the most important thing. Our name is the one that generates money.
His dad had managed to calm him down by it, but he knew money would be slightly tight unless his parents found another job.
They had wealth of course, scores of houses around the world and their bank still had money in it. There was no income, that was all. No flowing money and eventually, the money they had, no matter how much would still run out.
His mother would be far too proud to sell any of the vacant and lonely houses they owned and he doubted that his parents could seek another job at the academic industry.
Till then, he'd have to hold out on any reckless partying.
He sighed.
â¡Ì·â¡Ì·â¡Ì·
CARTER'S HAND reached out to wipe sweat off his forehead. The homecoming game was almost a month away but that didn't stop his coach from forcing him and his teammates through hell.
"Hey man, you okay?" Tate put his hand on Carter's shoulder, an action that was probably sparked from the annoyed expression on Carter's face.
"Yeah, definitely. Just a little out of breath today." He replied breathlessly, opening up his locker.
"Huh." Tate said, his forest eyes narrowing. Sweat trickled down from his temple to his chin, stopping for a millisecond before dropping again to his collarbone in small doses.
"You should worry about yourself Tate, I heard about your failing grades." He shot a pointed look at the brown haired boy. Despite Tate asking Carter if he's okay, Carter wanted to know if Tate was okay.
Eye-bags decorated the bottom of his eyes and there was this sort of sadness that emanated from him. He briefly wondered why.
Tate chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. "It's one subject. No person alive can balance both football and studies. I promised the Head I'd pull it up."
"You better," He muttered in response.
Before Tate could respond, Tim called out to Tate from the other end of the room. He shrugged, waved to Carter and left.
Carter slumped against his locker, tired. Instead of freshening up he spent his idle time checking his phone. He could always go back to his dorm room and take a wash.
"Carter."
Carter looked up to see Tate looming over him. He hadn't changed his clothes either and his gym bag still hung on his shoulder like he was also planning on freshening up in his room.
"What's up?" He asked, standing up.
Tate rubbed his neck awkwardly. "You know where Ryan is?"
He let out a noise of surprise even though he didn't mean to, and then he remembered. Ryan's rite of passage.
Carter cleared his throat while Tate sent him an exasperated look. He wondered how that went. When Aanya had told him about it, firstly he was surprised because Ryan had always limited herself to only talking to Carter when it came to the football team.
Secondly he was hesitant because he knew Tate. He knew what kind of person his friend was. And what he knew was that Tate wasn't interested in dating or anything remotely romantic because he had other problems to deal with.
He tried to not let his curiosity show as he answered smoothly, telling Tate where Ryan would most likely be during twilight.
"Thanks," was all Tate said before walking out of the boys locker room in haste.
â¡Ì·â¡Ì·â¡Ì·
TATE FOUND Ryan perched on the rooftop of the senior dorm building, her eyes solely focused on identifying the different shades and hues of colors that painted the sky as twilight dawned.
"What's your favorite time of day?" Ryan asked breezily, acknowledging Tate without looking his way. When he deigned not answer she looked at him, raising a brow.
He snorted before pushing all of his support on the railing that overlooked the faraway busy streets of New York. ALH took up more than a few blocks in the Big Apple but because of the enormity of the school, NYC traffic sounds were foreign to one's ear during the school year.
"Haven't thought about it." He replied finally, answering her question.
"I love the breaking of dawn." She said. "I know some people prefer sunsets more but there's beauty when you think there's only darkness and then suddenly, suddenly dawn arrives. It's hope, for some people I guess."
Tate didn't know why she was explaining all of this. She had this faraway look in her eyes, like she might grab the railing and jump immediately in order to reach the horizon that was disappearing with every minute. Night was approaching.
"Why do you want my help?" He asked. "And why'd you feel the need to do it like, this?" He waved his hand around to emphasize his point, his brows furrowed.
"It's not like I'm unapproachable or anything," he muttered.
Ryan looked at him, her hand grasping the railing. "What did you want me to say? Oh hi Tate would you give me a hand in helping with my personal vendetta? Yeah thank you so much." She belittled, gritting her teeth.
"What? Your personal â"
"It doesn't matter. You already agreed, are you gonna go back on your promise?" She cut him off, sending him a pointed look.
"I was never gonna go back on it! I just want to know why." He shouted, anger weeping through his veins.
"You don't need to know why. And that's final." She snapped at him, her blue orbs narrowing down. She flipped her hair and walked off, stomping on each and every step in fury.
â¡Ì·â¡Ì·â¡Ì·
Oh look, it's a quick update on this !!
I wrote this one as fast as I could,
but with much care to thank you
guys cause I reached 1k followers !!
Like that's so wild I couldn't even
imagine it and I'm just casually
opening up my app and then boom!
Thank you so much for your support
I love you xx On another side
note, I'm so sorry if these updates
are boring it's just because I'm
not a fan of fast paced stories
and I sure am not a fan of
unrealistic situations.
(Ok maybe just a bit)
â Din