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I'm nervous.
I've been practicing running long distances from the past few days, always finding ways to walk instead of using my car, for instead, I jogged to the grocery store instead of driving, ran to school every morning instead of taking a lift from Tanner or Ridge. I've been working really hard to win this.
I sigh loudly, putting on my running shoes. Ridge barges in the girls locker room, making everyone present here including me gasp in surprise. He ignores the stares and strides towards me, a bright smile on his face. "Hey baby, you ready?"
I give him a nervous smile, nodding my head. "I guess I am."
"You sound nervous." He murmurs, taking a step forward, holding my hand in his. "Don't tell me that you're getting cold feet."
I roll my eyes, giving him a determined grin. "Lydia Herrington never backs down from a challenge honey."
"I know." He smirks, encircling his arms around my waist, pulling me close. "I know it very well."
I throw my arms around his neck. "So, why are you here? You know that it's the girls locker room, right?"
"Do you really think that it can stop me from coming to you? To make sure that you're all prepared and alright?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "You've been running around every where these past few days. And today is the day you can prove yourself to the entire school. So, I wanted to wish you all the best."
I give him a cheeky grin, pressing my lips to his. He smiles against my mouth, kissing me back softly, savoring the moment. I don't care about the girls in the room, watching us not so subtly, because I have this boy in my arms.
I pull away, biting my lip nervously. "I'm scared though. What if I don't win?"
"The Lydia I know never loses. The Lydia I know always wins, be it a challenge or someone's heart. The Lydia I know doesn't get nervous or scared during difficult times. The Lydia I know is the strongest. The Lydia I know is not the one who doubts herself. So, bring that Lydia out of you, give your best shot out there and make me proud." He whispers, kissing my head softly.
I close my eyes for a moment, his words hitting me hard. He is right. I do not get nervous. I'm better than that. I wrap my arms around him, hugging him tight. "Thank you. You always know how to make me feel better."
"I aim to please, babe." He retorts, quoting my words from a few days back. I roll my eyes at him.
"Thank you for the boost of confidence though." I whisper against his lips. He smiles and presses his lips to mine one last time before pulling away.
"Now go and get ready! It's almost show time." He passes me a wink and walks out of the room, leaving all the girls fangirling behind.
"Girl, he's got it bad." Gemma, a fellow participant squeals just as he's out of the door.
"True, and the fact that he's so beautiful. You're lucky Lydia." Natalie exclaims, a dreamy sigh escaping her lips.
"Heyy, eyes off my man." I retort, trying to come out authoritative but I'm laughing along with them. Lucky? That I am. The luckiest person on earth to have him by my side. And I'm gonna cherish that till the end.
We walk out of the room together, laughing and chatting all the way. Now that I'm talking to all of these girls, it doesn't feel like a competition, it's more like a friendly game we're playing. We are all wishing each other best of luck, supporting each other.
The crowd cheers loudly as the coach announces our arrival in the ground. The bleachers are filled with students, everyone from our school is present. The cheering sounds of the cheerleaders, the zing of excitement and enthusiasm amongst the participants and the spectators, causes a surge of confidence to pass through me.
I see my friends right in front of the ground, all of them waving in my direction. Even Faye's present, a full blown smile on her face as she passes me a kiss. Neil and Faye haven't made up yet per se but they have decided to take it slow. And I'm happy for them. They both deserve each other and the love.
"That's our best friend!" Bruce yells, hands up in the air. I giggle happily, overwhelmed by the love and support I'm getting from everyone. My friends are real gems.
"All the best babygirl." Tanner shouts, waving at me.
I blow them all a kiss and walk towards my position when coach makes announcements for us to get on our marks. I take a deep breath, nodding my head. This is it. I can do this. I take my position, passing coach a warm smile as he gives me a thumbs up.
Thee whistle blows and I run. My feet putting pressure against the rough path, not caring about the surrounding world. I run for myself. I run for my mom, who would've been proud to see me running after a long time. I run for my friends who are cheering for me. I run for the orphanage who's going to be benefited by the funds this event collects.
I run as fast as I can, the wind whipping my hair in all directions, adrenaline and zeal to win rushing in my veins, increasing with each passing second. It makes me feel alive, more close to my mom as I move closer to the finish line. I imagine my mom standing at the end, clapping and encouraging me with her smile, waiting for me to cross the finish line.
I cross the finish line first, making the noisy crowd cheer for me! I won. I fucking won. I turn to my side when I see my friends walking towards me, all smiles and giggles as they make their way towards me. I see Ridge running towards me, so I dart towards in quick steps him and jump into his open arms, laughing as he twirls me around. I've never been more happier than this.
"I fucking did it!" I exclaim, as he puts me down on the ground carefully. "I won, Ridge."
A shit eating grin appears on his handsome face. "I'm so proud of you sweetheart."
"Excuse me, lover boy. Step aside and let me hug my best friend." Em exclaims pulling me out of Ridge's arms, knocking me straight to her side, engulfing me in her arms.
Erica, Kiara and Trish join the hug, trapping me in their hold, as we all squeal in excitement and happiness. Soon enough we are all hugging and laughing as Coach announces my name. Everyone hoots for me, congratulating me.
I look up at the clear bright sky, a warm smile on my lips. I hope mom's proud of me.
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I weave my fingers through Ridge's as we walk down the stairs, heading to our chemistry class together.
"I wanted to talk to you about something important." He murmurs, running his hands through his hair. He sounds nervous.
I squeeze his hands in mine. "I'm here. What do you wanna talk about?"
He gives me a sheepish smile. "Mom wants you to come home for dinner tomorrow."
A smile breaks onto my face on registering his words. I giggle softly, kissing his cheek. "That's great. I'd love to meet your parents."
A bright smile breaks onto his face. "Thanks beautiful. I'll just give my mom a heads up then." He whips his phone out of his pocket, typing away are we walk into the class, taking our seats. The teacher enters a few minutes later and the class starts. Halfway through the class, Ridge's phone starts ringing, making his brows shoot up in surprise.
He fishes his phone out, a confused expression crossing his face. He excuses himself, asking for the teacher's permission to take the call and walks out of the room. I wonder who's calling him in the middle of the class.
The teacher continues her teaching but my mind is stuck on Ridge. Not even a few seconds later, he rushes in a panicked and numb expression on his face. He walks to his seat and picks his bag, shoving his books inside. I stand up from my seat, scared on seeing him like that, so out of control. "Ridge, what happened?"
He looks at me, his usually vibrant eyes looking so dull all of a sudden. "My parents, they- Anne called, -I have to go."
I pick my bag from the floor and drag him out of the room by his hand, ignoring the teacher's protests. We stand outside the class, in the deserted hallway. "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened. You're scaring me Ridge."
A lone tear falls from his eye. "My house caught fire. And my parents were inside when it happened. They took him to the hospital and I have to go now."
Fuck. I gasp, my mouth opening wide at his words. Oh my god. That's horrible. Just a few minutes ago we were talking about tomorrow's dinner with his family, and now this happened. "I'll come with you."
He nods and then we walk out of the school in a hurry, and run to the parking lot, where his car is parked. He takes his keys from his pocket, walking towards the driver's side but I stop him. "Let me drive. You are in no state to drive right now."
He nods silently, walking towards the passenger seat. I get I the car and reverse it out of it's spot and drive out of the school as fast as I can, heading on the road. I glance at him, noticing how he's biting his lip, hard to stop from crying. My heart breaks to see his usually smiling, carefree face, holding such immense sadness and anguish. I intertwine our fingers, squeezing them. "It's gonna be fine, baby. They are gonna be fine."
"You don't know that." He murmurs, his voice cracking a little. "What if something bad happens?!"
I drive as fast as I can. "Don't say that. Don't think of what ifs."
"Please take me to my house first." He pleads, his hands tightening their hold on mine. I nod silently, obliging his plea. We reach his house soon, and the scene that I see I front of me knocks the air out of my lungs. We get out of the car hastily, running towards the front. His house is completely burnt from the top, the windows, the doors, everything has been engulfed by the flames. This place looks horrible. Dark and dull. Lifeless. A few paramedics and officers are present here, talking about something seriously. The outer premise is sealed.
Ridge drops to his knees, a sob ripping out of his throat. I run to him and wrap my arms around his as he cries into my chest. A few tears spill out of my eyes on seeing him break apart like that. His arms wrap tightly around me, to the point when it becomes a little for me to breathe, but I don't care right now. "It's gone. My house, memories, everything. It's gone, Lydia."
I kiss his hair repeatedly, nuzzling my face against it. "I know baby, I know."
Someone clears their throat behind us, making me look up to see an officer standing, with an eyebrow raised. I get up, pulling Ridge with me, his hand intact in mine. "And you guys are?"
"Ridge, and this is my girlfriend, Lydia." Ridge answers, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
Recognition passes through the officer's eyes, as he nods. "Mr. Daniel and Mrs. Cara Meanders' son."
"Yes. Can you please tell me what happened? He asks, a painful look appearing on his face. "How did this happen?"
"We found a burnt candle lying on the floor of a bedroom on the second floor. Seems like the curtains caught fire and that's how the flames spread and this happened." He answers. "Your parents were alone at home when the incident took place and they were rushed to the Central Hospital as soon as 911 came."
"My parents, are they alright?" Ridge asks, biting his bottom lip, shifting from right to left feet again and again. I squeeze his hand in mine as we wait for him to answer.
He presses his lips in a thin line. "I'm sorry son, but you have to talk to the doctors about that."
Another officer calls him, so he excuses himself and walks away from us. I turn towards him, framing his face. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."
"I'm scared Lydia. I'm not ready.." He trails off, his voice breaking, breaking tear falling on my thumb. He didn't say it but I know what he means. He is not ready to lose his parents.
"Nothing's gonna happen to them Ridge. Don't think about the negatives. Let's go."
He nods. We walk to the car silently, hoping that when we reach the hospital, nothing bad comes our way. I don't think Ridge will be able to handle it.
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I'm cruel. And I know it. Poor Ridge :-(
What do you think is gonna happen now?
Next update soon!
Till then,
Stay Safe and Stay Happy! <3