I sat in the passenger seat of Corey's car, my knees pulled to my chest and my chin resting on them lightly.
"I have questions."
"I figured you did."
Corey fell quiet again for a moment. "Can you answer them?"
"If I know the answer."
Once more, he stopped talking.
We took a turn off of the road, and I looked at him in confusion. "Where are we going?"
"I have a place I want to go."
"We're legitimately a few streets from my house, can't we just talk there?"
"I like the stream better."
I smirked a little bit. "You gonna kill me and let my body wash down the river?"
"Probably," he admitted, returning my smirk.
I laughed, unbuckling my seatbelt, and got out of the car. We walked for a while until we reached the stream, and I sat down at a tree. "I like it here too," I said as he settled himself across from me. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself. "What kind of questions do you have?"
"A lot."
"Helpful. Where do you want to start?"
"I'm not sure."
"Also helpful."
"Why don't you eat guacamole even though you get it every day?"
"It's gross."
"Then why do you get it?"
This time, I took a bit longer to reply. "My brother," I said finally. "Cody. He loved it, so whenever my mom had some, I would take some and give it to him when she wasn't looking. He wasn't allowed to have more than one serving, but I always got a little too much and gave mine to him because he loved it so much. Old habits die hard."
Corey nodded slowly. "What--"
"Nope," I said, cutting him off. "My turn."
He closed his mouth. "Alright. What is it?"
"Why is some of your hair white when the rest isn't?"
Corey sighed. "Somehow I knew that's where you were going with it."
"I'm waiting."
"Birth defect. Some of my hair is white. It just doesn't grow with any pigment in it. No one really knows what caused it, even the doctors."
"I wouldn't call it a defect."
"I would," he replied bitterly.
Crossing my arms, I gave him a warning look. "Hey, if I'm going to answer your questions, you're going to answer mine, mister."
He was quiet for a few moments before nodding and continuing. "What were they like? Your family?"
Are you trying to make me cry? Because I won't cry in front of you again. "My younger brother was incredibly sweet. I mean, annoying, like all brothers are at one point or another, but he looked up to me, and that felt really good. To feel like an idol, I mean. Kale was the rock. He never cried in front of me, not once. But I could hear it at night, when my dad would hit him. Kale always distracted my dad when he started going after my younger brother or I. Then, he moved out when he turned nineteen and joined the army. I made him promise every time I talked to him that he wouldn't die." My tone grew a little bit colder. "But everyone lies."
"Ryd--"
"My mother was never there. My father was abusive and insane. When my brothers died, my mother moved me here and basically left again. I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her in a few months, but she sends me money."
Corey nodded, taking note that I very obviously did not want to talk about that more in depth.
"Why do you always cover your hair?"
"Because some of it is white."
"I want to see it."
Corey hesitated. "Why?"
"Because I happen to like it, a lot. It's interesting, and all you've done by covering it up is make me more curious." I tilted my head. "I think it would look really cool, actually."
Slowly, he slid down his hood.
I couldn't help but stare. It was actually kind of...beautiful, in a way. "Wow," I murmured.
He shifted his eyes away uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at me.
I smiled. "I think your hair looks amazing, Corey. You should wear your hood down more often. Around me, at least."
"The white is spreading," he muttered. "All of it is gonna be white before long."
"Doesn't matter. I think you could pull that off."
His eyes flashed to mine. They were dark and intense. "Are you just saying that, or do you actually mean it, Ryder?"
I smiled. "I honestly think that."
He relaxed visibly and closed his eyes, rubbing his temple. "I was so right about you."
This time it was me that tensed. "What does that mean?"
"You're going to ruin me."
"How?" I couldn't help but feel...upset. Some kind of emotion was building up in my chest, making it a little harder to breathe, and I felt...I can't describe it. Somewhere between sad and disappointed and that feeling you get when you're right about something. Somewhere in there was where I was right then.
"Because," he muttered quietly. "You make me want to be better than I am."
I honestly had no idea what to say to that.
* * * * *
After that, we had talked about random things for a couple more hours before returning to my house. He had taken my hand again for whatever reason, and I actually didn't mind. Once we had gotten in to my house, I was immediately slammed with questions from Devon. He meant well, but it was annoying.
"Where have you been? Are you holding his hand? Are you two a thing? Did you have sex with him? Is that why you left the party so early? I swear if you ran off somewhere with this random guy and lost your virginity--"
"Devon!" I yelled, snapping him out of whatever realm of strange he had launched himself in to.
"What?"
"Shut up," I said calmly, placing my hands on his shoulders. "I'm still a virgin."
"First kiss?" he asked suspiciously.
"No," I said, laughing.
He paused, thinking, then looked at Corey. "Good," he decided finally. "I haven't approved of him yet."
I snorted. "Who told you I was interested."
"Actually," he began.
"Don't," I said, cutting him off and holding up a hand.
Devon rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to bed."
"It's like eight at night."
"Yeah, and we're leaving at five tomorrow morning for our camping trip. So I'm going to bed."
I sighed. "Whatever. Freak. Go to bed." I waved my hand dismissively and Devon looked at Corey one more time.
"You're hot and all," he said, "but don't touch her. Got it?"
Corey held up his hands and took a step away from me.
"Good," Devon said, content. He leaned over and ruffled my hair, kissed me on the top of the head as I tried to smack him in the chest, and disappeared in to a guest room.
I looked at Corey. While I wasn't tired, I did kind of want to go to bed so that I could manage to drag myself out of bed in the morning. But at the same time, I didn't want him to leave. For the past few hours, we had talked, and it had been...pleasant, actually. He let down the whole 'asshole' act and I actually got a glimpse into who he really was. I truly liked what he actually was. He was kind, and funny, and he seemed to find me funny.
"I'm gonna go home," Corey decided. "You gave to get up early."
"Okay."
He stood there for a moment and smirked. "You have to let go of my hand, Ryder."
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry." I released his hand. I hadn't realized that I had started holding his hand again after Devon left.
"Don't be."
Corey stepped toward me and I felt heat in my cheeks. I could feel his body heat next to mine and it was very pleasant. He leaned down a little and looked in to my eyes, seemingly looking for something.
I looked back, confused and curious, and he tilted my chin up a little with his finger.
As heat flooded my cheeks more aggressively, he smiled a little bit as he looked down at me. Finally, he stepped back from me. "Goodnight, Ryder."
"Goodnight,"Â I replied, still blushing a little bit.
He smiled at me and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Something pulled at my chest and I struggled to figure out what I was feeling. The hell was this? I felt warm, and...happy. Then he left, and I felt a little bit empty. I rushed out of the door after him and looked up at him. He appeared a little surprised, maybe even startled.
"I um. I won't see you again for a while."
"I know," he said, tilting his head a little.
"You didn't say goodbye though."
"I promise to be the one person you never say goodbye to, Ryder."
And I believed him.
* * * * *
Author's Note:
I've been looking for a picture to represent Corey since the second I started writing this, and this is the closest I've gotten. Thank you so much pandakat9 for finding this picture:
Except Corey doesn't have the arm tattoo or lip piercing
Thanks <3