Some Kind of Wonderful (sequel to Give Me the Greenlight, Mr. Clifford)

Ch 11 - Back Off, Bitch

Going by the way Ryder and I left things that night, I thought we were going to be fine. Apparently I was mistaken, because the next couple of days Ryder didn't even try to hide the fact that he was avoiding me. He spoke to me, but he kept his distance physically, and he avoided any situation that would involve us being alone together, like riding to school. There were a couple of times such as when Mason sat beside me at lunch, or talked to me when Ryder was near, that Ryder gave Mason a disapproving look. If Mason noticed, he didn't say anything.

Kenzie, on the other hand realized something was up. She caught me at my locker preparing to leave school on Friday and asked, "What in the world is going on with you and Ryder?"

I didn't want to lie to her, but I certainly didn't want her to know the truth. I made up a lame excuse on the spot. "He's afraid he's interfering with Mason and me or something. I don't know. It's stupid."

"Wait, Mason and you? Are you two official now or something and you didn't tell me?"

"No! We're not 'official.' I'm not sure I'd even want that. We're just going to Luke's wedding and prom together. That's all it is."

"You know he wants you, right?" Kenzie asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

I couldn't help but to laugh at her. "Oh my gosh, stop it."

"Well, would you give it to him?"

"Kenzie! Seriously, stop! And absolutely not!"

"Oh. My. God. That's it! You and Ryder finally did it, didn't you? That's why he's acting so weird!" Kenzie was being way too dramatic.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no. You have lost your mind, friend." I rolled my eyes at her and put the last of my books in the locker.

Then her tone became more serious. "If you're not going to claim him, he's fair game. If prom goes well, I'm asking him out. Just giving you a friendly heads-up."

I know my mouth was hanging open in disbelief. What I wanted to say was Back off, bitch, he's mine. Thankfully, I had sense enough to keep my mouth shut, because I sure didn't want to be on bad terms with two friends. I slammed my locker shut and walked away. She probably got my point.

When the weekend came, I didn't even bother asking Ryder if he had any plans involving the two of us. The answer was already obvious. I figured I'd let it go for a while and let him deal with it his way, but the distance between us was breaking my heart. As luck would have it, Mia asked my mom and I to come over to help her put the finishing touches on the nursery, so I'd be at his house anyway.

In the end, my whole family ended up going. Xander and Ryder stayed in the pool the whole time, while Ashton and my dad stayed in the pool house, tinkering with music.

I must say we girls had a great time decorating and oohing and awwing over the baby stuff she had received at a recent baby shower. The twins were a boy and a girl. Ashton and Mia were leaving the naming of the babies up to Ryder and me. We came up with the idea of keeping the names a surprise until they were born. I couldn't believe Mia and Ashton were cool with it. I figured they had probably chosen backup names, just in case they thought our choices sucked.

When we were finished, standing back admiring our hard work, my mom began a story I had heard at least one hundred times before. "You know, your dad proposed to me at the baby shower that Ashton and your grandma surprised me with. I guess Mikey and I did things kind of backwards. But it worked."

I acted slightly annoyed to hear it again, but of course I adored everything about my parents' relationship. "I know, Mom. And you lived happily ever after."

"I remember that baby shower," said Ashton, out of nowhere. He walked up and put his arm around my shoulders. "I felt you moving in your mum's belly. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever experienced." He was smiling widely, his deep dimples prominent.

Oddly, the mood seemed to change and there was silence for a few seconds while Ashton and Mom stared at each other.

Mia spoke first, clearing her throat. "Speaking of babies moving, these two must be doing a tango in there."

Whatever that strange moment was had passed. All three of us placed a hand on Mia's abdomen. Sure enough, they were wiggling all over the place. It really was an amazing thing to experience.

We had dinner, which turned out to be a great time as well. The guys made some hamburgers on the grill. Mia, still going through a baking stage, insisted on making cupcakes. We didn't object. It had been a while since both families had spent time together like that. And it had me looking forward to the barbecue planned for the following week. I couldn't wait to have all of our families, real and extended, together again.

Unfortunately, there was too much going on to be able to talk to Ryder privately. I was hoping to catch him alone to give him a piece of my mind. I wanted to tell him he either needed to accept his feelings, or get the fuck over it. While I didn't get the chance to have that conversation with Ryder, there was still some interesting conversation while we ate.

"Oh, guys," Mom addressed Ryder and me, "I forgot to ask how Ryder's Birthday Eve went. What did you do that was fun?"

"Nothing," Ryder and I answered simultaneously.

"Oh. Okay," Mom replied, looking amused.

The only sound for a few minutes was the noise from the silverware hitting the plates. Then Dad had something to say.

"Calum will be flying in on Sunday, in case you guys didn't know already."

"Yeah, I've been talking to him," said Ashton. "Did he tell you he's thinking about staying? Well, depending on how things go?"

My dad answered, "Yeah, he mentioned it. I hope whatever it is he's talking about goes the way he wants, and he sticks around. I miss the old lad."

"Yep, me, too. I have a feeling it will," Ashton said. I noticed he glanced at Mia and gave her a quick reassuring smile when he said it, which she returned. He must have known what the "things" were.

Preparing to leave for home, everyone was outside telling each other goodbye. But Ryder was no where to be seen.

"This is getting old," I muttered to myself. "I'll be right back, I'm going to tell Ryder goodbye," I said, heading to his room. I guessed that was where he must have been. I was right.

"Come in," he said, when I knocked on the door. He was lying on the bed, his feet still on the floor, his hands behind his head. He continued staring at the ceiling after I opened the door.

"I know you don't care, but I wanted to tell you bye. And I love you."

Even though he didn't look at me, he still said, "I love you, too, Kate. Bye."

The blunt dismissal hurt my feelings even more. But at least I got a response. It was something.

Lying in bed, trying - unsuccessfully - to get my brain to slow down, I thought back to our last fortune cookies. Not that I was superstitious, but I thought, My bad week was supposed to be next week, not this one. Great. I have so much to look forward to.

----------------------

A/N: Kind of a crappy chapter, but there was more talked about here than you (and Katesby and Ryder) realize. ;)