In 7 Days [Book 1]

Chapter 61 - Miles

I reached out and took both of his hands. 

"Ryder," my voice was shaking, scared, "what is it?" My heart and my mind were racing. I could feel cold sweat beginning to form on my skin. 

"Uh, well, today... my parents sat me down a-and they told me that... that..." Ryder paused, completely avoiding my gaze. He squeezed his eyes shut and let a heavy sigh leave his mouth."They said that... you know how I've been struggling with my dyslexia? And I am getting better, but it's still not getting, like good... so my parents enrolled me in this stupid school for dyslexic people without my permission, and I got in... bu-but, it's in Florida" 

The world seemed to stop spinning. The devastation I felt was almost too much to handle. I squeezed Ryder's hands tighter to try and stop myself from bursting out into tears. What was I going to do without him? 

"Marley..." Ryder sounded heartbroken. "I am so sorry." I stared at him, and saw he was on the verge of tears, just like me. He pulled me into him, hugging me tightly, repeating that he was sorry into my ear. I couldn't hold my tears back any longer. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and cried. I felt him shaking against me, and I just knew he was crying, too. 

We sat in each other's embrace for a long time, the two of us crying as we held each other. This was going to be hard for me, but I knew it was going to be so much worse for him - to move away from all he has ever known, just to treat something he always thought of as a burden.

"Hey," I broke our hug, leaning back, but keeping my hands on Ryder's shoulders. His face was tear stained. He looked devastated, as if he had just had his heart broken. "This is going to be... hard, but we'll keep in touch and stuff. It'll be fun, you get to go to Disney World!" I forced a smile and faked my positivity, wiping a tear from his cheek with my shaking thumb. "Lie down with me."

We crawled to the head of my bed, and Ryder laid his head on my pillow, and I put my head on his chest. He put his arm around my shoulder, his shaky fingers resting near my collarbone. "I feel bad," he confessed, his eyes roaming the ceiling.

"I don't think you have any reason to feel bad, Ryder. This is going to be so good for you. You'll be able to write, and spell, and you'll be able to show yourself just how smart you are..." I smiled at him. It hadn't really sunk in just yet. "And... I might have a song for us to sing for the duet competition...?"

"Is it going to make me cry?" Ryder joked, looking down at me. 

I sat up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. I really hadn't processed the fact he'd be leaving me just yet. "Probably."

***

"Do you think we've rehearsed enough?" Ryder chuckled as I lead him to the front door. It was starting to get dark outside, and his parents were expecting him home. I wished he didn't have to leave me. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"I think you're ready," I chuckled, pulling Ryder in for a kiss. 

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," he mumbled against my lips. I shut the door behind him, and then watched him walk down the street through the window. His head was down, and he was dragging his feet along the ground.

He was leaving me.

"Marley, I heard you crying earlier. What's happened?" Mom asked, stepping into the lounge room. I turned to look at mom, and the second I even thought about saying the words out loud I started crying. "Oh, Marley... what's wrong?" I rushed over to my mom and fell into her arms.

"Ryder..." I sniffed, "he's moving away..." 

It still didn't feel real. 

"Where's... where's he moving?" Mom asked softly, sounding just as upset as me.