Her eyes, his lies

Chapter 19

Ryder was awoken by the sounds of conversation next to his room, a group of male voices speaking in hushed tones. It was not unusual in his house for there to be strange men huddled together, especially at this early of an hour, but his father had been doubling security recently. His paranoia was growing more intense as the election drew near.

Ryder swallowed, his throat dry. He reached for his phone on the nightstand, intending to check the time- before remembering that Jane had slipped it from his pocket the night before.

Jane.

Her pale face and tentative smile breezed through his mind like a lazy dream. Positively adorable. He grinned sleepily, already planning the best way to approach her at school today.

Yes, she'd taken his phone, and yes, she'd likely gone through everything on it already, but he wasn't worried. She would find that he hid nothing from her. She would understand that, by the mere act of telling her the truth, he had turned his own life upside down, and that it was one push away from imploding entirely. He had truly hidden nothing from her.

Almost nothing, at the least. His father's warning from the night before echoed in his ears. There was nowhere he couldn't find Ryder, he'd said.

Ryder rolled onto his back, the covers tangling between his legs. Morning sunlight peeked through the blinds over his window, illuminating the trophies above his cabinet.

It was going to be a long day, he thought. A long day of reining in Beatrice's destructive tendencies, all the more enabled by that group of hers. A long day of trying to read Jane's carefully concealed expressions.

With a groan, he stretched, and pulled himself upright. The sheet fell away, pooling at his side. The sun blinded him momentarily as it beamed into his eyes.

It was going to be a long day.

Beatrice, as she always did, found him within moments. He still had no idea how she could seek him out with such accuracy, and it disturbed him greatly. The thought that someone like Beatrice could predict his movements so well was not a pleasant one.

"What's the excuse this time, Ryd?" Beatrice asked, playfully bumping her shoulder into him.

Ryder glanced down at her, one hand smoothing his hair back. "Excuse?"

"You didn't reply. Again. Busy with your new girl pal?" Beatrice could barely hide the jealousy and curiosity in her voice. It repulsed Ryder.

He remembered the way she had acted when they had been together. The way she hissed at any girl that came even remotely close to Ryder. Her insecurity, alongside how badly she'd tried to control him, had ultimately lead to the end of their relationship. Breaking up was one of the best things to ever happen to Ryder.

"Lost my phone," Ryder said, pulling his arm away from her.

She frowned at the loss of contact, but changed the topic. "So. Your dad told me about the mole problem. He wants us to start asking around."

Ryder had begun walking to his first class, bag slung over one shoulder. He shrugged the other, feigning disinterest. "My father's always paranoid. You know that."

Beatrice skipped in front of him, forcing him to stop. She was cornering him. It was a talent of hers, cornering people. "Why won't you tell me about the girl you're seeing?"

Ryder tried to step around her, but Beatrice simply matched his movement. She was far more agile than her feminine appearance showed, and unless Ryder wanted to knock over the most popular girl in the school, he wouldn't be able to get past her.