T.R.A.C.K: Debut Single

Chapter 7: Ryder

“You did what?”

 

            My voice raised a few octaves, and Tyr clapped his hands over his ears.

            “Look, it was no big deal--”

            “YOU VIOLATED MY PRIVACY!” I whirled around onto Ashley next. “AND YOU LET HIM!”

            “I made him, more like,” Ashley replied calmly, and pushed me out of Tyr’s room. “Just because you’re feeling better doesn’t mean he is, and mind you, he fell sick looking after you.”

            I mumbled profanities under my breath, but Ashley had a point. Just that little bit of exertion already had Tyr losing every bit of color he had regained. But I had to keep up the act.

            Once both Ashley and I were safely out of the room with the door shut behind us, I let my façade drop. Ashley looked similarly grim, which was surreal. Seeing Ashley without his smile made him look less like an angel and more like a brooding vampire. Either way, staying around him too much would really cut my chances with the ladies. I had to watch out.

            “He never has to know you know,” he warned me again, quietly. “It was a slip-up on his part. And you know him. He won’t like us worrying about him.”

            I nodded mutely and watched Ashley walk away. Who was it I really had to look out for?  Because though my memories were hazy, I held onto what I did see fiercely…

I remembered the thermometer beeping, and the look on Tyr’s face as he read the reading. I could tell it did not look good, because that was when things started to get a bit blurry.

            After that, I remembered hearing Ashley’s voice. The sound of water dripping. And then the door slid open, and I heard another voice. Later Ashley told me it was Ali, but I could have figured that out myself without him telling me. Not many girls stopped by our place yet. Tyr was doing his best to change that, though. I guess we all were.

            Then I remembered a strange coolness. Of course, I was in no shape to protect my innocence then. Afterwards… well, maybe I would have been offended. If what happened next had not happened.

            Distinctly, I remembered an argument. Raised voices. Eventually those were cut off abruptly, and I thought I heard sobs. That was when I heard the splash.

            I had not thought much of it, not at first. Probably figured someone dropped something, and was going to retrieve it. I ignored it, for only a few seconds. Those seconds would be one of the biggest regrets of my life.

            Ashley dashed past, like a streak of lightning. It was then my sensors began to tell me something was amiss.

           Still half-dazed, I tried to sit up. By the time I had gotten myself high enough to see past the couch, the door slid closed, and Ashley stepped back in, dripping wet.