Young and Foolish

Chapter 3: Sweet and Lovely, or Maybe not

Ryder Moon's POV:

From Annie: meet by the tree. 

From Annie: half hour. 

From Annie: new frined. 

Knowing Annie, I should've been wary when she didn't send me a giant wall of text. She only sent minimal messages when she was really busy, or really excited. And that was always bad news for me. 

I didn't reply, but I grabbed my leather jacket and went anyways. 

The willow tree that she always asked to meet up at wasn't far from my house. It was only about 15 minutes by foot so I didn't have to leave immediately, but I wanted out of my house. Too cramped. Too suffocating. 

I lit a cigarette on my walk. It messed with my nose, but it looked cool. And I liked the burn. 

Annie wasn't there by the time I arrived. I expected no less. She was usually late anyways. I took a drag from my cigarette and ducked under the low hanging branches. 

Something rustled above me, and I barely had time to raise my eyebrow before a upside down face dropped in front of mine with a loud "Boo!"

I almost punched it out of reflex, but then I noticed the scent. A pleasant scent. It overpowered the cigarette smell easily. The face belonged to a girl, and her eyes widened when she noticed me. The grin fell off her face. 

"I am so sorry!" she cried, still hanging upside down on a tree branch. I frowned at her. "I was waiting for someone else, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean–" 

She was cut off by a loud crack. Both she, and the branch she was hanging on, fell. I would've attempted catching her, but a stick slapped my face, catching me by surprise. 

Or maybe I wouldn't have attempted catching her. It was her own fault for climbing trees like some goddamn monkey. It was a hard fall–I heard a crack upon landing, but I wasn't sure if it was just the branch or one of her bones. 

She lay still for a moment, and I watched her at my feet. I took another drag before crushing the cigarette underneath my foot. I swept my hair hair back in place, brushing out leaves. 

"You okay?" I crouched down, and poked her shoulder. She twitched and then curled in on herself. I flinched back when she let out a shrieking wail. 

She sat up, cradling her arm. Unfortunately for her, I could tell it was just an act. She didn't look like she was in much pain, more of just startled. 

That's what I thought until I saw her fingers bent oddly, in ways that fingers should not bend. Maybe she really did break something. 

"Sarah!" Annie's obnoxiously loud voice made me flinch again. I had never heard her sound so happy before. She ran up from behind me, slapping my shoulder lightly as she came to a stop. "Hey Ryder!" 

And then she noticed the hand. 

"Oh my freakin' dick lord, Sarah!" she cried out, just as shrill, but now worried. She slapped my shoulder again, "Stay here, Ryder-babe, while I take Sarah to a hospital." She pulled the girl, Sarah, to her feet. Sarah whimpered, eyes shut, and Annie waved bye to me as she dragged her away. 

Ryder-babe. Her sweet, lovely Ryder-babe. I hated when she called me that. She knew that too, and that's why she kept calling me that. If she wasn't my best friend's mate, I would've taught her a lesson already. Or maybe I wouldn't have. If she hadn't been dating my best and only friend, there was no way she would've spent enough time with me in order to get comfortable enough to poke fun at me. 

Though I didn't want to follow Annie's whims, I didn't have anything better to do than wait. I kicked the fallen branch off the sidewalk and onto the road. It'd be bad if some pedestrian were to trip on it, right? It was more of a hazard on the road though, but that didn't matter to me. 

I smelled the scent of someone approaching before I heard their footsteps.