Back to You

New Beginnings

Finally.

The day was over and I was ready to unwind as best as I could.

I could go home and catch up on some lack of sleep I'd been experiencing lately being so stressed. With the time I had thus far, I didn't care about hardly anything else at this point.

I told Ryder what I thought of him and now, the ball was in his court.

"Hey there stranger!" I unexpectedly felt a tall figure then rush by my side, in a cheery tone. Oh look. My good old/new possible yet probably/not yet friend.

My instincts quickly put up my defenses like I started to learn I needed to do with him around me, scooting my feet back and clutching onto my books and backpack tightly to my chest.

Moving away slowly being caught off guard, my eyes widened unsure of his next moves. Especially after our little previous convo.

"Yo! Back off dude! I carry pepper spray!" I snapped. Glancing astonished, he sighed apologetically with an assuring grin.

"Woah, Woah! Chill down, Faith. I'm not gonna knock your stuff down, pull your hair or anything else like that anymore. I can come in peace sometimes too. Please."About time.

Observing him closely—just to make sure he was telling the truth, I nodded slowly, eventually letting out a faint soft smile. We stroll together toward the front door. "Oh uh...okay. Um, sorry about that then." I shyly uttered.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Aw, don't be. I don't blame your reservedness on why you would. But trust me if it's possible, I don't want any trouble. I just needed to see you again before you left."

"Really? What for? To tell me how much I was wrong from earlier?"

"Actually quite the opposite." I paused for a brief moment. "Look, ever since you said those things to me last week, I've been thinking a lot—which if you ask my friends is a tough task to do even in a day." We both stifled a laugh. "But it was all true. I haven't been feeling my usual jerky self lately. And I don't know if it's because I keep seeing you literally everywhere or why...but I do want to see where this might go."

My cheeks immediately turned a bright crimson red, "This?"

"Yeah. Have at least one person get to know who I really am." He stopped us both and stood in front of me. "So I guess that's what I'm doing now..." He held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Ryder McKenna and I'm a senior. We do have a few classes together but we've never really talked. Though I'm hoping that can change."

Just like that, all the beautiful and blissful feelings I knew I still had for him, even after all that we'd been through for a week started rushing back through my veins. I beamed and giggled.

It was the sweetest gesture any guy had ever made for me and I couldn't ask for it to be better.

"Huh...you look very familiar." I joked as we both laughed again, giving my hand into his—shaking it while my heart fluttered with delight. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. So listen, I know this may be a bit random and sudden but uh...my cousin has recently opened up his own club downtown. He told me that I could invite a few friends to come and check it out tonight. You don't have to say yes by any means, but I just want you to know that you're now at the top of the list." He hesitantly began sheepishly offering.

I bit my bottom lip down, becoming flattered by the invitation. High school parties weren't usually my thing. "Really?" I was slightly hesitant.

"Yeah! Don't worry, it's just a party. Nothing crazy like asking you to marry me or something. Like that'll ever happen to me anyway." He mentioned, chuckling to himself.

"Right! You being married. Unimaginable! Who needs marriage?" I frantically replied. But I still had some reservations about events like that. With him asking me now though, I didn't want to turn down a great opportunity to spend a little time together. So, I simply answered before I could even think about it longer. "Of course! I mean uh...sure. I'll see what's in my schedule."

He laughed, nodding. "Good. Bring a friend too if it makes you feel a little more comfortable. I can kinda see in your eyes you're still a little apprehensive about it..." He shyly spoke.

"Oh no, no. I mean I was, but I also mean not anymore." I quickly affirmed.

"Well then, that's awesome! You'll be a refreshing change, seeing a nice and new pretty face at one of these things for once." I began blushing. "But as my personal request, just don't bring a date." He came closer.

Why did he have to say that to me now?! "Good thing I wasn't planning to."

"McKenna!" We both suddenly heard Mr. Gordon shout from down the hall. "Hate to break up your little pow-wow but according to the Science teacher, you've got some chalkboards to clean now. Don't you?"

"Yep! But if you keep harassing me about it, I'll change my mind!" Ryder answered him peeved. "Yeah...he's certainly one to talk about who's hated." He muttered back to me.

We shared another kind laugh as he held out his fist toward me. Bewildered, I'll admit I wasn't very good at these 'cool' handshakes we used to do back in the day. But I was willing to learn. Trying to attempt to figure it out, I moved my hand up as he went down. And the same vice versa after. He chuckled and shook his head playfully.

"You just have to hit my hand back. Here, it's like..." He kept showing me, but I was just not getting it. "You know what? It's totally fine. I'll take it. We'll work on that later, Harper." He sweetly assured, starting to walk away.

Trying to do the same while hoping for good things between us going forward, I felt my palms being gripped by his. Then, a sudden touch of a piece of paper slipped into it. I glanced down baffled.

"Hold onto that too. I'll be talking to you real soon. Maybe all night long." He winked like usual and ran off.

I opened the note to read exactly what he did write. A phone number. His.

God, the things this boy was making me feel.

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