Jayden & Astrid [On Hold]

CHAPTER TEN - YOU LIED TO HIM

Jayden and Ryder's plan to start on their AP Physics assignment had ended in a massive failure. To their credit, they had begun the assignment, but one thing led to another, and a 90's movie marathon had begun. Astrid had gotten sleepy sometime during Clueless and had gone to bed, leaving the two guys to boo and throw popcorn at the television during the scene where Elton left Cher at the car park.

When she got up early the next morning to go for a run, she noticed that someone had draped a blanket over the two boys and turned off the television. Ryder's left hand dangled off the couch, and Jayden's tousled hair was visible from the other end of the blanket. When she returned from her run, they were still sprawled out on the couch, the blanket now barely covering their bodies. Astrid checked the time on her phone. They would need to wake up soon if they were going to get to school on time.

Reconsidering shoving them in the ribs or sticking a finger in their nostrils, as Jayden hadn't looked particularly thrilled about her methods of waking people up when she mentioned them a couple of weeks ago, she decided to take a gentler approach by poking Jayden's shoulder with her finger and nudging Ryder's dangling hand with her foot. She did not expect Ryder to jolt awake and grab her foot, effectively throwing her off balance, causing her to fall backward and slam her body into the coffee table behind her.

"Bloody fucking hell." She exclaimed, effectively startling both boys awake. She sat on the ground, temporarily dazed as she tried to decide which one of her sore spots to massage. Head, back, or ass?

"Oh my God! I am so sorry." Ryder cried, scuttling off the couch. "Are you alright? Are you bleeding? Is anything broken? Did you bruise?"

"Nothing feels broken or bruised or bloodied."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ryder asked as he helped her to her feet. He then tried to twist her around so he could check for any possible injuries. As someone who had always been bigger than other children in his grade, he was always making great efforts to be gentle with them, but sometimes accidents happened.

She resisted being probed and smiled sweetly at him. "I swear I'm okay. I mean, I'll probably need an ice pack for my head, but that would be about it."

"I'll get you an ice pack." He declared, sprinting toward the direction of the kitchen.

"And I'll clean up the popcorn we threw everywhere." Jayden mumbled, wondering why and how they had made such a mess.

While both boys were occupied, Astrid slipped into the direction of her room. Contrary to what she had led Ryder to believe, she knew she was a bit bloodied and bruised.

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Jayden was working on the last batch of pancakes when Astrid walked into the kitchen, her guitar strapped to her back. "Ryder got you the ice pack, but you were taking forever in the shower, so he put it back in the refrigerator."

She shrugged. "I don't think I'll be needing the ice pack anymore. Thanks though. And that smells delicious."

Jayden beamed into the mixing bowl. "Thanks. It still needs some chocolate chips though."

"Everything's better with chocolate chips." Astrid nodded in agreement. "Where do you keep them?"

"They're up there." He said using the whisk to point at an overhead cabinet.

She reached for the cabinet's door, hating that if she was just a couple of centimeters taller, she wouldn't need to stretch as much.

"You lied to him." Jayden stated, pouring some of the pancake batter into the skillet. "Ryder, I mean. About not having any bruises and not bleeding. I can see the mark the coffee table made and the rainbow bandaid." He said, nodding towards the curly bruise peeking out from under her untucked top.