Beside You

Sunday Morning

                                    Ryder 

 I wake up to the sound of my alarm at 8:00 Sunday morning. I quickly silence it to ensure that it doesn't wake Hadley. I roll over and send a quick text to Colton and tell him that I had crashed at the Dryden's after the party. I ask him if he can come get me on his way to the pool, as I don't have a car and our shifts start at the same time anyway. I work because I need the money, Colton works because he's bored and wants some semblance of independence from his dad. 

 It's a good thing that I keep extra clothes in my locker at the pool, I think as I remember that I'm still in my clothes from the party. I smell like alcohol, even though I didn't drink any. Colton texts me back, saying that he'll be here in 15 minutes.

 I carefully get out of the bed and sneak down to the kitchen. I don't know who's home, but I know that I don't want them to discover me and ask questions. I grab a glass and fill it with water. I go back up to Hadley's room and put the glass on her bedside table.

 As I stand in her room I think about how messed up this situation is. Hadley has been ignoring me for a week, and she seems really mad at me for some reason. Yet here I am, waking up in her bedroom. And then there was her behaviour at the party last night. She's never been much of a drinker, and yet she got completely drunk at last night's party. I go over to her desk and grab a piece of paper and write a quick note to her.

       'Hey Hadley, we really need to talk about some stuff. I'll call you later." -Ryder 

I need to find out what happened to the Hadley I knew.

                                              ~*~

 I wake up and look at the clock. 12:13pm. I groan and get up, but as I do so my head starts to pound. I notice a glass of water beside my bed and drink it quickly before going in to my bathroom and grabbing some Advil. I look down and realize that I'm still wearing my clothes from the night before. All I can remember after the party is coming home, a blinding light, and then going to bed.

 When I go back to my bed I pick Poppy up and pet her. I notice a piece of paper on my bedside table. I pick it up and read it. It's from Ryder. It says that he's going to call me. I wonder why he suddenly wants to talk to me, after being so mad at me. 

 Then I clue in that Ryder would have had to be in my room to leave me the note. Which means that it could have been him that left me the water. I doubt I was able to think clearly enough to do that. Suddenly I remember one event from last night. Ryder and Avery's kiss.

                                     ~*~

A couple of hours later I am in my bathroom drying my hair when I hear the doorbell ring. My mom is out shopping, my brother's are wherever it is that they always end up and my dad is writing in his office. He always gets really crazy on the third books of his series so he'll be completely oblivious to the world. I quickly ditch the towel and run downstairs to answer the door, hair still a mess. Sometimes being in the attic really sucks, because I'm so far away from everything, but then again, one of those things are my brothers and their obnoxious friends.

 I reach the door and open it. Poppy escapes from behind me and tries to run away, she's a;ways trying to be an outdoors cat. Luckily, the visitor reaches down and grabs her before she can make it too far. I look up to thank them, and notice two things. The first is that he visitor is Ryder, second is that it's raining and Ryder's soaked. 

 "What are you doing here?" I ask, shocked. He hands Poppy to me.

 "Well, If its alright with you I'd like to continue this conversation somewhere a little more dry." He half jokes. 

 "Right. Sorry." I turn around and walk back in to my house, gesturing for him to follow me. When I'm sure that the door is closed I put Poppy on the floor. I turn and enter the kitchen. I boil the kettle and make hot chocolate for Ryder and I. Throughout the process awkward silence hangs between us. I hand him a mug and start to head up to my room. 

 "Where are we going?" he asks. 

 "Well if we stay here there's a chance of my dad coming down for coffee, or my mom or brothers coming home, so I was thinking my room." He doesn't respond. When we get to my room Ryder sits as my desk and I sit on the edge of my bed. "So why are you here? I thought you said that you were just going to call me." 

 "I wanted to find out why you had been avoiding me."

 I scoff. "As if you don't know."

 "No, I really don't Hadley. Maybe it was wrong to ask you to go to that stupid dance with me but I think you overreacted a bit."

 "Well then why would you send me those texts?" I snap. 

 "What texts?" 

 I get up and walk into the bathroom, where I'd left my phone. I unlock it and go to to the conversation with Ryder. I go back to my room and show him the texts. He quickly reads the conversation from Sunday.

 He looks at me, confused, "I didn't send those messages."

 "Yes, you did. It's right there in front of you."

 "But it wasn't me. I forgot my phone at home when I went to practice last week, and when I got home Addie told me that she had borrowed it. It must have been her." 

 I think about it. It does seem more like something that Addie would say. "I'm sorry Ryder, I didn't realize."

 "It's fine, there was no way for you to know. It did look pretty bad."

 "Are you going to say anything to Addie?" 

"I'm not sure. Maybe. I think that what happened with Brody was bad enough." 

We remain silent for a few moments and I look down at my hands. He breaks the silence, "Can I ask you something?" 

 "Sure." I look up at him.

 "Why were you so upset when you were leaving the party last night?" 

"I saw you and Avery kissing."

 "Well, conveniently you turned away before you could see me push her away. And besides, why were you so upset? You made it clear that you didn't want to be my date. I only went with Avery because she wouldn't leave me alone. I had planned on just staying home. And the only reason that I went to the party was because I had heard that you were going to be there."

 "I don't know, okay? I just got really upset for some reason." I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Great. Now I'm crying again. I turn away from Ryder so that he doesn't think I;m even crazier. I'm too late though. 

 "Come on Hads, just talk to me." He comes and sits next to me on the bed. 

 "But I don't know what to say. I just know that I said know to going to the dance with you but when I saw you and Avery together I felt like I'd lost you. Which doesn't even make sense because you're Grayson and Mitchell's friend-" Before I can finish my sentence Ryder's lips are on mine and I can't even think coherently for a couple of seconds. Then the shock of the situation wears off and I push Ryder back. 

"Why did you do that?" I whisper.

 "I'm sorry. I just couldn't listen to you say that I was just one of your brothers' friends." "What do you mean?"

 "I don't just see you as my friends' sister, I see you as more than that." He looks away awkwardly.I push his wet hair back from his face. Then I do something that surprises both of us. I kiss him. I know that I shouldn't be kissing one of my brothers' closest friends, but I don't care.