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(Amandla Stenberg as Ryan)
Ryan sat on the floor of the school's library at the end of the day, laptop sitting on her jean clad lap. The word document on the screen flickered, the blank page mocking her with the fact there were no words typed in her usual Times New Roman font. With a sigh, she leaned her head back on the book shelf, light brown eyes scanning the almost empty room in front of her.
Cara Lee was sitting at one of the tables scattered about the silent room, reapplying her eyeliner. She kept glancing in her direction, making Ryan uncomfortable and shift self-consciously. She knew Cara disliked her, mostly because her brother Ross broke up with her.
Miss Begum, the young librarian, sat at her desk flipping through Twilight. She played with her hijab, occasionally looking up to shush a small group of students in the corner. Ryan noted that it was her third time reading the book, cover to cover, and didn't know whether to commend her reading skill or shiver in disgust at her reading choices.
Knowing she was stalling, she turned back to her writing document, attempting to summon the strength to write over a thousand words for her latest update. Setting her fingers on the keyboard, she went over what happened so far in the story. And was interrupted.
Her phone buzzed next to her, and she forced her attention onto the small object. The front was cracked from letting her little cousin handle it with no supervision, and the back still had a few rhinestones attached from when she went through her "DIY" phase. Pressing onto the screen, she glanced down at the message.
"SOS"
She checked the number, and immediately packed up her things.
* * *
"Xoe, you have to open the stall for me to help you," Ryan called, saying it as if she was explaining something to a pre-schooler. The bathroom was deserted, something Ryan had already expected due to it being so late in the day. The only reason she was still here herself was that a meeting for her after-school club was cancelled and her older brother refused to pick her up.
Hearing sniffles from the other side of the stall but no other movement, she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, fingers getting tangled in the dark curls. When her best friend texted her that there was emergency, she expected to come and help. Right now, all she was doing was nagging Xoe to get out of her small cubicle of tears.
"He-he broke up with me," Xoe sobbed, voice muffled by the chipped green door.
Ryan sighed, shoulders deflating a little against the cold tile of the bathroom wall. Shifting the strap of her computer bag, she hopped onto the counters near the sinks.
"Rafael wasn't any good any way," she said, automatically shifting into the role of best-friend-who-hates-the-ex, although she thought he was a sweetheart. He was nice to her friend and didn't ignore Ryan's presence like many of Xoe's previous boyfriends, and she could see that he genuinely cared for her best friend. However, Ryan would never admit that to Xoe's face because she quite liked her life.
A moment of silence passed.
"You're lying," Xoe sniffled, and stumbled out of the stall, naturally tan skin blotchy with angry red tear streaks. Her long brown hair was pulled back into her signature low pony-tail, no hair out of place.
"You know you love him, maybe even more than me," she continued, moving to the mirror to check her appearance. Ryan rolled her eyes at this, but she didn't know what made her attempt to lie to Xoe in the first place. She was a terrible liar, mostly due to the fact she didn't lie often, and even then she was sniffed out immediately.
"What happened?" Ryan asked, curious. Xoe may have been high strung and a little controlling, but she was a great person underneath all the layers of anger and stubbornness.
"He broke up with me," Xoe said, as if it was obvious, and searched through her bag.
"I mean, did he tell you why?" Ryan implored, swinging her feet as she waited for an answer.
Rolling her eyes, Xoe pulled a bottle of concealer out of her purse and twisted open the cap.
"He said some BS about 'not being the one for me' and some other crap like that. We both know that he just wants to get with Gwen, that blonde haired bimbo on the cheerleading squad," she said, dabbing some of the makeup under her eyes.
Ryan frowned, furrowing her brow.
"Stop stereotyping and slut-shaming. You know that it's wrong," she said, crossing her arms.
Xoe rolled her eyes, putting the cap on the concealer before dropping it back into her bag.
"Whatever, it's not like your apart of the Anti-Bullying Club," she said, to which Ryan raised an eyebrow and pointed to her club sponsored t-shirt.
"Okay, maybe you are. Just let me vent," Xoe continued, but then narrowed her dark brown and bloodshot eyes.
"Are you taking their side?" she questioned through gritted teeth. Ryan's eyes widened in panic, and she shook her head, hair whipping her face.
"No no no, I'm not on any side. If any thing I'm side-less. I'm so side-less I'm a circle," she rushed out to say, holding her hands up in surrender, but the angry post-break up rampage of Xoella de la Vega had already begun.
Muttering something under her breath in Spanish, Xoe ran a hand over her hair before giving Ryan a dirty look and leaving. When she left, Ryan sighed and twisted a strand of hair on her finger. She knew she should be used to her best friend's sudden bouts of anger by now, but they were beginning to effect even her large amount of patience.
Hopping off the counter, Ryan dusted off her jeans before leaving out of the restroom, wondering how long it would take Xoe to get over her unjustified feelings of betrayal.
* * *
"Hey, Daenerys," she called as she entered her home.
Pocketing her keys, the clack of her pit bull's nails slapped against the hardwood. Breathing hard, the dog panted to her, her three legs pushing her body forward. Ryan sat on the floor to pet her, a smile immediately coming onto her face. She giggled and pushed away the dog's face to avoid being slobbered on.
"Ronny. You here?" she called, standing up. Daenerys followed her to the kitchen, stumbling for a moment before rushing after her.
As Ryan fed her dog, footsteps sounded down the stairs. Smiling, she sat her computer on the table and hopped onto a stool. Into the room stumbled her younger brother Ronny, curly hair slicked back. He straightened his clothes, brushing invisible dirt off the fabric.
"Hey, Ron. How's it going?" Ryan asked, opening up her laptop. She smoothed down the various stickers littering the front as she waited for an answer.
"Fine," he said in a clipped tone, a tone that Ryan was used to.
He moved toward the refrigerator, being careful not to bump into the counters. If anything got on his clothes, Ryan knew that the sound of the washing machine would be running all night. Once he got there safely, he dropped his phone, and chaos ensued.
When he bent to pick it up, Daenerys ran to him, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Ryan watched on in apprehension when her dog licked his hand. Ron popped up, stiff as a board and eyes widened, staring at his hands as if they were disconnected from his body.
He rushed to the sink, and Ryan sighed, watching as he scrubbed the brown skin of his hands to the point they turned red. The only sound in the room was the soft trickle of running water and the panting of the pit bull hiding near Ryan, wondering what she did wrong.
"Keep that dog, keep that dog, keep that dog away from me," he rushed out, and a disappointed look invaded his face. Ryan knew that he was working on stopping himself from saying words over and over in three time repetitions. With a scowl on his face, he left the kitchen, eyes downcast as if it was his fault.
