e-Bae

2

Ryan sat on her bed, eyes fixated on the screen in front of her. Her hands absentmindedly stuffed popcorn in her mouth, and Daenerys whined at the edge of the comforter, waiting for a piece to fall.

"Shh. . . " she hissed, throwing a piece down to the pit bull.

The rest of the house was silent. Ronny was sleeping, and Ross was black-out drunk on the couch. He called her at one in the morning, not wanting to drive intoxicated and get his license revoked again. She had stumbled out of bed in her ripped tank top and bleach stained sweatpants, ruined from her dog constantly jumping on her legs while she did the laundry, to save the idiot-in-distress. Ross was slumped against the front pillar of a house that would put both their parents into debt, flirting with an equally drunk female, while his girlfriend angrily stomped off to Ryan. She said to tell Ross that it was over, and flipped her long auburn hair before clacking away. Ross and the girl began kissing as soon as she left.

Ryan sighed at the thought of having to tell her brother this in the morning, knowing that out of all of his girlfriends, he liked Abigail the most. The one month relationship was the longest he's ever had, and it pained her to think that another girl would soon line up to fill the missing position. Running a hand through her newly washed hair, she sniffed it, making sure the putrid scent of Ross' throw-up was out of the brown curls. She grimaced at the memory of how it got there in the first place.

". . .I'm going to break the wheel," Ryan heard from the TV. Snapping her attention back to Game of Thrones, she continued her marathon so she could see the finale. But, she was interrupted.

Pausing the TV, she glared down at her phone, wondering why she was continuously being distracted today. Picking up the device, she glanced at the message, the words not really registering. Her pit bull had decided to take the offensive in the Battle of Popcorn, and was now on her owner's lap, eating the buttery kernels while spilling it all over the bed spread.

"Dany," Ryan whined, scooting off the bed to see her phone better. The bright light of the screen interrupted the hazy darkness of the room, and she read over the message, heart skipping a beat.

"What?" she whispered, not expecting an answer, or wanting one. She sank to the floor, tears blurring her eyes.

"We're over."

The text from her boyfriend, or now ex, stood out in her mind, the impersonal words repeating in her memory. James was supposed to be her forever, no matter how unrealistic she even thought it was. Two years of dating, planning to be together throughout senior year, then go to the same college. Being the hopeless romantic she was, Ryan expected the fairytale ending. Becoming a couple like her parents, who were out celebrating their twenty-second aniversary.

She stared blankly at the purple painted wall in front of her. The wall was littered with photos of her and her friends, pictures of her and James. She swiped away a tear and stumbled to her window, collapsing onto the ledge. The stars dotted the night sky, full moon giving illumination to her block full of barely operational street lights. Closing her eyes, she bit her lip to keep from sobbing. As a naturally optimistic person, it felt as if her permanent sunshine was being eclipsed by the feelings of self-doubt. She took a deep breath, then thought of who she could talk to.

Xoe was avoiding her calls and not responding to her texts. Ronny didn't like being woke up before 6:36, and would stare at his clock until a safe number would appear to go back to sleep. Ross wouldn't care, unlike most older brothers. Her cousin, York, was in Ohio visiting his grandparents, leaving his attentive ear and knack for giving advice out of the question. And, to top it all off , her boyfriend just broke up with her through text without any explanation.

Thinking of the fact she had no one to talk to, she started wondering about Thomas. How her fictional character had been there for her on her worst days, his story providing relief when the constant arguing between her father and Ross filled the house. Or, lending a metaphorical shoulder to cry on when she would wonder why her maternal grandparents didn't want anything to do with her, just to avoid admitting the fact that her existence was the reason. Opening her eyes, she looked at the sky, finding the star that seemed to shine the brightest. Her father always told her that those stars granted wishes when she was younger, and she couldn't help but feel as though it couldn't hurt. Dreams were just hidden realities yet to come true, in any case.

Her tear filled eyes glanced next door after seeing the sudden movement of curtains. Brushing the tears from her face, she blinked quickly, knowing what would happen if it was known she was crying. Too late, she watched the concerned face of her neighbor peek through the window.

"Hey, Tobias," Ryan said, awkwardly waving to him. He gave her a large smile, and struggled to find a comfortable place on the ledge. Giving up, he turned to look at her, running a hand through his curly hair.

"You can call me Toby, Ryan," he said, then shifted his cheer bag off his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked, furrowing his thick eyebrows at her. Sighing, Ryan wondered how she always ended up like this with Toby. He always knew when to appear and solve her problems, either through terrible puns or annoying persistence. 

"James," she stated, and widened her window.

"Want to watch Game of Thrones with me?" she asked, knowing that it would lead to this anyway, not caring that it was close to two in the morning.

"Oh, how scandalous!" he exclaimed, pressing a hand to his chest. But, he gave her a goofy smile and nodded.

* * *

"How was cheer?" Ryan asked through a mouth-full of skittles.

Tobias shuddered at the disgusting mix of colors being displayed, and reached a hand up to run it through his hair. They had finished watching Game of Thrones an hour ago, mostly due to the fact he had no idea what was going on, much to the annoyance of Ryan. The past hour was mostly used for Tobias to attempt to get information out of her that was not going to be given.

"They all still think I'm gay. I mean, I guess it's impossible to be this fabulous and straight as the sidewalk," he explained, inspecting his nails.

Rolling her eyes at his reaction, Ryan pushed the bowl of popcorn in his direction, watching him carefully.

"I'm not hun-" he started, but she cut him off by shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. His eyes widened at her, and he slowly chewed, knowing that she would to it again at the slightest provocation. Her lips curved up in a smile as she saw him eat it, and she vowed to herself to make sure he kept it down.

"I feel violated," he stated dramatically, splaying himself out on her carpet. His dark brown eyes stared up at her ceiling, and she moved to lay next to him.

"I don't even know where your hands have been," he continued in a whisper.

"My dog's mouth," Ryan said, just to mess with him. Hiding her smirk, she watched his facial expression go from calm to horrified and then teasing in a matter of seconds.

"Kinky, huh?" he said, sticking his tongue out and going cross-eyed to see if something was different about it.  Shoving his shoulder with her own, Ryan looked up at her ceiling and glared at the poster attached. A large, blown up movie advertisement of Twilight was pasted there, the sides peeled and ripped from her attempting to pull it down and failing.

"You suck," she muttered, placing her head on his chest. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Tobias chuckled a little.

"That's what all the cheerleader's think."

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Okay, Tobias is quickly becoming my favorite.