Ryder

Chapter 5

I woke up in the morning from a seemingly dreamless sleep. I realized with a jolt that it was a Friday--a school day. My first schoolday with Ryder....had she ever been to school? What would the other kids do?

I dragged myself out of my bed, still in my jeans and shirt from yesterday. I moaned and twisted the knob on my lamp to turn it on. The light burned....what a classic teenager saying. I kept on my old jeans, but pulled off my t-shirt. I walked over to my closet, opened the door, and browsed my options. It was then that I felt a presence of someone else. Slowly turning around, I faced one of the corners of my room. Ryder was sitting, staring(yet again), in the far corner, near the door.

"What the Hell, Ryder?" I exclaimed. How long had she been here? I frantically scrambled for a shirt in my closet, and pulled it on.  What was her problem? 

"I couldn't sleep, so I came in here for company," she responded with a straight face.  Apparently, my lanky bare chest had not fazed her. 

"What about Sarah?  You would've been fine with her.  She loves you!" 

Ryder looked puzzled for a moment.  She shifted her gaze to the upper-left corner of my room.  She then looked back at me after clearing her mind.  "Sarah was gone this morning.  I'm not even sure that she came into her room last night.  Is she with your parents?"

My heart fell.  Sarah never slept with our parents.  Like, NEVER.  I knew the answer to where she was before I was willing to admit it.  I tried to shake it off like it was no big deal.  "It's nothing.  Don't worry, Ryder.  Let's just get some breakfast.  Hmm....if it's six a.m. now, then school starts in about two hours.  C'mon."

Leading her down the stairs, Ryder and I accompanied each other in complete silence.  Was she still thinking about Sarah?  I was used to this by now, but my little sister couldn't leave my mind.  I reached into a kitchen cupboard, pulled out some Cheerios, snatched two ceramic bowls, and poured a generous amount of cereal into each one.  Ryder's stomach could probably hold this down--after all, it was pretty much just whole grain circles.  I picked up my bowl, tipping it into my mouth.  A waterfall of dry cheerios cascaded down my throat.  I cruched with great force, and set down the bowl.  Ryder had sat herself down and was looking up at me with a blank expression.  I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you waiting for?  Dig in," I requested.  She raised her brows back at me.

"What about spoons?  Or milk?"  Ryder asked.  Wow.  Awfully picky for a girl who barely ate.  I realized that her past eating habbits may be different than mine, and that her parents probably raised her better than this.  I nodded, swallowed the crumbs that had remained stuck in my teeth, and walked over (more like stumbled) over to the pull-out drawer that held our spoons.  I only grabbed one.  Hey, a boy will be a boy.  Next, I ventured over to the fridge, and pulled out a carton of 2% milk.  I closed the door with my elbow and sat the milk down onto the table. 

"There.  Now dig in,"  I said, tipping my bowl into my mouth once more.  Slowly and shyly, Ryder poured a small amount of milk into her Cheerios and dipped her spoon into in.  She ate very little at a time.  It took a while for her to finish, almost half an hour.  When Ryder finished, I left to go brush my hair and teeth.  "C'mon, let's go finish getting ready.  You should probably brush your hair.  Follow me."

I reached into one of Sarah's drawers once I was upstairs, pulling out a brush.  I handed it off to Ryder, who sat onto Sarah's bed and ran the tips of it through her long, dark hair.  I went into my bathroom to do the same.  I flicked on the lights and studied my reflection in the mirror, testing what imperfections I had to correct today.  I smiled, then frowned, then tried on a variety of other expressions.  I was such a girl.  But I guess I don't spend as much time on my looks as the other guys in my school.  I ran my fingers through my hair, trying out that whole sexy wind-swept look.  It looked alright.  My hair still was floppy and cast a shadow over my face.  Mom called it my "Harry Potter hair".  I twitched my nose, observing my unnatural, sun-caused freckles.  My skin was pale now, however, under the stormy November skies.  Then there were my eyes.  I seriously needed contacts to cover up their abnormal colouring.  The eye on the left was blue.  On the right, green.  I don't know where I got it from.  I swept my hair to the side, sort of, and gave up.  I pulled out my green toothbrush and Colgate.  I squeezed the tube and paste onto my brush, and was about to put it in my mouth when I saw Ryder in the back hallway, staring at me like someone from a horror film, or like Masky from the Marble Hornets series online.  Oh, yeah....she didn't have a toothbrush.  I called out to Ryder that I would get her one, and stooped over to look for a spare.  I picked apart piles of curling irons, brushes, toothpaste, Dixie cups, and, at last, a spare toothbrush. 

"Here you go, Ryder," I said, handing her the brush and Colgate.  She rolled the tube out onto her toothbrush, and put it in her mouth, spinning the brush in small circles on each tooth.  I did the same, only not as delicately.  My gums could bleed out, for all I care.  I stuck my head out of the bathroom door, and peeped at the clock that hung in the hallway.  It was 7:30.  I spit out the cleaning foam, and snatched a Dixie cup to rinse with.  I stepped aside so that Ryder could repeat the process.  "Hurry!  We're gonna be late if we don't start walking now!"  I walked every day.  Ryder scampered out of the bathroom, and bolted down the stairs without a word.  I followed her, grabbing my backpack and swinging it onto my shoulder.  I made sure to pick up Sarah's raincoat and handed it to Ryder, and grabbed mine.  I would put it on later.  Ryder pulled on the pink rubber jacket, and smiled widely at me.

"Thank you, Ryan."

I knew that after her first day of school here, she wouldn't be thanking me anymore.