Ryder

Chapter 6

School was Hell.

Right from the second we stepped on the grass of the school property, stares and questions piled on top of Ryder.  Her eyes grew wider than I had ever seen them before.  She didn't smile, but didn't frown either.  Her expression was blank, although I could tell that she was overwhelmed.  I hummed deeply and looked down, like I always do when I'm embarrassed and want to pretend that nothing is going on.  I stared at my converse and began walking forward, led only by my feet.  Ryder followed, and I hastily walked into the breezeway, through the doors, and to my locker.  I took a small glance over my shoulder, and I pulled Ryder right next to me.  I could probably keep better track of her here.  I took off my backpack and coat, and hung them on the small metal hooks in my locker.  I stripped Ryder of Sarah's coat, and folded it gently in my locker.  It had rained on the way to school, so our legs and hair were damp, and the coats were dotted with rain droplets. 

I gathered up my books for my first four classes of the day.  First up was social studies. 

When the final bell rang to get into class, Ryder slid into an empty seat next to me.  She looked at me, and smiled a closed-lipped smile.  I heard whispers of my classmates, and finally Brianne Williams raised her hand.

"Mrs. Stevenson, we have a visitor."  Brianne's voice, louder than the rest, was a warning for us all to shut up.  Mrs. Stevenson looked up from her stack of papers, shuffling some as she did so.  She looked confused for a moment. 

 "I was not informed.  Who are you?"  She stared directly at Ryder through her red-framed glasses.  "Who brought you here?"  Ryder pointed at me, smiling widely.  Mrs. Stevenson raised her eyebrows at me.  I cleared my throat, thinking of a way to explain. 

"Erm....this....this is Ryder.  She--is.....uh....living with my family for---well....a while....I thought I could maybe take her here....if it's okay."  I squirmed in my seat.  My stomach lurched.

"Well, do you have a pass?"  The question was shot towards Ryder.  She shook her head.

"No, Ma'am."  Her politness made up for this.  Mrs. Stevenson accepted her, but the other students whispered in front of us.

"What kind of name is Ryder?"

"Why is she with Ryan?"\

"Her hair is so long..."

"Look at her eyes!"

"She looks anorexic."  Sniggers came after this one.  Kids regard those kinds of people as good victims at my school.  This was going to be a long day.

The rest of my classes were roughly the same.  I explained to my science teacher, my English teacher, and my journalism teacher had already heard the news through the grapevine.  I taught her how to use the computer and how to edit stories.  I think she liked it a lot.  I was glad.

After journalism, we have to go to B lunch in the cafeteria.  I usually bring a lunch, like today.  I figured that it would be better that way for Ryder, so that she didn't have to wait in that long lunch line for food that sucked. 

I meandered through the crowd of high school students, who were most dangerous before they got food in their systems.  Crumbs of food bounced off platters, and elbows found their way to my gut.  I didn't dare sneak a look back at Ryder.  She was pretty much good as dead, I figured.  I finally spotted my table.  I didn't even have friends there....it was more of a table for the freshmen male social outcasts.  We only stayed a group so that we couldn't be picked out individually.  Other than lunch, we never spoke. 

There was a sudden, heavy silence as soon as Ryder sat down next to me.  They had probably never sat at the same table with a girl, besides their moms and sisters.  A ginger boy with floppy hair scooched away from where we sat, a spot directly next to the wall.  The usual cranny that I shrank into every day.  I untwisted my brown paper lunch sack and pulled out a poorly-constructed  peanut-butter sandwich.  The sandwich was about an inch from my open mouth when I remembered Ryder.  I put the bread creation down, tore it in half, and held out my sticky, peanut-butter smothered hand, offering her the sandwich.  She took it and thanked me.