The Year I Met Ryan (Editing)

Chapter 7: Dinner at Ryan's

CHAPTER 7: DINNER AT RYAN'S

It was a little too quiet for my liking at the dinner table. Ryan, sitting right across from me, was drinking water very slowly while looking at me, knowing fully well that it would make me uneasy. As if on queue I stirred in my seat. My mom looked at me and then to Ryan's mom with a smile.

"So Mrs. Bray, will Mr. Bray and the rest of your family be joining us for dinner any time soon?"

Ryan's mom gave us a little smile and then turned to Ryan who had suddenly choked on his water. "You didn't tell her?"

Tell me what?

Ryan's mumbled with his deep voice. "No, it never came up."

His mom looked up at us again with a smile. "Well for starters, please feel free to call me Barbara. And as for the rest of the family well.. my other son, Ryan's older brother, Parker, is off at college. And as for Ryan and Parker's dad, well he walked out on the family 15 years ago. 13 years ago he served me with divorce papers, which he sent using an assistant. I haven't seen him since then. "

I looked up at Ms. Bray and back at Ryan. I continued this until Ryan's eyes met mine, then I looked down.

My mom on the other hand did not stay quiet. "Oh I am so sorry honey. And I am very sorry for bringing it up. "

My dad leaned in a little. "We both are sorry. Men sometimes just don't know how to handle things. But, he should have stayed and tried. You are welcome to come over to our house any time, we always have room for more in the Diaz house." He flashed her a big smile and I smiled too because I knew my parent's had contagious smiles.

I looked over at Ryan again and this time he had his head down but I could see a small smile forming on his face. He looked at my parents and said, "Thank you Mr. Diaz, and thank you Mrs. Diaz."

His mom looked at my parents and thanked them the same way. "You guys truly do not understand how much that means to us. I haven't really had any real adult friends around this town, and I'm sure for Ryan it would do some good to be around some nice people like yourselves."

My parents smiled back and them and said, "It's no problem, and please call us Cathy and Alex."

Was this it? Was a friendship started to form between our families? My parents needed some adult friends too and Ms. Bray, or Barbara, seemed like the perfect friend to have. Parents always seemed to have this thing where they could become instant friends with anyone. It was one of life's off mysteries. Just as I was about to fall into a daydreaming state thinking about this new-found friendship, I heard my mom's voice.

"Lorianne does this sound okay to you?"

She did not just say my middle name. Oh. My. Goodness.

"Uh..ha..yeah mom." I grumbled it when I said it and I immediately looked down

Barbara and Ryan looked at us strangely. "Oh sorry," my mom giggled, "that's her middle name but she doesn't like it when we call her that."

I looked straight at Ryan and he looked at me with a smirk and mouthed  "Lori."

**********

I walked into school excited about the day for some reason. I was surviving school, I was surviving the people, and all in all I was doing pretty well. Suddenly I felt a hand grab onto my backpack and I shrieked while flailing my arms. All of a sudden I heard someone start busting up in laughter.

"Do...*laugh* you *gasp* know *more laughing*  how funny  *gasp and then laughing while he held his sides* you just sounded and looked?"

"No I wasn't aware of that," I grumbled sarcastically.

"Aw c'mon Lori I'm sorry," he said trying to hold back his laughter.

I mocked laughed and said, "That's not my name."

He started clapping with a beat and what came out of his mouth next had ME busting up in laughter and tears.

"They call me hell, they call me Stacey, they call me her, they call me Jane, that's not my name, that's not my name, that's not my name, that's not my...name."

He stopped singing and clapping and just stared at me with a serious face. I was trying to hold back my laughter and so I was making a weird face. In the most serious way anyone could ever imagine he asked, "What?" That's when I couldn't take it anymore. I doubled over and grabbed onto his shoulder for support while letting out the ugliest laugh anyone has ever heard. I laughed for a good 2 minutes before looking up at Ryan with tears in my eyes. I could see that he was trying to hold back a smile.

"You're so dumb," I told him while smiling. I looked around and was glad to see that no one had seen what just had happened. If they did we probably would have gotten sent to a mental asylum.

He gave me a big smile and replied, "Thanks! Friends are supposed to make friends laugh right? It's like an unspoken rule."

I laughed. "Well thanks. And I'm pretty sure it's a widely known unspoken rule. If someone can make you laugh, then bam, they're instantly your friend."

"Which is how we became friends so fast. I'm funny."

I looked up at him with a straight face and a tint of annoyance. In reply, he gave me a cute side smile which made his dimple on that side really noticeable. I've always wanted dimples like the ones he had. They suited him well.

"SO I'm going to call you Lori because you said I could call you whatever I wanted. But I may also call you Beth at times. Or maybe Beth Lori or Bethany Lorianne or Diaz or really whatever I feel like at the time. Because, need I remind you that you said I could call you whatever." He smirked at me and I smiled at him.

"You CAN call me whatever you want to. I do not care." I stuck out my tongue at him and he jabbed me in the side with his finger. I laughed. "Stop it Ryan something Bray."

"It's Anthony."

"What?"

He smiled. "My middle name, it's Anthony."

"Oh." I looked down and blushed from embarrassment. "Ryan Anthony Bray. Interesting!" I winked at him playfully and he reached out his arm to grab my side but I shrieked playfully this time and started running down the hall and away from him. I reached the end of the hall and turned back at him to see Ryan smiling at me and then he started shaking his head back and forth and he started laughing. I smiled back at him and gave him a  small wave. He waved back.

I turned the corner of the hall with a big smile on my face and for the first time in a  really long time I felt completely happy. Happier than I did this morning, happier than I did last night at dinner. I just felt genuinely happy and that in itself made me happy.  There was still a few minutes before the bell was going to ring. I saw some steps a few feet in front of me and I decided to sit on them.

I reached the steps and put my backpack on my lap. I opened it and took out the book Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. I hate to admit it, but I am a sucker for any books that have some romance in them. I opened it but I only read for a few minutes before the bell rang. I put the book back into my backpack and I started walking towards Mrs. Demassi's class.

I stopped in my tracks. Ryan and I still had our project to start! I just figured that I would remind him this period. I started walking away, just thinking to myself. I am about to see Ryan Anthony Bray again. And soon I am going to have to go to his house. I am going to be a nervous wreck. Oh but his mom will be there sooo that's better I think? It wont be bad. Don't overthink this Beth. I walked into class and sat in my seat. A smile was beginning to form  on my face when I realized that.. Wait-what happened in the hall, it was just friendly right? Ryan just wants to be friends? I hope so beecause I just want to be friends. I think? Right? I'm acutally afraid to go to his house, I just met him. What if he kills me. Bethany, stop this. Gosh if anyone could hear my thoughts they would think that I belonged in a mental hospital. I could not think straight, but I needed to. For my sake, I needed to get control over my feelings.

Ryan suddenly turned around and I froze, afraid that he heard everything that I had said to myself. He whispered, "Friday. My house. Project." And with that he turned back around. Okay. Friday. I have time. Don't freak. DO NOT FREAK.

Yup. I was definitely freaking out.