Chapter 19
"Stupid doors," I muttered as I walked up to the school doors, unable to open them since both my hands were occupied holding my crutches. And my siblings decided to be stupid and walk in the school without being kind enough to open the doors for me.
Devil spawns.
I tried opening the doors, but I huffed when I was unable to do so.
"Here," a voice said behind me. I almost smiled when I saw Mae opening one of the doors for me, but I didn't feel like smiling because of my bad mood.
"Thanks," I said as I got into the school with Mae following me.
"How's your ankle?" she asked.
"Horrible," I said. "It hurts a lot and I can't dance. I went to the doctor's yesterday to get it checked out. Just a sprain, like the first air said. Nothing too bad, I guess."
"I'm really sorry it happened," she said as we got to my locker. She opened it up for me and got out my biology notebook. "On the bright side, it wasn't like your injury made you lose. You still got the title of the male soloist."
"I know," I said. "I mean, I'm happy that I beat Raphael, even though it was obvious that I was going to, but I hate that I sprained my ankle in the process."
"Even with that sprained ankle, you're still as arrogant as ever," Mae said with a thin smile, probably to try to bump my mood, but it didn't work. I kept my neutral face on.
The bell rang, so Mae and I went to her locker to get her things before heading to class. She carried my books for me, thankfully. Even though I was in a bad mood, I was still happy that I had her in my life.
For the rest of the school day, Mae helped me out and I basically didn't smile at all. To make things worse, anyone from the Nonpareil would smirk at me whenever the passed me. And if I wasn't a nice guy, I would have wacked them over the head with one of my crutches.
When school ended, Dad picked us up since I currently couldn't drive. "How was school?" he asked me.
"Horrible," I muttered. "Why did I have to sprain my ankle? I was careful in my dance. I didn't do anything I couldn't happen."
"I know," Dad said. "Things happen."
"Horrible things," I added.
Dad didn't say anything else as we drove home. He knew I was in a bad mood and did not want to talk to anyone at all.
When we got home, I headed upstairs, even though it was a huge struggle for me. I went in my room and laid down on my bed, dropping the crutches onto the floor. I reached for the remote on my nightstand and turned on the TV, hoping to keep my mind of the pain I was feeling.
Around dinner time, Dad came in my room carrying a plate of spaghetti. "I thought it would be easier bringing this up then you having to come downstairs," he said.
"Thanks," I said, sitting up in my bed and taking the plate of spaghetti from him.
"How's your ankle?" he asked.
"It hurts a lot," I said, twirling some of the spaghetti on my fork, but not eating any. "And you already know that I can't dance, so...."
"It won't last forever," Dad reminded. "Your doctor said that if you take care of your ankle and when it's fully healed, you don't go full-out in dance for another week or so, you'll be fine."
"I know," I said. "And I know there's no upcoming competitions that I'm part of that I can't dance in, but that doesn't stop me from hating this. Dance is my passion and it sucks not being able to dance, even if it is temporary. I even dance around my room whenever I don't have a day of rehearsal."
"But sulking about it will only make things worse," Dad said. "It will only make it seem like the days and weeks are going by awfully slow. It sucks, I know, but this take care of your ankle and let it pass."
I still frowned. "Things would have been better if it didn't happen at all."
Dad sighed. "Ryder, people have it worse. Some people may have torn a ligament and not been able to dance at all. Some people could have had their foot or whole leg amputated. Their injury could have been permanent. So please don't be pessimistic about. I swear, you are a close of your mom at times."
"Not really," I said. "People say I'm more like my dad."
"Good looking?" Dad asked.
"No, arrogant," I said with a smile. "Face it, Dad. You are probably one of the most arrogant people on earth."
"I am not arrogant," Dad said. "When you were three years old and your mom and I just got married, I met this guy at the beach who was more arrogant than me. Seriously. He was the worst."
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you were probably more arrogant than him."
"Nope, no way," Dad said. "He was more arrogant. He got mad at me for no apparent reason. Then again, I laughed at his name. It wasn't my fault he was named after that red crap in The Little Mermaid."
"What's so funny about the name Sebastian?" I asked.
"Everything."
"Oh, would you look at that? It's my father being arrogant once again."
Dad rolled his eyes. "Just eat your food," he said before leaving.
I didn't have too much of an appetite, but I was able to eat all my food. A few minutes after I finished, Tulip skipped into my room. "Daddy told me to get your plate when you're done," she said. "Are you done?"
"Yup," I said, handing her the plate. "Is there any dessert?"
Tulip shook her head. "Nope, not today. But I asked Daddy and Mommy if we could have dessert tomorrow and they said yes. Are you feeling better?"
"A bit."
"Good," she said. "I'll even hang out with you to make you feel better! Be right back!"
Tulip left my room to bring the plate downstairs before she came back up and sat down beside me on the bed, making the bed bounce a bit. "Tulip, careful," I said.
"Sorry," she said as she looked at the TV. "What are you watching?"
"Nothing right now," I said. "The TV's just on." I handed her the remote and she took it with a smile. "Here, you pick something."
"Thank you, Ryder!" she said happily. She began flipping through the channels before landing on one. Thankfully it wasn't something too bad. I mean, it was more for Tulip's age, but at least it wasn't one of those cringeworthy TV shows.
Besides, watching her watch the TV with a smile and respond to the show, sometimes even negatively, was enough to put me in a somewhat better mood. These weeks were going to be hard with me not being able to dance, but I think I was going to be able to live with it.
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Guys, Wattpad is being annoying. -.- I'm really annoyed right now because the mobile and email notifications aren't going through, so you'll probably be reading this long after I post it.
So, today (where I live at least) is May 22nd, meaning it's Ryder's birthday. :) I normally write it on my profile whenever it's someone's birthday, but doing so might spoil the third book of the protector series. So happy birthday, Ryder, and anyone else who shares a birthday with him. cx
The video is one that I found. It is of an otter eating at a table and it reminded me so much of Grayson, so I had to share it. cx
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Ryder the Love Expert | Protector 2.1
Teen Fiction*cover created by hotsforhoran* Ryder Tony Prince has been known as The Love Expert ever since he was three years old and decided to give his father some advice at love. Not to mention Ryder is the son of Grayson and Poppy Prince, also know...
