An Unexpected Roommate

Chapter 3: Quiet Beauty

JADE:

My mother had already left for her shift at the hospital; she had left a note on the table.

"Ryder, we're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up." I pressed down, trying to get the last of the juice from the orange. Fresh orange juice was my favorite, but it sure was a lot of work. I poured the last bit in my glass.

"My, aren't you sunshiney in the morning," he said sarcastically, plucking an apple from the counter and reaching for the glass of orange juice.

"Mine." I swatted at his hand. "You should change," I said, noticing our outfits. We were both wearing white t-shirts, jeans, and high tops. We looked like some sort of messed up engagement photo shoot.

"I quite like it," he said.

I pointed towards his room. "I was wearing it first."

"Didn't you say something about us being late?" he asked, taking a bite from his apple. He pulled his bag onto one shoulder.

I growled as I grabbed my car keys, Ryder twirling the keys to his jeep around his forefinger.

Another note was posted to the door, my mother's looping handwriting scrawled across the paper: "Please ride with Ryder, I noticed your car has a flat tire. I'll take it to the shop when I get back from work."

"Looks like you're with me," Ryder said, plucking my keys from my hands.

"I have dance after school," I grumble.

"I don't mind taking you," Ryder said.

"I can probably catch a ride with Lacey," I said, though I knew her study hall was last period, and she usually left early. Maybe I could convince her to stick around and drive me after my last class.

"It's no problem," Ryder said. "This will be fun. A day in the life of Jade."

"So fun," I said sarcastically.

"I think so," Ryder said with a grin.

+++

RYDER:

Jade was one of those girls who got all red at the top of her cheeks and ears when she got worked up. When she slumped into the passenger seat of my jeep, she crossed her arms, her cheeks rosy. I slid into my seat and started up the car.

She had a quiet beauty to her, a natural beauty. So refreshing from the girls I had been surrounded by the past few years, the ones that wore layers of makeup, never a hair out of place. I had always thought they were hot, I wasn't one to say no, but Jade was a breath of fresh air.

Thin and lean and graceful. She didn't wear clothes that hugged her curves, didn't move in a way meant to seduce or attract attention, though she definitely had mine.

I bit my tongue, I was getting soft. I wasn't one for relationships, I wasn't one for quiet beauty like hers. I'd get tired of it, I was sure.

I always did.

But when I glanced to my side, and saw Jade's eyes closed, her arm out a bit to her side, her hand gliding against the wind as though she were caressing it, as if she were trying to fly, I felt as though she were listening to music I couldn't hear, and I wished that I could.

+++

"You have your schedule?" Jade asked when we got out of the car. Pieces of her hair had fallen from her ponytail, framing her face, all high cheekbones and delicate lines.

"Yeah," I said, pulling a crinkled piece of paper from my back pocket. "Hernandez for Spanish three?"

She looks up for a moment, as though she's thinking. "I know where that is," she said. She turned and I followed her. "Spanish three," she said, as though impressed. "Do you speak Spanish proficiently?"

"Un poco," I said, holding up my fingers close together. "¿Y t́́u? ¿Hables español?"

She smiled and shook her head. "A little French."

I nodded. Right, ballet included a good bit of French.

"You're here," she said quietly, pointing to an open door where students were filing in. She looked like she was ducking her head.

"You okay there?" I asked, smirking as I watched her eyes looking at my arms, a slight blush making the tops of her ears pink.

"Yes," she said. "You've just got a lot of attention already. They're looking at me too."

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" I ask, remembering when I asked her the same thing the night before. I felt that making her uncomfortable might be one of my new favorite pastimes.

When she didn't answer, I grinned. I pulled her toward me, wrapping myself around her thin frame and planting a kiss on the top of her head. "I'll see you after school Jade!" I said loudly, feeling eyes cling to the two of us.

Jade shuffled out of my arms and ducked her head. With a terse 'bye,' she hurried off down the hall, grabbing the arm of a giggly blond who immediately started whispering in her ear.

A/N:

Hello! Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! What do you think of Ryder and hearing from his point of view? 

Love,

Katelyn