Friendzoned

Chapter 20

Rae

            There is a party tonight for all who want to go. Jake and I decided that we would go so I could get back at Ryder tonight for what he did. I am just so ready for us to be even again. Jake will be over in about 15 minutes and he will drive us there. My mom thinks I am just going out with him and Lexi tonight.

            When we got to the party there were already people outside drinking beer. I had to find the perfect person to get back at Ryder. Someone he would actually react from.

            “Alright Jake, we are here for one reason and one reason only.” I reminded him when he grabbed a beer from the kitchen.

            “I know. Just relax. Ryder isn’t even here yet.” Jake explained. He walked us over to the couch and sat down pulling me on top of him. “Want a drink?” he asked. I know I shouldn’t drink but maybe just a few sips to take the edge off the top.

“Sure. Just a sip.” I said grabbing the beer from his hand. I downed the rest of it and gave it back with a small smile. He just shook his head and laughed.

“Well now I need a new one!” he yelled laughing. Next thing I knew, a girl from my English class gave him a new one. “Oh, thank you milady!” Tonight was going to be a long night. For the next thirty minutes we just sat around and talked with some people. It was so loud in here that I could barely hear myself think. All of a sudden the front door slammed open and Ryder and Alex walked in yelling something I couldn’t hear. I smacked Jake on the arm harder then I intended and yelled over the music, “Alex!”

“What?” he yelled back. I quickly explained that Alex is the perfect guy to get back at Ryder for what he did before I jumped up and ran over to them. The first thing I noticed when I walked up to them was the hickie on Ryder’s neck. It was huge! I could tell that it was pretty new by the bruising. I thought I was mad before, but now I am furious! Without saying anything to the two of them I grabbed Alex by the hand and dragged him out back.

“Hey Rae!” Alex said sounding really excited. I could tell he was high. Ugh. I need to find a way to get Ryder out here so he can see me kiss Alex.

“Hey. You should call Ryder and tell him to come out here so we can all hang out. It was too hot inside. I needed some air.” I explained. By the way he nodded his head I could tell he was expecting to do more than talking, but he got over it pretty fast. Little did he know that there would be more than just talking. He called Ryder and he picked up the second time. “Hey you should come out back with me and Rae. We are all going to hang out together!” I heard Alex say. He hung up the phone and said Ryder was on his way out.

As soon as I saw Ryder come out the back door looking around for us, I grabbed Alex by the shirt and started kissing him. He was a really impatient kisser. He stuck his tongue in my mouth right away. I wasn’t into this kiss, nothing I could get lost in but I knew Ryder was watching. I took Alex’s hand and moved it to my butt. After a few seconds I couldn’t stand it anymore and I pulled back out of breath. I looked and saw Ryder with no expression on his face. He turned and grabbed three and downed them one right after another, then walked away.

“Soo… Um what was that about? We haven’t really talked that much, but if you need a fuck buddy I am so down for that!” Alex said smiling. Just thinking of that made me want to puke.

“I’ll get back to you on that one.” I yelled over my shoulder as I walked away. After a few more drinks, a lot of dancing with Jake, and a round of spin the bottle, I was beat. After the kiss with Alex I hadn’t seen a whole lot of Ryder. Brittany was here, but she was all over some other dude. I walked out to the deck outside where there was no one around. It was a clear night so I jumped on the banister and just looked up at the stars. I wasn’t completely drunk, but I wasn’t completely sober either so I was debating on what to do with the rest of the night. I knew Jake would be totally drunk, if not passed out by now so a ride home from him wouldn’t work. Just then some idiot messed up my train of thought and stumbled outside.

“You know my cat is going to get married in like a year and my dog is the bridesmaid.” The guy slurred out. I knew it was Ryder from his voice. He slowly walked over to me as I jumped down so I was standing. “Who is that?” he asked.

“It’s Rae.” I answered keeping space in between us.

“HAHAHA! You know, I have been looking everywhere for you!” He said walking even closer. As I was walking down the rail, I felt wood behind me and I knew I was in a corner. Ryder was now half a foot away from me.

“Well you found me.” I said calmly. I wasn’t sure why, but I was really nervous. He took one last step closing the space that was in between us. He smelled like he had robbed the liquor store. “God Ryder, how much have you had to drink tonight?” I said plugging my nose.

“I have no fucking idea. Hey, you want to know something? You have a problem. Yeah. You have a really big problem.” He said poking my chest.

“Oh yeah and what’s that?” I said not backing down.

“You are a big fucking baby. All I did was kiss you and you ran away. Like what the fuck!” He yelled looking up. Man he was really drunk. “I really liked you, did you know that?”

“Ryder come on, I was ten. Can’t you just forget that? Most ten year olds don’t get kissed by their best friend.” I answered him. I ignored the part of him liking me because I knew that wasn’t true.

“Ok, ok that’s alright. I guess I can understand that. Then what about today? You act like I killed your dad and you don’t even tell me why you were mad. Then you were out here with Alex, my best friend, practically sucking his whole face.” He said with his face so close to mine.

“Whatever. You wouldn’t understand. All guys are dicks.” I said. He nodded his head like he agreed. I squeezed out of his way and started to walk away but he caught my wrist and pulled me back to the corner.

“Hang on. I wasn’t finished yet.” He said holding my chin. His other hand was still around my wrist. It wasn’t a tight grip but it wasn’t comfy.

“Well what are you going to do?” I asked, because I was so confused between drunk Ryder and the alcohol in my blood stream.

“I am going to fucking kiss you.” He said. Before I could reply or even process what he had said, his lips were on mine. The first thing I noticed was the song, The Show Goes by Lupe Fiasco, was playing in the background. He dropped my wrist and moved that hand to my waist. As his lips worked against mine, his other hand just held the side of my face. I was completely confused but I couldn’t push him off. I knew I should. Flags were going up everywhere. But I couldn’t do anything. I felt his tongue brush by my bottom lip and I opened my mouth for him to get in. Even though he had so much to drink he didn’t taste like alcohol. I couldn’t explain it, but I wanted more. I slowly moved both of my hands up around his neck as he pulled me closer. My back was pressed on the back of the deck and Ryder’s frame was covering my whole front. We were so close I could feel his heartbeat. When he moaned in my mouth, I knew he was just as affected from this as I was.

I was on top of the world. I was drunk off of this kiss. I needed to stop. None of this was right. He is a player, I can’t do this. I was yelling at myself in my head, but it wasn’t doing anything. Ryder started to nibble on my bottom lip ever so slightly and my thoughts were gone. My whole brain was foggy and I couldn’t stop it. What Ryder had over me wasn’t good and it wasn’t safe. This wasn’t normal. He pulled back first and we both tried to catch our breath. He pressed his forehead against mine and just stared into my eyes. His eyes were so chocolaty brown that I could get lost in them and never get out. He finally broke the silence.

“Damn.” He said still staring. Just then someone ran out and yelled.

“COPS ARE HERE!” We both jumped back and ran around to the side of the house. There were a bunch of people everywhere when I ran into Lexi.

“There you are! Come on! Jasmine is parked right over there.” She yelled over everything and started pulling me towards the car. As soon as I got in the car, Lexi asked me where I had been all night. I didn’t really want anyone to know what happened between me and Ryder, so I just said I had been around.

Once I had gotten home, I thanked my lucky star necklace that the cops hadn’t caught any one. As I changed and got into bed, I thought about Ryder and how confusing this all was. Before I could think of anything else, my eyes fell asleep on me.