Heartbreaker [Ryden] [BOOK ONE]

- ten -

It took some real convincing to get me to go to school today. And by convincing, I meant Brendon had to come over and drag me off the couch, shove clothes in my arms, and force me into the bathroom to get dressed. I was reluctant, but eventually he managed to get me ready for school.

Except for my case of bed head and my clumsy walking, I looked pretty damn good. Because of the way I stepped gingerly around, Brendon was forced to swing an arm around my waist to keep me from falling into the street, or tripping over random holes littering the school campus. 

"Brendonnn," I started, "Don't make me go, I hate it here!" I gave one last attempt at protesting against his actions. Still, he refused to budge. He didn't even answer- so I halted, digging my heels into the grass. He was forced to stop, now.

"Ryan, come on. It'll be fine. You'll be okay, nothing's gonna happen at school!" Brendon insisted. I let out a loud snort, shaking my head. Yeah right. What'd he know about my life, anyways? Nothing.

Ever since Sarah had realized I was still clinging reluctantly to Brendon, she'd gone on to make sure my life was terrible. The bullying had gotten worse. Well, not to bad, it was basically still shoving, tripping, and snide remarks. 

Still, I was told today I was gonna get a special treatment from some buddies of Sarah. I wasn't looking forward to it. 

Brendon pressed a chaste kiss against the top of my head. "Everything will be okay." He whispered again, which only made me dread what was gonna happen even more. Still, I plastered a fake smile on my face, and nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure." 

One more class, and I'd managed to escape all forms of bullying. It was as if everyone had suddenly drawn back away from me. Like I'd grown muscles or something over night. It was weird, and rather worrying. Josh told me I had nothing to worry about, but I still fret over it. 

That one last class was choir, which I wasn't exactly looking forward to. Brendon had dropped out of choir, for some odd reason, so I had no form of protection or company from him. Then again, I did have Patrick, but he'd been ignoring me lately, unless I was willing to here him fantasize about Pete. Here's the trick: I wasn't.

So throughout choir, I stood alone, mumbling the words instead of singing them. Staring at the floor, my music folder in my hand. "Ryan." Mr. Harrison, or Mr. Harvard, I really could care less what his name was, called me to attention. 

I looked up, but didn't verbally reply. He waved me over. I sighed softly, starting towards him. everyone else was already split off into groups of three- leaving me alone. I stopped in front of Mr. Whatshisfaceagain and raised an eyebrow. 

He snatched the folder from my hands, which was reasonable, I'd been tearing at the corner anxiously. Instead, he shoved some paper into my hand. "Since you don't appear to be busy, why don't you take this down to the office for me?" He asked. I nodded slowly in reply, glancing down at the sheet of paper.

It was an envelope, I soon discovered, with the word "important" scrawled over it. I turned away, starting towards the door. Little did I know, as I slipped from the room and walked down the hall, two more students were tagging along, ready to deliver the special treatment Sarah had mentioned to me.

It was an easy task. I slipped the sheet of paper onto the secretary's desk, earning a quiet thank you, then left the office. I was about halfway back to the classroom, ten minutes left in class, when the two tag-alongs unhid themselves. I saw it coming, too, once they stepped out of the shadows in both sides of the hallway.