Spy's Broken Heart

Chapter 12

Where's Ryan?

Then, there was a tug on my arm, I looked over at Kanade.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Does Keena have flawless skin, brown eyes, and blonde hair? Or looks like you with different hair?" She asked, staring ahead uneasily.

"I wouldn't say she looks like me, but yeah she does," I confirmed, "how did you know?"

"I know because I'm pretty sure that's who Ryan is talking to right now," Meghan said, and my eyes followed to where they stared at.

At the entrance of the restaurant, where customers waited, left, and entered, Ryan was laughing and smiling with Keena Ruby.

~~~

Last night, Ryan came back to the dorm at three in the morning with the biggest smile on his face. I know this because I was out late as well, alone with the jazz band at the restaurant. Meghan and Kanade left a couple hours before me to get some shut eye and made it a little awkward for me to interact with the band. However, that tension dispelled when the guitarist began riffing off his instrument's strings, and I suggested cords for him to play.

"When did you pick up the guitar?" I asked out of curiosity, getting comfortable in a restaurant chair while sitting properly.

"Ever since I was a toddler," Orlando said, patting the side of the hollow box. He's in his early 20's, but he could pass for a high school student with his baby face, "when did you?"

"For a couple months in middle school," I answered, "I was accompanying a friend, but he gave up on it." I referred to Ryan. In middle school, he took guitar lessons to impress the crush he had, and this was when I was in denial of my feelings for him.

"Did you continue?" He asked, strumming a major chord.

"I stopped after the year ended," I said, playing with the hem of my dress.

"Why? Did you not like it?" He pried, finger picking the strings of the instrument.

"No no," I rejected instantly, "it was fun but I guess it got," I paused to think of the suitable word, "lonely? Nerve wracking?" He nodded understandingly and went back to strumming. Then, out of boredom, I began humming a random song that came to my mind as I stared into my lap and traced the flower pattern of my dress with my finger. Suddenly, a buzz came from my phone, and I found a text message on my screen. A big part of me wanted the sender to be Ryan asking me why I'm not back at the dorm yet, but it turned out to be from Meghan.

Meghan: "Where r u?"
Me: "The restaurant"
Meghan: "It's almost 2am."

In shock, I checked the time at the corner of the screen, 1:53 AM.

Me: "Oh jeez ok I'll be back in a bit."

I placed my phone back in my clutch and returned to my feet.

"Hey guys," I called, "I gotta go, it's getting late."

"Of course," old James said after pausing his bass playing, "we'll be here tomorrow night, too, if you want to sing," he offered with a charming wrinkly smile.

"Noted, goodnight, guys" I sang and started heading out of the closed restaurant door.

The journey back to our room was freezing cold and lonely, but I was greeted with an unusual question when I got back to the room.

"Where's Ryan?" Meg asked with confusion on her face. She was lounging on the small sofa with her phone and earphones, and Kanade was sleeping soundly with a blanket wrapped around her body and her feet resting on Meghan's lap.