The Year I Met Ryan (Editing)

Chapter 26: Starting over

CHAPTER 26: STARTING OVER

I stormed out of the room, not daring to look back, despite the exclamations of everyone inside that room. They were slow to follow since they still needed to work out everything. Or rather, my new living arrangements. I let out an angry breath and instinctively scanned the benches at the end of the hallway, looking for Ryan. I saw him within a few seconds.

He stood up, his shoes slighty squeaking against the tile. "Hey wh-"

I cut him off and ran into his arms, immediately starting to cry. He smoothed my hair down, his hand stopping every few seconds to rub the back of my neck in consolation.

The next few minutes that came felt like forever. My parents came out along with my biological ones and we all just stood around awkwardly while I continued to cry in Ryan's arms.

"So Bethany," Julia spoke up, "if you don't mind we would like to get your belongings as quickly as possible from your house so that we can get you settled."

At this point I had gotten myself out of Ryan's arms and now just stood next to him with our sides touching each other and his left hand around my waist. I felt him turn to look at me but I chose to ignore it. He still had no idea of what was happening. And she still kept calling me Bethany.

As if my mind had been read, my dad proceeded to explain to Ryan the horror of this situation. I blocked him out, as this conversation was already something that I had not only endured, but dreaded, only a few moments ago.

I stared at my biological parents. I didn't understand how the judge could think that staying with them would be the best for me. I didn't care about them. They left me. They abandoned me. How was I just supposed to ignore that and stay with them for the course of a month?

Julia cleared her throat, earning her our attention. She pointed, with her freshly manicured hands, to the door. "Well, shall we?"

The silence continued as we all just followed. Ryan'a hand dropped from my waist and was now holding my own. I squeezed it, somehow feeling comfort, as if that squeeze could fix my problems.

I was starting over. This was their chance to be the parents they never wanted to be and this was my chance to supposedly get to know them and love them. That would never happen though.

I sniffled as we walked down the steps of the courthouse and into the car. The windows slightly frosted over from the fresh snow that was falling. I raised my pointer finger to draw on the glass, my finger flowing freely, not restricted to any one type of movement. My head rested against the door and I stared outside. Everyone was going about their daily lives, some looking sad and others looking happy.

There was a woman outside walking her dog. A black Labrador. He jumped on her and started wagging his tail, obviously wanted her to pet him. As she did, he closed his eyes and kept wagging his tail. Suddenly I felt jealous of the dog. Of a dog. While I was over here about to spend a month in misery with people who I was sure did not love me, this dog had the companion of someone who did. No one to come claim him as theirs, just him and his loving owner.

Granted, this was all on the surface. Their story could be completely different, but I chose to believe what I wanted to believe.

We drove off to our house. Julia and George had agreed to meet us there. The silence was deafening: an oxymoron that had always captured my attention. Although it was very much true at the moment. Ryan kept his hand on my knee the entire time, still trying to comfort me.

After that long drive, or what seemed to be long at least, we got to the house. I stepped out of the car and examined my surroundings. My face started feeling like it was freezing so I took a deep breath and continued on to the house. Ryan came up beside me and held my hand.