Ocean Eyes

21 Questions

"I'm scared as hell to want you. But here I am, wanting you anyway."

"Seriously, Seth, I'm fine." Ryder laughed, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She looked down at her cousin with both affection and annoyance, the boy having asked her countless times how well she was holding up. It was her first day back at school and he was hovering incessantly, as if he was expecting her to beat up some more people.

"Look, mom told me what happened the other night." He lowered his voice, grabbing onto her elbow. She flinched slightly at the touch but allowed him to keep his hand on her. "I just want to make sure you're okay with all the stares and stuff."

Ryder's hand gingerly touched the bruise on the side of her face. It was yellowed now, less purple than it had been before, but still very visible. Caroline packed a mean punch. "Seth, seriously I'm okay." Her voice had a hardened edge to it and Seth backed off. Now that Caroline was doing better and actually moving around, Ryder didn't want to dwell in the past.

"Good." He smiled, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "Have you seen Meredith yet? You left her some nasty bruises but they're healed now. Her nose is all crooked though."

Ironically, at the same time Seth spoke, the two turned a corner and caught sight of Meredith. She was walking in the opposite direction, deep in conversation with an younger boy. Ryder noticed with satisfaction that her once straight and perky nose was crooked. As they walked by, Meredith looked up. When their eyes met, the girl subconsciously flinched away. Ryder smirked. It made her sadistically happy to see that the girl was scared of her. It served her right- Meredith had gone too far.

Just as fast as their eyes had met, Meredith was looking away and walking faster down the hall. Seth looked over at Ryder with a disapproving look. "You should apologize to her."

"Why the hell would I do that?" His cousin snorted, hiking her backpack up her shoulders. "You know what she said."

"Yeah, but you should be there bigger person and all." Seth looked up at Ryder with his innocent eyes and she was reminded that he was only 14 years old and fairly sheltered. She blinked slowly, lifting up a hand and ruffling his hair.

"See you later, squirt." She smiled at him one last time before turning into her English classroom. It was the fourth period of the day and she had grown accustomed to the stares and whispers. Immediately, her eyes sought out the familiar face of Paul Lahote. He was sitting in his spot next to her empty chair, staring over at her with a smile. He looked at her like she was a goddess and Ryder felt her cheeks warm.

Annoyed at herself, she looked away, stopping at Mrs Harples desk to drop of her assignments. "Ryder!" The short woman smiled happily. "Good to see you. If you need an extension on the work, let me know. We started-"

"Song of Solomon, I know." Ryder smiled softly, catching her teacher off guard. "I'm all caught up on the work, Paul brought it to me."

Paul's head snapped up and he smiled widely as he heard Ryder mention his name. She seemed to be in a better mood since the last time he had seen her in the woods. Then she turned and he caught sight of the yellowed bruise on her face.

He'd heard about Caroline Kane. It was a small town, everybody knew everything about everybody. He hadn't listened much before he imprinted, knowing first hand at how cruelly the town could bash on wayward parents. Like his father.