Paired

Paired: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The fresh morning light shines in on me, warming me. I get up and call Ryan. Then we are both suddenly running in a meadow together. Then Fintan is running toward us and his hands stretch up to close around Ryan's throat. I scream and instantly sit up, noticing it was a dream. Wait, no. not a dream. A nightmare.

So it wasn't the greatest morning.

I couldn't wait anymore, so I got up and took a shower. Earlier this morning, I heard my mom talking to Chimala.

"Is Chayna going to be okay?"

"She will sweetie, I promise."

"What did the doctor say?" her voice trembled.

"He said that if she fell off the table before Ryan could get to her, then she must have hit her head pretty hard. She's suffering from a bit of amnesia. Although, I'm not sure why it's Fintan that she doesn't remember. I would rather it would've been Ryan."

"Why would you say that? Ryan is Chayna's best friend." Chimala seemed odd.

"I know, but her future is more important than her best friend."

"I wouldn't think so. Ever. Why should it matter if Fintan's family has money? I mean that's not a very good reason for her to marry him. He's kind of a jerk." Way to go Chimala!

"Don't you dare talk about Fintan like that. Now go straight back to bed."

"But mo-"

"Go to bed."

That's all I heard. But I didn't know that I was marrying Fintan for money! Not that I am anymore.

Next thing I know I'm walking back into my room to get dressed for Ryan's. Once I've got my outfit, blue skinny jeans, a gray crop top, and converse, I'm heading out the door.

"Where are you going?" a voice from the kitchen said.

"Out to see Ryan. He's tutoring me in school."

My mom came into view, wearing a purple robe with pink fuzzy slippers. "Do you still think that's a good idea after what happened last time?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not sure when I'll be home. I'll be home before nightdown." I hated nightdown. Cops came to your house and made sure you were in bed. That's the only reason my mom is okay with my dad working the night shift at the police station.

When I got to Ryan's, it was barely sunrise. Ryan looked out the window, with a look on his face.

"Hey Ryan."

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here so early?"

"Well, you told me 8:30 or 9:30 and I had a bad dream so I came at 8:30."

"Okay, well have you had breakfast? I could make us some pancakes."

"You have those?" We rarely ever had sweet things. Our diet was technically bland food.

"Yea, my mom got a promotion at work, and they rewarded her with some pancakes. I thought maybe a badge would suffice. I guess not."

"Okay, let's go."

Ryan and I walked in the house. His house was different from mine, although most people in our neighborhood had the same house. His house smelled like lavender and peaches. I loved that smell. Ryan was wearing blue flannel pajama bottoms and a white shirt. It was funny not seeing him in uniform.

"So...Do you want strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or chocolate chips?"

"Uh, well I really like chocolate chips and we barely ever get something sweet, but I also really like raspberries, so why not chocolate and raspberries?"

"Uh, okay I'll take your word and put two and two together. I'm hoping chocolate raspberries taste good."

Ryan poured the batter in and started mixing. When he wasn't looking, I snuck a spoon and stuck it in the batter. Raspberries and chocolate tasted so delicious.

"I saw that." I turned and saw Ryan with a bit of batter on his face, right above his left cheek bone, staring at me.

I blushed at looked at my feet. "Oops." I said plainly, hoping guilt wouldn't overrun my voice.

"Your very gullible."

"What?"

"I turned around for three seconds and I knew you were eyeing the batter before, so if I turned away, it was obvious that you were going to at least try. I didn't actually see you, I just pretended, and well," he looked at me. "I knew that you took some." Ryan smiled. Not a smirk, or a toothless grin, but smiled. It was nice seeing him smile.

"Uhh....Oopsy daisy?"

"Get the griddle would you?"

I went to their cabinet, located just below the kitchen sink, and grabbed the griddle.

"You okay? You seem a bit tense." Gosh. Was I that obvious?

"No, I'm fine." I said reassuring him.

"Ready for the pancakes? I'm going to go grab the plates, and I'll be right back." He eyed me suspiciously and then said, "No batter while I'm gone, okay?" He threw a smirk at me, then launched around the corner for the plates. Okay, so he had known that I was going to steal some batter. Could I really help it? It was the best thing ever had since my aunt Anna's wedding. It was even better then the wedding cake.

"I'm back!" Ryan came around the corner with two plates. "Ready?"

I nodded once and we took a place at the table. Ryan slid the plate over to me, and pushed the delicious smelling raspberry chocolate pancakes over.

"These are going to be great." I squealed, placing 3 pancakes on my plate.

"Save some for me! There are only...." Uh 15. Was is that hard to count? "15 left. I at least eat 10, and then have seconds. So there are obviously not enough." I laughed at him and started to pour syrup on my pancakes.

"So, what was," what was his name? "Fintan? I think it was. Talking about your pair?"

"Oh, nothing. It's not something really important. Don't worry. I'll tell you one day." Ryan said.

"So," I said, finishing my pancakes, "What do you want to do today?"

"How about bowling? I think they might still let you use the bumpers."

"Whatever! I think your the one who needs the bumpers-" I was cut off by my phone ringing. I looked on the screen and it said FINTAN.

"Hello?" I answered, nervously.

"What do you think you're doing at Ryan's house?" He voice was ablaze.

"What do you mean?" my voice trembled, and I was sure he could hear it. On the phone or not.

"You're supposed to be over here. Now."

"I don't understand. Why am I supposed to be over there?"

"For lunch. We're having lunch. Okay?"

"Um, actually. No. It's not okay becau-" Fintan cut me off.

"NO?! I think you mean yes! You and your mother are supposed to be over here-"

"Fintan, I'm sure your kind, really, really, really deep down. But this isn't going to work. Ever. So goodbye." And with that, I hung up. Let me tell you, it felt pretty good too.

"You okay?" Ryan asked.

"I'm fine" I smiled, and with that, let out a huge sigh. It felt good to stand up for myself. Now, I was going to go bowling with Ryan.

"Lets go bowling." As with having said, we headed off.