The Year I Met Ryan (Editing)

Chapter 31: Was it really just another day?

CHAPTER 31: WAS IT REALLY JUST ANOTHER DAY?

It was the day before my court date. The day that my fate would basically be decided. I had my phone in my hands and I was turning it toward me and then letting it slide through my fingers, over and over again. To say I was nervous was an understatement. It had literally felt like yesterday that I had gotten sent to live here, and tomorrow would decide whether that would be for life or if it would end.

You know those days where you have this nasty feeling deep down in your stomach?

That was the way I was feeling at the moment, and it was likely to stay until the next day. I didn't know what to do to occupy my mind except go out with Ryan or talk to him, but he wasn't responding to me. It was still pretty early, about 8, so maybe that was why.

We had gotten the day off of school. We didn't know why though. The harsh snow had stopped, and now what was left was snow and cold weather. Apparently that was soon to go too.

The whole week Ryan had been distant, and I couldn't put my finger on why. I wanted to get to the bottom of it, the bottom of his weird behavior. A bittersweet memory flooded my mind from earlier that week.

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"Ryan wait up!" I called out after him, laughing in the process.

Ryan, who was walking ahead of me, glanced back momentarily and then turned back to the front. He had stopped, but he made no show that he actually had wanted to wait for me.

When I had caught up with him he didn't even smile. "What's cookin' good lookin'?" I joked with him. He laughed, but the kind of laugh that you make with your nose. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

He just shrugged and said nothing. For some reason my eyes had started to water, and I knew that any minute I would start bawling right there. My vision blurred and I roughly wiped the tears away with my sleeve. I sniffled and told myself to breath in and out slowly. The hard look that he previously had on his face, softened.

His arms wrapped around me and my face was buried in his chest. His smell enveloped me and I felt safe. It was a nice position for me to be in. I felt him take a deep sigh and I snuggled deeper into him, even though we were in the middle of a hallway. Oddly, the hallway was empty. Most everyone was at the school assembly that was being held at the moment.

He leaned down and kissed my head. "Please don't cry," he said, his voice in almost a whisper. To me, it sounded like his voice cracked at the end. But at that moment I thought it was merely a figment of my imagination. Little did I know, that his voice had cracked.

I tried to pry myself away from his embrace to get a look at him, but that only made him hold on to me tighter. I of course did not object to this and let him hug me. A few moments later, he loosened his grip around me and we let go. His eyes were red and watery.

Seeing him like that broke my heart. I was at a loss for words when I opened my mouth to say something comforting. Before I even had the chance to say anything, he grabbed the sides of my face with his hands and smashed my lips with his. I let this moment take over me, not thinking about what it had meant. He was my boyfriend and although he had been acting strange, this was normal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to do.

I told my brain to shut up and enjoy this moment. He pushed me up against the lockers and kept kissing me passionately. It seemed to me that this moment finished too soon. When our lips parted, we were both breathing heavily. Our noses were still touching. I wanted to keep kissing him but he pulled away, and the hard look that had been on his face in the beginning reappeared.