Reaching for Rebecca

Chapter 55

REBECCA'S POV

I drag Bentley to the lunch table with me a few minutes after everyone is already there since I told her to meet me at my locker and she got lost.

"Everyone this is Bentley," I announce and motion for her to sit in one of the open chairs between Izzy and Landon.

Speaking of Landon, he looked up and practically choked on his pizza before blushing profusely. I never thought I would see the school's badass blush so much but I guess it can happen. Ryan chuckled at his friend but hid it behind his sandwich so Bentley wouldn't notice. I'm pretty sure the only ones who saw it were Ryan, Kate, and myself.

"Hey, uh, everyone," she mumbled shyly and sat in the seat next to Landon instead of Izzy. Her head went down almost immediately as she hid behind her long brown hair.

"I'm Mel and this is Izzy!" Bentley shrunk away from Melissa's shrewd voice and leaned a little more towards Landon, who straightened up and glared at the two cheerleaders immediately.

"You already met Kate and Ryan," I start, to get her attention, "but this is Mason, Kate's boyfriend, and the dork on your left is Landon."

He shoots me a look and goes back to eating his pizza, not even bothering to greet Bentley. She closes down and picks at her school lunch: pizza just like Landon. Kate and I try to pull her into the conversations but she remains quiet except for the few mumbled responses to the questions we asked her.

As soon as the lunch period ends, Bentley bolts from her seat and scurries out of the cafeteria while I grab Landon's elbow.

"Ouch Becca what the hell."

"Oh, shut up you big baby! I know that didn't hurt. Why were you being such a jerk?" I scolded.

"How was I being a jerk?" he asks and throws his hands out to his sides. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on Landon. Even Izzy and Mel said hi to her and they are the bitchiest people I ever met!" Ryan took this moment to pull me away towards the biology class but I glared back at Landon. He looked confused and a little sad; serves him right.

~~~

Biology class goes by quickly and I get to gym earlier than Kate. She moved lockers to be next to mine instead of Izzy but she isn't here yet; however, Izzy is and I can hear her chatting with Mel. By the way, what class does Mel have right now that she is always missing to show up in MY gym class?

"Who does she think she is inviting random strays to our table? Newbie's don't sit with us. The only reason she got to was because of Ryan." The way Izzy said Ryan's name ticked me off. She whined it like she thought he was too good for any of them to ask if I could sit there.

"Maybe she'll become friends with the new loser and once that girl disappears she will too," Mel adds in.

"Yeah, Landon didn't seem too happy about her joining our table either. Maybe that'll crack the armor he has for protecting Becca."

They kept talking but I tuned it out and Kate came in shortly after. I was lost in thought wondering if Landon was actually bothered by me inviting Bentley to our table. I've known him for a while but maybe I'm missing something and that's why he was so rude towards her. I remember being kind of afraid of him at first but even the first day he met me he said hi and smiled, why couldn't he do that for Bentley too?

I walk out to gym and get paired with Landon as usual since Izzy always picks Kate. My plans on giving him the cold shoulder dissipated when he reached out and apologized.

"Look, I'm sorry Becca. I should have been more polite to your new friend. I promise I'll introduce myself and be nice tomorrow," he said softly so only I could hear.

"I'd like that." I flash a small smile as we jog around the gym for the warm up. I didn't have to worry about Landon abandoning me and I feel guilty for even thinking that. He's been there through everything whether Ryan was or not. "Thank you Landon." He lifts a corner of his mouth in an invisible smile and nods.

~~~

I change out of my gym clothes while chatting with Kate. She thinks I pushed Landon too hard into meeting someone new. When she met him, he didn't speak to her for about a week – just sat there brooding like he usually does. Kate says he didn't mean anything by it and he's just used to keeping to himself.

Landon is waiting outside the girls locker-room for me so we can walk to math together.

"We're getting our tests back today. How do you think you did?" I ask just to have something to talk about. I didn't want to deal with silent Landon for a whole hour.

"Probably not good, but definitely better than usual since you helped me study."

He proudly showed me his test a few minutes later that had a red B- in the top, right-hand corner. Mason also got a B and seemed a little pissed about it.

"Shut up Mason. I actually study and still get worse grades than you!" Landon sneers. His black eyes make it scarier than I think he meant it but Mason just rolls his eyes regardless. Attempting to distract Landon, I lay a hand on his shoulder until he looks at me.

"You did really great Landon." He flashes a small grin before leaning forward to lay his head on his arms which were sprawled across the small desktop.

The teacher explains a new equation for a few minutes and dismisses us to get in groups and work on our homework. Mason eagerly slides his desk closer to mine and I turn to find Landon snoozing in the same position as I last saw him.

"I wouldn't wake him up," Mason warns but of course I ignore him.

"Landon," I whisper close to his face and poke his cheek. "Landon." Suddenly his eyes fly open wide and he jumps back, almost falling out of his chair. "Landon." I repeat in at a normal decibel. It takes a few seconds but his eyes connect with mine and I see him relax. I rush over to comfort him somehow but he backs away and flees the classroom. Mason looks at me sympathetic, like he's been there before, and nods his head towards the door so I follow after Landon.

I finally find him at his locker, throwing books into his black backpack with more force than is necessary.

"Landon," I utter softly before slowly laying a hand on his back. He stiffens at first and turns to see me. His head was hanging low and I know he's trying to avoid eye contact with me. "I'm sorry. Mason told me not to wake you but I did anyway."

"No it's okay, just some issues I have." He responds through clenched teeth even though I can see he's trying not to be angry with me.

"I'm still sorry." At last, his black eyes face me and seem to accept my apology because he suddenly smirks.

"Wanna get out of here? I can explain if you want," he says while holding a rough hand out. I quickly take it and pull out my phone with my free hand to text Mason.

___
|Becca Hanson > Mason - 2:03pm|
Sent: Hey we're heading out... Can you grab our stuff and just give it to Ryan?
Received: I figured you guys wouldn't be coming back. And sure I'll give your stuff to Ryan. Make sure you text him - he's kinda a worrier lol
Sent: I know and I will :) Thanks Mason.
___

I have to text Alex too so he's not waiting for me after school but I'll do that when we get wherever Landon's bringing me. Unsurprisingly, we sneak out of a side emergency exit that has no alarm set with it (of course he would know the right one) and sprint to his bike near the back of the lot. He slips his backpack around my arms and lifts me onto the bike before hopping on himself so I can hold on to him for stability as he took off. He either left his helmet in his locker or didn't take one today and I felt a little scared not having it on.

About ten minutes later, we pulled up to an old apartment building in a rough neighborhood.

"Stay by me okay?" he stated more than asked and lifted me off the bike. He pushed it underneath a tarp near some garbage cans by the front steps behind some bushes. Then he grasped my hand and quickly led me inside the musty building. Right inside the front entrance, he took out a key and unlocked the first door on the right.

The rusty, old door opened to a small studio space that was actually pretty immaculate regardless of the grungy exterior of the building. There were a few counters off to the side with a sink, stove, and small refrigerator. A ratty couch was placed in the center of the room facing an old box television and a twin bed was tucked away in the corner. There was an off-white accordion door that I'm assuming led to a bathroom with a dresser next to it. Although the place was small, it was clean and somehow cozy while looking well lived in.

"Welcome to my home," Landon mumbled nervously.