The Quirky Tale of April Hale (Quirky Series #1)

2.29: a transition from like to love

R Y D E R

TWO YEARS AFTER THE BREAKUP

-

Ryder never knew that he would be one of those people who'd have a second puberty outburst.

He had stood at 5'11 tall when he was in highschool. He was tall. Not movie-star tall, but tall enough to make some people look up when they were talking to him.

As he started working more seriously on his woodcarving, though, he felt as if his clothes, shoes, and everything started to... shrink. He swore, one time, he went to bed with a perfectly fitted pants, and when he woke up everything felt tight and small.

Just as he reached legal age, Ryder Black shot up to 6'4 and had probably gone through three sets of whole new clothes and pants and shoes in the span of one year. If that wasn't magic or anyone tampering with his body, he didn't know what.

While before he had looked staggering with his 'not movie-star' height and his intense glare, now he was downright strapping with his A-List-Movie-Star-Height. He had suspicions that some people might have mistaken him for a wall or something, considering the amount of girls crashing into his chest in a daily basis.

But even armed with his newfound height, armed with his cultivated glare, and armed with his roaring yells, Grandma still stood strong right before him.

"You don't go back now!" she demanded with her shrill voice. Standing at probably 5'2, Grandma wasn't exactly a match to Ryder in terms of physique. In fact, he could very well step right into her and she would just topple over.

But something inside her eyes made him hesitate. What Alyssa Phillipe Black didn't have in volume (and youth), she made up with determination. And those eyes of hers were brimming with it.

"Let me see her," he spoke in harsh tone. Ryder had been particularly close with Grandma, even before the whole cancer thing happened to his family. Grandma was firm, but she also secretly cared to his wellbeing in a way only Grandmas could. Why else did she try to make ice-creams in the first place?

(Ryder was a number one fan of her dark-chocolate variant)

They did fight, just like all families do. But those were the kind of fights that got forgotten as soon as it was over. Five minutes later, they could watch some TV and provide complementary commentaries.

This felt different, sadly.

"You're a fucking idiot," Grandma hushed. "You're not doing this to her. Look at you! You're bleeding everywhere! She will fucking drop dead if she saw you like this!"

"Only about half of it is my blood," Ryder tsk-ed.

"Oh, perfect! That's a freaking relief, then!" each of her words came out as a yap. Grandma paced around him as she yapped even louder than what he thought her voice chords could manage. "I'M. HERE. TO. COME BACK. TO YOU. APRIL! AFTER. TWO YEARS. OF RADIO SILENCE! BY THE WAY, LOVE. THERE'S ABOUT. FIVE LITERS OF BLOOD. ON MY BODY. BUT MINE. IS ONLY TWO LITERS OF IT."

Ryder sighed, feeling his ears slightly pained due to the high decibels. He also was quite worried that his grandmother would hurt her voice. He gave her a glass of water.

"I don't call her 'Love', Grandma," he said.

"And that is beside the point here, you idiotic grandson of mine!" Grandma was still yelling. "I know you're sad. You're pained. And the reason why you only manage to socialize with me and those damned woodblocks of yours is because you're still hurting about the breakup. But this is not a good time for you to come back! Not yet. How many people jumped you last night? You were just going to the convenience store and they almost beat you to death-"