'Till Death Do We Part

Ryan

The sound of my own heart pounding inside of my chest minimizes the volume of varying collective voices of students and teachers as I place one foot in front of the other, proceeding down the long hallway. I feel so strange in this place, and even more so when groups of people swivel their heads around in my direction and pause their conversations, only to continue as soon as I'm out of sight. Everyone in this building knows exactly who I am and, more importantly, why I haven't attended a single day of school for multiple months. The numerous rumors used to get to me a lot, but lately, I just haven't given a fuck; people can think and say what they want about me, it doesn't matter in the long run. The most obvious one that has been circulating around me for some time is the rumor that I have an eating disorder, based purely on my emaciated appearance. Among countless others, people have whispered to each other about how my friends and I do heroine and cocaine, some even went as far to say that we're in a cult which is utterly and hilariously ridiculous to me. As rumors go, sometimes they're true, sometimes they're not, but I've never cared enough to confirm or deny any of them. I'm sure things were being either assumed, made up, or observed about me as I continue trudging down the hall towards the 10th grade intermediate science teachers room. Finally, I turn the round metal door knob and step into the spacious classroom. Closing the door behind me, I catch intense stares from about 20 students sitting at their desks, their eyes piercing curiously into me. Only the sound of the door clicking into place can be heard, until the teacher suddenly breaks the lingering silence with his booming, cheerful voice.

"Hello, Emily!My name is Mr.Otto." The tall man with a warm smile reaches his hand out, and I hesitatingly shake it. "Everyone, this is Emily as some of you may know. She is now a part of our class so I ask you to treat her as you would any other classmate. Emily, you will sit next to Ryan."
Mr.Otto directs me to an empty desk in the very back corner of the room, so I awkwardly shuffle over to my seat and sit down, all the while, still receiving odd looks. I glance to my left, and there in the seat beside me is a boy who I presume is named Ryan. Long hair as dark as midnight covers part of his face, one stunningly blue eye peeking out between strands of hair, and clear, pale skin that appears perfect even under the unflattering lights in the classroom. He has a small nose piercing and below that, lips that I can tell are incredibly soft even from just looking at them from where I'm sitting. For a moment, I'm so enthralled in him that I hear the giggles of students before I hear Mr. Otto say my name questionably.
"Yes, sir?" I ask, clearly confused and more annoyed than embarrassed at everyone else.
"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr.Otto's cheerful voice reverberates throughout the room once again, warming the air with his smile.
"Not really sir." This response is met with a few seconds of laughter, but no one is shocked; like I said, they know who I am.
"I would really appreciate it if you did Emily, and so would your parents when they don't receive a phone call." His smile now is more mocking than genuine, but I just roll my eyes and sigh.
"Alright then. Everyone in this room knows me so I'm not sure what I should say, but to make you happy I'll say a fun fact about me. My favorite past time is smoking weed and getting fucked up."
People roar in laughter, and for some reason I'm especially pleased when I notice Ryan looking at me and cracking up as well, which in turn, makes me grin.
"Alright, alright, everyone quiet down," Mr Otto speaks more loudly as he stands behind his desk. "I will let you off this one time since you just got here, Emily, but know that you've got 3 more strikes until you're out."
"Well shit, that's exactly what I fucking want, sir."
"Emily..." He warns.
I was about to say something else equally as witty until I look over once again at Ryan and for some reason, I decided that I want to stay in this class.
"I apologize sir." I say, trying my best to appear sincere.
"Thank you," Mr.Otto nods. "Now, on with today's lesson..."

From that point on, I drown out the teacher's words and become more in tune with my own thoughts. I can't stop thinking about Ron and my heart aches as I realize that I haven't had to be apart from him for more than a day before. I'm frustrated that they're keeping us apart, as well as my other friends. I miss him, yet, Ryan somehow comes to mind often and I get butterflies in my stomach at the mere thought of his floppy hair and gorgeous smile. These thoughts continue until the bell rings and I stand up abruptly, causing Ryan to stagger back slightly as he was attempting to walk through the section between the row of desks to get to the door. I tense up and my cheeks burn.
"Sorry," I mutter, gathering my stuff and turning the other way.
"It's cool," Ryan replies, and I feel even more embarrassed at his words. "Hey, I like getting fucked up too."
I glance over my shoulder and throw my head back in laughter before turning to face him. "I'll see you around." With that, I swiftly exit the classroom, but not before looking back once more to see a sweet smile plastered across Ryan's near perfect face, and his blue eyes making contact with mine.