I Hate You Too, Princess

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Hey, Lexi," Ryan said as he sat down at the lunch table with me and Hannah.

"Hey," I smiled as butterflies fluttered in my tummy.

"Hey, Hannah," Ryan nodded at her.

"Hey, Ry," Hannah said as she repeatedly stabbed at her food.

"Where's Tyler?" Ryan asked bitterly.

I shrugged and watched as Ryan relaxed. An awkward silence settled between us three. That was when I'd realized how far I'd drifted from Ryan since Tyler moved here. I felt like I didn't know Ryan anymore, and it'd only happened in a matter of days.

"Hey, Ryan, are you busy tonight?" I suddenly asked.

He grinned slightly, "Nope. What'd you have in mind?"

"Dinner with me and my parents?"

He smiled brightly now, "I'll be there."

I smiled, "Great! My parents will be ecstatic. They love you."

"Doesn't everyone?" Ryan smirked.

I laughed as Tyler sat next to me.

"Hey, guys," Tyler smiled.

No one said anything for a few seconds.

"Hey, Ty," I said awkwardly.

"Hi, Tyler," Hannah forced a smile.

I knew she was only being nice to him for my sake. I sent her a grateful smile for that and she winked back.

"So Lexi, I was wondering if tonight you wanted to-" Tyler started to say, but was cut off by Ryan.

"She already has plans tonight," Ryan said.

Tyler's face fell but he quickly covered it with a smile, "Oh. That's okay. Some other time."

The table fell silent again. Tyler glanced at me. I could tell he felt unwanted. I instantly felt sorry for him and felt guilty.

"Well, I should probably go. See you guys later," Tyler said before leaving.

Even with Tyler gone, no one spoke.

"That guy needs to move back to Mississippi," Ryan mumbled.

"He's from Michigan. And no he doesn't. He's a really nice guy and you could at least try to be nice to him," I said a little angrily, defending Tyler.

"Why do you care so much?" Ryan snapped.

"Because he's my friend," I said, my voice rising.

"Just your friend?" Ryan said in a small voice. He sounded so hurt.

That stopped me. I suddenly felt guilty and sad.

"Ryan-" I began but stopped when he held a hand up.

"Don't worry about it," he said before quickly standing and walking out of the cafeteria.

I turned back to Hannah who looked at me with sad, sympathetic eyes.

I buried my face in my hands. I just wanted to cry. And that's what I did.

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When I got home after school that day, I was ready to tell my parents that Ryan was coming over for dinner. But as I was heading toward the kitchen where my parents were, I remembered lunch earlier and figured he wasn't going to come.

I ran to my room and collapsed on my bed. I cried out of confusion and stress for about twenty minutes.

I heard my door open, but didn't bother to look up. Instead I continued to cry into my pillow. I felt someone sit next to me on my bed. I knew it was Cameron. It was my big brother, come to the rescue again.

Cameron pulled me up from my pillow and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, making me feel safe. I cried into his shirt for almost an hour. The entire time, Cameron didn't say a single word. He just allowed me to cry as he soothingly pet my hair, until I finally fell asleep.

A/N: Hey! I'm going to be posting some short chapters for a while so that y'all aren't having to wait forever for updates! I know the book is kind of boring right now but it's about to pick up really soon. Btw, y'all might cry soon too! Enjoy! Comment/vote/share! <3