Always You

Chapter 2

"What did he say after that?" Camila squeals as I tell her about my weird experience with Ryan. She knows all about our falling out in middle school, which makes her just as confused as I am.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I think that's what confuses me the most because he hasn't spoken a single word to me in almost four years." I shrug as I shove a handful of popcorn in my mouth. Camila's legs are sprawled out across my chest as she lays on my bed trying to process what I'm telling her.

"Maybe he likes you! Oh, I know! Maybe he's been in love with you since elementary school and he's just chosen senior year to tell you." She theorizes. I groan and let my head fall back onto the wall with a big thud before breaking out into fits of laughter.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." I stare at the ceiling and count the lines as we continue to theorize why Ryan would decide to talk to me now.

"I'm just saying, if you guys started dating you would be the unexpected couple that everyone loves. Like Monica and Chandler! No one expected them to start dating until they hooked up in London that one time." I watch as she throws a piece a popcorn in the air before it bounces off of her nose and onto my bed.

"It's not like me and Ryan are going to hook up in London randomly and then fall in love. This isn't a fairy-tale Camila, it's high school. And in high school, people cheat, use each other, break each other's hearts, and basically do everything that you want to avoid while in a relationship. Besides, why are we even talking about this? All he did was say hi and I would never hook up with him, I know better." I say before grabbing the last piece of popcorn left in the bowl.

"I would. He's a fine piece of ass. C'mon, you have to agree he's hot." I watch as she sits up and swings her legs over the edge of my bed before grabbing the empty popcorn bowl from my hands.

"Duh, it's not like I'm blind. It's not all about looks though. He's an asshole who used to avoid me because I didn't meet the criteria for 'cool'. He can't just start casually saying hi to me now and expect me pretend like he wasn't the definition of a fake friend." I sigh and roll my eyes.

Most people would probably say I'm overreacting. All he did was say "hey," but when you've been through the embarrassment of being avoided like I was in middle school, then you would understand. A person like Ryan Jenkins doesn't talk to someone like me, even if it's just a simple "hey" for no unexplained reason.

"Whatever. I'm making more popcorn." She slides on my slippers before strutting out of my room and downstairs to the kitchen.

---

I wake up shivering.

My house is always freezing in the summer time, mostly because my brother likes to keep the air conditioning on full blast. I shiver and wrap myself into the warmth of my blankets. Just I'm about to fall asleep again, the assaulting sound of my alarm jolts me awake from the comfort of my peaceful dreams and my cozy blankets.

No matter how many times I rub my eyes, they refuse to stay open. Once I manage to open one to the slightest amount, my eyes focus on the time: 6:30. No one should have to be up this early in the summer.

Suddenly, I feel sick.

Well, it's not so much physically sick, but more mentally sick. The idea of going to soccer practice, only to be scorched down on by the burning sun, forced to run until I can't breathe, seeing the anti-christ herself, and possibly talking to Ryan again just doesn't fit well with me.

Only two more days of preseason...I can do it.

I groan in annoyance before swinging my legs over the edge of my bed. The cold air nips at my legs and I'm quick to wrap a blanket around my shivering body. The worst feeling in the world is having to wake up in the morning, especially if it's not voluntarily.