broken | shyland ✓

chapter five

r y l a n d

'sorry i'm late, sir,' i rambled nervously, 'some idiot sent me in the wrong direction.'

the whole class had turned to look at me, specifically an auburn haired boy at the back. he had thick, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. there was an empty seat next to him, maybe i'd get the chance to sit there.

'very well, i'm mr portman, you must be ryland adams, correct? the student from colorado?' the man, who seemed to be in his late forty's, checked. i blushed and nodding, hating everyone's eyes being fixated on me. 'you can sit at the back.'

my eyes fell onto the boy as he moved his stud of my desk and i gave him a small smile, walking over to the back and sitting down. his lips were parted slightly as he stared at me, cheeks bright red.

'hi,' the boy next to him grinned, adjusting his circular glasses and running a hand through his crinkled, dirty blonde hair, 'i'm garrett, nice to-'

he was cut off by the teacher requesting silence as he put on a documentary about the book we would be studying this year. i offered garrett an apologetic smile and stole another glance at auburn boy, who was staring down at his desk. maybe he didn't talk to people, or perhaps he just didn't like me. i sighed and furrowed my eyebrows in concentration as i focused on the video mr portman was playing.

ten minutes later, a small piece of paper appeared at my hands. i looked up at auburn boy, who gave me a small smile in return. i unfolded it and revealed a few lines of italic writing, a little smudged from a ballpoint pen.

hello. i'm shane. that was a very dramatic entrance you made.

i held back a giggle and glanced up at him. he was a lot taller than me, at least five foot ten, maybe even six foot. i turned the paper around and scribbled a reply.

nice to meet you, shane. i'm glad you enjoyed my cinematic introduction, hopefully it will remain in your mind.

i pushed the paper back towards him and bit back a smile, turning back towards the tiring, thirty minute long documentary. not long till it was over and i could formally introduce myself to everyone, as well as actually writing some notes down. soon, a fresh piece of paper landed next to me.

with a pretty face like yours? quite unforgettable if you ask me.

i blushed and glanced towards shane, who had a smirk set onto his face. not really knowing what to say in reply, i scrunched the paper into my fist and held back a smile myself. another piece of paper appeared. this time, it was pink. maybe it had been torn out of a notepad.

sorry, maybe that was pushy. you're just cute. i don't want this to sound weird but i kind of live next door to you. i saw you leave this morning :)

my eyes widened and i breathed a small sigh of relief. so there was kids on our street, i was wrong. before i could write a reply and tell him that it wasn't pushy at all, the lights were turned back on and the documentary had finished.

'hello, neighbour.' i greeted with an amused expression. he giggled and ran his hands through his hair.

'hi. i'm guessing you don't know anyone here?' shane asked. shaking my head, i glanced towards his group of friends. four boys and one girl, all sat on the same row as us. 'okay, i'll introduce you to everyone then.'

first, he gestured to the boy next to him. 'this is garrett, my best friend since i could walk. he likes harry potter, gaming, and guys who like harry potter and gaming.' shane sarcastically remarked warning a glare from garrett. i smiled at the blonde boy, who winked in reply.

then, he pointed at the girl. she was gorgeous, long, iron-straight blonde hair that was tinted with pastel pink streaks. surely this didn't abide the school dress code, but she seemed to of escaped that. her blue-green eyes were outlined with kohl, her facial features accentuated by her cleverly applied make up.

'this is trisha,' shane told me as the girl gave me a pretty smile, 'interests include pizza, make up, the colour pink and jason nash, who she's fancied since last year. he asked her out today, they're going on a date tonight.'

trisha blushed and nodded. i liked the way shane introduced people. he almost gave a brief insight into their life within a few words.

next we're two boys who seemed very wrapped up in each other. one had light, mousy brown hair, the other a deep brunette. their hands were intertwined, and the shorter of the two boys had painted nails, a pastel, matte lilac.

'this is joey and daniel,' shane grinned fondly at the two boys, who looked up at the mention of their names, 'they've been dating for two years, both live rupaul's drag race and eating healthy. daniel has three husky dogs called wolf, lark and storm, and joey writes fantasy novels which are both going through the publishing process.'

my eyes widened at the both of them. husky dogs? fantasy novels? they sounded extremely perfect for each other, and like genuinely good people.

'wow. that's... amazing. i love fantasy novels, maybe i could check out a draft of yours?' i asked joey nervously, hoping he would be nice in reply.

'really? everyone seems so obsessed with their phones these days, i had to practically face shane and daniel to read children of eden.' joey said excitedly, swinging back on his chair so he could see my face properly.

i smiled and nodded. joey's eyes lit up and daniel smiled happily, poking the dimple in joey's cheeks.

shane grinned. 'and that's drew,' he pointed towards the long haired boy on the far side of the table, 'likes pizza, has a pet turtle that has a new name every week and has an obsession with snapchat.'

i nodded and grinned at him. he smiled in reply, rolling his eyes at shane. 'nice to meet you, ryland. you're from collarado, yeah? my grandma lives there.' drew said, twirling a strand of his hair around his fringed as i nodded.

i chatted with everyone for the rest of the lesson, especially garrett and shane, finding out more about them whilst i jotted down notes. they were all so nice and it seemed a lot less fake than my friends in colorado.

yet my brain was screaming that they were all putting on an act, trying to deceive me into trusting them. i needed to stop, remain reclusive and not let myself fall into their trap. paranoia pumped through my veins, my head pounding with nerves.

'ryland? you okay, man? do you wanna eat lunch with us?' garrett shook me from my thoughts. i was so wrapped up i hadn't even realised that the whole class had left and it was just him, shane and i.

'i'm really sorry,' i stuttered, 'i can't- i have to go.'

and i brushed past them, preventing any possible friendship and crushing it to the ground.