Living with the Millers

Chapter 23 - Moving On

Chapter 23 - Moving On

Getting ready for school the next day was hard. Actually being at school all day was even harder. I wore all black; black ripped jeans, a thick black hoodie, even black combat boots. I wanted to draw as little attention to myself as possible, but that didn't seem to work. Every time I turned around I felt another pair of eyes on me, staring, watching, waiting. I didn't know what they were waiting for, but I just had this feeling that another shoe was about to drop.

Al I had to do was suck it up and move on.

Every time the bell rang, I jumped. This girl who sits behind me in History tapped my shoulder to borrow a pencil and I just about jumped out of my skin. Why couldn't I get my nerves under control? No matter what I did, no matter what I tried, I just couldn't help it. People were starting to notice, too. I avoided my friends all day to try and avoid the game of twenty questions that I knew was coming, but when lunch arrived I knew I couldn't avoid it anymore. Ry spotted me instantly and before I could even try to run away she was by my side.

"I've been texting you," she gushed, grabbing my arm. I flinched, but if she noticed she chose to ignore it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," I faked a smile, shaking out of her hold. The line for lunch was long, but I didn't think I could actually eat anything anyway. Instead of joining the others in line, I marched right for the first empty table I could find. Much to my dismay, Rylin followed me.

"I'm serious," she deadpanned, sitting across from me. It was like her gaze was piercing into my soul, trying to figure out if I was lying or not. "You can tell me the truth. I know what happened, I was there, remember? I'm just trying to help-"

"Did it occur to you that you can't help?" I snapped, looking down at my hands. My thumbs had scabs from where I had been peeling back the cuticles. "I'm fine, end of discussion. Now leave me alone." She was quiet for a moment, looking me up and down. We both knew I was lying, and if I'm honest with myself the last thing I wanted was for her to leave me alone. I tried to tell her with my eyes, to show the emotions that I just couldn't let my mouth say, but she just huffed before standing up and leaving me alone at the table.

I sighed, blinking back tears. I wished more than anything I could fade into non-existence as the room filled up around me, people going throughout their regular day with no idea of the turmoil going on inside my head. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about Marks. Why would he do that to me? I had thought we were friends. I had thought he was a good person. I never would've guessed he would...

"Is this seat taken?" A deep voice asked, breaking me from my thoughts. My head snapped up to find Ryder standing there, holding a sandwich out to me. Without a word I took the food from his hand and motioned for him to sit down. "So should I ask?"

"Probably not," I said curtly, taking a bite out of sandwich. It tasted like cardboard. I had to fight the urge to spit it back out.

"Noted," he grunted, taking a bite out of his burger. "So, are you going to help mom bake pies for the festival this weekend?"

"Festival?" I asked, taking a swig of his soda. He wrinkled his eyes at me but didn't say anything. "What festival?"

"Yeah, the Spring Fling Festival. It happens right outside of town every year. It's just a fun way for everybody to get together and ya' know, have fun," he chucked, shaking his head. "I thought you would've heard about it by now, sorry."

I shrugged, "I've been a little preoccupied..."

"With what I'm not supposed to ask about?"

"Bingo," I chuckled, the first genuine laugh I had managed in a few days. Ryder laughed too though his mouth full of french fries. "So your mom bakes pies?" I asked.