Surrounded by darkness (BxB)

Chapter 5

Caden's POV:

When I woke up this morning I felt better than usual. The events of last night kind of explains why. My body is in less pain so as long as I don't piss anyone off then I should be able to make it by without getting hit for a while. I got out of bed a few minutes before my alarm went off. Kind of like how you might wake up earlier because you are excited for your birthday or opening Christmas presents in the morning. I turned my alarm clock off so it wouldn't go off and wake anyone up before getting ready. After I got dressed and did my hair and foundation, I threw on some black high top converse and headed out the door as quietly as I could.

I made my way down the street and past the park that's halfway between me and Ryan's house. Within minuets I was arriving at his doorstep. I didn't know whether to knock or ring the doorbell because of the dogs so I just texted him.

Caden:
hey I'm here

Ryan <3:
Sick. I'll be down in a sec :)

Caden:
Cool:P
-read-

Within about 30 seconds I heard footsteps running quickly down a staircase and then the front door flew open.

"Good morning!" He said with a big smile plastered across his face.

"Hey, morning. What are you so happy about?" I asked as we began to walk.

"Not school I can tell you that much, but I'm happy to see you." He added.

"Awe how sweet. Would it be too cheesy to say that I missed you too?" I said jokingly.

"Well, I sure as hell hope not." He said, holding his hand out for me to take.

I placed my hand in his knowing that no one is around this early to see. Someday I will be out of high school and I won't have to worry anymore. I just need to make it three more years and I'll be out of here. I have been saving all the money I can get my hands on to get a place to live when I graduate. But with my grades, I'm kind of worried about that. As these thoughts swirled around in my head, I couldn't help but wonder what Ryan would have to say about it.

"Hey, do you think I'm going to graduate?" I asked as we swung our intertwined hands back and forth.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you?"

"Well, my grades are just pretty bad. I'll probably have to redo some classes if I want to get enough credits to graduate." I said with a melancholy tone.

"Did you have bad grades freshman year too?" He asked.

"Yep," I said bluntly. "I'm just worried that having two years of these grades will keep me from graduating or something."

"Hey, you're gonna graduate and I'm gonna be there by your side. We'll do this together. I mean, unless you don't want to that's cool too." He said rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." I reassured him.

We walked the rest of the way to school talking and enjoying our time together before school started. Once we got onto campus, I unlatched my hand from his and we continued up to the school. I told him about why I didn't want to hold hands around other people. He was really understanding that I wasn't out yet, which I appreciate a lot. We said our goodbyes and separated to our classes.

Most of the day droned on until I got to English. Ryan and I have that class together thankfully. I got to the room before Ryan so I took a seat in the back. I waited a few more minutes before he finally showed up.

"Oh my god, I swear, that class sucks on a very high level." He complained.

"Its school, I don't really know what you would expect," I said smiling.

"Ha ha, that's funny, remind me to use that one later." He replied sarcastically.

"Alright, we're gonna start the day by collecting your homework on grammar and then we can begin our lesson." Mr. Oliver said.

After everyone had their papers turned into whichever fucking basket, he gave us a boring lecture on commas and stuff. I was more concentrated on trying not to fall asleep. With every passing minute on the clock, I watched the red little second hand doing circles in slow motion past each number. To me, it always feels like when you watch the second hand on a clock it just makes it go slower. As time dragged on, Mr. Oliver switched his topic for the end half of class.

"For the rest of the time, we're going to read chapter 7 in class so you all have less to read as homework tonight." He said. "The first reader today will be Max."

With each name he called on, my anxiety increased. There is such a high chance of being called on in class to read. It hasn't even happened to me yet and we're 7 chapters in! You know when you can just feel it that you're gonna get called on? That's the tension I feel in this moment.

"Okay, Kaitlynn, you're next."

As whoever Kaitlynn is read, words spilled out of her mouth as she struggled on the word ambiguous. The paragraph came to a close and Mr. Oliver's eyes scanned the room for a second.

"The next reader will be, Caden, you haven't read before." He said.

I watched the words fall from his mouth in disbelief. My heart began racing and my hands were trembling. I read the first two sentences with shaky words before I looked frantically around the room for Ryan. I can feel my face flushing with heat. He was looking right at me with a concerned expression. My breathing became quicker and I couldn't sit there anymore. There were too many people listening to my voice. If only I could do this like everyone else can, they would all be looking at their books and reading along, barely even paying any attention to me. But that's clearly not the case. It never will be.

I got up from my desk and rushed out of the room. I felt closed in and like there were two hands gripping my throat. It was like I was suffocating and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I listened to the sound of the door closing behind me while I speed walked down the hall. I couldn't even think of anyplace to go. I could hide in the bathroom, but a lot of people go there during class. I don't want to risk it. I had to think for a minute. I looked around me, still hyperventilating and shaking violently. I spotted a stairwell off to the left down the hall. If I remember correctly, there are no security cameras over there and people usually never use those stairs during class time. After I had decided to go for the stairs, I began walking to them, ignoring the sound of a door closing just down the hall where I left from.

Sorry this one was shorter but the next chapter will make up for it<3