Scholar

Thirteen

"A fight? Are you out of your mind?" my mom practically screeched as Ryan sat on the couch and pressed an ice pack to the side of my face gently. I let out a small gasp as he did so. It felt like he was putting a rock he had taken out of a frozen lake against my burning hot skin.

"I didn't get caught," I told her. She shook her head. I watched my mom pace back and forth in front of me.

"You don't know that. You just don't know that. Besides, I certainly never raised any child of mine to use violence." She sighed and pressed her hand against her forehead. I wanted to roll my eyes but managed to control myself. I just stared at my mom while she panicked. I guess it was sensible for her to worry. I just didn't, though. "Thank you, Ryan, for bringing him here safely."

"Oh, anytime, I just didn't want anything bad to happen to Alex, so I got him out of there," Ryan explained.

"At least someone has some common sense," my mom bitterly remarked.

"Oh, so I'm not supposed to do anything when an asshole disrespects things I care about?" I asked. She didn't know anything besides I got into a fight. She didn't know why, and I hated the judgmental look in her eyes.

"I don't care what he did! That was stupid, Alex!"

"Yeah? So dad was stupid, then?" I snapped.

"Don't twist my words around," she said angrily.

"How is that twisting your words around? It's just interpreting what you're implying! That fighting for what you care about is stupid."

"No, you just need to be smarter and know when to fight and when to walk away," she explained as she calmed down. Ryan was silent and awkward next to me, looking between me and my mom.

"I don't care. He wasn't getting away with that. He's already gotten away with plenty, I'm sure. I wasn't going to add to his list," I concluded.

"And what exactly did this boy say about Chelsea that was so bad?" I opened my mouth to respond but quickly shut it because this wasn't about Chelsea. This was about Ryan. I looked over at the uncomfortable boy next to me and then looked down.

"I...it..." I was at a complete loss for words. Tell the truth or lie? I couldn't quite decide.

"Oh, it was about someone else." It sort of sounded like a question but also like a statement. She knew it was about someone else, that wasn't the question. The question was who.

"Yeah," I muttered. I could feel both sets of eyes on me, staring me down for answers. The medicine my mom gave me had kicked in, and my headache was quickly fading away.

"Who?" Ryan asked. I was a little surprised he had spoken up, but I guess he was just too curious not to. I looked up at him, wild, hazel eyes staring back at me. My throat practically closed itself, and my mouth went dry.

"It..." I couldn't speak. I looked back down at my hands. My legs were slightly apart and my hands were in a ball in the space between them while one leg bounced up and down.

"Okay," she said, quietly.

"Okay?" I asked, confused by her sudden calmness.

"Okay," she replied. "This...it's okay." I saw a small, warm smile on her face. Of course, she saw through me. I prayed she wouldn't say it out loud.

"You're not mad?"

"Oh, I am. But...I'll leave you be for now." She walked away, and I was silent. "I have to go to work. I'll be back later, and we're going to finish this conversation privately." I nodded and heard her close the door as she left.

"I don't get it. What happened?" Ryan asked. I let out a small chuckle. I put my hand over his hand and moved the ice pack away from my face. I looked up at him but found myself at a loss for words, so I looked down at the couch, putting my hands on my lap. Time to explain, I guess.

"He called Jordan a clown when we were walking down the hallway. That pissed me off badly, but then, he started talking about you, I guess because of last time when you helped us, and I told him if he kept talking about you that I'd knock his teeth out." Ryan laughed, and I looked up to see a huge, amused grin on his face.

"That's a lie. You didn't say that."

"I did," I assured him, a small smile on my face because of him. "He called you a fag after that, so I punched him in the mouth."

"Alex, your mom's right. You are out of your mind," Ryan said in complete disbelief. "Why the hell would you get in a fight over something he said about me?" I shrugged.  

"I don't know...it's...whatever, " I responded.

"You know, everybody's gonna think you're hot as hell now that you've been in a fight."

"Oh, does that include you?" I asked, half-jokingly.

"It especially includes me," he told me. I smiled a little, but there my heart went again, pounding like a hammer against a nail. "I think it was really, really cool of you to stand up for me when you were risking so much." I wanted to belittle it. I wanted to just say "I'd do it for anyone," but that was a complete lie. I was far too entranced by him that it was probably dangerous.

"It's because I don't like people I-" just say it. I wished I could have just told him how I felt. That he was someone special to me, that I care about him more than I want to. "I just don't like people I know being trashed."

"So I'm just someone you know?" Ryan playfully asked. I found myself drawn to him, moving slightly closer. I looked down at his perfect lips then back up to his eyes glistening in the light.

"I guess so," I responded.

"Aw, are you sure that's all? Absolutely nothing else?" I couldn't stop looking at him, trying to memorize every feature on his face. Trying to memorize every color in his eyes, the smoothness of his skin, the shape of his lips...

A piercing, loud ringing sound cut through the air, causing me to jump and get knocked out of whatever trance I was in. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and answered it.

"Hey, Chels," I said glancing up at Ryan who was smiling like an idiot and looking at the ground. He placed the ice pack on my face once more. I put the phone on speaker and held it between us.

"You got into a fight?" she practically yelled.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Jo told me! She was totally freaked out about it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"We can talk about it later," I said calmly.

"Fine, lunch, tomorrow," Ava shouted, sounding somewhat far away.

"He probably won't be able to come to school tomorrow. If someone sees bruises on his face, he's gonna get busted," Ryan chimed in.

"Ryan's there?" Chelsea asked.

"Yeah, he drove me home," I explained.

"Okay, well, I'll put makeup on you. It'll look just as bad if you don't show up tomorrow," she said.

"Okay, I guess," I reluctantly agreed.

"I'll be home later tonight, okay?"

"Rodger that," I responded. Chelsea laughed and hung up.

"Well, tomorrow's gonna be exciting," Ryan said with a dramatic amount of enthusiasm. I rolled my eyes, pushing his hand off my face and laying down over his legs, my head resting on a pillow on the edge of the couch. Ryan gently placed his arm around me and let it hang over me. I felt the warmth from his stomach heat up my back.

"I guess so," I finally said, the dread in my voice immensely evident.