The Withering Rose

First Day Back

Every day started the same, pounding on the bedroom door at six in the morning. She groaned as she rolled out of bed and towards the door, flinging the door open she comes face-to-face with a man in his late forties. "Time to wake up sunshine, you've got school" she scoffed and slammed the door shut. The male was her father whose name is Scott.

Ryan shoved her earbuds in as she stepped on the bus. "Wow it's my senior year and I'm still riding a bus how pathetic," she thought. She sat down and pulled out a book and started reading. Everybody knew that they need to stay quiet and not bug Ryan Krii. Though that was going to change.

Ryan was always in the office; therefore, she has her own spot next to the principal's office. She sat down and logged into her laptop and started her school work. While Ryan was doing her online courses, there was an unfamiliar face who appeared at the front desk. "Excuse me, I'm new here. I'm starting school and I came to pick up my schedule" the male said, and Ryan peeked up to get a good look at him. He was tall and had red hair, green eyes, pierced ears, and was covered in freckles.

"What's your name sweetheart?" the secretary asked. "I'm Colton Grey" "Alright Colton, what grade are you in?" Ryan couldn't help but watch him. "I'm a senior" he smiled, while Ryan rolled her eyes. "Well, today is your lucky day, Ryan here's a Senior too. She can show you to your classes" the secretary laughed.

"Ryan you can finish your class later, I'll give you time to make it up" the principal smiled putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan brushed off his hand and mumbled: "follow me". The male followed the girl into the hallway. "So, why were you in the office?" "That's where I do my homework" "How come?" Ryan rolled her eyes and continued the tour.

"You're mainly going to stay in this hallway. You can match up the names and room numbers from your schedule" Ryan whispered walking away from the boy. "Wait, could I catch you at lunch?" he asked while Ryan rolled her eyes. "Not a chance" she answered quickly. She walked away briskly to avoid another conversation with Colton.

School ended, she had officially stayed all day in the office, mainly to avoid the energetic boy. She walked on the bus and prayed that nobody would talk. Once she got off the bus she could immediately sense that something was wrong. She slowly opened the front door and the next thing she knew she was out cold on the floor.

She woke up from a throbbing headache, she slowly got off the floor. "Ryan!" she held her head in pain. "Fuck off you old man. Go do it yourself!" she screamed. She took clothes to the bathroom and locked the door.

"Next time, he's going to expect me to walk through that damn door, but nobody will be there. This asshole left a huge bruise on the side of my head. I'm going to have to skip school in order for this to heal" she spoke softly. She undressed and stepped into the shower.

Ryan pulled out her phone and there was a message. "Unknown number? I swear if it's" she read the message and rolled her eyes "Colton Grey." 'Hey, it's Colton. I didn't see you at lunch, though the office gave me your number, weird right? Anyways, I wanted to see if your free after-school maybe get a coffee or something. I don't know what you like so it could be up to you!'

Ryan thought that this day couldn't get any weirder. 'Colton, first of all, you don't just get someone's number from the office, that's just creepy. Second, I'm sick so I won't be at school the next couple days' she sent. 'If you weren't sick would you've gone with me?' Ryan sighed and replied with a simple 'no'. She doesn't like going out to places with a bunch of people, it makes her anxious. She could tell by his "going out to coffee" would be in a place with a bunch of people, he just seems like that type of person.

Word Count; 710