Realize | Irwin

s i x

Hayley's POV

I woke up to the sound of my phone making the 'ding' noise, telling me that I had a text. It read:

Ryder<3: Good morning beautiful ;)

I silently screamed when I saw the words. I didn't waste time replying:

Hayley: Good morning to you too babe ;)

After reading over the message, I realised how pathetic it seemed. Before the last two weeks, I would have wanted to strangle anyone that said the word 'babe'. But now it seemed cute, like something I wanted to say to my boyfriend.

I sighed as I got out of bed and proceeded to get ready for school. After I finished getting ready, i got another text, it read:

Ryder<3: Be ready in 10, I'm taking you to school.

I frowned realising that I normally went to school with Cassie, and I would have to ditch her today because I was going with Ryder. I texted Cassie telling her that I was going to school with Ryder. I walked down the stairs, finding my mum in the kitchen talking to my little brother, Jack.

"How long til Cassie will be here?" my mum asked me. I turned to her realising that she didn't know about Ryder and I.

"Um...well..." I stuttered. "My boyfriend is taking me to school." I nervously looked at her to see a reaction. "Oh my god, Hayley has a boyfriend? What is this?" My mum cried. I laughed at her. She was a teenage girl on the inside. More like a teenager than I was.

"His name's Ryder Haynes. He's friends with Josh. I'm sure you know who he is." I clarified. "Yeah. Yeah I think I know his parents." My mum said.

I heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, that'll be him, bye." I looked to my mum and picked up my school bag. "Bye sweetie" my mum called as I opened the door to see Ryder standing there, smiling. He was wearing a white shirt that perfectly hugged his toned body, stonewashed skinny jeans and black vans.

"C'mon babe, lets go" Ryder said, grabbing my hand. I followed him out the door and towards his car.

The ride to school was silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable. When we got to school, I got out of the car, and saw Cassie waiting and the front gate. I walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"I'll leave you two, see you later Hayley" Ryder said. I can understand why he left because I don't believe he would be very interested in our conversations.

As Cassie and I were walking to our lockers, we came across the devil, also known as Tiana Anderson. "Oh, hi there. Do I know you?" Tiana asked in a sickly-sweet tone. I rolled my eyes at her. "We've been in the same classes since kindergarten."

She was so pathetic and I was questioning why she was talking to me.

"Oh, I think the amount of black that you wear prevents anyone from noticing you." She smiled, placing her hand on her hip.

"Yeah, that's the whole point." I said, assuring her that she didn't offend me.

She tried to change the subject. "So... I couldn't help but notice you talking to Ryder yesterday. I assume you two are going out, given the little space between your faces?" she asked.

"Tiana, you shouldn't make assumptions." I said, mimicking her sickly-sweet tone.

She was starting to get frustrated, I was immensely enjoying it. She rolled her eyes. "But, are you? Because if you are, you can tell me." She said.

"Yes, yes we are." I said. I tried to walk away but she stepped in front of me.

"Aww, that's so cute. You two are just so cute together." She said, almost squealing.

"Hmm, it's funny you say that because you seemed to hate the idea yesterday when you were watching us." I stated.

She looked taken back, and she didn't reply. I took the chance to walk away and head to my first class of the day, sport. Oh joy.

************

"Three laps around the oval, now!" my sport teacher, Mr Brian, yelled.

Most of the people in our class got up, and began to run. I watched Ryder, wow he was fast! His muscular back could be seen through his shirt and I was almost drooling at the sight. Once he was out of my view, I put on my earphones and began to let the music soak up my thoughts.

Minutes later, Ashton came and sat next to me and pulled out one of my earphones, putting it in his ear. I looked at him, waiting for a reaction the song I was listening to, 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers. He smiled and nodded. "I love this song."

I was happy that he was talking to me again, but I was also confused. He was acting like everything between us was completely normal.

"Are you annoyed that I'm going out with Ryder?" I asked Ashton. His smile dropped. "Gosh, I knew he would find his way into this conversation." He said, gritting his teeth.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering." I said, defending myself. After a couple seconds, he sighed. "I just think there's someone better out there for you, someone who will care for you more than he ever could."

Before I could answer, I noticed Ryder in front of me, almost standing on my toes. "Hey babe, did you see me running?" He asked, holding out a hand to help me up. I gladly accepted it, because I was starting to get pins-and-needles from sitting down. "Yeah I was watching you, you were really fast!" I assured him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, looking at Ashton for a reaction. Ashton clenched his jaw and muttered "bye" before walking away.

Ryder kept his arms around my waist. "Why were you talking to him?" he asked. "Why not?" I snapped. "He's my friend; I am allowed to talk to my friends."

"Baby, he wants to be more than friends." Ryder claimed. I gasped. "No he doesn't! He is like my brother."

Ryder sighed. "Just do us both a favour and stay the hell away from him, ok?"

I didn't even bother answering, I just walked away, ignoring his calls for me to come back.

Please comment and vote <3

- Kaitlin