Break The Best Friends

Chapter 11

It was Friday already and I have been a bit anxious and tired the whole day. The former because today is the day that Kyra will be going on a date with River and the latter because she found it necessary to keep me awake the whole night yesterday just because she couldn't sleep out of nervousness.

This morning, Kade gave River a big brother threatening talk about how he will tear River's skin off if he ever hurts his sister.

Poor River!

Theo did the same to Kyra too. He threatened to color Kyra's hair green if she ever hurts his brother. Kyra merely rolled her eyes at that and shook her head calling Theo an idiot.

I know right! He is an idiot.

Though it should remain a secret to Kyra, River told me he was taking her on a little, romantic picnic. I couldn't contain my excitement as I knew it was going to impress Kyra. I can tell, I have been her best friend since we were little kids and she has always loved this romantic, corny date setup. What can I say? She is hopelessly romantic like that.

Ryder and I were walking out of our class, trying to get to the cafeteria when I finally noticed that Ryder has been silent the whole day. I frowned. That was so unlike him. "Hey," I nudged him, giving him a worried look, "Are you okay?"

He frowned. "Why will I not be?"

"Because you are silent," I pointed out and added, "And you are silent only when something is bothering you."

"It's nothing," he brushed it off quickly, but I could see right through his lie.

"Are you sure, Ry?"

"Yes, Care," he sighed as we reached our table. No one was there yet. Tristan had come down with flu and was staying out of school today. I should maybe call him to check on him later. The others will be here any time soon. We sat down next to each other and my frown deepened when I realized he was lying to me again. He was not fine.

"Is it because Kyra is going on a date with River today?" I asked suddenly, "Are you upset about that?"

Ryder's head snapped up to me and he gave me a 'What the hell is wrong with you' kind of look. "What? Why would I be upset about that?"

"So you are upset," I snapped my fingers together in victory, "Now tell me what on earth is bothering you?"

"You are not going to drop this now, are you?" he ran a frustrated hand down his face.

"Nope," I popped the p and gave him a stern look letting him know that I was serious.

Ryder looked at me for a few moments, probably contemplating whether or not to tell me, but then sighing he gave in to me. "It's Axel." He massaged his temples looking as frustrated as ever, "He's doing everything possible these days to get on dad's nerves. He has something that he won't tell me. I'm getting tired of this and I'm also worried about him, Caroline."

My heart clenched hearing him say that. He was worried about his brother. What was wrong with Axel? As far as I had known, Axel was very much attached to his father and loved him like crazy. They were like the ideal dad-son that we all see only in movies. They did everything together. They had a type of bond that every boy in this school will be jealous of. What had happened to the best father and son that I had known?

"I'm sure everything will be fine soon," I reached out and squeezed Ryder's hand in a comforting way, "Come on, this is Axel we are talking about. It's not Axel if he doesn't rebel. He will get bored of annoying your dad and will move on to annoy someone else."

"You don't know that."

"Ry," I sighed playfully and then gave him a look, "Don't you remember how he used to annoy me? Now look at him, he hasn't tried to aggravate me in like a month."