all those broken promises | shyland

Chapter Four

"Why'd you leave Colorado?"

In all honesty, he didn't really care why Ryland had moved to California, but the drive to his house was eight minutes on a good day, and he needed some kind of distraction to keep from the horrible thought of Ryland meeting his parents. If he was lucky, and he hoped he was, his dad would be at work, but he knew his mom would be pretending to read a book on the couch, her phone pressed to her ear as she told her two older sons how proud she was to have given birth to them, somehow timing her voice with Shane's entrance perfectly, the routine he'd been a part of for as long as he could remember.

Ryland glanced over at him for a second before he turned back to the road, "Dad got a new job."

Shane paused, his eyes focused on the dashboard of Ryland's car. He wasn't used to people being so quiet around him, so awkward. The line of the GPS was moving closer to its destination, and he closed his eyes, his sweaty palms gripping the edge of his jeans as he thought over what to say.

"Do you miss it there?"

"Every day."

Shane didn't understand how someone could miss Colorado when they were in California, but he kept his opinion to himself, knowing he wouldn't get any closer to his goal by calling Ryland selfish. When it was all over with, anyway, all Ryland would be was another guy he'd screwed and screwed over. Their English project and Garrett's party, only a weekend separating the occasions, would be finished before Ryland even knew what hit him.

"Hey, where's your sister, anyway?"

Ryland glanced in the rearview mirror as he turned onto Shane's street, "I called my dad to pick her up since I was going to yours."

"I could've had Garrett drop her off," Shane offered with a shrug. "He would have."

"Not in a million years."

"What, you don't trust me?" He asked, the smile on his lips falling when he saw Ryland glance down at the map before turning into his driveway. He hoped his heart wasn't as loud as it seemed to be, but if it was, Ryland didn't seem to notice.

"You haven't given me much of a reason to."

Ryland turned the key in the ignition, stepping onto the gravel of Shane's driveway, and Shane opened the door, his eyes trained on his dad's car sitting in its usual spot. He took a breath, climbing out of the car and gathering his belongings before he walked up the path, Ryland following behind him. He could practically hear his parents arguing before they got to the door, and when he turned the key in the lock to open it, he made sure to make their entrance as known as possible.

"I'm home!"

His dad appeared in the doorway, a bottle of vodka in his hand, and Shane tried to pretend like it didn't bother him, the way he always did. He saw Ryland look at him, blue eyes wide, and it scared him, that somebody had something on him; no one else saw this part of his life. He'd managed to keep it hidden for years, how did this boy found out in a day?

"Dad," He greeted. "Hey, this is Ryland, he's in one of my classes, we have a project to work on."

Kyle glanced at the smaller kid, "Here to make him look smarter than he is? Good luck."

"Wh—"

"Ignore him," Shane shook his head, taking Ryland by the arm and pulling him up the stairs. He locked his bedroom door behind him, his head against the wood as his partner settled himself on the bed, the events of the past few minutes playing in both their heads.

"Shane..."

"Sorry," He apologized, turning to face the boy who was sitting with his legs crossed, backpack leaning against the dresser next to him. "Right, um, do you want to—"