Cover Credit @StormRidden (she's amazing right?)
You can't really know just how incredible someone or something is unless you peel back the outer layers. It's more than just scratching the surface, you have to really dig in, get rid off the facade...
Chapter 9: When danger looks like Ryder, you don't run from it, you run to it!
One picture was apparently all it took to change the minds of every student who had a different thought about me. By the end of the night, I was sitting in my room, buzzing through the buddy requests on my Student Portal account. 'This is crazy.' I thought. Everyone had hated me for something that had barely been in my control, but now, they were all over me. Everyone wanted to be my friend again.
My phone buzzed. I had a new text message. Well, a few new text messages, but the rest wasn't important. Only this one was.
Ryder: Can you handle all this love?
I laughed because I couldn't. I was feeling the overwhelming love as it poured through my phone and computer screens. Begging me to answer and fall into the trap that was fake adolescent acceptance.
I leaped off the bed when I heard my mom come in. I thought for sure she'd heard about my afternoon escapade, but it was safe. She spoke to my Dad for a few minutes before retreating to her room. I didn't expect dinner and had already eaten a bowl of ravioli in case I was punished. It didn't hurt to be Proactive where my mother was concerned.
When I was safe from any and all forms of reprimand, I cozied up back into bed with my laptop inches away from my face. I was still in awe. The notifications just kept coming and I didn't have a clue how to make it stop.
I ran my fingers across the shiny screen of my phone -Ryder's picture still blinking as a VIP contact- and typed, This love is dangerous... .can I trust it?
A moment later he replied, 'You can trust me, Allison. Good night.'
Putting my trust in someone I'd known all of 5 minutes seemed a little like I was jumping the gun. But I put my trust in someone I'd known all my life and they screwed me the first chance they got. After all, I was the one that had been a perpetrator in Ryder's life. Since our first real encounter, he'd been nice, kind, and helpful to me.
I stared up at my arched ceiling, "I'm not dreaming, am I? I'm not in a coma lying in some hospital after cracking my skull open, right? I can't be. That would just be too cruel."
I sighed loudly and sent Ryder a sleeping emoji. It was time for bed. My new found fame meant I needed even more sleep if I wanted to properly deal with the horde of new friends I'd acquired.
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"I told you it would work," Ryder whispered in my ear as he walked up behind me in the parking lot.
I smiled tiredly at Ryder, "You did but, this is still kinda scary."
"I know. Look, I'm right here, remember?" he said as we continued to walk, reassuring me that our agreement was there to benefit us both and that there was no way it could backfire.
