Pretender//Ryan Metzger (Discontinued)

Chapter 5

I apologize for the slower updates, I've got a lot of stuff coming up. I have a stupid summer assignment for school and a ton of stuff for Marching Band and ROTC so updates will be much slower. Probably once a week now.
⚠️This chapter has mentions of abuse/and or self harm.  Could also include triggering subjects. Read with caution.⚠️

Previously:
     I sighed heavily. Then something hit me harder than I wanted it too.
"I fucking like Ryan Met"

Well Shit

Chapter 5: Touring Atlanta-Gone Wrong
Soon after, I went inside. Luckily Marcie and Tyrece hadn't woken up yet. Ty was a heavy sleeper, but Marce on the other hand? She was a pretty light sleeper. I'm suprised I didn't wake her up. I then slipped back under the covers and left my phone to charge. I had a lot to think about, but right now all I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep the whole day away. I checked the time, and it was 3am. I couldn't believe I was outside for 3 hours. It felt like 5 minutes. Anyways, I put my phone back down and closed my eyes. Surprisingly I fell asleep very quick.

In the morning

I awoke to the sound of the hotel door opening. Footsteps thundered in and all I heard was voices yelling, though I couldn't make out what they were saying due to my groggy state.
     "What the hell do you guys want. I'm trying to sleep here," I mumbled, clearly annoyed with the fact of getting woken up to tons of noise.
     "Oh shut up, it's 10 and we've got some sights to see. I know you haven't been to Atlanta in like 2 years despite you living like an hour away. So go get ready, we're leaving in 30 minutes," someone said. It honestly sounded like Marcie due to her tone of voice but I still couldn't tell.
      "Fine," I complained as I pulled the covers off of me. "Can't we wait another hour or so? I didn't sleep until 3am."
     "No, get up right now. And what do you mean you were up till 3?" said who I could now identify as Marcie.
I groaned and mumbled an "okay," ignoring her question. I dragged myself to the bathroom to get ready for a long, long day of waking.

After Getting Ready

     "I can't believe I let you drag me out here. You know how much I absolutely hate walking. Especially in crowded places," I complained.
     Marcie just gave me an annoyed look and turned back to the sidewalk. I reluctantly followed behind them.
     To be honest I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on; I just typed away on my phone. I was on notes, trying to find the right words to reply to Jacks offer. I would sadly have to decline due to stuff I'd rather not talk about at the moment. I felt bad but they already had such talented artists that are much better than I would ever be.
     "Whatcha' doing?" Ty asked.
     Without thinking I answered, "Replying to Jack."
     Marcie and Tyrece immediately stopped. "What?" They both said.
Once I had realized what I said I decided to actually tell them what was going on.
"Well, Jack may or may not have offered me to be one of their artists for their ep covers and certain stuff for music videos, but I think I'm going to decline. I don't feel up to the job."
"Oh come on! Since when? And if you accept the job, you get to spend more time with that cute glasses boy!" Ty exclaimed.
I thought about what they had said. Yes, it was true that I could spend more time with Ryan. At the moment it didn't seem like more interactions with each other would be a good idea anyways. "No thanks, I'm still going to pass up the offer."
"Awww man," Marcie sighed. "Anyways, lets get on with it. We have to go to the aquarium. It's been a while since you've been there!"
So I finished replying to jack and we went on our way. Although it was the first time in years that I had been to this aquarium, it was quite boring to say the least. They hadn't put in any new exhibits so I ended up just spacing out while following the others. I acted like I was paying attention even though I wasn't, and I'm not going to lie, it's not like I had anything on my mind.
"Soo, while we're here. What were you doing up at 3 in the morning?" Marce questioned.
I hated to keep less-important secrets from my two best friends, so I made up my mind. "I woke up at 1 and couldn't fall back asleep so I went out back of the hotel to just chill. After a bit of being out there Ryan showed up, apparently he was staying in the same hotel, and we talked for a bit. After that I just came back inside. Before I knew it, it was 3am. It's nothing interesting to be honest," I explained.
"Aww, that's boring. I was hoping for something more interesting," Ty pouted.
I just rolled my eyes and continued walking along. Eventually we made it back to the beginning. "World of coke next?" I asked.
Everyone nodded and we went on our way.
We finished the tour quicker than I thought we would, so we went to go sit by the Olympic Park fountains which was a few minutes of a walk away. The lights were so pretty and I could just imagine my 8 year old self playing in the streams of water.

"Mommy! Daddy! Aren't the lights pretty?"
"Yes they are honey."
"Don't go in the water dear, we don't want you to get soaked"
But it was to late, I was already sprinting towards the fountains, soon soaking myself in water just like I was told not to.
"Laura! Get back here right now!" He yelled.
Before I knew it, I was being scooped up and carried back to the car.
"Your getting a punishment once we get home."
His voice turned cold as stone when my mother wasn't around, and I hated every second of it.
We arrived home soon and I forgot about the punishment. My mom has just left for the store as soon as we got home, and he dragged me to the basement.
"You little shit. Listen to me next time," he snarled, smacking me with his belt. It left a big bruise on my cheek. "You'll remember to listen next time won't you?"
All I could is was nod.
A few more smacks and bruises later and I was left alone in the cold dark basement, unable to move because my legs hurt so much. But I ended up crawling up the stairs to my room.
When my mother came home, he told her that I fell down the stairs.
Oh how I wish I should've told her. But that death stare told me not to. His cold, dead eyes told me not to.

"Uh, can we go home now," I spoke quietly, visibly uncomfortable.
Marcie and Tyrece exchanges looks but didn't say anything. We just left. It's been a while since they really saw me with the look I had on my face right now.
Once we made it to the car, we drove back silently. No one spoke a word.
"It's okay. He's gone now. He can't hurt you," I thought in my head. And it seemed to calm the raging thoughts in my head for a while. Long enough for me to stop crying the tears I didn't even know I had.
Once we made it back to the hotel, I just collapsed onto my bed and pulled out my phone, clearly not wanting to speak. I had a few notifications, many from people liking posts on my secret fan account, and a few from my main account, but the last one was a dm. So I hesitantly clicked on it, my previous thoughts still lingering in the back of my mind. To my luck, it was just Jack replying to me.
I let out a breath that I had no idea I was even holding. "It's okay," I whispered to no one.
"Wanna talk about it?" Marce asked.
As much as I wanted to tell them, I hadn't told anyone about my past yet. They didn't know who I used to be and the part of me that was locked away in a very tightly sealed door. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. It was nothing important," I started to say with a little more confidence. I'm pretty sure I was trying to convince myself more than them though.
"Okay, whatever you say then," she said, although Marcie didn't sound the slightest bit convinced.
We continued with our day in the hotel, I ended up taking a super long shower before bed because I still couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that I had earlier today. The three of us decided upon sleeping early because we needed to get up early tomorrow to check out of the hotel and head home. I'm suprised I even fell asleep that night.

"Hello? Where am I? Where's everyone else?"

Lmao sorry for the lowkey cliffhanger and weird ass plot twist. It was getting boring so I decided to just add something a lot earlier than I was planning to.

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