Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

(6) Meeting Mr. Mysterious

Rye checked his watch anxiously, it was 4:57 pm, three minutes before he got to meet the mystery boy. It fascinated Rye that all he knew about Andy was his name (duh) and things other people told him. It was very odd he had never even gone past him in the corridors or even exchanged a few words or a glance. To Andy, not knowing your enemy perturbed him. He liked to know peoples weaknesses for when they all inevitably turned on him. He had to be ready for whatever this person came to be.

'chill man, you are here to talk about prank week. It's not like you are entering some sort of duel to the death. Calm. Down.' Rye chided himself, it was nothing, all he was doing was meeting this boy to talk about the aims of this year's pranks. Rye had noticed the black ford was missing at the end of the day, maybe he bailed, but Rye seriously doubted he would bail.

On cue, a black ford revved into the car park, parking in one of the closer spots this time. The driver did not leave the car for a second, Rye almost thought it was not Andy coming to meet him. But, after a minute, taking Rye's clock to 5 pm exactly, the door swung open. A lean, muscular silhouette climbed gracefully out of the car. Well, almost. A shaky hand grasped the roof of the car for support, Rye could see the palor of the knuckled from where he stood. Which was strange, considering he had heard the boy was lightly sunkissed.

Was he drunk, high? Rye was very confused by his actions. A slightly shorter boy got out of the other side of the car and jogged around, a look of concern on his face. Rye found it weird that Andy had brought... backup? Usually, meetings were private, between the two boys who decided the rules. Andy brushed off the smaller boy's help and walked up to the path, his hands hin his pockets and his hood up. Way to make this meeting look dodgy genius, Rye rolled his eyes.

Andy reached Rye halfway along the path between the hockey and the football pitch, he saw the confused expression on his face as Rye looked him up and down. Andy felt very weak, still from his asthma attack earlier.

"Got your message loud and clear Beaumont" His confidence returning as he pulled down his hood. Theo was very surprised at the change in the boy's attitude, even more surprised when he pulled down his hood. It revealed satin, sunrise hair and piercing grey-blue eyes. His face was a little paler than he supposed it usually was, but his cheeks had a light blush. He was the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. Rye felt his breath hitch, and it took him a second to return to the moment.

"Yeah, umm, I suppose we had better talk rules." Rye forced out, rubbing scratching the back of his neck with his giant paw. His entire stance and pitch just seethed awkwardness, and he hated it.

"Well, we would like not to have vandalism again, as well as all the small pranks" Andy put forward.

Rye mulled what he said over, he had a spark of genius. They should choose either one big one or multiple small pranks. He knew that his team preferred to go big. All connotations intended heh heh.

"Well, a proposition for you. We could go about things differently this year. How about each team gets to do 7 small pranks or one big one" Rye put forward. "Then, there would not be so much damage done, because we did break the fence, but we also spraypainted it last year. So there would be trouble if yours or my team got caught. But one prank would just be one punishment" Rye's cheeky smirk returned to his face and a teasing spark appeared in his eyes. "Since we won last year, and the year before. You choose Fowler."

"Fine, one big prank, and you better be ready, because you will lose this year" Andy retorted, defiance gleaming in his eyes, and a heartbreaker smile that spread over his face showed that he meant it. "Let's shake on it big boy" Andy cockily flicked his hair out of his eyes before putting his hand out to shake.

"Good call kiddo" Rye retorted, seeing the small flash of irritation on Andy's face was well worth whatever hell he would get. He put his paw into Andy's and they shook on it.

"Who are you calling 'kiddo'? I am literally only a few inches shorter than you" He protested, "But maybe your height is making up for something you are lacking" Andy's casually slipped into the conversation. Rye liked the fact he was able to rile up Andy so easily. He also liked how easily the conversation flowed. Even if it mainly consisted of insults.

Rye guffawed before ruffling Andy's hair, despite him being almost as tall. Seeing as Andy flinched, a little. But still, it was confusing.

"Well, I guess I will see you tomorrow kiddo, let the games commence," Rye said, cockily as he strolled away and pulled out his phone to tell the team what the outcome had been. Andy was a wonder, he was funny and cute. Not cute, he's a guy. Rye thought, his head was even more messed up by Mr. Mysterious, and he didn't know his weakness. Instead, he had spent - he checked his watch- half an hour - HALF AN HOUR!!?- flirting with him. But it was okay because there was no way in a million years that Ryan Beaumont was gay. So Andy was his opposition and nothing more. But there was something about his mysterious air that intrigued Rye.

Andy was left a little gobsmacked, Jack ran up the path to help him is he needed and saw the look of confusion and interest on his face. Andy relayed the last half an hour to his friend and messaged the rest of the team, leaving out the strange, almost flirtatious conversation he had appeared to have with Beaumont . It was just weird, but Rye Beaumont was so cocky it irritated the hell out of Andy. Dammit, every jibe he made seemed to play straight into Rye's damn hands. So their prank this year had to be something amazing and unforgettable. That was one thing that would not go wrong, and would not end up with Rye winning. No way.

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Enjoy people xx