valedictorian ⚣ ryden

4

There's nothing unbecoming of The Landing. No restaurant can compare. Really. They have the best steaks, the best milkshakes, and everything else they sell is probably the best, too. Ryan hasn't tried anything else from there, but he's positive that anything else is absolutely delicious. Not only is their food amazing, but the entire restaurant is beautiful, and it's comfortable. The lights are dim but not too dim; they're just right. The booths are soft and so are the chairs. Ryan has never complained about anything there, ever, which is why he and Elizabeth chose to go there to spend time together. As far as Ryan knows, she likes The Landing, too. Maybe not as much as Ryan does, but just enough to enjoy herself, too.

It's four twenty-seven when Elizabeth arrives at Ryan's house. Ryan's in his chair, reading a book and biting his fingernails when Elizabeth walks in. "Guess what, Nerd?" she says as she cacophonously walks through the door.

Ryan looks up calmly, not expecting any less noise coming from his best friend. He stares expectantly. Without saying anything, but smiling widely, she lifts up her right hand and shakes it enough for the keys she's holding to jangle. "You've got your car now, too?" Ryan asks, excited. "This is so great! My dad brought mine home last night while I slept!"

She squeals. "Wow, I did not know I could miss my own car so much until I didn't have one." Her excitement makes Ryan smile. He laughs as she rambles about how boring it is to ride with him. Her insults don't even bother him this time. He's just happy to see her happy. "I'm driving us tonight," she demands. Her face no longer has the hint of amusement. Now she's stern and looking Ryan straight in the eyes.

"Yes ma'am," Ryan obeys. He closes his book and follows Elizabeth out of his house.

Elizabeth plays her music at a dangerously high volume when she drives, and she tries her hardest to sing along over the high volume. Ryan believes that's what motivates her to drive so fast and recklessly. Strangely, it surprises Ryan when she slows down to a legal speed. She deviates from the normal route to The Landing and turns into a neighborhood along the way. This couldn't be a shortcut. "Where are you going?" Ryan inquires, but he can't be heard over Elizabeth's music. Finally, they stop at a house that Ryan can't identify, but he seems to remember it vaguely. It certainly isn't Elizabeth's. "Whose home is this?" he questions once the car is off and the music is no more.

"I just needed to stop by," she says quickly as she gets out of the car. "Come on," she says before she closes the door.

Ryan gets out and follows Elizabeth up the path to the front door and waits with her as she knocks. In about a minute, the door opens, and Alex is standing behind it. Of course she needs to "stop by" here. Her crush on Alex is so obvious.

"Woah, hey," he says. "You two are super early. Brendon's not here yet. He had detention."

Detention? Suddenly Ryan's glad to have rejected him.

"It's okay," Elizabeth says, tugging at the hems of her cardigan. "We want to come in anyway."

Alex moves aside and lets the two of them into the house. "Elizabeth," Ryan says, "you didn't tell me you invited these two to go eat with us."

"Um," she stutters. "Yeah."

"You have a nice house, Alex," Ryan says politely as Alex leads him and Elizabeth to the living room.

"Oh, this isn't my house," he says. "It's Brendon's. Duh."

That makes Elizabeth laugh, and Ryan goes silent out of embarrassment. Now that he thinks about it, he does remember dropping him off here.

The three of them sat on the couch for forty-three minutes until Brendon finally arrived. He walks in smiling, but he falters once he sees Ryan. Ryan smiles awkwardly at Brendon. He's upset at Elizabeth for failing to tell him in advance that Brendon would be with them. Had she forgotten about how Ryan rejected him? Or was she just being mischievous? It isn't uncommon for Elizabeth to want to play a joke in that way. He glances at her, but she avoids eye contact by staring down into her lap.