class rep ;; Ryden

1 ; Ryan and Z

There's not much that Ryan Ross likes.

It may make him sound like a pretentious asshole but it's true and he definitely won't lie about it. Call him pessimistic he wouldn't argue with that. There were simply not that many things that brought him joy in life.  Z would call him a...certain word when he complained about the dulness of life and the existential nature of their very existence. Surprisingly this was a normal conversation that happened a lot when they were together. Something that probably made Ryan a lot less unappealing to others. Because who really wants to sit and talk about the inevitability of death at a McDonald's?

Ryan Ross apparently. Z was his best friend. His only friend. It was a task not for the faint of hearts. It sounds dramatic, but it was true. Z had to put up with a lot...but she did it. Because she loved him and cared for him deeply. They had a connection like none other. Even closer than a relationship, closer than a sibling bond. It felt almost...magic? Like they were bonded in some sort of way. They understood one another. They did try and date one time. It didn't work for multiple reasons. The first was that they were so close that it didn't actually change anything. It just added more stress and strain to a relationship that was already perfect. Secondly - Ryan realised she wasn't his type. Like at all. So it didn't last long let's just say, but it didn't change anything at all.

"McDonald's date tonight?" She snapped Ryan out of his trance - he was in his element playing Zelda. So almost growled when z knocked him off of his stride. He deliberately ignored her question like the asshole he is and brought the controller closer to his face. Trying to refocus on the game he was giving all his attention to. That didn't work, he felt the controller leave his hands. He looked up at z who had snatched it straight out of his clutch. If looks could kill...Z would be 6 feet under. But Z's smile brought Ryan back into some sort of reality.

"How long have I been playing?" Was his first question. Before z had the opportunity to even open her mouth he looked around quickly - his eyes darting around the room like he was lost. "And...when did it get dark?"

Z raised her eyebrows and muttered something to herself under her breath. A habit that she did a lot, and it infuriated Ryan. Much like a lot of other stuff did. She was just shocked at his mess of time management. His sleep schedule was monumentally screwed up. He slept during the day and did whatever he wanted during the night. He was practically nocturnal- or if you saw how pale his complexion was you'd think he was probably some sort of vampire. The brooding nature and obsession with macabre poetry pretty much confirmed that theory.

"It's only 7" she replied even though that wasn't an answer to any of his questions. He knew that and frowned in response. "I'm taking you out to eat. You can't hermit until school starts."

Ryan begrudgingly agreed with her but that was only because he was hungry. It was a strange time in his life. Legally he's been homeschooled for pretty much forever. Even when he was in school he didn't turn up. But eventually people began getting on his mothers case about it. Ryan wasn't that big of an asshole, and didn't want to see his mother get told off so agreed to start school in the middle of the year, he also lucked out and was able to enrol in the same school Z went to. He was busy thinking about school and how much of a bore it would be before Z practically pulled his arm out of its socket to leave. 

—
"Fine dining? Am I right?" Z commented with a laugh- sipping her strawberry milkshake happily.

Oh yes- McDonald's, the pinnacle of class Ryan thought. But it was the only place the both of them could afford. He didn't realise how much shit you had to buy for school. Books, bags, pencils other dumb garbage. He was practically broke. The look on his face informed z he was going to complain again.

"Maybe it's better for me to just stay home." He spoke absentmindedly- staring off into the distance.

"Are you kidding me? The government were practically at your door. They pretty much told you to get your ass to school" she might've been exaggerating some or most of the details. But she made a point, which is why Ryan continued to stare. Now he wasn't staring into space. He was staring at a group of people who were sitting in the corner.

Z followed his eye-line and focused on the same table Ryan was looking at. Almost instantly looking away from it.

"Dude. Don't socialise with them when you do start." She said, pulling Ryan's face away and forcing him to look directly at her. He didn't respond. Z was about to lose her mind. The table was looking pretty attractive to her, she was tempted to hit her head on it at this very moment. She began to try again- see if she could TRY to convince him to listen to her. "Ryan I'm serious. Don't think they'll deal with your bullshit. They will not." Her tone was pretty serious, which took Ryan back a bit. Z was always pretty upbeat and happy around him. But she didn't really talk about school a lot to him. Because he wouldn't understand. It was sort of a mutual agreement with the two of them. So maybe this was a whole can of worms Ryan had just yet to open. But of course he couldn't take her  100% seriously.

"My bullshit?" He repeated, not meaning to sound malicious but he did speak with a strong layer of sarcasm. He knew she was testing her patience tonight and he sort of enjoyed that. There was nothing else he could do. He took another glance over to the table to try and get their faces engrained into his mind to know who to avoid. The problem was it seemed to be practically a sea of teenagers with greasy hair and black hair dye. They all managed to merge together in Ryan's mind.

The other issue is that there seemed to be more of them now. Some were sat down, some were stood up. The first thing that drew his attention was the two guys stood up as they were spitting paper at each other through straws - how childish - Ryan thought. One of them was pretty short and was acting...almost feral? That was all Ryan could describe it like. Where as the other was pretty chilled out. Like he was used to this guys frantic actions.

He moved his eyes to look at the group sat down. They all seemed like assholes. Ryan could tell - because he was one of them. They just seemed to sit their with their arms crossed. Not amused at anything that was going on. There was two specifically that seemed to be out of place. One guy who was sat down just seemed to be fun- there was nothing specific that Ryan could deduce from him. Other than he had pretty cool hair. There was another guy who looked sweet. But pity he was sat with his arm round one of the assholes. Another thing was that he was also staring directly at Ryan. He had pretty eyes Ryan began to think until it dawned on him-

Shit.

He looked back very quickly at Z thinking he was being discreet. But he could still feel a gaze upon him.

"Why shouldn't I socialise with them they seem like fun?" He questioned- trying to make it seem he wasn't looking. Just having a normal conversation with his friend...yeah.

"They seem fun. They'll either like you or hate you. If they like you- well done you're hooked into a life of parties, alcohol and trash talking." Ryan was about to interrupt but Z continued to talk "If they don't like you. Which is most likely. They'll make your life a living hell"

He had no reason to not believe Z, in fact she was the one who's gone to school with them for all these years. He really didn't want to start any trouble in his first few weeks. He was going to stick with Z anyways, and the few friends she had. He's only ever had one and there was not much point in trying to be cool and get a whole new friend group. Besides they probably wouldn't like him anyway. Nobody really did.

"I'm glad I have you" he said finally deciding he was actually going to take someone's advice for once. Z exhaled a breath that she'd been holding for a while - more than happy he was listening. She gave a small smile of approval at his decision.

"You'll always have me" she said with a smile. Ryan didn't notice her smile as he was taking one more small glance at the table.

For a split second it felt like he was being stared at by one of them. But when he looked no one was looking at him. They were all just...eating. He shrugged the feeling off. He probably won't even bump into them in school. So what's the point in worrying about them?

—

Hi (: I haven't uploaded on here in a hot minute. I wanted to continue band class but I wasn't feeling it anymore. I feel like I've gotten worse at writing so sorry if this is shit- oops.

Anyway- I tried to make it a little obvious who the people at the other table were. If y'all can tell I'd like to see.