Raising Ryann

Chapter 5

"Psst, Ryann -" Audrey mumbled quietly, trying to wake me up without alerting my brother. 

"-Ryann, wake up!" She tried not to groan, or yell, but her whispers were definitely getting angrier. She doesn't like being ignored, which is why I was lucky enough to get the Audrey special - a painful elbow to the ribs.

I sucked in a breath and slammed my eyes open, sitting straight enough to at least, hazzingly, figure out where I was. And going by the pain in my crinked, stiff neck it sure as hell wasn't my bed.

Eventually, my lazy brain came back to life.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rose tap her leg nervously. She lived down the block from me and we were always 'neighbor friends' just not hanging out in school, kind of friends. I could almost hear the music blaring from her headphones, probably destroying what's left of her eardrums. Her red hair teased out from her lucky headband, one that she wore every game. It's hard to imagine a life where headbands actually stayed in place, so I felt blessed to know a person who was lucky enough to experience that sensation.

Rather abruptly, my gaze shot to the front seat, hearing Jax mumble some colorful insults - failing to keep them under his breath. And if his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel was anything to go by, Jax was suffering from some serious road rage.

HONK! Jax beeped as a crappy looking pick up truck cut him off.

And of course, that set off a never ending train of cars honking at one another, just for shits. Part of me wanted to cover my ears, but the other part of me, really needed to join in.

So I did. I took off my seatbelt, leaned across the dash and laid on the horn, giggling at the ones that came after. Almost like some kind of sick song - like that episode of spongebob when Patrick writes a song and it was so bad that it killed people, or fish. Don't worry though, an angry mob formed and put a stop to it.

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't even notice the full on glare I was getting from Jax. I dropped my gaze and immediately went back to my seat, buckling back in and looking out the window.

We were on our way to a soccer game, and already I was glad I decided to sit in the back. Besides falling asleep, which thankfully he hadn't noticed, sitting next to him gives him too much time to study me. Studying leads to questions about the bags under my eyes, and right now, I felt too tired to even come up with a passable lie.

Last night was exhausting; both the sneak out excursion and the planning that came with it. And to be honest, my knee felt a little achy - not that it mattered - I was not missing this game. We were playing against my least favorite team, Bennington Prep, a school made up of evil people's offspring.

I coughed, leaning my head against the seat and trying to keep my eyes from closing. Audrey laughed at me and gave me a nudge when Jax started talking.

"Look alive, we're almost there. Get ready to do warm ups when we get to the field." Jax said, looking more relaxed now.

I took a deep breath and looked out the window, it was wet and muddy, with no sunshine; this day felt gloomy. And gloomy days never worked out for me. I sat up in my seat again, and slid my hands down my face, which oddly felt like pudding. I chastised myself.

I needed sleep to survive! Damn you Ryann and your dumb ideas. Wasn't even worth it. Actually, Colton made it kind of worth it. I bit my lip, holding back laughter as I thought more about last night. But before I could whisper funny reminders to Audrey, I heard Jax's door slam; we were here. I needed to get into the right mindset so I shook my limbs, and stretched my achy neck, trying to get my head in the game.