The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Twenty

Jo dropped heavily into her chair in first period on Monday morning with a large sigh of relief. Her eyes were dropping shut already. Jo had been up since five that morning when Cyrene stumbled into the house drunk off her ass and higher than a kite.

Cyrene had come home, mercifully, without Derek attached to her. Jo had taken the opportunity to lecture Cyrene about needing to be sober for her child. Cyrene had thrown her purse at Jo and screamed, "What child? That pathetic excuse for a toddler in the next room?" Jo had stepped back, her anger coursing through her veins like fire. With her voice as misleading as the calm before the storm, she had told Cyrene to get out and not come back until she was sober. Expletives not included in the explanation.

Jo had started to worry when school was only a half hour from starting and Cyrene wasn't back yet. Thankfully she had stumbled in then, sober but dead tired. Jo had accepted that as a victory and kissed a sleepy Patrick goodbye.

"Wow, JoJo. You look tired."

Jo raised her fogged eyes up to see a fuzzy blonde boy sitting in the unoccupied seat in front of her. Frustrated, Jo rubbed the fog from her eyes and blinked a few times before focusing on Ryan.

"Wow, Ryan. You look like shit."

Ryan feigned hurt and placed a hand over his heart, fluttering his lashes at her.

"Ouch, JoJo."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were stating the obvious here." Jo gave him a crooked smile as he chuckled and shook his head.

Ryan, in fact, did not look like shit. He was wearing a nice Hollister hoodie with a pair of washed out jeans. The blue of his hoodie brought out the striking blue of his eyes.

"Well you could've used nicer terms. Like, 'Ryan, you look like a god today!' Or, 'Ryan, you're so hot!'" Ryan raised his voice, imitating Jo the best he could. Jo laughed and slugged his shoulder.

"Don't you have a girlfriend to be getting back to?"

Ryan's laughter drained from his face so fast Jo recoiled. "What?" she asked, scared her guess was correct.

"She broke up with me," Ryan whispered. He peered up at her through his fallen hair. Jo sighed, her guess confirmed.

"But why? Why would she not want someone so sweet and caring?"

Ryan sighed deeply. His gaze swiveled around to look at the pretty brunette across the room, chatting animatedly with one of her girlfriends. That particular girl was occupying Ryan's old seat, explaining why he was by Jo.

Ryan's gaze snapped back around to Jo. "Because of you."

"Me?" Jo looked at him flabbergasted. "What did I do?"

"Nothing, Jo. That's the problem, I think. You're beautiful and smart and sassy and I deliver your pizzas all the time and I guess Stacy just assumed I was starting to like you too much. So she ended it." Ryan stared down at his lap. Jo felt a coil of rage build up in her stomach. She doused it with water, saving her anger for another day.

"Well, that's ridiculous. She's an idiot if she thinks you're interested in anyone except her." At her words, Ryan's gaze slid up to meet Jo's. That one look told Jo everything she needed to know.

"Oh," she exhaled.

***

By the time lunch rolled around, Jo had been mulling over the biggest revelation of the day for a good three hours. She still had no idea what to do about it.

Grabbing her paper bag lunch from her locker, Jo made her way towards the cafeteria. When she reached the wide open double doors however, she paused. She really wasn't in the mood to sit by that dysfunctional group. Poor Luke was still there and Jo wasn't sure she could pry him away without making it obvious.