Bruises · Ryden

VIII

*ryan pov*

school ended, alerting me that detention started in about five minutes. i wasn't excited about it, i'd rather just go over to josh's house and hang out, but if you miss detention, you get more. i walked into mr.c's room, already bored out of my mind. mr.c wasn't in there, but someone else was. her name was marina. she was a grade above us and the girly girls admired her. she was obviously as bored as i was. she probably said something she shouldn't have to get here.

after a couple minutes of just sitting around, brendon walked in and took me by surprise by sitting next to me. i was about to ask him what he was doing when mr.c walked in, told us to stay quiet, and sat in his big, old desk chair that was probably about ten years old. i'm surprised a cloud of dust didn't puff out every time he sat down. after a minute of just sitting around, i took a notebook out of my backpack and scribbled out "why are you sitting next to me?" and handed the notebook to brendon.

he smiled at the note before taking out his own pen and writing something himself. "because i think you're pretty cool" it read. i could feel my face flush a little at that. i looked up to see him fidgeting with his pen. i couldn't tell if it was nervousness, boredom, or something else. we continued to talk like that for a while until mr.c was pretty much out, which only took probably 15 minutes.

we started talking quietly to each other, learning more about the other person. His parents were divorced. He didn't know where his dad left to, but he lives with his mom and her new husband. he also told me he wants to be in a band someday, and i told him i do too.

talking to him was actually pretty nice. he wasn't stuck up like a few of his friends were. i found myself getting slightly flustered by a few little things he told me, like that he said it was neat that i sometimes used a little bit of eyeliner and that he would like us to be friends. "i would like that a lot" i replied shyly. "maybe we should exchange numbers" he told me, smiling, but still looking a little bit unsure. i nodded back. "i'm fine with that." i smiled back.

he made a little sigh as he grabbed my notebook and wrote his number down on one of our note pages. just as i was about to write my own on a different piece, his phone buzzed. i looked at him as he checked it, his face instantly turning into one that showed slight fear. i felt a little disappointed as he instantly grabbed his backpack, zipped it up, and stood up, slinging it over his shoulder. he looked as if he was about to cry.

"i'm sorry dude i have to go it's a family emergency" he was shaking now, clearly anxious. i just shook my head. "no, it's okay, i understand. i'll let mr.c know what happened when he wakes up." i said. he knelt down next to me and wrapped his arms around my torso. "thank you thank you so much" he said before rushing out the door and down the hallway.

i looked down at my notebook at the number he gave me, before i looked up and saw marina staring at me. she shrugged, indicating she didn't know what happened either, and went back to texting someone, leaving me with my silence.