of heroes and villains {on hold}

f i v e

" the beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you. "

—————

a book clattering on ryan's desk jolted him from his slumber. the incoherent mumbling coming from him was enough to tell jody that he was, at least, waking up.

"what the hell?" he asked, gradually coming to his senses. jody ignored his obvious fatigue and slammed the book open, emitting a loud groan from the boy.

"i went to the library earlier and found this." she said, flicking through the pages with a delicacy that only a book lover could posses.

ryan glanced over at his alarm clock, "earlier? it's nine am." he remarked in disbelief.

"so?" jody shrugged in reply, already moving on, "anyway, it's this old book that teaches the importance of self control. i skimmed a few pages earlier and i think it could really help." she smiled.

ryan ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "okay then. how are we gonna do this? it would look kind of suspicious if we were suddenly buddy - buddy and always staying in my room."

jody pulled a face before replying, "let's go into the kitchen then. it's a warm day so no one's likely to be inside. besides," she wiggled her eyebrows with a giddy smile, "it's better to hide in plain sight."

—————

"jeez, ryan. it's not that difficult." jody groaned, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes.

ryan rolled his own in annoyance, "yeah, not for you. you have no way of knowing if this would actually work for you." he gestured at the book to emphasise his point.

jody sighed, not wanting to admit aloud that he was right, "i'll get another towel." she said tiredly, glancing at the water covered table.

ryan put his head in his hands. they had been reading through the book for hours and he was desperately bored by this point. to be fair, it had helped him control it to an extent, but the techniques didn't always work. jody assured him that practice would help him to get better.

as jody was grabbing a towel, floss decided to enter the kitchen. ryan froze for a second but the girl completely ignored the mess on the table and headed for the biscuit tin. once again, jody seemed to be right. hiding in plane sight really is just as effective.

jody sat back in her chair and lay the towel over the puddle of water before reading through the book again. they only sat like that for a few more seconds until they were interrupted.

"has anyone seen charlie?" mike asked as he entered the kitchen. both ryan and jody shook their heads, not bothering to look up from the book.

floss shrugged before walking out, chocolate biscuits in hand. mike sighed and began mumbling to himself in worry, "she always comes back on time. what's changed?"

jody and ryan shared a look. mike was right, charlie was known around the house for being obsessed with cleanliness and always being on time. something had to be wrong for her to miss her curfew.

just as mike began filling a glass up with water, the front door opened. he immediately placed it on the side and quickly headed over to the door.

ryan bit his lip. that was not the reaction mike had given him the day he had died.

he tried to ignore the thought as jody grabbed his wrist and pulled him up from the the table, but like a leech it was still clinging to the back of his mind. he knew he wasn't the most likeable person, but surely he had deserved a concerned 'are you okay?'. was that too much to ask?