when the day met the night || ryden

under the green umbrella trees

☽

"What the heck is wrong with you guys?" Mrs. Maxwell scolded us. "Just teasing lil' Ross here, that's all, not a big deal." Dallon shrugged. "I keep asking you to stop and you won't leave me alone!" I snapped back. "Well apparently it's not a big deal if Tyler and Awsten are jumping in. Tyler barely even talks!" She narrowed her eyes.

From the corner of my eye I saw Brendon watching with a confused expression. I turned my head and mouthed, "Please go." Brendon nodded and began to walk away.

     "Tyler, explain what's going on." Mrs. Maxwell rested her hands on her hips. "Um.. so, basically, uh, Dallon keeps saying that Ryan and his best friend are dating and its making Ryan really uncomfortable." Tyler looked down at his feet. "So, all of this is happening because Dallon is bugging Ryan?" Mrs. Maxwell rolled her eyes. Tyler nodded. "Go back inside." She groaned before walking into the classroom.

     I followed with a firm grip on my left wrist, worried that Dallon won't leave me alone. "Thanks again, asshat." Dallon whispered into my ear. "Leave me the hell alone, Dallon." I raised my voice, causing all attention to be on us. "You two, either shut up or go to the office." Mrs. Maxwell yelled. I nodded before walking back to my seat.

     I plopped down onto my seat and pulled out my earbuds. I plugged them into my phone and began blasting The Beatles.

     I spent some time listening to music and doodling on my paper before my left earbud is pulled out of my ear. "Aren't you sad your boyfriend wasn't there to watch us?" Someone whispered into my ear. I tightened my grip on my pencil and tried to ignore Dallon. "What? Is there something wrong lil' Ross?" He used the nickname he used earlier. God, I hate him. "Shut up dickhead." I whispered. "Alright, George, only so your boyfriend won't-"

     Smack.

     Heads turned towards us as Dallon looked at me with wide eyes, bringing his hand up to his cheek were I had hit him. "Yes, Ryan, beat the shit out of him!" Awsten chuckled. Dallon's face soon became threatening, narrowing his eyes and giving me a scowl. If looks could kill, I'd already be ten feet underground.

     "Ryan Ross!" A voiced echoed throughout the classroom. Dallon shot me an evil smirk as he rubbed his face. "Y-Yeah?" My voice shook as I slowly turned my head to Mrs. Maxwell, who had a furious look on her face. "You and Dallon are going to the office, now." She shouted. "But-"

"Go."

I shakily stood up before dragging my feet towards the door. "Hurry up, lil' Ross." Dallon lightly shoved me. "You know, none of this bullshit would be happening if you would've just shut up in the first place!" I quickly turned to him. "Ryan, language." Mrs. Maxwell said. "Actually, this wouldn't be happening if you could take a joke for once." Dallon rolled his eyes. "Boys, go."

I nodded before continuing out the door.

     "Fucking dick, this is all your fault." Dallon continued rubbing his cheek. "You wouldn't shut up when I kept telling you too, so this is actually your fault." I folded my arms across my chest. "You wanna fight you little asshole?" Dallon gave me a threatening look. "Not really." I shook my head before walking into the office. "Whatever."

-

     "I will have to call your parents about this. For now, you two both have detention throughout the next two weeks." Our principal, Mr. Woods, told us. "Nice job, lil' Ross." Dallon whispered. "You can go." Mr. Woods turned around in his swivel chair to grab the phone. I stood up and walked away.

     Halfway through the halls, Dallon grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back. "This isn't over." He whispered. "Wow, how scary. Anyways, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go." I rolled my eyes before continuing to walk. Right as I approached the classroom door, the dismissal bell rang. People began flooding the halls as I managed to squeeze myself into the room. I grabbed my belongings and started to walk out.

"Ryan, come here." The teachers' voice called out. I groaned before walking over to her desk. "What is going on with you today?" She asked. "Just can't stand Dallon bothering me anymore." I shrugged. "Ryan... I'm sorry. I'll have you switch seats with Melanie." Mrs. Maxwell gave me a sympathetic look and pointed across the room, far away from where Dallon sits. "Thank you." I smiled before walking out of class.

     "Hey Ry." A beautiful voice greeted me as I got in the halls. "Oh, hey Bren." I smiled. "So... what happened?" Brendon asked. I sighed. "Dallon was just being his usual asshole self." I shrugged. "I'm sorry." Brendon frowned. "It's fine... do you wanna ditch?" I asked. "We just got back from ditching like an hour ago." His shining brown eyes widened. "Oh well, let's go." I smiled before beginning to run through the halls. "Wait!" Brendon called out before running alongside me.

We ran out the back door and hopped the fence. "Where do you wanna go?" I asked. "I don't know, you're the one who wanted to run out." Brendon shrugged. "Let's go to the park, I guess." I suggested. "Okay." Brendon nodded.

We began to walk down the sidewalk. "I can't fucking deal with Dallon anymore.." I sighed. "Hey, it'll be fine.. you know, maybe he just has a different way of showing he wants to be friends?" Brendon cocked an eyebrow and gave me a smile. "Maybe, but for now, I hate him." I responded. "Come on.. he might not be that bad deep down." He rested his hand on my shoulder. "Whatever." I shook my head before making a turn.

     "There's already people on the bench." Brendon pointed. "Let's just find somewhere else to sit." I told him before running off to a tree, covered in green leaves. "There's nice shade here, not as hot as sitting on the bench." I sat down against the tree. Brendon followed and sat next to me. "Yeah, this is pretty nice." He nodded. "Do you ever see anyone sitting here?" I turned to face him. "Nope, why?" Brendon shook his head.

     I opened my bag and grabbed a pair of scissors before carving something into the tree. "We're the only ones who'll be sitting here." I told him. "Nice, it's our tree now." Brendon chuckled, causing my heart to speed up. "Brendon and Ryan was here! Our tree!!" The carvings read. "Yep, let's hope it stays our tree too." I smiled.