room 207 | shyland ✓

five

ryland's pov

"how is it only the third week back?" garrett whined, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles and sighing heavily. "at least it's friday, i guess." he added as though this was some condolence to the fact that we were still stuck at school for another four weeks until fall break.

humming in agreement, i shook my head. "i don't know. i'm tired. how's that new boy you're trying to hook up with?" i asked, raising an eyebrow.

garrett glared as we walked through the halls, heading towards our final class of the day. we were in the outside block, heading toward business studies, and my heart was jumping around at the thought of my window seat. the one that looked directly out onto the football field, where the boys would be having their 2pm practice. where shane would look unfathomably gorgeous in his bright blue football kit. where the sun would hit his skin and make his auburn hair even brighter than before.

it's been a week since the school's victory at the football game, a week since shane had scored a touchdown for me and week of keeping each other's secrets. and we haven't even spoken since; after getting cones of oreo ice cream and pretending to not even be interested in speaking to each other around my parents, we had dropped him home and i'd somehow not seen him walking round school all week.

"i am not trying to hook up with him, ryland. besides, he's only a sophomore, he's probably not even interested." garrett objected, appearing thoughtful as we turned the corner to our class, dodging the crowds of teenagers effortlessly. "we're practically the same age, though, so maybe i do have a chance. he's the oldest sophomore in the year, he's turned sixteen already. i'm one of the younger juniors, i don't turn seventeen until july. there's just a few months between us and god, ryland, he's so fucking gorgeous. like, he was sat there and i dropped my pencil – on purpose, of course – and the teacher told me to stop messing around and he laughed, ryland! he actually laughed!"

i smiled, amused, knowing exactly how to tease him. "age is just a number, gare. maybe he is into you. maybe andrew has a daddy kink."

"ryland!" garrett burst out laughing, running his hands through his hair before stuffing them into his brown jacket. "he does not! enough already! shut it."

for the last few weeks, garrett had been obsessing over a newly transferred boy from oregon; a red head who went by the name of andrew siwicki, who was apparently ridiculously smart and top of most his classes already. he was all garrett had been raving about since we got back to school, trying to draw me into countless scenarios and failed attempts to gain the boy's attention, none of which had worked. since the boy was so clever, he had been placed directly at the front of junior math class, a year above the rest of his grade. and coincidentally, of course, his seat just happened to be next to garrett's. hence my best friend's new infatuation with him, and my vast knowledge of the topic.

we finally reached the class room, seemingly a few minutes early, and took our assigned seats at the back of the class. thankfully, my window seat gave me a perfect view of the field, which would soon be filled by the team of eleven fifteen to eighteen year olds fighting for the ball. i willingly wished the next half hour away, a smile crawling onto my face when i finally saw the whole team run onto the field to begin their warm up, engaged in what seemed like a series of sprints from one side of the pitch to the other.

i'd barely been paying attention throughout the majority of the class, lazily scrawling down notes about how a company's location can ensure the maximisation of profit. since i'd taken business last year, the last three weeks of work had pretty much been a brief recap for students only just joining the course. as the teacher droned on, i found my eyes glued to the dawson lettering on the back of shane's football shirt, watching as he chased after the ball and scored touchdown after touchdown. he was on top form today, playing just as well as he had in last weeks game. i couldn't help but notice how, over summer, his shoulders and chest had grown broader and he was a little taller than before.

"adams!" the teacher called in a clear attempt to snap me out of my daze. i stared blankly back at the man, nodding. "could you please stop staring out the window and tell the class what else needs to be investigated before choosing a business' location?"

over the twelve week break, i'd somehow forgotten what an asshole mr mitchell was. "whether or not the target market is based in that area." i monotonously drawled back, rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to the window.

the teacher turned bright red, evidently not expecting me to answer so quickly. he continued to quiz the class and i followed shane's figure again, watching as the team took a break to grab water and catch their breath. he ripped his helmet off his head and revealed the flash of auburn i'd been searching for all week, shaking his hair out and taking a long drink of water, chest heaving from running. unbeknownst to my gaze, his vision travelled across the field and fell onto the building's windows, finally meeting mine. a heavy blush fell onto my cheeks and he did a double take, clearly not expecting to see me. eyes widening, he smiled and waved towards himself, gesturing for me to come outside.

knowing that the walk to the bathrooms was a good five minutes away, and that i could most likely get away with it, i raised my hand, coughing slightly to gain the professor's attention. "sir, please can i go to the toilet?"

the man sighed in return and agreed, allowing me to grab my oversized denim jacket and slide it over the plain black t shirt i wore, my checkered vans scuffing against the floor slightly as i left. the september sun was beginning to lessen as we neared fall, yet the rays of warmth still hit my back as i walked onto the field and neared shane's figure.

"hey!" he breathed, still trying to catch his breath from running around and jogging the last few steps to meet me. "did mitchell let you leave early?"

his voice sent a chill down my spine and i resisted the urge to pinch myself. this time a month ago, he barely acknowledged me when ever we passed, yet now here he was encouraging me to skip class to meet him in his break between practice.

heat was creeping up my neck as i eyed him carefully, trying not to obsess over the tight fitting of his football shorts or marvel over the way the sleeves of his shirt sculpted his arm muscles perfectly. "no, no. just said i needed to use the bathroom." i answered, watching as he raked his fingers through his slightly sweaty hair and took another sip of his water.

"how's class?" he asked genuinly, actually interested in comparison to the small talk my brother would make with me. austin hadn't even noticed us talking and was doing press ups with mark elliot, one of the senior corner backs that had joined the team quite a few years ago.

i smiled warily. "it's okay. pretty boring, really. i've just been watching you practice." the honest words fell out my mouth before i could even consider how flirty they sounded and i winced, awaiting his response and cringing slightly.

shane smirked, laughing a little. "yeah? maybe we need to have you as our water boy. is that your plan for this season?"

"something like that." i played along and blushed, watching him look down at me with a small laugh leaving his lips.

the whistle blew and shane's attention was drawn to the coach, who was calling them back in to continue the practice. he sighed, glancing between myself and the rest of his team quickly before turning his focus back onto my eyes. the eye contact we were holding made my skin crawl and i averted my eyes to his shoes.

"how's your mom?" i asked gently, biting my lip in worry.

just like that, his smile fell. "she's- she's not great, ryland. she-"

"dawson! come on, we're starting!" the coach yelled out, evidently growing frustrated.

shane drew a shaky grin onto his face and gave the man a thumbs up, taking a few steps away from me and walking backwards. "listen, i'm coming round tonight, austin and i have this party we've got to go to. when austin's around, you won't... you won't mention anything, will you?" he questioned, his eyebrows knitting together.

i shook my head, sending him a small smile.

"promise?"

"promise."