Love At First Sight

24

It's been a week since my last encounter with Ryder and I hadn't heard of him or seen him since then. He didn't answer my calls and didn't reply my messages. I stopped talking to Zachary too.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone mistook me for a zombie because I hadn't been taking care of myself. It made matters worse that my mum was away on business. She knew about the situation because I called her and told her over the phone.

The same night the incident happened, I called Rhylee over and asked her to stay for the night. I told her everything that happened, and as the good friend she is, she didn't judge me. She just smiled, hugged me, and made me believe everything was going to be okay.

I was going crazy because I hadn't seen Ryder for a week. So today after school, I convinced Rhylee to drop me over at his house. I used the word 'convince' because she didn't like the idea of me going to see him, and suggested I give him sometime before I rush into things. It took a lot of begging before she agreed.

She dropped me off and wished me good luck before driving off. I was greeted by Chase who barked and wagged his tail happily. That gave me a little bit of encouragement to proceed. I climbed the steps to the porch and rang the doorbell with the little confidence I had just received.

After a while, the door opened and Willow appeared.

Her eyes widened and she looked uncomfortable. My face morphed into confusion.

"What's the matter, princess?" I asked.

She pursed her lips and vigorously shook her head.

"Why aren't you talking?"

She turned around and pointed to nothing in particular, just space in the living room, then turned back to face me. She shook her head and her left index finger, then pointed to her mouth, before pointing at me.

It took me a while before figuring out she was trying to say 'Ryder said I shouldn't talk to you.'

My heart ached at this. I didn't know he was this angry at me.

Just to confirm my suspicions, I asked, "Ryder said you shouldn't talk to me?" It came out more as a statement than a question, and like a whisper.

She nodded her head in the affirmative. Suddenly, I heard Ryder talking and coming down the stairs, although I didn't see him.

"Willow! Who is at the-" He was in full view now. He stood behind Willow and put his hands firmly on her shoulder. He whispered something in her ear, to which she shook her head.

"Ryder, please listen to me and hear me out. I beg of you."

He sent Willow inside. My hopes were raised once again, because I thought he was going to give me a chance to explain why he saw what he saw. Instead, he just glared at me and shook his head.

"Please." I said.

He stepped back and slammed the door in my face.

Although that was rude, I didn't blame him. I blamed myself for agreeing to that stupid deal with Zachary that put us in that compromising position, which Ryder unfortunately had to see.

I frowned, blinking back tears. I brought out my phone to call Rhylee so she can pick me up. While I waited, I sat on the steps of his porch and played Candy Crush.

***

"Then, he slammed the door in my face."

"Well, that is totally unacceptable." Rhylee said.

I was narrating what happened at Ryder's house earlier to Rhylee. Even though she felt sober for me, she couldn't resist saying 'I told you so!'