Chapter 6

The movie was Incredible. John Wick is still hot. I'm sure he will still be hot in his grave and change the cemetery to a desert. Ryder held my hand as we walked to the nearby park to have some Ice cream. I was licking on my Chocolate Chip, Ryder got Vanilla. I see Vanilla as a blank paper. I don't feel anything when I lick it, it's plain to me, but Leslie likes it a lot.

We were sitting on a bench, in silence, enjoying our ice cream. Ryder doesn't seem too fond of ice cream though.

"You hate ice cream, don't you?" I ask. He laughed, " Is that really obvious?"

"Yeah, you're a bad actor" I chuckled.

"I think it's the flavor you chose, try Tiramisu"

"Trust me, I've tried many in middle school. But I think it didn't choose me and I didn't either. I don't hate it though, I just don't like it." I nodded, understanding. My cousin doesn't like ice cream either. The first time I heard, my heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds as though the love of my life just entered the room. I couldn't believe that anyone wouldn't adore an ice cream.

He moved closer to me all of a sudden, my heart was beating so fast.

He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. We ate in silence after that. Well actually I did.

"I think we should go, '' I said after an hour of talking and also some comfortable silence. I stood straight and turned to see Ryder. He was so close to me that I could feel the heat radiating from his body, his nervous breathing fanning on my face. He inched closer, looking deep into my eyes, then to my lips. His lips were full, light pink. My heart was beating like I've run a marathon. He held the side of my face with his hand and caressed my cheek, moving closer. He inched even closer, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips against mine. His lips moved slowly and softly while I stayed still, my mind still processing what was happening, but then I followed his lead, kissing him back. I put my hand on the side of his face, caressing his cheek and jaw with my thumb. He put his other hand around my waist pulling me closer, our chest pressed together. I could feel his heart beating as fast as mine.

I break the kiss first, running out of breath. We were both breathing heavily, he rested his forehead against mine. He smiled at me, his eyes sparkling with light. I smiled back, feeling blush creep on my cheeks.

"That was something." He said grinning. I nod, feeling dizzy from the breathtaking kiss. He intertwined our fingers, leading to the path back to the theater. We walked in silence to the car. You see, I really like silence, to stay quiet for some time and share this moment. We don't have to talk all the time to grow close, we sometimes need to share the silence too. Share a silence that isn't uncomfortable, or awkward.

I personally think that when I share those comfortable silences with someone and not feel the need to talk, then I know this person is worth your time and close enough to not make you uncomfortable. Not just Ryder, but Becca, Dylan and the others.

As we reached the car, he opened the car door for me. I took my seat, and buckled myself. He goes around to the driver's side and takes his seat. He reached for my hand on my lap and intertwined our hand and put it on his thigh. This simple gesture warmed my heart.

He is so cute and I am happy that I tried that time when he asked me out. But I am scared, there is always something bad coming after an exciting event. But I don't want to miss this time worrying over something that might or might not even happen.

Ryder stopped the car as we reached home. Yeah, this time in front of my house. He turned to me pouting jokingly. His eyes unhappy. "Do you really have to go?" he asked, " It's not like I'll be gone forever." He chuckled "and I told you Leslie is alone" he nodded. He went out of the car and I stayed in mine. He quickly walked to mine and opened the door.

I shoot him a smile while he grins at me. I hop out and we stand there staring at each other. He came closer, laying his hand on the side of my neck, caressing my jaw. He kissed my cheek slowly and softly, then said "I will call you later." I nod.

I moved away from him and walked to my door. I opened it with my keys this time and went inside. I entered the living room but Leslie wasn't there. I checked the kitchen to find her eating some Lasagna, I kissed her on the cheek then dug in with her.

"How was your day?" I ask her, chewing on my food. She looked up at me with her adorable green eyes, smiling. "It was good, better with you not here" she says with a chuckle. I put my heart on my chest, fake gasping "What...My ears are bleeding from your harsh words" I said and she laughed. "You didn't tell me you were on a date with a handsome dude," she says, wiggling her eyebrows. I told you so!

She saw us and it was just today that he had parked his car in front of our house.

"So you would go tell mom? No thanks honey" I say.

"No I wouldn't and what's the problem if mom knows? Is it just a fling?" She asks, smirking.

"No Les, I just don't want her to know every guy I hang out with. I want her to know when I want her to know" she nodded.

"So how was the date?" She asks, her smile teasing already. "It was fine"

I say trying to act casual as if it didn't affect me, even though I could feel blush creeping on my cheeks.

"Oh, come on Sky '' I grinned, knowing I couldn't hide it anymore, so I told her everything. Skipping the kissing part, of course. It's fine if mom knows, since we're officially dating and I really like him.

******

I was walking to my locker through the busy hallways of high school. It was lunch and I needed to grab some books for the coming periods.

The cafeteria was loud as usual, students laughing and talking to their friends. I bought some burgers and fries and made my way to our table. I greeted Dylan, Eric, Penny and James.

Becca wasn't there yet. I took a bite on by burger when Eric suddenly says,

"We haven't seen you this days Sky, where have you been lately?" I knew at this moment I was blushing because I could see Penny's eyes drift to my cheeks.

" I'm seeing someone actually" I say bluntly. If they don't know about my life, love life then what are friends for. As if on cue, Becca climbed on the seat beside me. Catherine took a seat beside Eric. "What are you guys talking about? and why is she blushing?" Becca asked, gesturing her hand towards me.

"Skylar is seeing someone." said Dylan quickly before I could even spit a word, as if he doesn't want interruption and wants to hear the story till the end. Becca's mouth fell open, gasping. "Why haven't you told me about it? she asked, sounding a little hurt.

"It just happened all of a sudden" I reply. It wasn't because of that actually, it didn't happen all of a sudden. Becca was still going through a tough break up and I didn't want to bounce off about mine not considering hers.

"What's his name? Is he a senior?" asked Catherine. She likes dating seniors because they make you seem cool. And you might even go to senior prom twice.

"His name is Ryder. He is 20 and a programmer." Penny squeals, grinning. She stretched her hands for a hug and I did. Cat smiled at me, a sweet one and said "I'm happy for you, babe." Catherine doesn't smile sweetly often, she really means it when she does. She is a Gossip girl type who is fake with fake people and is real with her friends and nice people.

Eric is a boyfriend type, romantic and cheesy. He is sweet but sometimes blunt like Becca. Kind of rude but just for his friends so it wouldn't Really be rude. Just voicing their opinion and if not for friends then to who?

Penny is shy, sweet with blonde hair. She is kind and 24/7 not rude, not even in her period. She just says something mean in a very polite way that you wouldn't even see it as that if you haven't thought about it a lot.

Dylan is the party guy, who gets laid in every party he's invited to. He cracks stupid jokes and laughs hard at other people's stupid jokes too, I think its kind of their language. James is the quiet one. He doesn't laugh a lot and doesn't have a lot of girlfriends, just some side chicks.

"Do you like him?" asked Becca, putting her hand on my shoulder like a proud mother. I nod "yeah, I do." I say. Dylan gave me a smile too and he raised his fist for me to pump. I did and he said "I'm happy for you too, kiddo" he said.

I scowled at him for calling me a kid. He is just four month older but he acts we're four years apart. And Eddie nodded too. James didn't say anything to me, his face was blank as if he wasn't here. I'm not surprised.

I haven't dated for a year and a half which is a really big deal for my friends. I didn't care actually because boys aren't always necessary in my life, my teenage life. I don't want to just give my precious teenage life time to some dude just so I could have someone to make out or go to prom with. I want to spend it learning about myself, my securities and know how to love myself through my flaws. And when I have a boyfriend, I want him to be worth it, someone I wouldn't regret being with even if we didn't end up together.

*****

"Skylar" I heard someone shouting out my name. I was walking to the gate of Redmoon High, we just finished Asp. I turned to see Tyson jogging up to me. Tyson is a senior, he is one of the populars and plays football, which is why he is still here, football practice.

He has dirty blonde hair with blue eyes and thick eyelashes which I quite envy. He was wearing a grey shirt with black jacket, underneath he wore black ripped jeans. He is handsome and I like his sense of style as many others. We have ATP Mathematics together, he sits beside me and I sometimes help him out, we're kinda friends I guess.

"Hey" he said as he approached me. I gave him a small smile, greeted him back. We started walking together, "Erm..Skylar?" he says.

"Hm.." I say, looking up at him.

"I was hoping that you would help me out with Math. I think I'm going to fail this semester which isn't quite neglectable as a senior. " he said, giving me a sheepish smile. I won't lie, he isn't good which explains why he is still doing the juniors book but if he really tried, he can do it.

I chuckle, nodding. "Okay." He smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Sky. I don't know how to repay

you back." I laugh, he kind of exaggerated it. "We will think about that later."

"Okay, so can we start today?" He asks, "someone is desperate to get a straight A" I sing, teasingly. I don't really have anything to do, I just wanted to tease him.

"Hell yeah." He said, chuckling.

"Okay, so where to?" I ask, as we started walking to his car. He had a shiny black truck, JEEP. We both climbed inside and buckled ourselves.

"Your place or mine?" he asked. I don't actually want Leslie to talk about Tyson for four years because I let him in my room.

"Yours" I say. He chuckles and I frown, confused as to what part of what I said was funny.

"Desperate to get on my bed, huh?" He says. I laugh, hard. I don't know why it was so funny. Maybe because I never thought of him that way.

"With you by my side, darling" I say, smiling flirtatiously. It was just for fun, I didn't mean anything. He looked at me for a second, an amusement flash in his eyes. He turned back to the road, still smiling.

******

"That's it for today" I say, closing the books and putting my pen down. We were in Tyson's room, studying. His room was pretty, kind of boyish and tidy. His bed was grey and black, as well as the rug on the floor. He has a younger brother, a freshman this year. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother.

He was fine with it now. He told me he wants to make his mom proud more than anyone. His brother was home, in the living room, texting. He told me he has become quite difficult to talk to, kinda puberty issues.

"Oh, Thank God" he said exhaling heavily. He leaned back on his head board, his eyes looking my way. "You're a really nice tutor. Other than you getting mad at me for not getting it straight at some points." he said and I chuckle.

"I'm kinda not a patient person." I say with an apologetic smile.

"I like it," he says and winks at me. So we're back to flirting I see.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." he laughs and looks at me. His now darker blue eyes stare at me with amusement and something I couldn't pinpoint.

"It's getting dark, I think I should go" I break the silence. He blinks several times and nods " I'll drive you."

He stood up from the bed, not giving me a chance to protest. And I wasn't going to, so I said "Thank you" with a grateful smile, standing too.

"It's the least I can do" he says, which is true. I wouldn't have come if it wasn't for him so he should return me back home. But I just smile and nod.

******

I saw as the streets blur through the window. The music on the radio filled the silence in the car. I turn to Tyson to see him concentrated on the road, he is actually handsome, lean and tall.

The car came to a halt 3 houses from my house. You know the reason. Tyson turned to me with a smirk on his face. "Can we do it again tomorrow, I mean study?"

"Give me a break, Tyson Willer" I say chuckling. He laughed, hurt flashed in eyes for a fraction of a second that I would have missed if I blinked. Kind of weird, did he really want to study this much?

"Okay, okay" he says, raising his hand in surrender. I felt bad so I said "Wednesday?" I ask, the day after tomorrow.

I don't really want to study-oh sorry 'tutor' Math in consecutive days. Then I would hate doing it and whenever I saw Tyson, Math would be the only thing that would flash in my mind and I don't want that. I know, I'm dramatic.

"Sure" he smiles my way, nodding. He gets closer to me and kisses me on the cheek. I was surprised and I tried my absolute best to hide it but I knew I didn't succeed. Thank God it was dark or he would've seen the blush on my cheeks too.

"Good night" I say, opening my door to get out of this oven.

"Night" he says. I closed the door and shot him a small wave before walking home.

Ryder calls me the exact time my bedroom door clicks as I lock it. It has become our habit to talk every night and sometimes in the morning, before school.

"Hello" I answer the phone, pressing it on my ear. I can hear his breath on the other end. "Hey beautiful," he says.

"How are you doing, handsome?" I say grinning.

"I'm exhausted to death. We have a presentation tomorrow morning and we were preparing everything today"

We talked for almost an hour. I was grinning the whole time. I hung up the phone, telling him that mom was calling me for dinner. After that I took a bath and changed into my pink shorts and white oversized t-shirt. I had dinner with my family and talked. I really like that we eat together and talk about our day. I appreciate the small things I do with them because I know there is nothing in this world that could replace it. And I'm soon off to college so I don't want to miss it since I have the chance now. I know I act like I'm left with weeks, but it's good I noticed now right?

I helped mom with the dishes and went to my room. I climbed on my bed and just stared at the ceiling feeling my eyelids go heavy. I drifted to sleep two minutes after.