WORDS WILL BE JUST WORDS.

It was Wednesday afternoon and I was bored and tired of school. So the boys and me decided it would be fun to take a midweek trip into town. So we jumped in the car and cruised down the dirt roads with the sunroof open, chilling and having a blast.

In town we took a trip to the candy store and they spent an excessive amount of money on unneeded snacks, meanwhile I bough a miniature plastic cotton candy keychain.

 I had been really impractical and worn wedges so after a bit of walking around my feet grew tired. I tried to get Niall to carry me but he was caught up in the bags of candy he was holding. I looked back to Liam but he was dealing with Louis who had decided that going in every shop yelling “I AM THE SWAG MASTA” was a great idea. I finally settled for Harry.

“Styles, gimme a piggy back!”

“No way!” he looked alarmed.

“Please?” I attempted to make a pouty face.

“Fine.” I jumped on his back.

“So what are you going to give me as repayment?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“I’m not going to give you any, unless you’d like a kick in the balls.” I said flatly.

“Um nope okay this one is free.”

“Thought so.”

We ventured over to a local pizza shop. I hadn’t really been eating much lately and I was trying to keep it that way, but I was forced to try a piece of pizza. Despite the large calorie intake it was quite good.

All in all the day had made my pretty shitty week significantly better. All was well until Friday afternoon.

At the end of school I had made it a habit to check my mailbox. I didn’t receive any letters from family members or friends or anything, but I had to keep up on all my magazine subscriptions! So Friday I grabbed the magazines from my mailbox and headed to the room.

Niall and the rest of the gang were headed to record something. I didn’t really understand what they were even talking about during lunch so I had zoned out for most of it. Anyways this was prime girly time. I blasted some music and started painting my nails. While I was waiting for them to dry I picked up my magazines. Niall still hadn’t returned by the time that I had made it all the way through Teen Vogue so I pick up my trashy gossip magazine. I had a subscription mostly to keep tabs on my mother who made the front cover at least once a month. I tended to ignore everything else

I was flipping through looking for picture of my mother’s latest boy toy, when I spotted a familiar face. I flipped the page back and nearly had a heart attack.

Taking up 2 pages were pictures of me and the boys from our trip in town.

What???

Now I had been in magazines before, but generally with my mother. And occasionally there was a picture of me with me coming out of a club. I was not important enough to take up two pages of just pictures of me and my friends. I took a closer look at the article.

Ryan Christie has found her Direction

What the fuck?

Ryan Christie aka. the only child of Victoria’s Secret model Kayla Christie was spotted earlier this week in the Wiltshire area with the boys of One Direction.

 A source tells us that they met and became fast friends when Christie (age 17) transferred to the private school that the boys were forced to attend by Simon Cowell. It’s even rumored that she is sharing a room with one of them. This is a bit odd because the guys are supposedly attending an all boys school, and as anyone can see Ryan Christie is distinctly female. As one can also see she seems to be having a great time with the five lads.

“She seemed to be having fun and seemed very relaxed, contrary to the rumors that she is a stuck up B****” said an onlooker.

You may also have observed that she seemed to be getting particularly close with a certain Harry Styles (age 17). A million tween hearts will be shattered if they find out that Styles, the youngest member of the band, is once again taken. There was a large uproar from the One Direction fanbase on Thursday when the pictures were leaked, especially due to the absence of the boys on twitter for the past few days. Unfortunately due to her reputation 90% of the reactions were very negative towards Christie.

This is not a new problem for the 1D lads, whenever they are seen with any females it seems to cause a kerfuffle. Such is the life of a very successful (and attractive) band.

The UK pop sensation is set to be releasing their sophomore album in the near future.

I read the article a good two times trying desperately to make sense of it. What the hell were they talking about!??

AND THE PICTURES. They had managed to capture 5 photo’s of me. Each one was with one of the guys and each making us look quite intimate. Although the worst of them being me hanging off Harry’s back, smiling and whispering in his ear. Even though I was threatening him at the time, I managed to look like I was whispering sweet nothings in his ear. And how on earth did they get these pictures? And I didn’t understand what was this whole One Direction thing. What in the world was going on??

Just then Niall walked in. I looked up, my face a mixture of confusion and anger.

“Uh-oh” was all he said.

Chapter 9

I just stared at him for a moment.

“What. The fuck. Is this.” I spat, and then started taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

“A magazine?” he asked, sounding slightly terrified.

“Of course it’s a magazine Niall. I’m not the dumbest blonde in the world. I mean what the fuck is my face doing in it. And what the fuck is a One Direction.”

“Right…um well I’m a One Direction.”

I rolled my eyes and stood up.

“Thank you Niall. That explains everything.”

I started to storm across the hall. Niall attempted to stop me, but before he could i had flung the door open.

“I want a FUCKING explanation for WHAT is going on.”

Four pairs of eyes turned up to me. Niall had caught up and was standing beside me looking anxious.

“Well hello to you too Ryan.” said Harry, grinning up at me.

I clenched my jaw.

“My face is in a magazine. YOUR FACES ARE IN A MAGAZINE. I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY.”

“Oh…yeah ok. We told you that we’re in a band. I don’t get why you’re freaking out so much.” Said Zayn.

“I- I didn’t think anyone had even heard of you…?”

“Well you assumed wrong.” He replied

“But why do they care?”

“Cause we’re famous.” Said Harry, making a sassy diva face.

“I- I didn’t know that.”

“Well now you do!” said Liam cheerfully.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

“Well I think you probably would have laughed in our faces. Plus your attitude is more the I-don’t-give-a-fuck than an omg-I’m-your biggest-fan.”  said Louis.

“Okay so, you guys are in a band about giving directions, and me, who is a famous models daughter with a bit of a not nice reputation was in a picture with you guys and now a bunch of people don’t like me and everyone thinks I’m dating-” I shuddered, “…Harry.”

Louis snorted. Harry winked at me.

I rubbed my temples. I needed Advil. Or maybe some tequila.

“Okay so what happens now?” I said, sitting on the floor where everyone else was.

“Well nothing really. Fans stopped trying to get into the school grounds ages ago cause of tight security. They can’t do anything here. Simon might be a tad angry but if we clear it up it should be good.”

“Are we going to be allowed out in public again?”

“Being in a band isn’t like being in a prison camp. They can’t stop us from going to town.” Said Niall.

“Right ok so someone should send out a message informing the world that you guys are single and I’m not a man-eating whore. And while one does that everyone else has to explain this to me.”

“Okay I’ll deal with fans.” Said Zayn.

“Okay I’ll explain,” said Harry, “So basically…we’re in a band.”

“Wow thank you so much, everything makes so much more sense now!” I said, my voice laced with sarcasm.

“I was just starting! Could you shut up for one minute?” He asked.

I clamped my mouth shut and raised my eyebrows.

“Okay so basically we’re in a band. We got put together on x factor-”

“Which is a reality show.”

Harry shot Niall a look for interrupting him.

“Right. I knew that. Continue.” I said

“We did pretty well, came in third place and built up a pretty big fan base. Then we went on an x factor tour. The we released our first single called what makes you beautiful and-“

“Wait- just asking… what type of band are you?” I interrupted

“A boy band.”

I held in my giggle.

“Right…so back to making you beautiful.” I said snickering.

“Anyways we did really well with that, and then we released an album and then our boss made us finish school.”

“Why?”

“Cause he wanted us all to graduate, and because we need out of the public eye for a bit.” explained Harry.

“And because fans start a lot of drama.” added Liam.

“And we need a break.” said Zayn.

“But we still work some days, like today for example we went to the music room, which is also a recording studio. We recorded a song for the new record.”

“Ohhh…” I said, finally understanding. “That all makes sense.”

We all sat in silence for a bit, everyone lost in their own thoughts.

“So everything should be cleared up.” said Zayn, at last.

“What did you say?”

He handed me his phone, there were 4 consecutive tweets.

Hello peeps! Just to let you know Ryan is our looser friend who goes to our school. She’s really nice, and we all get along great.

Shes also Nialls roommate and yes she is much better than smelly John.

She didn’t even know about 1D until a minute ago, so I wouldn’t worry too much about her.

But yeah shes just our friend, and most definitely not dating any of the boys xx

“Okay great thank you.” I hugged him. And then I punched him in the stomach. “And that was for calling me a loser!”

“Ouch.” He mumbled.

“Okay I think it’s bedtime.” said Niall with a yawn, “I forgot how tiring drama was.”

“Okay night boys.” I said, standing up.

“Night Ryan” they chorused in perfect harmony.

“Sorry for yelling.”

“wait- was that- an apology from Ryan Christie??” Louis exclaimed in mock surprise.

“Yeah. But savour it now, because it won’t happen again.” I mumbled.

Chapter 10

“Fuck yes spring break!” I yelled as I stepped out into the courtyard of the school, peering into the parking lot looking for Jorge.

“Aw I can’t believe you’re going to the Bahamas for a week.” Said Niall.

“Come here muffin.” I gave him a hug. “I won’t be gone long, you’ll barely have time to miss me. Plus you’ll be in London and see your fans and have a grand old time.”

The rest of the boys stood behind him, and I spotted Jorge over their shoulders.

“Adios bitches!”

“Don’t we get hugs too?” asked Louis.

“Nope.” I smirked, “Actually maybe one for Liam cause he at least showers some days.”

I gave Liam a brief hug and then hopped in the range rover. I rolled down my window and waved. I actually felt a bit sad, then I remembered this time tomorrow I would be on a warm sandy beach. I smiled to myself. The only issue would be dealing with my mother for a week. But hopefully some young cabana boy would catch her eye and I could be rid of her for the week.

We drove to the airport, and I gave Jorge a quick kiss on the cheek before getting out and grabbing my luggage.

I looked up at the board with all the flights on it and my heart dropped.

Cancelled.

Fuck me.

I grabbed my phone and dialed.

“Hello?” she picked up on the first ring.

“Hi mom.” I said, trying not to sound upset.

“Hey sweetie! Did you hear the news? There are tropical storm warnings for the Bahamas! So flights are cancelled! I’m in L.A right now.”

“Yeah, I’m at Heathrow. What should I do? Go to L.A instead?” My voice cracked.

“Um…well I’m staying at a friends house right now. I guess I’ll just stay here for the break. I’m not sure it’s a great idea if you come.”

“Who is he?”

“Oh this dashing young waiter that I met at this gala fo-”

“Okay yeah that’s all I need to know. So do I just stay in London?” I said, getting more pissed off as the conversation continued.

“Sure sounds like a great plan! Just book yourself a hotel! Now I have to go sweetie, talk to you later!”

She hung up.

I slumped down and plopped myself next to a large plant, contemplating my next move.

I could book a hotel. But did I really want to stay alone in London for a week?

No. I had already been all over London and I didn’t really want to sit in a hotel alone all week.

Did I want to fly somewhere else?

Too complicated. I had no plane tickets and no reservations, and the likeliness of me getting them the first day of spring break were slim.

Did I want to go back to school?

No. No way in HELL.

 I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

I guess there was one more option. I could take the chance.

I picked up my phone and dialed.

After a long journey with a cranky cab driver, I reached a nice looking building.

I rode up the elevator, and stopped at the seventh floor. I walked down the hallway and found it. Apartment 22.

I knocked.

The door flung open.

“Hello! I’m Niall Horan and welcome to my crib.”

“Hey buddy.” I sighed/

“Little Ryan missed me so much that she couldn’t even leave for 5 hours.”

“I dreaded the thought of a week without a roommate who farts in his sleep.” I rolled my eyes

“I do not!” He protested as he let me in.

I stepped inside.

“You do t- holy shit.”

“What?”

“This isn’t an apartment. This is a football field with furniture.”

“It’s not that big…”

“It’s HUGE.”

“Well I need a lot of space if you’re gonna stay here, fatty.”

I looked down at my stomach self-consciously.

He stuck his tongue out at me.

I laughed- but reminded myself to lay off the carbs this week.

“Let’s go! I’ll show you the guest room.”

“Okay!”

He led me to an enormous spare bedroom. I didn’t understand how you could come from this to a cramped little shared bedroom at Wiltshire.

We then flopped down on the couch.

“So where are the rest of the boys?”

“Well we all own apartments in this hall. I think everyone’s home except Liam might have gone for food, cause it’s his turn to feed everyone tonight.”

“You take turns cooking for each other?”

“Yeah. It’s every man for themselves, except we all get together for dinner. You’re invited tonight if you want.”

“Nah, I’m really exhausted. I think I’ll just skip. But tomorrow for sure.”

About an hour later he left. I put on some sweats and curled into a ball on my bed, watching bad soap operas for an hour.

I fell asleep around 9.

The next morning I woke up around 11.

I got out of bed, threw on some jeans and a shirt, and went looking for Niall.

He’s was nowhere to be found, and then I found a note on the door stating he was in the studio until 2.

I thought it might be nice to go for a walk and get some fresh air. So I started wandering. I was about a good 20 minutes away from the apartment when it started to rain. I tried to run, but by the time I got back I was soaked.

I grabbed a towel and dried off. The rain had put a real damper on my mood. For lunch I ate a light salad. By 1 I was bored out of my mind. I loved Niall, but I really just wanted to be on a beach.

And that’s when the idea struck me.

In the living room I collected all the lamps and turned them on making it really bright. I turned up the heat to make it warm. I laid out a towel, and put on my bikini and sunglasses. To top it all off I put my iPod on, and instantly relaxed when I heard the sounds of waves.

Voila! My own little beach, in the middle of rainy London.

 

 Chapter 11

I blinked slowly. The bright lights we’re practically burning my retinas.

What time was it? I must have fallen asleep.

I heard snickering coming from my left.

I sat up slowly and turned towards the noise.

Five boys we’re standing there, giggling like four year olds.

“What’s up?” I asked groggily.

“Well you’re lying in Niall’s apartment in a bikini.” Said harry. “I vote she can stay.”

“Fuck off.” I said.

“Fine. But you might want to be careful because I was the one who took pictures- and therefore will be able to put them on the internet.”

“You wouldn’t.” I narrowed my eyes.

“I would.” He said, showing me his phone.

I leaped up and sprinted over to him, and tackled him to the ground.

After a slight struggle that involved knocking down a lamp, I ended up pining him down by sitting on his stomach. I stole his phone and promptly deleted the photo.

I smirked.

“There. DONE.”

“It’s a good thing I already tweeted  it.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“You are such an asshole” I said standing up and I kicked him in the stomach for good measure.

I stormed away.

“HARRY’S AN ASSHOLE!” I yelled to nobody in particular.

“We know!” four voices chorused back.

After calming down, I put away my mini beach, and I put some clothing on. Then I sat down in the living room.

“So why are you all here?”

“It’s Niall’s turn to cook!” yelled Louis from right beside me.

I flinched. “Okay…right.”

“oh yeah! I forgot to ask! I’m making pasta, how much do you want?” yelled Niall from his kitchen.

I walked across the room and stood in the doorway.

“Umm…I’m not too hungry.”

He glanced at me pointedly.

“What?”

“Nothing…can we talk later?”

“Yeah sure.”

“Pasta’s done boys!” He yelled.

We all sat down at the table.

I put a bit of the salad on my plate.

We had a nice discussion about some song they had wrote and recorded today. Then they started talking about ed. When it was confirmed that this Ed they knew was Ed Sheeran I flipped out and they all seem very startled.

“Well it’s good to know that Ryan is a fangirl.” Said Zayn.

“Just not for us.” Added Liam.

I pushed the food around on my plate, slightly embarrassed at my own outburst.

We all hung out after dinner. They all ate a huge bowl of popcorn while we watched The Terminator. It was a movie that I secretly loved, so I was very content.

Around 11:00 all the boys- minus Niall- left to go back to their respective apartments.

I headed to the guest bedroom; I got changed and slipped into bed.

I was leaning over to grab my iPod, when I heard a soft knock at the door.

“Come in.” I said.

It was Niall. He walked down and sat at the end of my bed.

“Hey buddy. Miss me already?” I asked with a smirk.

“Nah- but I wanted to talk remember?”

“Oh right…what did you wanna talk about?”

He blushed and gulped.

My eyes flew open wide… he wasn’t going to ask me out was he?

“I-I wanted to ask-” he stuttered.

Oh shit.

“WAIT STOP.”

His head shot up.

“What?”

“You can’t ask me out!”

“What? Ryan I’m not asking you out!”

Oh. Awkward.

“Okay sorry continue then.”

“I was just wondering- or I noticed that you never eat.”

My heart sunk.

“Don’t be silly! I eat all the time!” I faked a laugh.

“No you don’t.”

“Niall-I do. ” my smile wavered.

“No. You don’t.” he said seriously, “I started noticing a few weeks after you first got to Wiltshire, but I shrugged it off. I noticed you we’re getting skinnier. Still I shrugged it off. I can’t shrug it off anymore. You’ve barley ate anything since you’ve got here- I know what you have. It’s anorexia. All the signs are there, I’ve been watching. Like tonight you didn’t eat a single bite- you just moved the food around on your plate.”

“Niall I know.” I said, trying to hold back tears.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to tell you a story, just listen before you say anything. When I was thirteen years old I started to be featured in magazines a bit. They try to keep me a secret but pictures leak now and again. Now I was a bit of a pudgy kid. My mom always told me I got it from my dad. And magazines didn’t hesitate to point this out. I was the model’s daughter- the fat kid. This was a big hit on my self-esteem- I was thirteen for god’s sake! Anyways, I convinced myself to start losing weight. And at fourteen year’s old I was 90 pounds. Not healthy. My driver Jorge took notice, called my mom and she sent me to therapy blah blah blah. And I got better.”

“But you’re not better.” He stated.

“I- “ my voice cracked. “I don’t know. I try to be tough but starting at the all-boys school and hearing some rude comments and nasty rumours. It gets me.  And every time I see my mother it doesn’t help.  And being spotted with you guys and hearing mean stuff from fans- I just don’t feel hungry.” I rambled.

I took deep breaths vowing not to cry.

“Aw Ry.”

He put his arms around me. We just sat there for a bit- me with my head on his shoulders.

“Just promise me I won’t have to go back to therapy.”

“But you have to start eating.”

“It’s not that easy Niall.”

“I’ll help you. I promise.”

“okay.” I said in a quiet voice.

“okay.” He said back. “Now go to bed- we’ll talk more in the morning.”

“Wanna sleep in here tonight?” I said, regaining my voice. “it’s a big enough bed.”

“Okay” he said, sliding next to me. “As long as you’re not scared I might asked you out.”

I snorted.

“Night buddy.”

Chapter 12

I woke up at 5 am the next morning.

Niall had one arm draped around my waste and was softly snoring.

I smiled because he looked peaceful.

And then I panicked.

I crept out of the room and into the kitchen. I lent against the counter, breathing heavy.

I was NOT getting soft. I wouldn’t let myself feel anything for him. Because he already cared too much. I couldn’t let anyone care that much. And Niall deserved so much better than a bitch like me.

Normally I didn’t date nice guys. Nice guys were a no-no. Because nice guys are the type that break down you’re walls. You let down your guard and everythings is fine, until they break your hearts. And you want to hate them but deep down they’re nice guys so you can’t.

My most recent boyfriend was an asshole, and easy to let go of.

“You’re dumping me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why the fuck would you want to do that?”

“Cause I feel like it.” I shrug making my apathy evident.

“You BITCH.” He yelled before storming out.

And done.

But the absolute worst breaking nice guys’ hearts. Because then you remember that you truly are a heartless bitch. Try covering it with humor or indifference or coolness or popularity or whatever, there’s nothing that can change that.

I knew I had to leave.

Last night I had let myself get emotional and barriers were broken. But that wasn’t just it. From the day I had met him Niall had made me soft. Last night had been an all time low with the secrets that had spilled.

That would not happen again.

And who knows how much further emotional investment could occur if I stayed the rest of the week.

I knew we would still be rooming together in school but that was different. In this scenario I was dependent on him and I wouldn’t let it go further. He cared too much about me.

I had to make him not care.

So I tiptoed around and packed my bags, leaving no evidence.

And that’s how I spent the rest of  my week alone in a hotel in London.

This was the story of my life.

I watched movies, ate ice cream and cried.

Cried that I had let this get to this point.

Cried because I was feeling bad for myself.

Cried because for the first time in my life I had almost let someone in.

I also got drunk.

Sloppy, messy, making-out-with-random-guy-at-the-club-and-not-remembering his name drunk.

I was back to where I was before meeting Niall or Liam or any of those stupid guys.

Fuck.

And that week marked the official worst vacation of my life.

I also spent the wee, avoiding calls and texts from the boys. I only sent one text to Niall saying:

Had 2 leave, I’m fine

Not really fine. Actually mentally unstable and psycho but whatever.

It was Saturday. Two days before I would be back at school and would maybe have to face a problem rather than running from one.

And then my phone rang.

I was ready to press ignore and then I realized it wasn’t any of the boys’ phone numbers. It was schools.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Ms. Christie?”

“yes.”

“Hello, It’s Wiltshire Acadamy we’re calling to inform you that a spot has been freed up. We think it would be really beneficial to you to make the transfer as soon as possible. Would it be possible for you to collect your stuff and move in as soon as tomorrow?”

 “Wait- is this the Girls’ School?”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Well it doesn’t have to be but it might be a smoother transition if-”

“No, no tomorrow is fine. Perfect actually.”

Perfect. I could keep running and running from my problems until they were just a distant memory.

The next day I called Jorge and he drove me back. He waited 20 while I collected all my things. That was literally all I had to do, the lady on the phone said all the academic stuff could be sorted out on Monday.

Looking around the bare room made me feel guilty.

So I quickly scribbled a note.

Niall,

Got transferred to girls school!

Had to leave quickly.

Thanks for the fun times.

Ryan

PS. I hope you won’t get a roommate as bad as smelly john, or worse me. (you seem to have the curse of bad roommates ha)

As we were heading out, I finally looked back.

“Will Miss Christie miss school?” Jorge asked looking back into the rearview mirror.

“nah”

“You no like any of the people?”

“Ha no, they were just a bunch of silly boys.” I  looked down at my lap.

“Silly boys is good husband, my wife say to me.”

“Really?”

“No, but Miss Christie look sad.”

“You know I don’t get sad Jorge.”

He just looked at me knowingly with his piercing blue eyes.

“Young girl is sad if there no silly boys to make girl happy.”

He was pretty smart for an old guy who drove people around for a living.

CHAPTER 13

As soon as I opened the doors to my new school I vowed to leave the last month behind me. I wouldn’t be looking back.

Wiltshire Academy for girls was almost an exact replica of the boys’ school.

As I walked into the office to meet the Headmaster it felt like deja  vue. But she was a warm and friendly lady and she didn’t have any bad news to deliver. I got a new schedule almost exactly like my old one except all my teachers were female. Everything seemed a lot better but for some reason I felt a lot worse.

I said goodbye to Jorge and I picked up my bags and headed to meet my new roommate. The first thing I noticed was it was a bit bigger than my old room and secondly it was spotless like freakishly clean.

Someone cleared their throat.

I looked up.

There was a girl sitting on the window sill. She stood up and stuck out her hand.

“hello, I’m Estella but everyone calls me Stella.” She said in soft spoken voice.

“Hi, I’m Ryan.” I said, shaking her hand.

She was small, I was considered short, but she was barely 5 feet tall. She had long dark wavy hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing glasses but in the I-can-totally-pull-off-glasses sort of way.  I was jealous because I was like the exact opposite.

“That’s so cool! You have such a unique name!”

“It’s gotten me in deep shit though.”

She giggled, “What do you mean?”

“I was at the boys school down the road for a month because they thought I was a guy.”

Her mouth dropped.

“You’re kidding!”

I shook my head.

“You’re THAT girl. Oh my god so many girls have been talking about you and oh my boyfriend said he had a few classes with you. You are so lucky so did you meet any guys oh of course oh my gosh you’re friends with One Direction…”

She blabbered on. I couldn’t believe that a girl who seemed so quiet could be this talkative.

“who’s you’re boyfriend?” I interrupted her mid-sentence.

“His name is Tyler.” She turned a bright shade of pink when she said his name.

“floppy hair, tall and is always smiling?”

“Yeah that’s him.” She said grinning.

“he’s cute, really nice and never grabbed my ass. He’s a keeper.”

She grinned even wider.

“So you must tell me everything.”

“It actually isn’t that interesting or anything. I went there for a month made a few friends and then I left…I left so suddenly that I’m not even sure I still have any friends.”

“Well we’re friends.” She said assuredly, “All I ask is that you keep your mess to your side of the room, I’m a bit of a neat freak if you couldn’t tell.”

“And you’re intuitive, how could you tell I was a messy person?”

She tapped the side of her nose and winked.

“I have a sixth sense for it.”

I smiled.

“Okay, we’ll I’m going down to lunch. Come down if you want, if not I’ll introduce you to my friends at dinner.”

“I’m gonna stay here and unpack, but dinner sounds great.”

“Okay bye!”

I waved. Then I sighed and sat down on my bed.

I would be fine here.

…..

It was the Friday of my first week here.  My classes were great,  my teachers were awesome and my new friends were cool.

Dana and Penny were super fun and Stella was amazing.

“Seriously Ryan. Why won’t you come to the bush party tonight?” Penny asked.

“Yeah!” Dana added.

“You know why, I really don’t need to bump into Crystal.”

Crystal, the girl I had met way back after my first week at the boys school was a girl I had been trying to avoid all week. She had for some reason declared me here mortal enemy.  Okay I had been a complete bitch to her every time I had seen her that week, but still.

“That is not it and you know it.” Stella looked at me pointedly.

I looked around the room trying to come up with another excuse.

“I know that look, that is a boy issue look.” Said Penny.

“I don’t have any boy issues.”

“righttt…” said Dana.

“Well other than the fact that I never want to see someone of the male gender again and I’m seriously considering becoming a nun.”

Stella snorted.

“You would be the worst nun ever.”

“Plus you wouldn’t want to become a nun considering how good you look tonight.”

Dana held up a mirror in front of my face.

My hair was curled into soft waves and my make-up had been done beautifully. I looked good. I had forgotten what it was like to have female friends and have fun getting ready on nights out. Not that I had had that much experience with having friends, but this was nice.

“Fine.”

They cheered.

“This is good! Plus you’ll have no difficulty finding a new guy to distract yourself.” Dana winked.

I smiled. That did sound nice.

And I could always just drink myself into oblivion.

“Fuck. You guys are convincing.” I said.

Penny laughed.

“Okay let’s go!”

We tip toed down the janitors staircase which lead to a door at the back of the school. Dana and Penny walked merrily in front of us whispering excitedly about tonight’s prospect s and leading the way through the woods with a super powered flashlight.

Right before we got to the clearing, Stella leant towards me.

“Don’t worry, the people you are really avoiding shouldn’t be here tonight. I asked Tyler.”

I felt a bit of weight lift of my shoulders.

“Thanks.”

The four of us walked into the light were about 50 people were all chatting and drinking.

I surveyed the area.

All clear.

Then I heard a gasp coming from my left.

My eyes looked into a pair of familiar one’s.

Our shocked faces mirrored each other’s.

Chapter 14

I cleared my throat.

“Um hey Harry”

His eyes suddenly flashed with anger.

“Why are you here?”

“Do you have a problem with me coming to a party?”

“No, but I do have a problem with you completely dropping off the face of the planet for almost two weeks and freaking us all out.”

“I texted. You knew I was fine.”

“Okay Ryan. You can keep pushing us away but you must know deep down that someday you’ll have to let someone in.”

“Whatever Harry.  I just came to party.”

“Just to let you know when you left everyone was unhappy. Zayn got moody, Louis stopped cracking jokes, and Niall seemed to blame the whole thing on himself. But Liam, Liam was the worst. You got some sort of hold on that boy, he locked himself in his room for a whole day.”

My heart thudded in my chest.

“what?”

 “You can’t go through life pretending that the things you do don’t affect the people around you.” And with that he turned away.

 “You knew I was going to leave eventually!” I called after him in a desperate attempt to get the last word in.

“You of all people should know you don’t have to do anything.” He called back.

I clenched my fists. I hated confrontation. But it seemed everyone around me wanted to confront me. All I wanted to do was hide.

Right then Stella came over with her boyfriend.

Tyler was a nice dude and everything but didn’t feel like talking.

So I smiled and nodded while letting my mind wander.

And then I snapped back into reality because when I wasn’t distracting myself I kept having all these feelings.

The rest of the night was spent partying and forgetting about any boys.

 The next morning I woke up to the sound of puking.

My head was throbbing.

“Stella?” I groaned.

“In here” she moaned from the bathroom.

“Are you okay?”

“Noo.”

I rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the washroom dragging my covers behind me.

I gasped when I reached the washroom.

“why is your boyfriend in our bathroom?”

“Umm…that is an excellent question.”

We tried to wake him up, slapped him, poured water on him but this guy wouldn’t budge. He was alive though. And breathing and everything. Just not moving.

“Alright so the real question now is what the hell are we going to do with your boyfriend?”

“We need to get him out of here!”

“How in the world can we drag his ass through the halls without being noticed?”

“Well it’s still quite early.  Nobody is up yet so we could try. It’s really the only chance we have of not getting in trouble.”

“What time is it? 6:17”

“Oh god. Okay let’s do it.”

And that’s how, despite my queasiness and the pounding in my head, I ended up dragging a body through the halls of a school, down two flights of hidden staircase and out into the woods.

Once we reached the forest line, and were hidden from sight, we stopped.  Tyler didn’t seem like such a nice dude after dragging his limp body around.

“Shit. What do we do now?” Stella asked me, as she panted to catch her breath.

“Well I’m not dragging him all the way to the boys’ school.”

“Well I’m not leaving my boyfriend stranded in the middle of the woods.”

“I will drag him back to the clearing. That is as far as I will go. Then we turn around so we don’t get in trouble. I am not going to be kicked out of another school.” I growled.

“Thank you! You’re an amazing friend.”

I grumbled the rest of the way there.

When we reached the clearing we had some trouble deciding where to put him.

Stella was deeply concerned about his well-being, I on the other hand wanted to dump him down and leave. It wasn’t my fault he was in this situation.

“Okay, how about by that log?” Stella asked.

“Fine.” I snapped.

Before we could move him, we heard a groan.

My eyes shot down to Tyler who hadn’t budged an inch.

My eyes scanned the open space.

I squinted.

“Harry?” I gasped.

He moaned.

I rushed over.

“Holy shit are you ok?”

“Where am I?”

“You’re next to the fire pit. You must have passed out. How much did you drink?”

“Too much.” He sighed and rested his head down.

If he passed out I was going to kill him.

Right as I was about to slap him awake two people ran into the clearing.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Louis bellowed.

Harry lifted his head. I dropped my hand.

“Uh…It’s not what it looks like?”

Liam stood frozen with his eyebrows scrunched together.

“Then what were you doing?”

“I was trying to wake him up.”

“Well I’m glad you’re okay Harry, considering Louis came pounding on my door at 6:10 in a panic because you hadn’t come back yet. You’re lucky I’m a morning person because not everyone likes running through the woods this early in the morning.”

Harry looked guilty.

“Sorry.”

But I could tell by Liam’s face that he was already forgiven. Louis looked annoyed but mostly relieved.

Stella who had been oddly quiet through this whole ordeal suddenly turned and vomited into the bushes.

I got up to go help her.

Once she had gotten everything out of her system I looked at the three boys who were staring in horror.

“Well we really should be going-”

“Hold it right there missy!” A new voice cried. A voice I hated.

I turned and stared into the red, fat, mustachioed face of Mr. Mann, my former geography teacher.

“It’s you!” he cried with glee, “I knew you were trouble from the day I first met you.”

Then he surveyed the rest of the group and laughed.

“And you boys, oh you are all in so much trouble. Running around off school property. Caught with girls. You better prepare for months of detention. Or even better, suspension. Or if I’m really lucky they might expel  you!” He smiled.

“but-” Louis started to protest.

“No buts! Follow me!”

And with that he turned and walked away.

And then, only then did Tyler stir.

He looked around, up into Stella’s pale face, then over to Liam who looked terrified, Louis who looked annoyed, Harry who looked like he was about to puke and then finally over to me. I guessed I probably looked like I wanted to kill someone. Which was accurate.

Finally Tyler broke the silence.

“What’s going on?”

I sighed and turned to follow Mr. Mann.

There was no use running now.

Chapter 15

We were all sitting in the big chairs just outside the principal’s office.

 

Nobody talked.

 

Nobody moved.

 

I think Liam was even holding his breath.

 

Then he the principal walked out of his office.

 

We all stood up.

 

“After some discussion, and conferring with the girl’s principal we have decided not to suspend anyone.”

 

Liam let out a whoosh of breath.

 

“However this little stunt can’t go unpunished. So you’ll be serving six weeks of detention, four days a week after school and from 1 pm to 4 pm for the next 6 Saturday’s. You’ll be doing whatever we ask which can include cleaning., community service, office work etcetera. It starts Monday afternoon. You’ll be meeting at the shed on the edge of the back field.”

 

“But that’s so much!” protested Stella.

 

“I could make it ten weeks if you’d like? Now go, before I change my mind.”

 

We shuffled out of the office.

 

Looking around I was the only one who wasn’t horrified by the situation. I also had received much worse punishments for much worse crimes.

 

Everyone else however seemed to think it was excessive.

 

And Liam seemed to be hyperventilating. The poor boy had never been in trouble a day in his life.

 

I took a step to go comfort him, then stopped myself.

 

He probably wouldn’t want me to comfort him.

 

Well cause I wasn’t exactly the most comforting person.

 

And he probably wasn’t too happy with the whole me disappearing thing.

 

So I clapped my hands together and smiled awkwardly.

“Ehm. Yeah so I’m going to go now. I’ll see you Monday.” I addressed the group.

 

I turned to leave, and Stella followed, her steps syncing with mine.

 

“Well this sucks.” Stella huffed.

 

“Honey. You have detention with 3/5 of One Direction and your boyfriend. I think there are worse punishments, actually I know there are worse punishments in this world. You’ll be alright.”

 

Realization dawned on her face and I could see her toying with the idea in her mind.

 

“Of course…. You’re right.”

 

“Aren’t I always?”

 

~~~

 

I was tired.  Sitting through classes for that long without falling asleep deserved some sort of reward.

 

In my case that reward would probably involve some sort of manual labor for the next hour.

 

Stella and me stumbled our way over to the shed, struggling to wake up after spending 2 hours watching a documentary on evolution. Watching 2 hours of cave men killing various wildlife was not my idea of a good time.

 

The boys were already there with a spry old man who looked to be in his early sixties. He had fluffy white hair poking out from underneath a well-worn baseball cap and was dressed in a pair of blue corduroy overalls. He introduced himself as Janitor Bob.

 

I liked him already.

 

He told us for the first week we would be picking up litter in the forest and on school ground. Next week, he informed us eagerly, we would be scrapping gum off the bottom of cafeteria table.

 

We were handed heavy duty garbage bags, rubber gloves and these fancy stick thing that were used for picking up garbage without having to bend down.

 

Our first stop would actually be the clearing, which I knew for a fact was littered with glass, beer cans, stray chocolate bar wrappers and chip bags.

 

Silently we made our way over, after our whole introduction thing we only needed to kill 45 minutes of time.

 

Easy.

 

Especially with all these people, we would find something fun to do.

 

Not.

 

The most silent, awkward and boring 45 minutes stretched on and on. It was comparable to watching twelve documentaries on evolution.

 

Reasons why it was uncomfortable:

 

A)    There was tension between Stella and Tyler. They had fought on the weekend after we dragged him through the forest, and now they weren’t talking. And they were both trying to act aloof and seemed to be having some sort of competition. And then when they turned away from each other they would take turns giving longing looks at the others back. It was irritating really.

B)    There was obvious tension between the One Direction boys. I hadn’t seen the fight, and I didn’t know what the fight was about but it was obvious they had been fighting. There was a lot of huffing, sighing, glaring, eye rolling and knowing looks. It was weird because I had never seen them angry at each other before, and the whole time I had different scenarios running through my head as to why. After a lot of creative options, I finally settled on ‘they’re probably just annoyed cause of the whole getting in trouble thing and maybe their management got angry with them’.

C)     There was tension between the One Direction boys and me. I had made an attempt to be friendly, as in I had smiled and half waved. Louis gave me a look of pure sass, harry twitched a little and Liam gave me a half smile. Not exactly a warm fuzzy welcome. Like I understand I had been a bitch but they could be a little nicer… Especially because I could feel death rays being shot into my back by Louis.

 

I prayed that the rest of the weeks wouldn’t be like this.

 

By the time it was all over I practically sprinted away from everyone.

 

When I heard footsteps coming from behind me, I assumed it was Stella running to catch up.

 

But it was Liam.

 

“We need to talk.”

Chapter 16

“Okay, well what do you want to talk about?”

“You.”

“Well what about me.”

“Ryan I- I understand that you have some issues and you have some things you don’t wan to talk about and you are entitled to have your secrets. But you can’t just walk out of people’s lives with no explanation, because you are entitled to some secrecy but we should be entitled to some exploitation. Or at least a goodbye.”

I bowed my head.

“Liam, I am really sorry. It really isn’t anything to do with you guys. I really do love you all. I just can’t drag you guys into my sorry life.”

“Ryan you already have. It’s too late. No turning back now. So why don’t you just put down your guard and come be our friend again.”

“You guys seriously still want to be my friend?”

“You’re thick you know that right?”

I sighed.

“but won’t things be awkward now?” I said, thinking of Louis sassy looks and harry ignoring me generally. Plus with me there the tension between them was probably ten times worse.

“They don’t have to be. Now we’re having a movie night on Friday. You should come.”

“I’ll think about it.”

He beamed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I sighed again. I would be picking up garbage every day this week.

I heard footsteps again.

This time it was Stella running towards me.

“What kept you so long?”

“I was talking to Tyler, I’ll tell you all about it on the way back to the dorm.”

~~~

It had been a busy week.

I had done a lot of work.

Believe it or not, I actually was pretty smart when I tried. I just didn’t try a lot.

I was also dealing with a friend whose relationship was on the rocks, which meant a lot of sitting while she cried and complained.

On top of this I was picking up garbage in a forest everyday for an hour after school. On the bright side there was much less hostility towards me from the One Direction boys.

Oh and my mom. I had gotten a phone call from her Friday right after my last class.

“Hey honey how are you?”

“Fine mom.”

“How’s school?”

“Fine. I got into the girls school by the way. That’s where I am right now.”

“Oh baby that’s so great! I’m so happy for you! How are those friends of yours?”

“Fine.”

“Now I have some news…”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and inhaled.

“Please tell me you’re not pregnant.”

“No no… nothing like that!”

I exhaled.

“Okay what is it then?”

“Well honey, firstly you are a beautiful young intelligent and accepting young girl.”

“Okay mom, get to the point.”

“Honey… I’ve met someone.”

I sighed. Classic. This shouldn’t even be news anymore.

“Great mom.” I said, rolling my eyes at Stella who had just walked in. “I’m so happy for you.”

“It’s a woman sweetheart.”

I nearly dropped the phone.

“Wait- What? Mom do you mean-“

“I am in love with a woman.”

“Um…”

“I know this is hard to absorb and I want you to-“

“Mom, I don’t really care. You could be in love with a tree for all I care. It’s just a little unexpected because of your track record of you know…men. Also less than a month ago you were with a ‘dashing young waiter’.”

“Actually that’s a funny story-”

“Mom. You know what? It’s totally cool you can tell me some other time.”

“Okay! Oh sweetie I’m so glad you’re okay with this, and Maureen can’t wait to meet you!”

“Hahah okay tell her I’m pumped to meet her too.”

“Oh she’ll be so happy to hear-“

“Okay mom!” I said cheerily. “I have to go now!”

“Oh, okay bye sweetie!”

I hung up the phone, sat down on my bed and took some deep breaths.

“Is everything alright?” Asked Stella from across the room.

“My mother is a lesbian yeah everything is fine other than I have to reevaluate my entire life.”

“Ryan, it’s okay for her to-”

“No I don’t care it’s just…my mom has hooked up with more men than I can count on my fingers and toes. I just would never have guessed.”

She laughed.

“Well love pops up in the most random places, at unexpected times with people you would have never guessed in a million years.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Or it’s the person who’s been your best friend for years.”

“This is true too.”

“The point I’m trying to make is love is unpredictable. One minute you’re sure you love one guy and then BAM something happens that complete changes everything.”

“Did something happen?” I said. Getting the feeling we were no longer talking about my mother.

“No- sorry. I was just thinking out loud!” She brightened up and then quickly changed the topic “Hey aren’t you supposed to go watch a movie tonight?”

I groaned. I had forgotten about that.

“Ry. You should go.” She said, looking directly into my eyes.

“You’re right. You’re right. Of course you’re right.”

“Good. Since you’re going to be with the 5 most beautiful boys I’ve ever set eyes upon we have to make sure you look good.”

“But it’s only a movie.”

“No but’s. Now shut up while I curl your hair.”

Chapter 17

I drew the line at heels.

“There is no way I’m watching a movie with 5 guys wearing 5 inch heels. It’s impractical, I’ll look like a prostitute and I will probably get made fun of. Also who wears heels with a onesie?”

“FINE.” She huffed.

“Fine. This is silly, I’m just watching a movie. I don’t need to get all primped up and proper.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think you understand these are some of the HOTTEST boys in the entire world and that if other girls were-”

“Well I wouldn’t call myself normal.”

“True, true. Now get your ass in gear, stop stalling. Go go! It’s gonna be fun.”

“If by fun you mean ridiculously awkward, then yeah!”

“GO!”

I grumbled all the way out the door and walking all the way down where a cab was waiting for me, there was no way I was walking alone through the forest on when it was dark out.

The cab ride was too short for someone who did not want to get to her destination. In desperation I tried to come up with excuses. But none seemed at all realistic, unless I had the proper tools to stage an alien invasion. And I couldn’t fake sick because everyone had already seen me looking just a few hours earlier. And I couldn’t be food poising if there were a bunch of other girls who had the same meal as me. The scariest thought of all would be facing Stella if she knew I had backed out. I had to grow some lady balls and woman up.

I snuck through the halls of the school with ease and before long I was standing in front of a familiar door.

I brought my hand up, to knock and then brought it back down. Maybe I should just walk in, knocking might be to formal and awkward and then someone would have to come answer the door and real friends just burst in and-

Wow I was overthinking this.

I opened the door and stepped in. Then froze, the screamed.

I really should have knocked.

Because a fully naked Harry Styles was not what I was expecting.

Far from it actually.

After standing there for an awkwardly long amount of time gaping I threw my hands over my eyes and ran out of the room.

Way to relieve the tension Ryan.

I slammed the door and slid down the wall outside his room. Now don’t get me wrong, harry was attractive and all (very very nice to look at) but getting attacked by the sight of someone’s penis is not what one expects when they open a door.

The door across the hall flew open.

“Are you oka- oh it’s you.”

I buried my face in my knees. This night just kept getting better.

He cleared his throat.

“What’s wrong?” he said gruffly.

“I don’t think you actually want to know.”

He sat down across from me.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

I sighed.

“I’ve had a lot of work to do this week, I am going to be in detention for the rest of my life, my friend is having relationship troubles, my mom is now a lesbian, I’m pretty sure you all hate me and I just saw Harry stark naked.”

He didn’t even try to suppress a laugh.

“Wow. That’s um…um…”

I groaned.

“See even you don’t have anything to say! My life is slowly derailing. And all you can do is laugh.”

“Aw lighten up. Is your mom seriously a lesbian though?”

“Yes. Her girlfriend is named Maureen.”

He giggled.

I stood up.

“As much as having you laugh at me has been amusing, I think it’s time to go watch a movie.”

He nodded.

“It’s nice to have you back around Ryan.”

I smiled.

“No kidding. You boys need a little estrogen in your lives.”

He just grinned.

I knocked on the door this time.

“I’m coming in and everyone better be clothed!” I whisper-yelled in hopes I wouldn’t wake the entire building up.

This time Liam was standing there when I walked in.

“Well looks like you’ve recovered from your shock.” He laughed, “I knew you’d be back eventually.”

“She was stunned by my enormous co-”

“Hi, Harry could you put some pants on please.” I interrupted.

“I am wearing pants.” He smirked.

Damn British people.

“I mean pajama bottoms or something of the sort.”

“OH- sure no problem.” He replied, relishing in how uncomfortable I was.

I flung myself on one of the two beds. This room was much more spacious than the room across the hall. When I once asked why Zayn just shrugged and said “Rockstar perks.” But even then I had never noticed the screen hanging down and covering half the wall.

“Wait- how did that?”

“The projector screen rolls up and stays hidden so we don’t get in trouble with the dorm advisers.” Zayn explained.

I shook my head. They could actually be smart. When they tried.

Soon everyone was together squished on the two beds, which were not actually big enough to fit six people.

I found myself squished between Liam and Zayn.

They started the movie. I smiled to myself.

Although I had seen much more man junk than expected my night was going surprisingly well. I really did not regret coming.

And it was, after all, much cheaper and less time consuming than staging an alien attack.

Chapter 18

I woke up the next morning to the familiar ringing of my phone. I blindly grabbed for it and instead managed to smack someone in the face. I peered down. It was Zayn. Oops…I looked around. We had all fallen asleep after the movie. Thankfully Zayn was a deep sleeper and hadn’t woken up. After searching for a bit, I finally realized the noise was coming from bra and quickly answered.

A shrill voice pierced my ear with a scream. I flinched and held the phone away from my ear.

When I thought it was safe I put the phone back to my ear.

“Who is this?” I whisper-yelled.

“I’m engaged!” the person on the other end shouted.

“Mom?”

“YES. I’M GOING TO BE MARRIED.”

 “You’re kidding me right?”

 Her voiced dropped a notch. “N-no. I thought you would be excited.” I could practically hear her pouting over the phone. 

“Mom. You told me yesterday that you were dating this chick, and now you’re going to marry her? Isn’t that a little rushed?”

“Honey this is grown up stuff, I wouldn’t expect you to understand love. I’ve finally found the one, can’t you just be happy for me?”

 My eyes started welling up in anger. I hated crying, but my mother just brought me to a level of frustration that just made me want to scream, break down and -

A hand grabbed my wrist. It was Liam.

 “You okay?” he mouthed.

 I looked down at his wide eyes and took a deep breath.

 ”Yeah, mom I’m really happy for you.”

I smiled and waved at Liam before slipping out across the hall to Niall’s room, so I didn’t wake anyone else.

She squealed through the phone. “So I was thinking I’d pull you out of school for a few months and you could help me plan because every good bride needs her maid of honour by her side at all times!”

 “What?”

“Well, I know you hate school anyways so you should just come home-”

“Mom. I’m actually starting to like it here, I’m not going to leave, I have friends here!”

“ Sweetie, I thought you would be happy being my maid of honour-”

This time I lost it.

“MOM. I’M NOT COMING HOME. I CAN’T TAKE HOW CHILDISH YOU’RE BEING, YOU ONLY EVER WANT ME AROUND WHEN IT’S CONVINIENT FOR YOU. HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED MY FEELINGS IN ANY DECISION YOU’VE EVER MADE? NO. SO YOU SAY YOU WANT ME NOW? WELL GUESS WHAT : I. DON’T. WANT. YOU. GO HAVE A FREAKING BEAUTIFUL WEDDING. BE HAPPY WITH MAUREEN. BUT DON’T START PRETENDING TO GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ME OR ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!”

There was silence at the other end of the phone.

I took a deep breath.

 “I’m sure Kayla Christie’s wedding won’t disappoint, and I doubt anyone will even notice the absence of her daughter.”

 And then I hung up.

 I walked slowly out of the room, and made my way down the stairs and out of the building.

 It was raining. Of course it was raining.

 And that’s when I started crying. Out of all the things to push me over the edge it was the rain, but that did it for me. I, Ryan Christie, was officially soft.

 I was making my way across the back lawn towards the forest when someone yelled at me. My heart swelled, someone was coming after me, and somebody cared.

 I turned; coming towards me with a nasty grin on his face was Mr. Mann.

 “What are you doing here?” He laughed with a creepy smile. “I thought one of the students was out of bed but it’s you.”

 I tried to shake him off but he pulled me closer.  I had dealt with a lot of shit in the past few months, fuck, I had dealt with a lot of shit in my life. No dad, mommy issues, eating disorders, getting kicked out everywhere, partying, being a soulless bitch, everything. And things almost started going right for me. And now they weren’t, and this guy was the last straw.

 “Let me go.” I growled. I had no time for his bullshit. “I’m already in enough trouble, what are you going to do to me?”

 He was staring at me with a glint in his eyes. For the first time in my life I felt self-conscious. I was soaking wet, with my onesie sticking to me closer than usual. His stare made my heart race, and not in a good way.

 I backed away.

 He lunged for me, and started to try to pull down the zipper of my onesie, I screamed as loud as I could.  I struggled to free my arms from his grasp.

 “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME YOU SON OF A BITCH.”

 I got free and my self-defense instincts kicked in, but before I could even throw a punch or kick he was off of me.

It was Liam, and he was pounding the shit out of Mr. Mann.

 I took a shaky breath. I was okay. And then, for the third time that morning, I started to cry and collapsed on the ground out of pure fatigue from this morning.

 I wasn’t sitting there long before I felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

“Shh, Ryan, you’re okay, I’ve got you.”