"Mind if I sit?"
He shrugs and nods at the chair opposite.
I sit down and watch him scroll on his phone for a bit. "I heard about you and Kim. I'm so sorry."
He lays his phone down and runs his fingers through his hair. "Yeah. Kind of sucks. I'm bummed."
I boldly put my hand over his. "What can I do to cheer you up?"
Ryan looks at me blankly. "Nothing. I guess after a while it won't hurt so much."
"Oh Ryan, I can't believe she did this. Why wouldn't someone want to date you? You're so wonderful and sweet."
"Not wonderful and sweet enough apparently." His tone is bitter.
"Look, um, if you want to text me just to talk or something, I'd be cool with that. Here, give me your phone and I'll put my number in." I take his phone and quickly add myself to his contacts.
"Thanks, Taryn." He gives me a half smile and takes his phone back. "That might help. I'll text you tonight, yeah?"
I give him my best flirty smile. Ohhhh, I want to kiss those sweet lips so badly!!! "Okay, I'll be available. Not doing anything." Just fantasizing about you, sweet Ryan!
"Great."
I get up and he gives me a little wave and goes back to his phone. Pam and Linda are looking at me and shaking their heads, but I ignore them and leave the lunch room, a little satisfied smile on my face.
◆◆◆
That night I text with Ryan until 1 a.m. I'd forgotten how fun it was to text a guy you really like. That was how it was when Patrick and I first started going out. I'd get all goofy inside as soon as I saw his name pop up and then run to my room and lay on my bed with a silly smile on my face, texting away. That's me with Ryan now. We didn't even talk about anything important, just little things and jokes. He kept sending me memes and I kept sending him stupid emoji's.
This morning when I wake up the first thing I do is check my phone. My smile falls when all I see are texts from Patrick. I ignore those and quickly send a good morning to Ryan with a pair of kissing lips.
Giggling, I run to take a quick shower before getting dressed. As soon as I get out of the shower I check my phone again. Yay!!! Ryan has texted back with his own set of lips and a "Goodmorning to you too!"
I do a little dance in my towel and shoot another text to him.
"I'm standing here naked in a towel. What should I wear today?"
I wait. I hope I haven't scared him off with the naked stuff. But I'm feeling really flirty and he's paying attention to me and I'm about to explode with anticipation. This is why I need a boyfriend. Because of this oogly good feeling it gives me. This feels like more than a crush, this has to be love!
Finally, Ryan texts back with one word.
"Adidas!"
I laugh out loud at that. Ryan has this "thing" for Adidas - shoes, shirts, shorts, whatever. If he could change his name to Adidas he would.
I run to my closet and dig around for a minute. Yes! I DO have an Adidas hoodie! I haven't it worn it in ages, Kim doesn't like me to wear super casual sporty clothes to school. Well you know what? Screw Kim!
I grab some torn black skinny jeans and my grey tennis shoes and hurry to get dressed.
A little bit later I'm dressed in my casual Adidas wear and have done my makeup – just a little bit with some gloss today. No need to overdo it right? I've pulled the sides of my hair up and Mom helps me do a fish tail braid. I look awesome. Even me, the fashion dunce, knows that. I hope Ryan agrees.
◆◆◆
For the first time since I've started school, I don't look for Kim when I arrive. I go straight to my locker, keeping my eyes peeled for Ryan. Several of my friends greet me and I give them distracted waves.
"And then I got him in a head lock and I shoved his fat face into the mat!"
Ugh, here comes Patrick with Jason, Kim on his arm. I try to hide behind my open locker door but it's too late, they see me and come over.
"Babe!" Patrick tries to pull me in for a kiss but I avert my head and he gets my cheek. "What's up? Why didn't you return my texts?"
"'Cause she thinks you're a dork man." Jason punches Patrick in the stomach. "Did you tell her about the channel?"
"Oh, hell yeah!" Patrick puts his arm around me. "Babe, we uploaded those scare videos and the prank ones too and they're like going viral! People love you, they're all like, 'who's the babe?'!" He laughs and smirks at Jason.
Kim is looking at me, frowning but I put her off for a minute to scowl at Patrick.
"What?! You put those videos of me on the internet?! How dare you?!" I am furious. "Take them down, now!"
Jason rolls his eyes. "Come on, Taryn. You're fucking famous."
"Fight, fight, fight!" We hear the chanting from down the hall and Patrick and Jason get a wild look in their eyes.
"Dude!" Patrick whips out his cell. "It's a fight, we gotta get the footage!"
"Later, bitches!" Jason waves and takes off after Patrick who's running down the hall to the melee.
Kim is still staring at me, hard.
I give her an innocent look, grabbing my English Lit book. "What?"
"What in God's name are you wearing? A hoodie? Seriously?"
"So? I like it. It's comfy." I spy Ryan finally; he's talking to some of his friends several lockers down. Now I just need to ditch Kim somehow.
"All those cool clothes in your closet and you pick that?" She raises an eyebrow at me. "You're like totally deranged. Come on, I need to fix my eyeliner in the bathroom."
"Um,
