Chapter 16 Constellation
Uriel's POV
"I can't sit on that."
"Why? Because it's hard?" Ryder smirked, stroking it.
I swallowed, eyeing it carefully.
"N..no."
"Then you're not ready." He rolled his eyes, crossing his leg over his bike.
Yes, his bike.
How did he expect me to get on that?
I had never entered one before.
It looked like signing away yourself into the hands of death.
It was no news that Ryder was trying to kill me anyway.
But it was either this or going back into that school, feeling every single eye on me. Listening to people gossip loudly about me pretending to be who I'm not. Hearing boys asking me to come fuck them.
"I'll go!" I took the helmet from him, holding it in his front. "Help me, please."
He placed his hand on my hand, his eyes locked onto mine. "Yeah?"
"I mean it, Ryder. I want to go with you." I turned around, suddenly remembering that we were leaving during learning hours and that if we were caught, we'd be facing detention. "Hurry up!"
"You're such a good student." He scoffed, placing the helmet on my head. Through the tinted glass, I could spot his eyes.
They were so beautiful.
I bit my lips, watching him as he fixed the strap.
No.
This is Ryder, Uriel.
Your bully.
But there was nothing bad in admiring him. It wasn't like I was falling for him or something.
"Are you going to get up here or do you want me to help you with that too?" He frowned slightly.
Shaking my head, I climbed on top of the bike. Without warning, he just kick-started the bike and zoomed off, throwing my body forward.
My front crashed into his back, my hand wrapping around his waist.
"Ryder! Get back here with whoever you have on your back." Principal yelled, showing just in time at the entrance.
Oh God.
I just landed the boy in trouble again.
"Fuck off, Theo!" Ryder yelled, making me gasp.
"He'll hear you!" I scolded, my grip tight.
"But I might not make it to school the next day for whatever punishment he has for me." Ryder yelled against the wind.
"Why?"
"Because of the way you're squeezing me." His stomach clenched.
"Oh my goodness, sorry." I chuckled, releasing my grip a bit. "If only you weren't trying to kill me!"
He didn't say anything again. He also slowed down his pace a bit, making my heart beat slow down too.
I rested my head on his back, enjoying the way the cool breeze slapped my skin, calming my nerves.
Ryder suddenly stopped the bike, peeling my hands off him like they were carried bacteria.
What if he had OCD.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I don't know if you have OCD."
"I just don't like people in my space. It's different." He frowned, helping me with the helmet.
We stayed put for a while, staring into each other's eyes. He suddenly raised his hands up, smoothening my hair.
"But today is your day of grace. Don't let it get to you. I'm not a nice person." He warned, patting my cheek before turning away to hang drop his helmet.
"Don't worry, I would never think of you as a nice person." I stepped back, waiting for him to lead the way.
He turned to me one more time, his eyes raking up and down my body. I chewed the inside of my mouth, feeling nervous from his scrutinizing gaze.
"Good."
He laced his fingers through mine, making my heart quake. Heat began to spread all over my body.
Why was I suddenly feeling too hot?
"You're going to be quiet." He told me, leading me through what seemed like a dark tunnel.
I knew it.
"Ryder..." My hand clenched around his, my feet stuck to the ground.
"Come on, this is not the time to be feeling scared, Uriel." His tone held this frustration. "Can you just trust me on this one?"
He sounded sincere.
I nodded, letting him lead me through the tunnel. We finally burst out into a passage and then right through a door.
"Is this illegal?" I whispered, standing by the door alone.
He didn't say anything, walking around to set up things I didn't understand.
"I guess?" He shrugged, fiddling with a box. "Come here, Uriel."
My legs felt too heavy to move. My heart slammed hard against my chest.
He rolled his eyes, walking up to me. He held my hand, pulling me with him.
"Lay down on the mat." His tone was authoritative but at the same time calm. "Seriously, let loose Uriel."
Sighing heavily, I laid on the mat.
"I used to love the stars as a kid. It used to help me not overthink." Ryder said, turning off the light. He laid down next to me, his shoulder brushing against mine.
"There are no stars." I said lowly,.turning to look at him.
He pointed to the ceiling, "look up now."
I raised my head up, my eyes growing big as I watched the projection of the stars as they swirled round slowly.
"It's so beautiful." I cooed, smiling brightly.
"I know right?" He said. I turned to face him. His face was straight but his eyes were so buried into it. "I didn't bring you here to watch me, Kinky."
I shied away, looking back up to the ceiling. A long sigh left my lips, my body relaxing into the mat; into the silence.
"It was Emma." I spilled out.
"That released the video?" Shock was evident in his voice as he spoke.
"Mhm-hmm." I nodded, sadly. "I broke my mum's flower pot that day and I knew so well she was going to have my head and so I begged Emma to help me cover up."
I bit my lips, reliving that day in my head.
It was one of the humiliating days of my life.
My heart ached just from retelling it.
"Her friends were there. They all asked me to say those words into a speaker and that if I refused, Emma wouldn't help me."
"No shit." He spat.
I swallowed hard. "We bargained that they'll delete it after testing the app they were testing. So I did."
"Apparently they didn't."
I nodded.
"Then confront her." I felt his gaze on me.
"And have my mother pour her wrath on me?" I shook my head, not wanting to look at me.
He didn't need to see how much of a coward I was, putting myself last.
"You wouldn't understand. My mother wouldn't even believe a word I say. She - I just can't confront Emma."
I stayed quiet for a while, my eyes tracing the stars. Realizing that he had been quiet, I rolled to my side, propping myself with my elbow as I looked down at him.
"You!" I smacked his chest playfully. "You were not listening to me?"
He faked a snore, increasing it's sound. He was almost sounding like a pig.
"Ew!" I held his face, shaking it as I laughed. "I know you heard me and that you're awake."
His lips cracked into a small smile. He opened his dark jade colored eyes, locking it with mine.
Cold shivers slithered down my spine.
Fuck, the way he was looking at me.
It was anything from sweet.
It was innocent though but it held something darker.
"How's the view from being on top?" He teased, a smug smile danced on his lips.
"Really ugly." I lied. My body felt too weak to even move away.
More like, I was enjoying how warm he felt.
For someone who always seemed cold half of the time.
"You're the first to say that." He wrapped his hand around my waist, his eyes roaming around my face.
"And it's the truth. Trust me." I managed to say, ignoring the way my heart slammed hard in my chest when his hand circled around my waist.
"Maybe you just have eye problem and you need to look closer?" His eyes fell to my lips and then raised back to meet my eyes.
Summoning the courage, I tried to move away from him.
"What? Scared now?" He taunted, pressing my chest down into his. His finger trailed, pushing a tendril of hair behind my ear.
Oh my goodness!
Why am I feeling so hot?
My lips parted, my eyes taking in his small pink lips. They looked so freaking kissable.
Ew.
No.
What kind of thought is that, Uriel?
"Closer." He whispered, cupping my face in his palm.
God. I was sure he was feeling my heart beat so loud.
What kind of torture was this?
"Isn't this close enough?" I whispered, breathing raggedly.
Was it until our lips touched?
Not like I minded though.
"Always wondered if your lips tasted like strawberry too, since they were as red as one." He voiced out his thought so randomly, making my breath hitch.
As if on cue, constellation by Jade LeMac began to blast through a speaker I didn't even know existed somewhere in here.
This feeling was really amazing, Jade. It was.
"Then..."
Spark!
The room lightened up, the dark aesthetic light gone. Ryder and I detached from each others arm so quick.
"Who the fuck are you two?" A big muscled man asked, looking between the two of us.
"Tell me you know him, Ryder." I said through gritted teeth.
"Oops."
Ryderrrrrrrr!!!!