Chapter 60 Why haven't I done this since?
Ryder's POV
"If I wasn't using Emma to get good grades, I would've stopped following her a long time ago." Bia said to one other girl that hung out with Emma.
"I swear." The girl concurred. "She's too bitter and heartless."
"Sometimes I ask if Uriel is truly her sister."
Now ordinarily, I don't like to entertain gossip but hearing Uriel's name, had me hiding properly, listening.
"Poor girl wouldn't know what hit her on that day." Bia sighed. "I better get going. I have some appointment with my gynaecologist."
"Sure!" The other girl dismissed.
Hurriedly, I stepped out, tailing Bia. I believed she'd be the only one to tell me.
"Bia. Bia."
"Oh hey, Ryder. Want some ride?" She smirked, twirling her hair around her fingers.
I paused, trying to process what she had said.
"Sorry. Wrong rhymes." She chuckled. "If you aren't here for that then why are you stopping me?"
So I decided to hit the nail on the head, "what's Emma planning against Uriel?"
"Huh? W...where did you get that from?" She stuttered, looking around like someone was watching her.
"Don't fucking lie to me, Bia. Tell me." Growling lowly, I asked
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about." Bia shook her head, taking a step backward.
"Put yourself in Uriel's shoes! She doesn't deserve any of it. I can give you whatever you want. Just tell me." I called after her.
She froze for a while, looking at me dead in the eye before shaking her head.
"Sorry, Ryder. It's not in my place to do that." She turned away abruptly, waving at some guy, using him as her escape.
My hand balled into a fist, my veins popping out.
Fuck.
So I marched back into the school, looking for Uriel, wanting to warn her.
"You." My hand tugged the blonde fucker's shirt, glaring at him.
"Get off me." He seethed, fighting to get my hand off his shirt
"Have you seen Uriel?" I questioned Lance.
"You think I'll tell you where she is, if I knew?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"I need to warn her."
"About people like you? Oh please, she knows you're no good for her. She said so herself...uh-huh. She said she'd never date such selfish prick like you. Her words, not mine." Lance smirked, as if he had succeeded in hurting me.
My jaw clenched, my heart cracking into two.
"Tell me something new." I gritted, letting his shirt go. "Since you're all knowing, I'll leave this shit to you then."
"What shit?"
"Figure it out, nerd." I shot at him, leaving school.
Though I still felt uneasy, but I didn't let that get to me. It was no doubt that Uriel would say all those things about me.
She wasn't wrong though
But... To Lance?
That's ... Stupid.
"We're going to partyyy!!!" Peter showed up at my door later the next day, holding out booze
"Idiot. You know I live with my aunt." Smacking his head, I scolded
"I told him, trust me." Mason concurred.
"Let's go outside." Closing the door behind me, I led them to a spot, far at the back yard.
As we sat down to drink, Mason brought up the dance. "Your girl is dancing, yo."
"She's not my girl." I gritted out, glaring daggers at him.
"Yeah, she's mine." Peter joked.
"She's not yours." My eyes grew ten times harder as I narrowed my gaze at him.
"I was being sarcastic!" Peter chuckled, taking a swig of his beer.
"So, you showing up?" Mason asked.
"What for?" I scoffed, shaking my head. "That's... That's not my setting."
But I really wanted to watch her though.
No.
No, we're staying away.
"Okay."
We continued drinking, laughing and bickering until the night was over.
Uriel took the sleep off my eyes when she called me, telling me she was scared. I had contemplated going to her house that night, but didn't think it was a good idea.
In fact, her worry spiked something in me. So I texted Bia again that early morning.
She didn't reply until 8 AM.
And her reply?
It was awful.
Rage enveloped me.
Diving on my bike, I drove from downtown where I went to see someone, down to school, hoping and praying I wasn't too late.
"Get out!" I pushed through the crowd of person who seemed like they were rehearsing.
The laughters from the crowd drove my anger deep into my skin, ripping me open.
"Oh, Ryder! You have to -"
Not even being told twice, I threw myself into the stage. Everywhere suddenly went silent when the light beamed on me.
My eyes collided with that of Emma, her face losing its colors.
"No, no, no. You're not her partner." She yelled, pointing at me.
"Please, Music." Another person said, ignoring Emma's cries
Sighing heavily, I turned to meet Uriel's eyes. My jaw clenched as I traced the trail of dried tear on her cheek.
Her eyes beamed, glittering up as recognition sparked in her eyes.
When I got close to her, I leaned down, holding her waist.
"You still remember the steps?"
"You're here!" Her voice was low and breathless.
"Kinky, I may not be perfect with it but we got this, okay?" I told her, holding her chin up high.
She nodded, crying and smiling at the same time.
"3, 2, 1"
The song began to play and we kick-started with the dance. Our body moved side by side, touching and creating sparks.
The atmosphere suddenly grew too hot as our body moulded in each other's embrace, igniting deeply suppressed feelings.
It felt like an over-vault.
My breath hiked up and down whenever we got too close to each other. Her eyes bore deep into mine, slowly tearing down my walls. The way my hand moved up and down her body - like, it had studied every bit of it.
Once the last part played, throwing us against each others arms, a small smile crept up my lips.
Hell, I never thought I'd be dancing at a school thingy.
Especially not with ... Her.
The girl who once bruised my ego.
The girl I should be staying away from.
The girl who was making me...feel.
Even as the curtains closed behind us, we wouldn't tear apart. In fact, our grips only grew tighter and more possessive.
Her eyes dropped down to my lips, her her applying a little pressure on the back of my neck as she pulled it closer. Before I could process anything, her lips crashed against mine, kissing it slowly.
My eyes flew wide open for a second, my throat dry. My heart raced two times the normal way it used to.
Her body grew tense under my touch. Slowly, she began to pull away until she couldn't -
I smashed my lips back against hers, sucking and nibbling on her lower lips, breathing her in like I needed her to survive.
Fuck.
Why haven't I done this since?
If people were cheering or taking pictures of us, I didn't care. All that mattered...was with me.
All that mattered...
Was Uriel,
And the moment.