Chapter 79 Half a man
Uriel's POV
It was five days.
Five days of silence on Ryder's end. Somehow, I expected it to happen but what I didn't expect -
Was it taking this long.
He wasn't even attending school no more and his friends didn't have anything useful to say. They were also left in the dark.
I stared at the message I sent last night.
Me: when are you returning? If ever?
My heart ached as I saw the 'seen' that was boldly written under the text.
This was probably it.
Sighing, I dropped my phone on the dresser only to pick it up in a hurry when I heard my notification sound ping.
My face turned down into one of disappointment when I saw who was texting.
LUCK GROUP
Kathie: Party tonight?
Lance: This is finals guys. I'm still mad at y'all btw.
Chloe: replies to Kathie thumbs up.
Kathie: Uriel?
I stared blankly at my screen. My hand flew to my mouth, my teeth gnawing on my nails.
Kathie: I miss us.
Trust me, I did too.
For days, I have walked alone, greeting my friends from a distance like strangers.
My hand hovered over my power button when a text icon dropped from up.
My eyes snapped open when it landed on the name. I quickly tapped on it, opening it in full.
Ryder: I'll be at the party.
Ryder: you should come.
Ryder: we need to talk.
My throat suddenly felt dry. My eyes skimmed through that last text over and over again, zooming it in a haunting way.
LUCK GROUP
Me: I'll be there.
Finally, I turned on my phone screen, rushing into my wardrobe.
Honestly, I didn't have anything party worthy. Chloe was the one who usually dressed us for such. God, I missed my friends so much.
After flipping my wardrobe upside down, I finally found something suitable and quite appealing.
My mind nagged at me to ditch the party and stay back. The unsettling feeling rose to a hundred when I stepped out of my house door, waiting for a cab.
Nobody liked "we need to talk" texts.
My head was a mess. The voices grew louder and louder, yelling at me to turn back, to 'not talk'. But if Ryder wanted to talk, considering his absence, it must be serious.
"Don't drink much." The driver told me. I forced a smile on my face, thanking him.
The deafening sound of the music filled my eardrums. This was the first party of the semester and so everyone was pumped and very happy. Everyone except me.
After this party, I promised myself not to attend any again because I had a GPA goal to meet.
Fingers crossed, it happens.
Chloe was the first to find me when I entered. To my greatest surprise, she did approach me.
"Hey Uri. I'm sorry I've been acting weird lately. It's just that I have a lot on my mind and I have to tell you about it before I explode." She began to rant, not taking a break.
"Okay? I'm all ears." I managed to smile at her, my eyes searching for the dark green ones.
"I... I'm sorry Uri. I should've told you. I -"
"Calm down. Talk to -"
"Hey, you!" Someone whispered in my ear, making me jump up.
My face lit up in a grin when I replayed the voice in my head.
Chloe glared at Ryder, excusing us immediately.
"Chloe!" My yell fell on deaf ears and probably drowned in the loud music. I turned to Ryder, "hey, you."
"She good?"
"I don't know honestly." I sighed, folding my arms. "You said we need to talk? Can we do that now?"
His face straightened. I noticed he was avoiding eye contact and body contact too.
He didn't even kiss me.
This was bad.
"Let's drink." He placed his hand on my back, leading me through.
I followed him until we reached a round table where I saw all my friends, except Chloe. Kathie and I exchanged a hug and I was back to Ryder's side.
Ryder wasn't the type to drink much in parties but this time...it was different.
He had downed 7 shots in 2 minutes!
"Hey! You good?" Placing my hand on his chest, I asked.
"Yeah. Why you not drinking? You'd need 'em. Here." He placed one shot on my lips.
I swallowed hard, letting him pour it in my mouth. My face scrunched up as the bitter taste clung to my tongue.
Yeah, still hate alcohol.
The guys chatted about something for a while. Just Peter and Ryder though. Mason was making out shamelessly with Kathie. And Chloe was still nowhere to be found.
"Ryder." I called out to him but he kept stretching his hand at me, signaling me to give him a second.
Rolling my eyes, I turned away. I was going to find my friend.
I wasn't able to make it past middle of the living room - the dance floor practically, when I was pulled into someone's arm.
Geoffrey, geo for short, wrapped his hands around my waist, forcing me into a dance.
He was always the first to get dead ass drunk in a party. It wasn't new.
My skin crawled as I felt his hard-on on my pelvic area. Each time I tried to pull away, he pressed me inside.
Did I mention he was a pervert when drunk?
"Let me go!" I tried pushing him away but he wouldn't budge.
Before I could knee him in the groin, he was suddenly yanked away from me.
"Get the fuck away from her!" Ryder yelled, his voice loud enough to cut through the music.
The DJ stopped playing. Everyone paused what they were doing, looking at us.
"What the fuck, man? Your time has passed, scram!" Geo shooed him, stretching his hand to me. I moved back, eyeing him in disgust.
"Say that again?" Ryder towered over him, daring him
"You want to hear what you already know?" Geo challenged. Two guys tried to pull him away but he wouldn't budge.
"Ryder let's go." I held Ryder's arm.
"Aww, look at her. Poor girl thinks she's won a trophy with this one." Geo pouted at me. "Well, you've not. You're just a fucking pawn in his game."
"What?"
"Let's go." Ryder tried to pull me away and I was about to follow him when Geo spoke again, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"You were just a fucking bet!"
A sharp piercing sound filled my ears, one that wasn't from the speaker - but my head.
My body stilled.
Ryder turned to look at me, his grip growing weak.
Geo walked up to me, "Ryder had a bet years ago that he was going to take your virginity. He claimed to be so good with girls and how you were no different. We all believed you were different you know, now because of you we all fucking lost!" He screamed to my face.
He flashed his phone to my face, showing me a chat where they all congratulated Ryder for winning the bet.
My chest heaved up and down. My eyes stinging from inside. People had raised their phones up already.
Slowly my eyes moved up until they landed on Ryder's icy cold glare.
"Is ...is this true?"
His jaw ticked.
My legs drew closer to him, covering up the space between us.
"Ryder..."
"Yes, it is." His eyes locked onto mine, empty; soulless. "You were a bet."
I threw my trembling hand across his face. A lone tear rolled down my eyes.
"I could treat you better, you know. How about you come ride the dick too, you -"
"Shut the fuck up, Geo!" Ryder snapped, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Why?!" I pushed Ryder by his chest, my chest hurting. "Why me?!"
His body just moved back like a dummy.
"How could you do this to me?" I cried bitterly, hitting his chest. "I thought we... I - I was falling for you." My voice came out as a whisper.
Ryder's eyes hardened even more. "You were wrong."
I covered my face with my palm, sobbing uncontrollably inside.
"I fucking gave you all of me because I trusted you, Ryder. How could you hurt me this way! Please tell me this is one of your stupid pranks to get to me." My hand slipped down from my face, falling by my side weakly. "Cos if it is... You win!"
"It isn't."
"Uri!" Kathie ran to my side, pulling me back with her. My eyes fell to one person that wouldn't come so close.
Chloe.
Oh no.
"You knew?"
Tears spilled down Chloe's eyes, "I'm sorry Uri. I was going to tell you."
"Chloe!" Kathie yelled in disbelief. "What the fuck?"
"Oh God!" I staggered back, clenching my chest hard like it was going to take away the pain.
"Uriel -"
"Don't call my name!" I pointed at Ryder, screaming at the top of my lungs. He clenched his fist, looking to the ground.
I wiped the tears off my eyes, sniffling back my catarhh, "you know, it's not your fault."
He didn't look up.
"It's mine. I saw all the red flags and still dived in for you. I fucking believed you were different and maybe just pretending to be a villain." I launched forward, hitting my fist on his chest. "I hate you so much. I hate you!"
"Uriel, let's go." Kathie tried to hold me but I pushed her hands off me, shaking my head.
"Leave me alone! All of you!" I turned on my heels, bumping into whoever got into my way.
I didn't care.
Fuck, I should've known it was too good to be true.
He was too good to be true.
Just as I was about to leave the door, a song played - Half a man by Dean Lewis.
No shit.
My hand found my neck, my fingers trailing over the necklace. Crying, I yanked it off, tossing it on the ground.
Today, Ryder Connell was dead to me.
Sadly, so was a part of me.
And this wasn't even half of my story.