Chapter 17 Roses are Red, Violets are Blue...
17
Uriel's POV
I hadn't had the time and chance to properly thank Ryder for last time.
It was as though he went hiding after that day.
He barely attended classes.
He was hardly ever in school.
I had checked our spot so many times, my leg hurt from climbing up and down the stairs.
How could one person be so freaking invincible?
And why did it affect me so much?
That day, something happened.
It even helped me with my poem writing. I finished it with ease in less than an hour.
I had never written a poem before in my life.
Talk more of one that talked about a person but somehow, I did.
I knew he was going to be impressed at least.
A small smile crept onto my lips, as I held the strap of my bag tight
"Uriel!!!" Chloe ran towards me, throwing herself onto my body. I stumbled back into someone locker, giggling.
"Me! Me! Me!" Kathie joined, wrapping her hand around the both of us.
"I...can't... breathe." I choked out, patting their backs
"If you weren't my friend, I'd think you're avoiding us."
I sucked in air through my teeth, scratching my neck.
"You have?!" Chloe yelled, frowning slightly.
"See? I told you!" Kathie said, folding her arms.
"Why would you avoid us?" Chloe questioned calmly, though from her tone you could hear the anger.
"Because I didn't want anyone dragging you guys into whatever they had with me." I said, truthfully.
That was one of it.
"That's not up for you to decide." Kathie said, placing her hand on my shoulder.
"Why are we friends then? It's for better for worse, Uri." Chloe sighed, wrapping her hand around my waist. "We missed you."
"And you owe us some sort of sweet gist." Kathie wiggled her eyebrow at me, hooking her arms around mine.
"Me?"
"You and Ryder. Sneaking off." Chloe whispered in my ear, making me freeze.
They joined to pause, giving me a sly smile.
"You can't move again, right?" Kathie laughed.
"I saw you two." Chloe admitted, pulling me to move.
"Ah shit!"
"We should hold a sleepover. I'm scared of having private discussions in this school now." Chloe suggested.
"We should do that." Kathie nodded.
"Finally remembered your friends?" Lance glared at me as we approached him.
I pouted, fluttering my eyes at him. "Lanceyyyy. Don't be like that. I was going through a tough time."
He rolled his eyes, still standing there though. "And you didn't think we weren't going through one too. You're part of us, Uri."
I had never seen Lance so red and angry like he was now.
"I'm sorry, Lance. Look, everything died down already." I told him, going to wrap my arms around him. "What can I do to make you happy?"
He tried to push me away but I wouldn't budge.
"Please!!"
He sighed, wrapping his hand around me. "Just avoid trouble. Especially Ryder." He said.
I looked to Chloe and Kathie who averted their gaze elsewhere.
Sighing, I turned to him. "I'll try? You know I'm his tutor." I defended.
"After that, at least. The semester will soon be rounding up anyway." Lance patted my head. "Now let me go before I see myself on the social media."
"That's harsh!" I pushed him away playfully.
He chuckled, holding my hand. "Sorry, Uri. I couldn't help that one."
I flipped him off. His cheek turned red, making Kathie, Chloe and i laugh.
He was such a goody goody.
"Have you guys seen Ryder?" When Lance glared at me, I quickly added, "he's my partner for English poetry assessment."
His eyes softened, facing front.
"Not at all." Chloe and Kathie said simultaneously.
When my eyes caught onto Mason and Peter, I excused myself quickly, running after them.
I didn't even know where such courage was coming from.
My 20 marks was on the line!
"Hey Mason!" I called, gaining their attention and that of a few other unwanted students.
I eyed them, silently telling them to face their shits.
"Hey... U.."
"Uriel." I said, my tone a bit hard.
Years in this school together and he didn't know my name?
"You good?" Peter asked, eyeing me up and down. His eyes then averted to someone behind me, shooing away immediately.
I turned to catch Chloe facing somewhere else, her cheek red.
Girl couldn't even pretend.
A small smile crept to my lips as I looked at Peter who had his eyes pinned to the ground.
That's something.
"I'm looking for Ryder." I looked between them.
"Ah!" Mason smirked.
"For our poetry assessment." I added.
These students were quick to think something else.
"We haven't spoken to him since last week. Neither has he returned our calls." Mason said, sighing weakly
Wasn't he so difficult?
"Oh." I nodded slowly, taking a retreating step backward. "Thanks by the way."
So we all hadn't seen him since last week then.
Once they rang the bell, my friends and I dispersed to our various classes for the day.
Nervousness washed all over me as Mrs Linda walked inside the class before Ryder.
Where was he?
"I bet we're all ready?" She smiled at all of us, taking her seat. She opened her book, looking up at me and then at the chair behind me.
Her forehead creased. I just shrugged when she looked at me again.
"Is there a reason why Ryder is absent, Uriel?" She asked.
I opened my mouth to answer when a hard, masculine voice said, "I'm here."
Relief washed all over me as my eyes landed on him. His face was straight as a ruler, his eyes dark and face blank.
Okay?
"Let's have your poems, Ryder and Uriel." Mrs Linda said, relaxing into her chair.
Nervously, I stood up.
He didn't even bat an eyelash at me as I stood close to him. I bit my lips, handing my poem to Mrs. Linda.
"I came up with something else." She refused to take the poem. "Exchange your poems and read it to the class. We'd all do group marking."
Excuse me???
My mouth fell open.
For the first time since he entered, I also got a reaction from him. His eyes snapped wide open.
"I don't have all the day. Uriel give yours to Ryder. Ryder you'll read for us." She ordered, her tone final.
I swallowed hard, giving him my poem.
It wasn't as though I had anything bad written but ...
It was just awkward.
People might read it the wrong way.
Ryder and I exchanged our poems, glancing at each other briefly.
"Start. You have 3 minutes each."
I looked at Ryder's face, trying to catch his expression when he sees the heading.
His jaw tightened. Then he looked up at me, his eyes darker than before.
Huh?
He didn't like it?
My chest heaved up and down, my hand squeezing his poem subconsciously.
"This would take less than a minute." His voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat, reading directly from the paper.
"To a bully, Ryder.
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
You think you're the shit
But you're just a piece of shit."
The class erupted into laughter and little murmurs. My heart stopped beating, my eyes growing wide.
"Uriel, you wrote that?" Mrs Linda asked, shocked
"Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
I hope you rot in hell, bastard
Oh wait, that's your home."
Ryder turned to me, "Nice poem, partner." He spat dryly.
He gently slapped the paper to my chest, snatching his paper from my hand and ripping it into pieces.
I gasped, my eyes wet from my tears.
"No." My voice barely made it as a whisper.
Ryder dashed out of the class, banging the door behind him.
"Mrs Linda." I turned to my teacher who gave me a disapproving look.
"Hahaha!" The laughters got more serious, making me turn to them.
My phone pinged, making my heart drum harshly in my chest.
What was it this time?
My hand trembled as I brought out my phone, scrolling through the notification until I got to the one.
A soft gasp left my lips, the tears spilling down my cheek as I looked at the alleged chat between Dennis and I.
One that contained a picture of me on swim suits, being sent to him.
"No!"
"Nice curves, Uriel!" A boy yelled from the backseat, making my tears increase.
"Principal's office now, Uriel Kennedy." Mrs. Linda said, eyeing me in disgust.
3rd Strike.
I was definitely getting expelled.