It's Not Perfect

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning with one thing on my mind.

Ryder Cleminton.

If he had met up with me yesterday morning, would he be there again this morning? And if he was, would I want him to walk with me? That was a dumb question, of course I wanted him to. Despite how obnoxious and irritating he was, I enjoyed his company. Or as Brooklyn had so kindly put it, I just enjoyed his attention. Which I guess was true as well. But no matter how much I liked his attention, I was still that shy and timid girl Duke had turned me into and that meant I didn't want Ryder setting his sights on me.

I had gotten ready extra early this morning. If I got to class before Ryder had a chance to get here then he wouldn't be able to walk me to class even if he wanted to.

My hair was thrown up into a bun and I was wearing jeans and a plain long sleeve shirt. I had gotten pretty good at blending into the background and that's how I liked it.

But when I opened the doors and stepped out into the bright sun, I saw the one guy that refused to let me remain invisible. Ryder was already waiting by the doors just as he was yesterday. But today, he was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a regular black shirt...but oh how it outlined his muscles. And when I was finally able to tear my gaze from his body, I saw Ryder smirking at me. He'd seen me staring...actually, a more appropriate term would be gawking.

A cigarette was once again hugged tightly between his soft looking lips and those piercing blue eyes struck my own like a bolt of lightning. He ruffled his hair with his free hand, then brought the other one up to pinch the cigarette and toss it onto the floor.

"Morning, Killer." He greeted as he took my side just like the day before.

I turned away from him and headed towards my first class without saying a word. But I only got a couple steps before I felt Ryder's arms on my shoulders, pushing me down onto the same bench I had sat in yesterday morning. He grabbed my leg and lifted the fabric of my jeans near my ankle to reveal the bruise. It looked just as it had yesterday with dark purple rings darkening my skin from where that drunk man's fingers had gripped my ankle two days ago. It would take a while to go away and it was clear that Ryder would be checking on it until that day came.

"Does it hurt?" Ryder asked, sitting down next to me and stretching his legs out.

I shook my head. I couldn't tell him that I had gotten used to the dull throbs of bruises and scratches from my months with Duke, so I remained quiet and hopped that it was enough for Ryder. But he never gave any sign as to whether it bothered him or not. He just sat next to me, watching the other students pass by us, their eyes intently watching us.

The infamous bad boy conversing with the awkward damaged girl.

"Well we should get going." Ryder stood up, stretching like a cat.

"Going where?" I asked, standing up next to him.

He pointed down the path, "To the coffee shop. Aren't you going to buy me coffee again?"

I shook my head and started off the opposite way Ryder intended on us going, "Nope."

Maybe if I offended him he'd leave me alone. I didn't need his attention, I didn't need his company. I've been doing fine on my own, I'd be fine without him. He was just trying to get a rise out of me. That's what Ryder Cleminton did, he riled everyone's feathers. He peeved them off until they either lashed out at him or gave in to him. Ryder won either way, if they gave in he got what he wanted and if they lashed out, he'd beat the shit out of them. I couldn't fight Ryder, not even in my wildest dreams. So my only option was to give in to him.