Sweet Revenge

Chapter 6

What the actual fuck is the idiot Ryan Wilson doing at my house? It's not like we're friends or ever were friends. I hate his guts and last time I checked he doesn't adore me either. The only reason he could be here is trouble. He must be plotting something.

I'm probably next on his sick list of targets. He probably has my picture pinned to a cork board with red strings attached. I can't believe his nerve. But the next thing I know he's giving me and my mom a warm smile as if he's never done anything wrong.

"Hi Ivy, hi Ms. Rodriguez, sorry for randomly showing up at your door like this," He says with a polite chuckle. I roll my eyes at his bullshit act.

"Spill it Ryan, why are you here?" I press. I don't care if I come off harsh, he doesn't deserve politeness. He looks startled when I say this, but I don't know what he's expecting from me.

"Ivy, don't be rude," My mom scolds. I side eye her, wasn't she just agreeing with me in the car that Ryan is terrible?
"It's all good, no hard feelings," Ryan responds, feigning an innocent look.

"Anyway, I was stopping by because I just heard that Ivy is coming to Redwood High, which is where I go," Ryan explains. And? I thought to myself. Why does he care? Then a realization strikes me.

"How do you even know that?" I question him. I literally just got enrolled ten minutes ago and I don't think mom told anyone yet.
"Well, the principal told us all yesterday that a new student was coming and when I saw you and your mom leaving the school today I figured it must be you," He reasoned.

"What a stalker," I muttered under my breath. I'm not sure if Ryan was able to hear me but I know my mom did since she gave me a smack on the shoulder.

"So Ryan, please continue, you saw Ivy at Redwood High and came here to.." My mom trails off.
"Talk to Ivy," Ryan finishes, "Principal Trotman assigned me as her student helper,"

So that's what this is about? Ugh. Of all people Principal Trotman chose Ryan? Maybe I can talk to  her and tell her that I can't have Ryan as my student helper thing. This just gives him more of a reason to stalk me and use me as a victim.

"Ugh, I can't have you guiding me around the school like i'm a little puppy on your leash," I protest. "Also, doesn't the talking start on Monday at school?"

"I wanted to start a little early to get to know you better, and so you can know the new me," He's a good actor, he's playing so dumb right now.

"The new you?" I snicker, "I don't think so," I turn on my heel but before I can walk away my mom catches hold of my arm.
"Not so fast, young lady,"

I shoot her a horrified glance. "Seriously? You're really going to make me talk with him," I whisper, low enough so Ryan can't hear us. Not that I really care if he does or not though.

"Yes, you can find out what this innocent act is all about," My mom whispers back, giving me a wink. At that moment, I realize my mom is actually right. She's only been acting kind to Ryan this whole time so we can trick him. She's on my side.

I nod. "Good idea, mom," I definitely get my smarts from her. I face Ryan again and give him a bright smile. Two can play this game.

"Ok then, let's go inside and talk," I agree, making sure not to sound too eager. I want to avoid suspicion as much as possible. Ryan nods, looking relieved. Little does he know i'm only doing this to get some answers.

I lead him up the porch steps and inside the house with my mom following closely behind. When we get inside Ryan's eyes wander over our house, as if he was trying to memorize it. Ugh, I can't stand the thought of him going in my room to assess that too.

"You guys have a nice, clean house," Ryan observes, eerily. I nod and wave him over to the staircase leading to my room. My mom walks over to the kitchen to give us some privacy. I stop in front of my door.
"Here's my room," I hesitate, contemplating if I should let him in or not. I decide not to.

"You know what, let's just talk out here in the hall," I suggest instead. He nods looking almost disappointed. Ew.

"So, what I wanted to say is since we are going to have to see each other a lot now with me being your helper we should start anew, I want to make it less awkward for us," He begins. This already seems weird. I make a skeptical face.
"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we have a messy history together so I wanted to clear the air. I know I used to be completely terrible and I feel really bad about myself," He explains. "I've had a hard time with my dad's cancer and everything," When he pauses he almost looks as if he's about to shed a tear. I remember his dad's life-threatening cancer. He recently recovered which was quite a miracle considering it was stage two cancer. For a second, my heart aches for Ryan and what he had to go through. I look up at him.

"Congratulations on his recovery by the way,"  I say. He thanks me and then goes back to talking.

"So should we make a pact to start fresh?" He asks, holding out his hand to shake on it. I thought about it for a second, I don't know if I fully trust him. But after a moment I end up tentatively grabbing his hand and giving it a firm shake. He brightens.

"I'm glad you agreed," He says and starts to shake off the straps of the black backpack on his shoulders. He rummages around through the contents of the main pocket and takes out a blue spiral bound notebook.

"I wanted to give this to you, for note taking," He tells me, handing over the notebook. I turn it over in my hands, making sure it's not a bomb or something.

"Thank you," I say slowly, a little shocked.
"Of course, and i'm sorry for everything again," He replies, his light brown hair gleaming in the hallway light. I walk him down the stairs and wave to him as he walks out the door. That was weird and now I feel better about Ryan. Is it possible that he has changed?

As I walk up the stairs again and through the hallway, a white slip of paper catches my eye. It is near the wall, at the foot of my room's door. I pick it up, it looks like it was ripped in half. The end letters seem to be cut off. It reads Dear Ryan, at the top and at the bottom Hi it's Pop. What does that mean? And then it strikes me.

It looks like the next letter at the bottom is a half cut out p. Popp. This leaves one major person that this note could be from, Poppy. This must have fell out of Ryan's bag when he was getting my notebook. But I don't get it. Why would he have a note from Poppy? When did she write to him and what was it about? None of this makes sense. One thing that does make sense though is that this only makes Ryan more suspicious.

hii everyone! it's been quite a while since i've posted a chapter and i'm so sorry about that. i wanted to post the next update yesterday but i didn't have time. thank you guys for 100 votes on this story, bye!

-mari 💜🩷