Living With Stranger Boy

Chapter Twenty-Five

It has been weeks since I last saw that man. I don't even want to say his name. While Ryan and I were casually sitting on the couch, I couldn't help but ask him. "Ryan?" He responded with a 'hmm?' "I didn't see him since then. What've you done? Killed him, put him in a sack and threw him down the river?"

He looked at me, giving me a weird look, "Your thoughts are pretty scary and violent for a pretty girl like you."
I chuckled, "Underestimating girls, I see." He gave me a lopsided smile, "Correction, underestimating you."
After a moment of laughter, I asked again. "But seriously, what did you do?"
He shot me a reassuring smile, "Please don't worry. I didn't murder him or anything of such absurdity." I took that as a final answer. As long as he didn't come infront of me, I was okay with anything. Hey, I'll take whatever I got.

The whole day, we've been lounging around the living room. Disney Channel was on, and we were very concentrated on watching Girl Meets World. I definitely mocked Ryan for that, but he said, "Even boys are never 'too old' for Disney," as he faked hurt.

"Mr Morson was demonstrating, and I quote, 'the proper way' to do the whip/nae nae," I blurted out as the show went on commercial. "What?" Ryan asked, weirded out by what I had just said. "I have it on video. Hold on a sec.." I searched through my photo gallery and finally found the video I was looking for. I handed my phone to Ryan, as the video started playing. He was watching the video very closely, and quietly. In the video, a bunch of students were gathered in a semi-circle, as my teacher stood there, doing the whip/nae nae in the 'proper way'. The students were laughing, and I was not the only one who was recording. By the end of the video, Ryan was laughing his head off, slapping his knee with his hand. I joined in, and we both just laid there laughing.

"Do you want pasta?" he asked me. "Of course," I chirped, even though I was in a devastating hungry state.

We decided to go to the 24 hour diner we always go to now, because they had amazing pasta, and a lot of choices in them as well.

If you were wondering, it's not winter anymore. Amen.

Winter went by, and the weather is now as fresh as ever, in the season of Spring. I was glad to be able to go out without huddling inside of sweaters and jackets, and being stuck in thick scarves and gloves.

We sat ourselves at the booth by the large window, and a young waitress our age came to take our orders.
"May I take you order?" she asked in a flirty voice, directed at Ryan. She batted her lashes, almost looking like she had something in her eye. Deciding not to be rude, I didn't say anything.

Ryan, however, paid no attention to her, much to her disliking. "I'll have a chicken pasta," he said in a monotone, not giving her a glance. He looked up from the menu and at me, "What do you want, babe?" I put my head down, trying to suppress the oncoming laughter. "I'll, uh," I looked to the waitress, and she was shooting daggers at me, "Shrimp pasta," I said hurriedly. She shot me one last glare and stomped away.
I turned my head to Ryan, and laughter erupted from the two of us. A high five followed after that, and we were grinning at each other like idiots.

Our pastas came, served on a plain white plate, with water by the side. I scarfed down my plate almost as soon as it hit the table. Man, I was starving.

"You're going to choke," Ryan told me. I swallowed the food in my mouth, "I don't care," I whined, "I'm starving."

I kept shoving my mouth with the pasta, and I wished I had listened to Ryan, because after a few minutes I was choking. Ryan offered me a glass of water, which I gladly took. I calmed down after a while of him patting my back. "Should've listened," he cooed. I mustered up a glare, "Not the time," I muttered. He chuckled to himself and took his place across from me.
"Don't rush. We don't have anywhere to be," he told me, and this time, I obediently did as told.

We finished eating, and now we were leaning on his motorcycle, taking pictures on his phone. The first picture we took was of us making a funny face, while I was sticking my tongue out. In the second one, we made rebellious poses, and in the third picture we simply smiled geeky smiles.

A girl offered to take our picture as we leaned on his motorcycle, and we gladly accepted.

In the picture, like I said we were leaning on his motorcycle, and his arm was snaked around my waist as we both looked at each other. Candid, you'd call it. The next one, we were in the same pose. Only this time, we were smiling at the camera.

I cannot express how happy I am to have a boyfriend who doesn't mind taking pictures. Actually, my boyfriend likes and offers to take pictures.

"You're beautiful," he said to me as I climbed onto the back on his motorcycle. His eyes were full of emotion, and I could easily pin point it. Love.

I leaned towards him, and said his ear, "You're beautiful, too." He turned his head to look at me, and scowled. "You're evil," and turned around to the front. I laughed wholeheartedly as I hardened my hold around his waist, and leaned my head against his back.

I was glad it's Spring. Now, we can ride on his motorcycle, and not worry about slipping because of the snow.

We reached home after a while, and I plopped onto my bed, exhausted from stuffing my face with pasta. "So. Boring." I said to myself, but I knew Ryan was there, leaning on my doorframe. He walked to me, looking down at me the entire time. I suddenly became alarmed of that, and sat up, looking back at him.

He sat infront of me, and leaned forward and planted a small, soft kiss on my lips. I could feel the presence of the giddiness that formed in my stomach, as I smiled a huge smile at Ryan, him mirroring my expression.

"I love you."
"I love you."
We both said at the same time, and burst into laughter. I enjoyed seeing him laugh, it made me happy to see him laugh. His laughter quieted down, as he said to me with a genuine smile on his face, "But seriously, Riley. I really do love you." I smiled back, "Ditto, idiot."