Maya Granger

It's a very rare thing for West Brighton High School to be bustling with excitement, especially for a school in Middle of Knowhere, Virginia, where nothing happens. So, it came as no shock to me when news of one Ryder O'Connel coming back to our humble learning center was enough to send every student into an excited frenzy. Okay, not every student, obviously, but a mass majority of them.

Who's Ryder O'Connel, you may ask?

That's a good question that I can't answer.

However, from what I do know through the school grapevine, and thanks to my very small circle of friends, Ryder O'Connel was our high school's very own "bad boy." What is this, two-thousand eight? Are bad boys seriously still a thing? I digress. Apparently, he's a bit on the rebellious side of things, choosing to let his fists do the talking, made a teacher rage quit, got caught smoking on school grounds, and knocked our principal's wig off on purpose.

"Okay, hold up, stop painting him as the bad guy here," Ashton interrupted as I listed off his best friend's less than stellar reputation, excusing himself when he almost bumped into another student rushing off to their first class as well.

"Well, you haven't exactly given me anything about this guy that would counter the rumors," I pointed to him, sharing a smile with Taylor, a girl I share my biology class with, as she passed by me. "And Cherry says he's really extra."

"Cherry thinks everyone's extra," Ashton deadpanned, and, yeah, okay, that's fair. "But also, I don't want you forming opinions on the guy based off things I say about him, and leave that up to when you actually meet him."

I raised a brow at him, just a bit impressed. "That's surprisingly the wisest thing you've ever said in the one year that we've been friends. But that's beside the point. The point is, Ashton, there's plenty of stuff about him going around that I could form an opinion with, but I haven't!"

I got an unimpressed look for that.

"Okay, I'm a liar," I conceded. "But it's hard not to, especially the past few days! All the buzz about Ryder O'Connel being back has people talking, and they are not making him out to be a saint. By the way, where has he been again?"

The look didn't go away as Ashton said, "I'm gonna let that one slide and go along with the topic change. He transferred schools when his dad took a contract in California, just before you transferred here. Now he's back, and you finally get to meet my bro!"

Frowning up at him, I said, "You call everyone your bro."

Coming to a stop, he paused, narrowed his eyes, then grinned widely at me and declared, "He's my ultimate bro!"

"Bro!"

My head whipped around to see whose voice suddenly echoed off the hallway walls and over the general chattering of the other students around us, and found a bouquet of roses being held high above everyone's heads. I raised a brow when everyone around us paused to see what the sudden ruckus was about as well while the bouquet seemed to make its way towards us.

Ashton raised his arms up as if to cheer and hollered back, "Bro!"

The roses were waved back and forth. "I got you broses!"

It's important to keep in mind that it's one thing to see someone in a picture, and another thing entirely to see them in person. So, I've seen Ryder O'Connel in pictures before (he and Ashton have a surprising amount of selfies on Ashton's Instagram account) and I'm aware that he's good looking with his jet black hair combed back and shaved close at the sides, dark smiling eyes and prominently straight nose. One could say he's unfairly handsome.

So, my brain knew this fact. However, there is a difference between being prepared, and being ready. And boy, was I not ready to see Ryder O'Connel in person. I suddenly can relate to the excited squeals the girls in my classroom erupted into whenever the topic of Ryder came up.

"Did you really buy these?" Ashton laughed when Ryder reached him and pulled him into a hug.

Ryder grinned proudly as they pulled back. "Of course! They were on sale."

Ashton suddenly gasped, stepping back as if to put more distance between him and Ryder, mouth dropped open in mock offense. "Oh, I see how it is, O'Connel. You think I'm a cheap date? Well, I have news for you, mister. I am an independent woman who needs no man! Take your cheap roses elsewhere, peasant!"

To say that I'm having very mixed feelings at this moment would be an understatement. This...this was not what I was expecting.

All dramatically, Ryder jerked back as if he'd been slapped, one hand clutching the bouquet close to his chest, the sudden movement making some petals fall to the floor, and the other hand coming up to cup his cheek like some young maiden from a historical romance novel. "But-But...broses..."

Ashton sniffed, nose turned up. "I don't need them."

"No!" Ryder fell to his knees, fake sobs wracking his shoulders. "How could you?"

At this point, the two has drawn a crowd, and a few phones were out filming the scene they were making while everyone else watched on in amusement and snickered. Suddenly, like someone flipped a switch, Ryder was back on his feet with a wide grin that was so giddy I could feel it. How? Because it was aimed at me.

The broses were suddenly right under my nose, a hair's breadth away from tickling my nostrils.

"Hi. I'm Ryder. Will you accept my broses and go out with me?"

I blinked.

Ashton cackled in the background.

What?

"I didn't think you'd do it!" Ashton exclaimed as he drops an arm around Ryder's shoulders, and wiped actual tears from the corners of his eyes.

Ryder's grin morphed into a glare he pinned on Ashton, his cheeks suspiciously dark with a tinge of red. "Shut up. I told you it was love at first sight."

What?!

"Hey, I believe you now," Ashton said, raising both hands up as if in surrender, mouth still quirked in a smile. "I have seen with my own two eyes."

What is going on?

Thankfully, Ashton saw my confusion and grinned, taking pity on me because I obviously do not speak Rydernese. "When I told him about you, I showed him some of your pictures. Next thing I knew, I was listening to him waxing poetic how he's in love."

I didn't believe him. Until I glanced back at Ryder and found the red in his cheeks had turned brighter along with the tips of his ears while Ashton stepped back up beside him and dropped his arm across Ryder's shoulders again. "I honestly didn't believe you would do it, dude!"

"Shut up." Ryder's grumble was barely audible over the sudden murmurs of the crowd around us.

Oh, god. There's a crowd watching us. There's a crowd watching us that just saw Ryder and Ashton act like fools. There's a crowd watching us that just saw Ryder and Ashton act like fools and witnessed Ryder ask me out. Oh, god.

"Hey, O'Connel, think fast!"

Following the loud exclamation was a chorus of panicked shouts and when I turned to see what was causing such a reaction, I caught a brief glimpse of a white blur before I found myself with an armful of broses right before the world spun.

There were arms around my torso, a hand cradled at the back of my head and my cheek pressed into a slightly too warm chest that smelled like spice and laundry soap. Over a broad shoulder, I watched, wide-eyed, as a baseball bounced harmlessly down the hallway before one student scooped it up. That was when I noticed the unnatural silence and the fact that we were being stared at even more now.

We?

"Are you alright?" Warm breath fanned my ear at the hushed whisper.

My heart felt like it was trying to jump straight out of my chest. Still wide-eyed, I turned my head and found my gaze parallel with chapped, dark pink lips. A sudden heat in my cheeks had my eyes snapping up to find Ryder O'Connel watching me with concern and slight amusement, and oh my god, he's too close! Our noses are almost touching.

Too close!

"Maya?"

"Too close!"

"Gah!"

And just like that, the warmth that surrounded me disappeared and when I opened my eyes that I didn't even realize I had screwed shut, Ryder was a few steps away from me, head turned up with a hand under his nose, and the heel of my right hand was throbbing.

Ashton's cackle filled the stunned silence.

***

In all my seventeen years of living, I never thought I'd be able to relate to a bouquet of wilting broses. But, miracles of miracles, as I sat in the principal's office with Ryder O'Connel and half the baseball team, I felt more emotionally connected to the flowers than I did with anyone else in my entire life.

"I had no doubts I'd be seeing you again in my office, Mr. O'Connel," Mr. Poulson paused, "but you, Miss Granger? I guess there really is a first for everything."

Behind me, there were several snickers from the baseball team, but it was quickly muted when Mr. Poulson narrowed his eyes at them. I wasn't able to resist the urge to roll my eyes at them. Children. Then, Mr. Poulson got into lecturing us on school regulations and discipline and I could feel a gaze on the side of my face. I didn't need to look to see who was staring so intently at me, but I did anyway.

As soon as our eyes met, Ryder sent me a smile that had my cheeks catching fire and my gaze snapping back to Mr. Poulson. Well, more accurately, his wig. He can never seem to get the right color and it's obvious enough that it became sort of an open secret with everyone in West Brighton High.

"All of you go home."

The declaration made my eyes widen in horror while the baseball team cheered.

"But, Mr. Poulson-"

"That means you too, Miss Granger."

My mouth snapped shut with an audible click and our principal went on, "Unless one of you can tell me who threw that ball, you're all responsible for what happened. Be glad it's not a week of detention."

"But-" I tried again.

"That's final, Miss Granger."

But several of my classes were going to have quizzes that I can't miss. However, before I could plead my case any further, I was ushered out of the office with everyone else and found myself in the middle of a celebration as the baseball team whooped and hollered their glee at the result of the hallway fiasco.

Ryder was right there with them, sharing hi-fives and slaps on the back.

I started heading for my locker, battered broses still in the crook of my arm, and a knot of dread in my stomach. Something was telling me my carefully crafted life had just been upturned and there's only one person to blame.

"Hey, Maya, wait up!"

Speak of the devil.

I didn't dare stop, not with my locker so close.

The hurried footsteps behind me in the empty hallway didn't let up.

"Hey," Ryder breathed just as I was opening my locker. "Um, sorry about what happened back there..."

I cast a side-way look at him before hefting my backpack over my shoulder and slamming the locker door shut. "You're gonna have to be more specific than that," I replied as I started making my way down the hall once again, mentally applauding myself for not tripping over the words.

Because as much as I hate to admit it, Ryder O'Connel is affecting me in the way that an attractive person or celebrity can to a hardcore fan. And that's not good. Nothing good can come out of that.

Nada.

Zilch.

Nein.

I need to nip that in the bud ASAP...if only my racing heart can get with the program.

The footsteps were back and the next thing I knew, Ryder was matching my rather hurried speed that had me inwardly cursing his long legs.

"For the- For the everything that happened," he said and from my peripheral, I could see that I had his complete attention and that is not good for my heart.

"For the everything?" I repeated, once again surprising myself at how steady I sounded and managing not to stumble over my own two feet.

There was a smile on the edge of Ryder's mouth. "Yeah. I totally deserved to have the heel of your hand shoved up my nose."

I winced at the reminder, because, yeah...not my finest moment. "Sorry. How is it, by the way?"

"Meh," he shrugged before gingerly poking at the nose in question. "The ice helped. Nurse Lee has always had a soft spot for me."

I nodded for a lack of anything else to say. "Right."

We continued walking in silence before Ryder started humming a familiar tune under his breath that had my brow ticking up in interest then my head shaking in disbelief. "Of course," I muttered.

"What?"

I laughed a bit. "I said, of course. Ashton sings that song at every opportunity he gets. Especially with his-" I lifted my hands to use air quotations, "-bros."

Ryder laughed as well. "I would hope so! I introduced him to this song!"

"So you're the one to blame for his Bro obsession!" I exclaimed in genuine shock, pointing a finger up at his face.

He shrugged with a mischievous grin. "I wouldn't say blame. Though, I do take proud credit for it."

"You've created a monster," I tell him with a shake of my head. "I hope your pride is worth it."

Ryder pinched his fingers together until there was only a centimeter's worth of space between his thumb and index and squints through it. "Just a little bit."

"Of course," I muttered on an incredulous huff of laughter and shook my head again.

When we pushed open the school doors and stepped out I was suddenly reminded of my predicament. I had no car, no driver's license (carpooling with friends makes you lazy apparently), and I didn't want to call my parents.

I glared up at Ryder.

"Woah, what did I do?" he asked upon seeing my sudden aggression, raising his hands in the air as if in surrender.

"This is all your fault," I tell him as I gripped the straps of my backpack and continued to glare. "Thanks to you, I'm missing class and some very important quizzes and now I have to rely on Ashton's chicken scrawl notes and dad's gonna probably ground me, and Nick's gonna laugh at me and mom- well...mom's a special child but we love her-"

"Maya!"

My head snapped up from where I didn't even realize I had lowered it and was staring at the concrete ground. "What?"

Ryder's eyes were dancing with amusement and I felt myself bristle, ready to demand what he found so funny because, really? This is a serious matter, dangnabbit! But before I could act on it, he asked, "Can I give you a ride home?"

"Ride?" I blinked. That was not what I was expecting. "Home?"

"Yeah," he nodded then held up a ring of keys from a black fob and gave it a little shake. "You know, vroom vroom? To the place you live at?"

And I was scowling again, but there was less heat behind it. "No."

"No?" This time, Ryder blinked.

I sniffed. "I need a ride to the library."

I expected a frown, a scoff, a rude comment about books, but Ryder continues to derail my expectations of him. "Library you say?" The question was apparently rhetorical as he went on, a wide, excited grin on his face. "Well then, why didn't you say so? Let's go!"

Suddenly, he had a hand on my wrist and was pulling me along behind him as he rushed us down the steps that lead up to the school building, across the driveway and into the parking lot pass rows and rows of cars until we reached a large, black pick-up truck.

Bewildered, and a bit dazed, I asked, "This is your ride?"

"Yep!" Ryder grinned proudly and patted the hood. "This is Lola. Lola, meet Maya. Maya, Lola! Fun fact, did you know Lola means grandma in Tagalog?"

I quirked a brow at him. "Yeah. I'm friends with Cherry, remember?"

Ryder visibly deflated, his shoulders slumping and his gaze going to the ground. "Oh, yeah...and here I thought I could impress you with my language skills."

I suddenly had this urge to comfort the poor guy, or maybe punch him because that should not be cute! After a brief struggle, I gave into the first urge. "If it makes you feel any better, I barely remember half of the words Cherry tries to teach me."

"Dude, I know what you mean!" And Ryder was back to grinning brightly. It was like watching someone flip a switch. "Anyway, shall we go?"

I feel like I was getting whiplash with how fast he was bouncing from one thing to another. I was surprised I could even nod in reply, much less toss my bag up ahead of me and climb into the truck when he held the door open.

Well...tried to climb in.

"What the heck, Ryder," I grunted as I made another attempt. "How high did you jack this thing up? It's so obnoxious!"

There was a gasp behind me, followed by Ryder softly saying, "She didn't mean it, Lola."

With one leg propped up in the truck, the other dangling and both my arms clinging to the passenger seat, I looked over my shoulder and found Ryder giving the door frame a fond pat. "Do you two need a room?" I asked him drily.

"Aw, don't be a jelly bean, Maya," Ryder cooed, which I pointedly ignored and continued the struggle of getting into his vehicle. I heard him move around before he said, "This is painful to watch, here."

"Woah!" My arms flailed as two hands gripped my waist and I was airborne. "Ryder!"

"My god, you're tiny!" was his only reply, then I was in the truck, my bum bouncing a bit on the leather seat. When I looked back to Ryder, he was staring at his hands with a frown. "Do you even eat? My fingers almost touched! Should I be worried?!"

His questions caught me completely off guard, especially the slightly panicked look in his eyes when they snapped up to me. "What? No. I eat! I just," I paused, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious for some weird reason, "I have a fast metabolism and both my parents are slim...it's hereditary, I think. Look, it's normal for me, okay?"

The panic turned into doubt.

"Seriously," I continued and huffed when he doesn't move or say anything. "I just don't like talking about it. People, I found out, get kinda weird when you talk about metabolisms and what-not."

Another beat of silence, then; "For real?"

I nodded as earnestly as I could. It's sweet, I think, that he's worried about my health, but there was really nothing to be worried about. "Honest."

"Okay," he nodded back then shot me a smile before making a move to finally close the passenger door.

I blew out a puff of air and followed Ryder with my eyes as he walked around the front of the truck and pulled himself up in to slide behind the steering wheel with ease. I scrunched my nose at him. "Show off."

"Only for you!" Ryder laughed shortly and winked as he tossed his own bag into the backseat then pulled his phone out of his pocket to connect it to the AUX.

When he turned the key in the ignition, the truck roared to life along with its stereo.

"No," I groaned as a familiar tune filled the space. Ryder laughed again and I shot him a dirty look. "Thanks a lot. Not it's gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the year!"

Instead of answering, Ryder graced me with his decent singing voice as he belted out the lyrics of Bromance without missing a beat and steered us out of the school parking lot.

"Wait," I said as we got unto the highway. "Did I put the broses in my locker?"

Ryder's cackle wasn't unlike Ashton's.

* * *

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