The following days Ronald tried to act as normal as possible, even though something was looming at the back of his mind all the time. Apparently he didn’t do very good job at acting normal because Lucas gave him odd looks and said several times that Ronald acted even more weird than usual.
Ronald just dismissed Lucas with a wave of his hand and told him he was fine. Lucas made a couple of jokes about Ronald turning into a werewolf and it made Ronald tense up every time and force out a timid laugh.
As the days passed by Lucas got more and more suspicious because no matter what Ronald did, Lucas knew him well enough to realise that something was going on.
“Why won’t you tell me what is going on?” Lucas asked on Thursday morning eight days after Ramsey had forced himself inside Ronald’s home and declared that Ronald will turn into a werewolf. Fortunately Ronald hadn’t seen Ramsey, not even once after he had stormed out of Ronald’s home.
“I have told you already, nothing’s wrong”, Ronald replied.
“Bullshit.”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Is n– what are we doing, this is childish”, Ronald groaned. “Seriously, everything’s cool, Lucas. I’m just a little bit stressed and tired.”
They stepped inside the biology classroom and noticed that the teacher was already there, so they didn’t continue their conversation, but the look on Lucas face told Ronald that the subject had not been finished.
When the school ended and Lucas had to stay after class to talk with their teacher, Ronald was walking alone along the hallway, deep in thought. He didn’t see Farrah until he accidentally walked straight against her back and stumbled backwards a few steps.
“Sorry”, Ronald said before he even had time to realise who he had bumped in to. When he saw Farrah’s face his heart missed a beat and he could feel his palms getting sweaty.
“Ronald Quinn”, Farrah said. “You have been avoiding me.”
Fortunately Ronald found his voice and courage to speak.
“I have not”, he lied, his voice trembling only a little and he was rather proud of himself for managing to get a full sentence out of his mouth.
“Yes, you have”, Farrah said and smiled. “How are you?”
“Great! Fine, I’m good.”
Farrah looked at him in disbelief. She was really pretty and standing so close Ronald could see every detail of her face; her beautiful, flawless skin, big dark eyes, a little beauty mark near her lip… Ronald realised he was staring and quickly looked away. He could feel the blush creeping its way on his face.
“Well if you say so”, Farrah said and Ronald let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks”, Ronald said, his cheeks still red. God, he was awkward.
“Walk me to my bike?”
Ronald was so surprised he forgot to answer but quickly opened his mouth when Farrah raised an eyebrow at him.
“Sure! Sure”, Ronald said.
They started walking towards the school’s front doors. A few students gave them weird looks, surprised to see such a popular girl like Farrah walking with someone… who they actually didn’t know and were not sure if they had ever even seen before. Ronald ignored the looks and so did Farrah who walked her back straight, head up high and a smile on her face, whereas Ronald tried to be as small and invisible as possible. He just had lost all his confidence he had received when he had talked back to Ramsey eight days ago.
Farrah didn’t try to say anything which was good because Ronald felt like he had lost the ability to speak; he just felt lost and confused.
“This is my bike”, Farrah said when they stepped outside and reached a nice yellow bike near the entrance. “Thanks for walking with me.”
Ronald nodded and then he dared to try if his voice would carry. “No problem.”
He looked around and saw students walking here and there, most of them not really paying any attention to Farrah and him anymore. It kind of annoyed Ronald. Here he was living his dream and nobody else cared? Tragic.
He happened to glance at the school’s gates and saw dark clothed man standing there, eyes fixed on Ronald and Farrah. Ronald narrowed his eyes and looked at Ramsey Barlow, hoping he would be closer so that the man would see the annoyed look on Ronald’s face and realise to stay away.
Then something very weird happened.
Ramsey lifted his index finger up, swirled it around and just like that he disappeared. Ronald blinked his eyes but Ramsey was nowhere to be seen anymore. He had disappeared and it was like… like magic.
“What are you?” Ronald muttered out loud.
“Excuse me?”
Ronald’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Farrah. “Nothing. I’m just mumbling to myself.” He wanted to slap himself as soon as he said that because great, that didn’t make him sound weird at all.
But Farrah just chuckled.
“That’s fine, I do that too”, she said and climbed on her bike. “Well, see you around, Ronald.”
Ronald still couldn’t believe that Farrah knew his name. “See you around.”
Farrah started cycling away and Ronald looked after her for a moment until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He tensed up and turned around but it was only Lucas. Ronald sighed in relief and slapped his best friend’s shoulder.
“Don’t sneak up on people like that!”
“I saw you talking with Farrah”, Lucas said, ignoring Ronald’s words. “What did you talk about? Did you choke? It didn’t seem like you choked but who knows with you to be honest–“
“I didn’t choke!” Ronald groaned. “I actually managed to have a conversation with her.”
Lucas fake wiped a tear from his cheek. “My son is growing. I’m so proud of you.”
“Oh piss off”, Ronald laughed and gently pushed Lucas.
They both laughed and started walking. It was time to finish their group project at Ronald’s home.
“Now we just have to spellcheck the whole thing and add pictures and then we are done!” Ronald said proudly two hours later, looking up from his laptop and at Lucas who was sitting on the couch.
“We are the best team”, Lucas said and blowed a kiss at Ronald who caught it and pressed it on top of his heart. They started laughing but it was cut short when the door opened and Mr. Quinn walked inside.
“What are you doing?” he asked rudely as soon as he entered the living room and saw the mess of paper notes, pens and laptops on the floor. “What is this mess?”
“Sorry, Sir”, Lucas said. “We were doing our biology group project.”
“There’s only two of you. That is not a group.”
“The teacher said we could do it by ourselves since there was not enough students to add a third member to our group”, Ronald explained, hoping his dad would retreat to his office soon without causing a scene in front of Lucas.
“A-ha, I see”, Mr. Quinn said. “I expect you two to clean up this messquietlyas I go to my office and do some actualwork.”
He left and Ronald stared after him, angry and ashamed. He wanted to throw a textbook at his dad’s head but he didn’t have the balls to do that.
“Sorry about that”, Ronald said to his best friend.
“Ah, you know I don’t mind, I know how he can be”, Lucas said. “I’m your best friend, remember?”
“I think you’re my only friend.”
“That too”, Lucas laughed and then slapped a hand to his mouth. “Shh.”
“But you’re right, about my dad. He is like Rapunzel, only instead of letting his hair down he lets down everyone in his life.”
“That’s...deep. And rude, imagine if he would hear you say that”, Lucas whispered.
They giggled quietly and cleaned up the living room, putting all the notes in folders and between their textbooks. Lucas took his laptop and stuffed it into his school bag.
“I will do the final touches to our PowerPoint show”, Ronald promised and walked Lucas to the door. They didn’t have a chance to open the door because Mrs. Quinn walked in and slammed the door shut.
“Shh!” Ronald and Lucas shushed together and Ronald’s mum looked at them like as if they had gone crazy.
“Did you two just shush me?” she asked.
“Dad’s home”, Ronald explained and that was enough for Mrs. Quinn to catch his drift.
“Oh, bad day, huh?” she asked and when both Lucas and Ronald nodded she smiled tiredly and patted the boys’ heads. “Well, I hope you two managed to finish your group project before he came back home. I will go check on him. If I’m not back in five minutes, call the police.”
They knew she was only joking but God knows Ronald would keep his phone near anyway. Lucas waved goodbye and left. Mrs. Quinn went straight in to the belly of the beast while Ronald entered the kitchen and decided to feed his own grumbling belly. After all he had done many hours their group project and forgot to eat.
His mother came back just when Ronald was stuffing his third slice of bread in his mouth. Mrs. Quinn looked at her sternly.
“There’s food ready to be heated up in the fridge and you fill your stomach with bread?” she said. “I thought I raised you better than that.”
“Apparently not”, Ronald grinned and his mother threw a dishtowel at him.
“When did you become so sassy?”
“Don’t sound so surprised”, Ronald said and swallowed his food. “I have my moments.”
Ronald just dismissed Lucas with a wave of his hand and told him he was fine. Lucas made a couple of jokes about Ronald turning into a werewolf and it made Ronald tense up every time and force out a timid laugh.
As the days passed by Lucas got more and more suspicious because no matter what Ronald did, Lucas knew him well enough to realise that something was going on.
“Why won’t you tell me what is going on?” Lucas asked on Thursday morning eight days after Ramsey had forced himself inside Ronald’s home and declared that Ronald will turn into a werewolf. Fortunately Ronald hadn’t seen Ramsey, not even once after he had stormed out of Ronald’s home.
“I have told you already, nothing’s wrong”, Ronald replied.
“Bullshit.”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Is n– what are we doing, this is childish”, Ronald groaned. “Seriously, everything’s cool, Lucas. I’m just a little bit stressed and tired.”
They stepped inside the biology classroom and noticed that the teacher was already there, so they didn’t continue their conversation, but the look on Lucas face told Ronald that the subject had not been finished.
When the school ended and Lucas had to stay after class to talk with their teacher, Ronald was walking alone along the hallway, deep in thought. He didn’t see Farrah until he accidentally walked straight against her back and stumbled backwards a few steps.
“Sorry”, Ronald said before he even had time to realise who he had bumped in to. When he saw Farrah’s face his heart missed a beat and he could feel his palms getting sweaty.
“Ronald Quinn”, Farrah said. “You have been avoiding me.”
Fortunately Ronald found his voice and courage to speak.
“I have not”, he lied, his voice trembling only a little and he was rather proud of himself for managing to get a full sentence out of his mouth.
“Yes, you have”, Farrah said and smiled. “How are you?”
“Great! Fine, I’m good.”
Farrah looked at him in disbelief. She was really pretty and standing so close Ronald could see every detail of her face; her beautiful, flawless skin, big dark eyes, a little beauty mark near her lip… Ronald realised he was staring and quickly looked away. He could feel the blush creeping its way on his face.
“Well if you say so”, Farrah said and Ronald let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks”, Ronald said, his cheeks still red. God, he was awkward.
“Walk me to my bike?”
Ronald was so surprised he forgot to answer but quickly opened his mouth when Farrah raised an eyebrow at him.
“Sure! Sure”, Ronald said.
They started walking towards the school’s front doors. A few students gave them weird looks, surprised to see such a popular girl like Farrah walking with someone… who they actually didn’t know and were not sure if they had ever even seen before. Ronald ignored the looks and so did Farrah who walked her back straight, head up high and a smile on her face, whereas Ronald tried to be as small and invisible as possible. He just had lost all his confidence he had received when he had talked back to Ramsey eight days ago.
Farrah didn’t try to say anything which was good because Ronald felt like he had lost the ability to speak; he just felt lost and confused.
“This is my bike”, Farrah said when they stepped outside and reached a nice yellow bike near the entrance. “Thanks for walking with me.”
Ronald nodded and then he dared to try if his voice would carry. “No problem.”
He looked around and saw students walking here and there, most of them not really paying any attention to Farrah and him anymore. It kind of annoyed Ronald. Here he was living his dream and nobody else cared? Tragic.
He happened to glance at the school’s gates and saw dark clothed man standing there, eyes fixed on Ronald and Farrah. Ronald narrowed his eyes and looked at Ramsey Barlow, hoping he would be closer so that the man would see the annoyed look on Ronald’s face and realise to stay away.
Then something very weird happened.
Ramsey lifted his index finger up, swirled it around and just like that he disappeared. Ronald blinked his eyes but Ramsey was nowhere to be seen anymore. He had disappeared and it was like… like magic.
“What are you?” Ronald muttered out loud.
“Excuse me?”
Ronald’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Farrah. “Nothing. I’m just mumbling to myself.” He wanted to slap himself as soon as he said that because great, that didn’t make him sound weird at all.
But Farrah just chuckled.
“That’s fine, I do that too”, she said and climbed on her bike. “Well, see you around, Ronald.”
Ronald still couldn’t believe that Farrah knew his name. “See you around.”
Farrah started cycling away and Ronald looked after her for a moment until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He tensed up and turned around but it was only Lucas. Ronald sighed in relief and slapped his best friend’s shoulder.
“Don’t sneak up on people like that!”
“I saw you talking with Farrah”, Lucas said, ignoring Ronald’s words. “What did you talk about? Did you choke? It didn’t seem like you choked but who knows with you to be honest–“
“I didn’t choke!” Ronald groaned. “I actually managed to have a conversation with her.”
Lucas fake wiped a tear from his cheek. “My son is growing. I’m so proud of you.”
“Oh piss off”, Ronald laughed and gently pushed Lucas.
They both laughed and started walking. It was time to finish their group project at Ronald’s home.
“Now we just have to spellcheck the whole thing and add pictures and then we are done!” Ronald said proudly two hours later, looking up from his laptop and at Lucas who was sitting on the couch.
“We are the best team”, Lucas said and blowed a kiss at Ronald who caught it and pressed it on top of his heart. They started laughing but it was cut short when the door opened and Mr. Quinn walked inside.
“What are you doing?” he asked rudely as soon as he entered the living room and saw the mess of paper notes, pens and laptops on the floor. “What is this mess?”
“Sorry, Sir”, Lucas said. “We were doing our biology group project.”
“There’s only two of you. That is not a group.”
“The teacher said we could do it by ourselves since there was not enough students to add a third member to our group”, Ronald explained, hoping his dad would retreat to his office soon without causing a scene in front of Lucas.
“A-ha, I see”, Mr. Quinn said. “I expect you two to clean up this messquietlyas I go to my office and do some actualwork.”
He left and Ronald stared after him, angry and ashamed. He wanted to throw a textbook at his dad’s head but he didn’t have the balls to do that.
“Sorry about that”, Ronald said to his best friend.
“Ah, you know I don’t mind, I know how he can be”, Lucas said. “I’m your best friend, remember?”
“I think you’re my only friend.”
“That too”, Lucas laughed and then slapped a hand to his mouth. “Shh.”
“But you’re right, about my dad. He is like Rapunzel, only instead of letting his hair down he lets down everyone in his life.”
“That’s...deep. And rude, imagine if he would hear you say that”, Lucas whispered.
They giggled quietly and cleaned up the living room, putting all the notes in folders and between their textbooks. Lucas took his laptop and stuffed it into his school bag.
“I will do the final touches to our PowerPoint show”, Ronald promised and walked Lucas to the door. They didn’t have a chance to open the door because Mrs. Quinn walked in and slammed the door shut.
“Shh!” Ronald and Lucas shushed together and Ronald’s mum looked at them like as if they had gone crazy.
“Did you two just shush me?” she asked.
“Dad’s home”, Ronald explained and that was enough for Mrs. Quinn to catch his drift.
“Oh, bad day, huh?” she asked and when both Lucas and Ronald nodded she smiled tiredly and patted the boys’ heads. “Well, I hope you two managed to finish your group project before he came back home. I will go check on him. If I’m not back in five minutes, call the police.”
They knew she was only joking but God knows Ronald would keep his phone near anyway. Lucas waved goodbye and left. Mrs. Quinn went straight in to the belly of the beast while Ronald entered the kitchen and decided to feed his own grumbling belly. After all he had done many hours their group project and forgot to eat.
His mother came back just when Ronald was stuffing his third slice of bread in his mouth. Mrs. Quinn looked at her sternly.
“There’s food ready to be heated up in the fridge and you fill your stomach with bread?” she said. “I thought I raised you better than that.”
“Apparently not”, Ronald grinned and his mother threw a dishtowel at him.
“When did you become so sassy?”
“Don’t sound so surprised”, Ronald said and swallowed his food. “I have my moments.”