Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning with a lazy face. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night since Ryder woke me up.

I smacked my face with my hand and groaned. This was gonna be a long trip. I hadn't even asked my mom if I could go yet.

I walked down the stairs and looked at the time. 10 o'clock a.m. I wanted to punch everything.

"Hey sweetie," my mom came over and pecked me on the head with a kiss. I have never seen her this happy on a Saturday morning.

"Hey mom, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

She shook her head. "Not until tonight. But guess what?"

"What?"

"I got promoted!" she squealed in delight. I hugged her tightly and was so happy for her.

"Wait," I back up, "you're a lawyer, how do you get promoted?"

"Well, I have to be at the office more now," more? "But I get a raise in salary and the firm had this program that'll get you a scholarship in college. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, but what's the point of a scholarship if I don't earn it?" I asked.

She shrugged. "If you don't want it, that's fine Ruby. But I was just wanting to offer it to you."

"Thanks mom." I hugged her.

"Also, is it okay if I go on a trip this Christmas break? It's to Oklahoma..." I had my begging face on and hopeful eyes.

She sighed. "Why?"

"It's for a championship match. Not for me, but for the neighbor. We've become good friends and he was wondering if I wanted to come with him as like a...manager, sort of..."

My mom had her lips pursed to the sides and I could tell she was debating on whether or not this was a good idea.

"So what you're asking me is if you can go halfway across the country with a boy I've never met by yourselves so he can compete and you can 'manage'?" she said.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"I'll let you go, but I have to meet him today." My mom said.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll go get him right now."

So here I was, running across the lawn at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning to my narcissistic neighbor.

Why did I even want to go? Spending more time with him is not what was on my schedule.

I paused at his front door before knocking three times. I waited, and waited, and finally when I was about to turn back around and tell my mom that I didn't want to go, the door swung open to a half-naked Ryder in a white towel.

His hair was wet and I saw the low 'v' of his body and tingled.

"My eyes are up here, sweetheart." He smirked and I instantly blushed.

"My mom said that if I wanted to go she'd have to meet you first."

He smiled. "Sure. I'll be over in a bit." I nodded and turned around to leave and quickly walked back to my house.

•••

"Coming!" I yelled while I was stepping down the stairs to a ringing doorbell.

I opened the door and revealed Ryder in a grey cuffed up v neck with nice jeans and his hair looking softer than ever. "Hey, Ruby." He said.

"Hey, come on in." I greeted him and ushered him inside. My mom came out of the kitchen with a coffee mug in her hands. She was wearing pink panther pajama pants and a loose, black shirt with the words 'Coffee Makes Me Happy' written on it in white. You would never have guessed that she was a lawyer.

"Hi, I'm Brenda. Nice to meet you." My mom said and shook hands with Ryder.

"Ryder Daniels. It's my pleasure." Was this a polite side of Ryder I was seeing?

"Come on in to the kitchen. I just finished making pancakes." So we followed my mom and sat down at the barstools.

"Here you go, would you like anything to drink?" she asked and we both replied apple juice. My mom giggled and went to get our glasses.

"Don't screw this up." I whispered to Ryder as he bit into his pancake.

"I won't sweetheart." He winked and I wanted to push him off the stool.

"You don't want syrup?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I don't like it. Too sweet."

"Weirdo."

My mom came back with our drinks and I started to eat. She stood on the other side of the counter and sipped her coffee. "So Ryder, I hear you compete a lot."

"Yes ma'am. Almost every week." He answered.

"Ruby used to watch them a lot, I don't know what happened?" my mom said. I only shrugged and kept eating.

"This competition, how long is it?"

Ryder took a drink of his juice. "Four days. If we leave by this afternoon, we can get checked into the hotel and get prepared for the fight on Monday. Then fly back Tuesday."

My mom nodded. "How much do I owe you for the ticket?"

Ryder shook his head. "Nothing. Our tickets are free, including the hotel rooms. The owners of the competition provide them for us."

"That's nice." My mom said.

After then, we chatted about the fight and everything else we could. Ryder said that he needed to get back so he could pack, and my mom offered to drive us both to the airport.

"Bye mom." I said and kissed her cheek at the security checkpoint. "Don't work too hard."

She chuckled and hugged me tightly. "I won't honey. Have fun, okay? And don't do anything that I wouldn't want you doing." She pulled me back and looked in my face. "Call me if there's anything you need, okay?"

"Alright mom. Love you!" I called back when Ryder and I rolled our suitcases through the checkpoint.

After I lost sight of her waving hand, I turned to Ryder and he pointed to gate 24 down the hall.

We found two seats by the window and I looked out onto the field. There were airplanes flying off the runways.

"Ever been on a plane before?" I asked Ryder.

"Yep, but I'm not too fond of them. I'd much rather drive."

I laughed and couldn't wait to tease Ryder about his fear of flying.

"Flight 394 to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. First class, please board."

I still sat in my seat, thinking that we were on coach, but I guessed wrong until Ryder grabbed my hand and pulled me to the line.

"We're first class?" I asked, excited.

He chuckled and handed me my ticket. "Sure are. Only the best for you my darling."

We made it into the plane and found our seats near the front. I had never flown in first class before, and I had to admit, I felt classy and excited.

I put my carry on in the overhead bin and sat down in the window seat. I watched as cars drove past to direct airplanes.

"This is exciting." I said when Ryder took the seat next to mine.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. Today's flight will be to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The time right now is ten o'clock a.m. The flight will take approximately two hours. Please remember to fasten your seatbelts when the light is on at all times. Thank you for flying with American Airlines, and enjoy your flight." The scratchy voice from the intercom clicked off and I readied myself for takeoff.

The pilot had just stopped speaking, and Ruby went to fasten her seatbelt. I was a little nervous, but just a little. I had always hated flights because of the heights and the way it lifts off and touches down. But Ruby seemed completely at ease, so she calmed me down a bit.

I pulled out my laptop and opened up Netflix. "What movie do you want to watch?" I asked her.

"Any movie's fine."

So I picked World War Z with the amazing Brad Pitt. I handed her an earphone and placed the laptop on the small pull out table in front of us.

Ruby leaned in close so that the earphones wouldn't fall out. We were merely inches from each other. I could smell her shampoo on her...lavender. I restrained myself from reaching out and touching her hair.

We watched the movie as the plane lifted off, and Ruby laughed at me when I held my breath in during it.

"Not all of us are born brave, huh Ryder?" Ruby teased and I glared at her but couldn't help from smiling.

The flight went on smoothly, an hour passed before Ruby fell asleep. When the plane hit a small bump of turbulence, her head rolled to my side and onto my shoulder. It was like in those movies.

I watched her chest rise and fall as she breathed slowly. I didn't want to move, partly because it would wake her up, and partly because I like the way she slept on my shoulder.

You sound like a pussy.

I continued watching the movie, but got distracted by something else.

A couple days ago, I had seen another picture from Ruby's fight on the internet. The Pennsylvania Journal was no problem, hopefully, but his one had been on a national spread, but it wasn't as popular as the other one.

I wanted to hurt the people who were posting these pictures without Ruby's consent. But most of all, I wanted to kill the Silents, and keep them from getting to Ruby.