I Think You Could Do Much Better Than Me

I groaned at my alarm. I squinted at the brightness of my phone and shut off the alarm. I sat up in bed and yawned while stretching. Finally, I forced myself out of bed and into the shower.

After my shower, I dried my hair and got dressed. I put on a nice shirt and jeans. My black hair had grown since the last time I cut it about a month ago, but I ignored it and started packing for school. I put all my homework from the night before into my book bag and then headed downstairs.

My mom had breakfast on the dining room table, so I sat at the table and helped myself to the food.

“Good morning, Ryan,” my mom greeted when she walked into the dining room with more food.

I took a sip of my chocolate milk then said good morning back. I also said good morning to my dad who had also come into the dining room. He grumbled back good morning and sat across from me at the table. He complained to my mom about work like he usually did in the mornings before he went to work.

Once I finished my breakfast, I went out to my car. I cranked up the engine and let it warm up, and then drove to school.

The sky was filled with dark clouds. It was supposed to be a lot of heavy rain today and I just hoped it would hold off until I was home.

I got to school a few minutes before school let in like I usually did. While in the hallway, the bell rang. I got my math book out of my locker and headed to my math class. This was one of my nicer classes. There wasn’t as many people packed into a small room and it was a college level class. Dayln had this class and it surprised many people. He was actually really smart; he just chose not to show it. He would rather party and date every girl in town anyway.

I took a seat in the back of class where I usually sat. Some people I was friends with sat around me. Dayln wasn’t here as usual. A girl named Maria, who sat in the row next to mine, gave me an amused look and laughed.

“What’s funny?” I asked her with a confused look.

She let out another giggle, but didn’t say anything and turned around in her desk. I just shrugged it off and took out my math homework. I looked over it until another one of my friend sat down in front of Maria. Brad turned around and gave me a fist bump.

I gave him a confused look, because he usually never did that, “Dude, what was that for?”
“That’s for you and your girlfriend,” He laughed.

“My girlfriend?” I said raising my eyebrow.

He nodded, “Yeah, aren’t you dating Rose Flowers?”

“Who told you that?” I asked.

“So, you are dating her?” He questioned with an amused look. Maria turned and laughed with Brad.

“It doesn’t matter if I am or not,” I said a bit annoyed, “Who told you that?”

He shrugged, “I’ve just been hearing people talking about it; nobody told me directly.”

“And I’ve heard a lot of people say they saw you at the movies and at a restaurant,” Maria chimed in.

“Did you hear that from Megan?” I asked Maria.

“I heard her say she saw you and Rose at the movies, but that’s it,” Maria said.

I sighed, “Don’t listen to what those people are saying.”

Dayln came into the class just as I was talking to Brad and Maria. He sat in front of me and gave me his best shit eating grin. “So, I heard you and Rose finally got together.”

“Actually we didn’t,” I hissed at him, “I think Megan and her friends are telling people we are dating.”

Dayln lifted his hands in defense, “Whoa dude, who pissed in your cornflakes? Calm down, okay. It’s not even that big of a deal. Let people think you both are dating. It’s pretty obvious you like her anyway.”

“I don’t like—,” I started.

“Oh, don’t tell me that bullshit, Ryan. You’ve been hanging out with her almost every day for the last three weeks. It’s pretty obvious you two like each other so just ask her out already,” Dayln stated.

I hated to say this, but Dayln was actually right. After the night we went to the movies together, we started hanging out more often. We even started texting each other. I couldn’t really deny that I liked Rose. Everyone saw it and I couldn’t hide it anymore. Especially not with the rumors that someone had started.

“Is it really that noticeable?” I asked looking to everyone sitting around me. Everyone nodded fiercely, making me laugh. I turned to Dayln again, “If I did ask her out, she’d say no.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Dayln said confidently.

“Why do you sound so confident?” I asked him.

“Let’s just say I’ve talked to someone that knows Rose really well and they know she likes you,” Dayln laughed.

“You’ve been talking to James?” I raised an eyebrow at Dayln, “ You started the rumors didn’t you?”

He shrugged, “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, and it doesn’t matter.”

“Only you and James knew about Rose and I going to the restaurant, so I think that explains a lot,” I stated.

“Okay, so I started the rumor about seeing you both at the restaurant, but that was it. I think Megan started the one about seeing you both at the movies.”

I shook my head at Dayln and laughed. I didn’t even care about the rumors anymore. “You’re so fucked up, Dayln.”

“You’ve told me before,” Dayln laughed.