by Kaitlyn Hoyt
WALKING OUT OF THE BATHROOM and into the bedroom, I see Emma sitting on the bed reading through one of Tom’s outdoor magazines. Emma would never read one of those magazines, so I know that she has something up her sleeve.
“So…you and Colton, huh?” she says, without glancing up from the magazine.
“There’s no me and Colton.”
Dropping the magazine, she jumps off the bed and walks over to me. “Well, why not?” I brush past her and leave the room, hoping that the conversation will end with my departure. “Ryanne, why not?”
Stopping on the stairs, I look down into the living room, and when I see no one, I continue. “Because I’m no one’s first choice, Emma, and I never have been. I’m the girl that gets picked on. The easy target. Everyone picks on the insecure girls. I’ve been told by a crapload of people that I’m not good enough. You think if a guy like Colton had a choice, he would pick me?” I don’t wait for her to respond. “No. He wouldn’t. We belong in two completely different social classes. And I can’t seem to keep danger away from me. I’ll just get someone killed, and I don’t want it to be him. I don’t want it to be any one of you guys.”
“What if you were his first choice?” she calls after me as I walk down the rest of the stairs.
Walking into the kitchen, I say, “I’m not.”
“Not what?” asks Logan. I briefly glance in his direction. He’s sitting with David, Colton and Liam at the kitchen table.
“Tall.” I walk to the fridge, grab out a water bottle, and leave the room, heading back upstairs. Emma is still trailing me.
“Ryanne, please talk to me.” I hear the sound of chairs scraping in the kitchen, so I have a feeling that the guys are trying to listen in.
“I don’t want to talk.” Stopping down the hallway, I lean against the wall. “Please.”
“So, what are you going to do? Just ignore him from now on?”
“No, I’m not going to…crap.” I feel the tug of a vision, pulling me away from the present, and into the future.