“Man, you have no idea. During winter in the South we don’t get anywhere near this cold. But it’s all right.” Ryder shrugged and opened his mouth when the teacher interrupted.
“Enough chatting. The two of you can get to know each other later. That goes for the rest of you, too. Stop gossiping. Josh, I told you before, get off your desk. Hand this book back to Ryder, please. Now, open up to page two hundred thirteen, and let’s pick up where we left off. Ryder, see me after class and I’ll give you copies of the notes for this chapter to catch you up.” Mrs. Appleby moved behind her podium and opened her own book.
For the rest of the class, Andrew faded out. He followed along and spoke when he needed to, but he couldn’t get into the lesson. Instead he focused on the guy sitting next to him. Even when sitting quietly, something about Ryder attracted attention. More than once Sarah turned around and looked at him, and then passed Karina a folded-up note. Andrew was tempted to lean over and snatch it out of their hands just to see what it said.
Ryder was tall, even when in his desk and slouched over. From standing next to him in the office Andrew guessed him to be six foot two, a good five inches taller than his own height. He had his hair cut longer than the style Andrew was used to seeing, and it fell to his chin in brown waves, just a shade or two lighter than Sarah’s chocolate color. Ryder looked over at him at that moment and grinned. It was lopsided and…sort of cute, Andrew figured. At least that’s what Andrea would say. And his eyes. A bright green that shone in the fluorescent lights. He noticed the color was unusual in the office, but now there was a light in his eyes that made them even brighter. He wore a dark green, long-sleeved shirt under a lighter green button-down, which only made his eyes stand out more.
Andrew jerked his head back to the front of the room and tried to focus on the teacher’s words as his pulse raced. He frowned and tried to breathe, a little confused. What’s wrong with me? Am I coming down with something? As he focused on his sudden condition, the bell rang.
“Remember, test on Friday for chapter seven. I expect an A from everyone!” Mrs. Appleby called as students began to file from the room.
“What class do you have next, Ryder?” Sarah asked, quickly crowding his desk with Karina and a few other girls.
“English with Mr. Ray.”
“Oh, he’s pretty cool, but I don’t have him this year.”
Andrew turned and walked up the aisle to leave.
“Hey, Andrew! Hold on a sec. What class do you have next?” Ryder pushed through the crowd around his desk and caught up with him.
“Study hall.”
“Oh, damn.”
Andrew shrugged. “See you at lunch, maybe.”
Ryder grinned and tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, maybe.”
*
Andrew focused on the rest of his classes and made it all the way to lunch with barely any thought of Ryder. He met up with Andrea, Sarah, and Charlie, his friend from the soccer team. They got their lunches and sat at their usual table in the back corner of the cafeteria by the large windows that overlooked the school’s courtyard. Andrew sat with his back to the room and poked at the mystery meat on his plate. The fork stuck and he removed it with an ominous sucking sound. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“So, Andrea, do you have any classes with Ryder?” Sarah asked as she poked her own mystery meat.
“Who?”
“The new guy,” Sarah said with surprise. With a school as small as theirs, everyone knew when something big happened, usually within an hour of it occurring. And a new student definitely qualified as “a happening.”
“No, guess not. No one new in my classes this morning,” she responded.
“Oh, my God. You have to see him! He’s so hot, isn’t he, Andrew?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, Sarah. He’s a guy.”
“Right. You only do the cheerleaders. Then ditch them.”
“Whatever.”
“So what’s going on with Cynthia?” Sarah asked, looking at him with wide eyes, clearly ready for gossip.
Andrew looked across the table at Charlie and suppressed a shudder. “She’s getting annoying. This morning, she—”
“Ryder!” Sarah yelled and stood up, waving her arm. “Come sit here!”
“Ooh, he is pretty hot,” Andrea agreed under her breath when he got closer. Andrew shook his head.
“Hey,” Ryder said as he set his tray on the table and sat in the open seat next to Andrew.
“How’s your first day, Ryder?” Sarah smiled flirtatiously, which he returned.
“It’s going fine. I was pretty much at the same place y’all are in your classes back at my old school, so I’m not too far behind.”
“That’s cool. Hey, this is Andrea and Charlie.”
Ryder nodded to them and then looked at Andrea, leaning across the table a bit. “You look familiar…are you in one of my classes?”
“No, but my brother is, apparently.”
“Yeah? Who?”
Andrea laughed and nodded her head to Andrew. “Him.”
Ryder turned and looked at him, then back to Andrea. And then back again. “Wait, you’re twins? Wow. You look a lot alike.” He stared at them both. Andrew knew what he was looking at: their identical dark blond hair and pale blue eyes. The only real difference between them, besides their gender, was the length of their hair; Andrew had his hair cropped short and spiked up with gel, and Andrea’s hung just a little past her shoulders. Today she had pulled it back into a ponytail.
“We get that a lot,” they answered in unison.
“Whoa, cool. Y’all do that twin speak thing often?”
“Twin what?”
“Twin speak. You know, talking at the same time, saying the same things. Can you, like, read each other’s minds?”
Andrea stared at him. “No. We just spend so much time together, that’s all. We used to be in the same classes together, too. But this year they split us up,” she added with a small frown.
“Well, cool. I see where Andrew got his looks, then. He’s real pretty like you, Andrea.”
Everyone laughed, except for Andrew. His face turned a dark shade of red and he went back to poking at his lunch. “Ha ha. Funny.”
“Aww, Andy. Don’t get all upset. Don’t mind him, Ryder. He just gets that. A lot,” Charlie snickered, and he leaned back to avoid Andrew’s hand as it reached across the table.
“We take after our mom. Andy’s still a little touchy about that. Should have seen him when his hair was a little longer,” Andrea said. “And when we were younger we were on the same soccer team. The coach mixed us up all the time.”
“Yeah, they were nearly identical,” Sarah agreed as she took a bite of her food. “I remember one time in third grade—”
“No!” Andrew lunged toward her and pressed a hand against her mouth, nearly falling over the table to do so. “He does not need to hear that story, okay?”
Ryder leaned forward. “What happened? You have to tell me now.”
“Come on, don’t, please,” Andrew begged.
“Oh, just a little something.” Andrea winked. Andrew felt her foot move past his leg while she kicked Sarah and Charlie under the table. “Maybe we’ll tell you later.”
“Damn, I want to know,” Ryder said with lips turned down in a frown.
Andrew shook his head. “No. You don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
In an attempt to change the subject to something safer, especially in the presence of the new kid, Andrew said, “Hey, Charlie, Dad wanted to know if you could come help us load the woodshed. He’s gonna start the stove and we could use some help.”
Charlie eyed him suspiciously. “When?”
“Tomorrow after school since we don’t have soccer practice.”
“Gee, wish I could, but I got other plans.”
Andrea rolled her eyes. “Sure you do.”
“No really! I’m going shopping with Mom,” he said, quickly occupying
his mouth with his lunch.
“Hey, I could help. I’ve got nothing to do.”
Andrew blinked a few times and looked at Ryder in disbelief. “We just met, and you’re offering to help out?”
“Sure, why not? Like I said, nothing to really do around here. We could hang out after, maybe?”
“And get to be friends?” Andrea perked up, as did Sarah.
“I don’t have many of those around here yet,” he admitted. “It would be nice to replace those I lost from the move.”
“Aren’t you going to keep in touch with them? Isn’t that what Facebook’s for?” Charlie asked.
Ryder shrugged. “Facebook is one thing. But it’s not like I could see them.”
“Well, I think if you keep offering to help out with chores, you’re gonna have people lined up to be friends,” Andrea teased.
“Thanks for the offer, man,” Andrew added.
“You can ride back with us after school tomorrow, right, Andy? I don’t have practice either.”
Andrew nodded and went back to his food before it became completely inedible. “Sure. I drive the old blue pickup parked in the back lot with the mismatched fenders. You can’t miss it.”
“So, what is it I’m not supposed to know?” Ryder stage whispered across the table. Andrew opened his mouth to protest and change the subject again.
“In third grade one of the boys in Andrew’s class kissed him because he insisted Andrew was a girl!” Sarah laughed. Andrew’s face grew hot, and he turned toward Ryder, ready to defend himself. Those green eyes stared back at him in amusement.
“Isn’t that just cute,” Ryder replied with a small wink at Andrew, and then went back to eating his food and asking questions about the school, town, and the twin’s soccer teams.
Andrew waited for it to be brought up again, and then sighed with relief when it wasn’t. I could kill Sarah for telling him that, he thought, mentally listing all the ways he could do it.
A loud crash interrupted his thoughts and made everyone at the table jump and turn toward the sound. At the opposite end of the cafeteria from where their table sat, a teen lay sprawled out on the floor. He pushed himself up on his elbows. From what Andrew could see, two other students stood over him, laughing.
“What’s going on?” Ryder asked, frowning. He pushed himself up as if to go help, but Charlie reached out and grabbed his arm.
“That’s Joshua Grayson. Don’t worry about it. Not your problem.”
“Why isn’t it? Isn’t someone going to help him?” he asked, even as the two other students walked away from him. The teen, Joshua, stood and dusted himself off, righted the chair that had been knocked over, and grabbed his tray. He left the cafeteria seconds later and the conversations around them resumed.
“It happens every so often,” Sarah said with a shrug and continued eating.
“Why?”
“Josh is…you know,” Charlie said, waving a hand limply.
“No, I don’t know,” Ryder said, but he sat back down.
“He’s queer. A fairy.”
Andrew looked up from his food. “Charlie, come on,” he said sharply. The bell rang just then and Charlie stood.
“I’m just saying. Don’t bother with him, Ryder.”
Ryder and Andrew watched as Charlie walked away with Sarah and Andrea. Andrew stood after they disappeared into the body of students filing out into the hall.
“Why wouldn’t anyone stand up for him?”
“Small town…small-town minds,” Andrew replied with a shrug. “Come on. We’ll be late for class.”
Chapter Three
When Andrew and Andrea came out of school the next afternoon, Ryder stood waiting by Andrew’s truck, leaning up against the driver’s side door. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and small flakes drifted down from the sky. A thin layer of snow covered the grass, but nothing stuck to the pavement yet; it just looked wet. The sound of students starting their cars and leaving felt distant, even though they were close by, and Andrew breathed in deeply, enjoying the crisp air.
“Damn, it’s freezing!” Ryder complained, his arms crossed over his chest in a futile attempt to keep warm.
“What did you expect? This is upstate New York. You aren’t in Texas anymore, cowboy,” Andrea replied, her breath visible in the cold air.
“And it’s so quiet, too. It’s like I have cotton in my ears.”
“The snow insulates the air. You should wait until there’s a foot on the ground. A car can pass right in front of you and you won’t hear it.” Andrew unlocked the truck and they scrambled inside to get out of the cold with Andrea sitting in the center. It was not much warmer in the cab.
“And you’re still going to play soccer in this mess?” Ryder asked once they were inside.
Andrew nodded. “This is nothing. It’s an early snow. It won’t last. The season will be over next week anyway. We’re not going to state this year.”
“No?”
Andrea shook her head. “Neither are the girls. Not enough seniors are playing, so half the team is new.”
“And doesn’t know how to play,” Andrew added.
“That sucks.”
This time Andrea nodded. “Yeah. I hoped we’d go one more time before graduation…but there’s always college.”
“You two are going to play in college?”
“If I get a scholarship I definitely am,” Andrea said. “And if I get into a school with a good team I will. But I haven’t decided where I’m going yet. It depends on what offers come up.”
“I might, might not. It depends,” Andrew said as he glanced around the lot and pulled out of his space.
“Of course you’re playing in college,” Andrea said, turning to look at him. Andrew glanced over and saw her eyes narrowed in determination.
Ryder, however, looked at them, impressed, as the truck joined the line of cars all trying to squeeze out of the narrow drive at the same time. Only the teacher’s lot remained full. “Never knew anyone that went to college with a scholarship to play anything other than football.”
They lapsed into silence once they finally pulled onto the main road and headed for home. Andrew took his time driving on the slick road.
“Where did you live in Texas?” Andrew finally asked, breaking the silence.
“About an hour south of San Antonio in a pretty small town. Well, small population wise. Nothing’s small in Texas,” Ryder said, chuckling. “Most of the town consists of large ranches. There used to be more people, but a lot moved into the cities.”
“So your parents owned a ranch or something?”
“Nah, my dad was in the military and wanted to retire somewhere quiet. We moved around every three years when he had to change bases. It was annoying. But he retired there.”
“What are you doing up here, then?” Andrea asked.
“He got recalled. He’s stationed over in Germany now. Mom went with him. They wanted me to finish high school here so they had me come up to stay with my aunt and uncle. They own a horse farm.”
“The Kensingtons are your aunt and uncle?” Andrew asked, surprised. There was only one horse farm in town.
“Yeah, you know them?”
Andrea laughed. “Everyone knows everyone here. Of course we know them.”
Once again, silence covered the truck as they bounced down one of the roads. Ryder kept his hand pressed against the door, making faces. The grimace faded when they pulled onto the next road and rounded the corner.
“Here we are,” Andrew said, pulling into the driveway. His father’s truck sat in the next spot over, the hood still warm and melting the snow that hit it.
“Nice. Really cozy.”
“You have no idea,” Andrea mumbled, and gave Andrew a shove to get him out of the truck.
The three teens piled out of the vehicle and Andrea sprinted into the house ahead of them. A wave of heat greeted them as they stepped inside and toed off their shoes. Inside the kitchen, their father poured h
imself a cup of coffee.
“Hey, Andy. Ready to get started on the wood? I figured we can get half of it filled today and the rest tomorrow.” His father turned and sipped his coffee. He blinked when he saw Ryder standing next to Andrew. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Ryder said with a small wave of his fingers.
“Dad, this is Ryder. He just transferred here. He’s Mr. and Mrs. Kensington’s nephew.”
“Oh yes, your uncle mentioned that you were coming up a couple of weeks ago. Have a good trip?”
“Yes sir,” Ryder replied with a brief nod.
“Well, good to have you here. What happened to Charlie?” his father asked, directing his attention back to Andrew.
Andrew quirked his eyebrows and pressed his lips into a thin line. “He had to help his mother with shopping,” he said, making air quotes.
“Right. The boy is lazy. Well then, I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready. Then you can come around back, grab a pair of gloves, and we’ll get started.”
*
Between Andrew, his father, and Ryder, they got more of the wood stacked than his father had planned. They decided to keep on working until they finished, even if it took them past dinner. The work went fast; Ryder was strong and could carry twice the amount of wood as Andrew, easily. He’s cutting down the load of work I would have had to do, Andrew thought, eyeing his long, lean frame. It wasn’t visible, but he had to work out. How else could he carry that much? Ryder turned and caught him staring and Andrew quickly ducked into the woodshed with the load he held.
In between loads, Andrew’s father rested against the shed for a quick break. “So how’s your mother doing?” he asked Ryder.
“You know my mother?”
“Of course! Rebecca, Kyle, Alice, and I went to high school together. Your uncle was a senior when we were freshman.”
“That’s so cool. I can’t wait to tell Mom.”
“Do you get to talk to her a lot?” Andrew asked.
Ryder shook his head. “Not on the phone. Calls to Germany can be expensive, so I don’t call too much. We e-mail a lot, though, and Skype. She bought a new computer before she went over that has a built-in camera. She’s doing well,” he added. “She thinks Germany is great.”
Andy Squared Page 2