Page 42 of Bloom and Burn
Something crawls under my skin and I can hear the thrum of my blood in my ears. This is a disaster. Two disasters, actually. I don’t know how to fix either of them, or if I can. I knew I’d have to put up a fight, but I wasn’t prepared for this or for the possibility that the person I thought was in my corner might have been lying to me.
Just thinking that pushes more knives into my heart. Is that what Ryan did? He lied to me because it benefitted him? But how? If I knew who he was, I’d have apologized. In fact, he could’ve just guilted me into agreeing to anything.
But he didn’t do that.
Why?
“Shit! This is such a mess!”
Gritting teeth, I try to calm down, to look at things logically so I can make sense of them. Ryan didn’t tell me he was one of the kids I used to bully, even though he could’ve taken advantage of my conscience. Why?
I think back on our time together, on the smiles, on the fondness in his eyes whenever I caught him looking. This was genuine. It couldn’t be anything else. Which means that there must be a reason why Ryan didn’t tell me who he was… Right?
I start my car after another series of calming inhales and exhales. I look for the folder with the documents and the investment proposal, but I can’t find it anywhere. Fuck,I guess I left it at the mayor’s office. Whatever. It doesn’t matter… Ryan’s parents won’t sell. I believed I could convince them, no person with common sense would turn down the kind of deal I put on the table, but that’s out the window now.
Panic spears my chest. Could this all be some elaborate plan for revenge? Could Ryan have orchestrated it all as a way to get back at me for bullying him as a kid?
I bite on my lip. No way, he’s not that kind of person. I refuse to believe that.
And yet, the anxiety won’t go away even as I head over to the Blooming Orchid. I feel like I am losing my mind, and so I call my best friend, Alistair.
“Hey, Jack,” his deep voice says through the car speakers. “How did it go? Did you get the dad to agree?”
I curse under my breath and prefix what I’m about to drag him into with an apology, then proceed to spill it all out. He and Josh are in the middle of opening a new hotel, so they have their hands full, but I can’t dump this on Emily. I know he’ll understand.
“Hold on, hold on. Shit, are these people for real? Like, I get it and I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to tell me to stick it up my ass if it was me offering to buy their property, but what the fuck is their problem with you?”
I clench my teeth and grit out the bit about Ryan. I try but fail to mask the hurt and the anger in my voice.
“That’s…” He’s at a loss for words, understandably. “Are you sure the dad wasn’t just making it up? From how both you and Em have been raving about Ryan, it just seems…”
“I saw his photo,” I remind him. “It’s Ryan. He’s that boy with the plants Greg and the rest liked to pick on.”
It makes me hate myself even more that I didn’t recognize him. That I didn’t apologize. I know saying sorry wouldn’t have changed anything, but I’ve changed. I’m better now and I’ve been making amends since Emil’s accident. I even told Ryan that I used to be a bully, yet he didn’t say anything then either, even though he had the chance to come clean.
I tune back in as Alistair asks, “Are you there, Jack?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I…” I pull up in front of the flower shop, my eyes zeroing in on Ryan talking to two customers. I don’t see Emily. “I need to figure this out. I’ll call you later.”
“Jack, wai—”
I hang up, turn my phone off and get out of my car. A tiny voice in my head picks exactly that moment to remind me that Ryan wanted to talk to me about something after I met with his dad. It shines a ray of sunshine on my stormy mood, a lifeline that could slip away from my fingers at any moment.
Could this be what he wanted to talk about? But why wait so long?
I stew in my thoughts until the two customers leave, getting even more confused. I don’t know what to think. And I have no idea what I will do from now on. I’m a mess. Is Ryan an evil mastermind who executed the perfect revenge? Or is there a logical explanation for this that I am missing?
I don’t know, but at least I don’t have to wait long before the truth comes to light.
16
Ryan
SomethingisoffwithJack. Like, super off. He looks like the earth has opened and swallowed his favorite sports car, even if I am not sure he owns one. He doesn’t meet my eyes, and his hands are clenched into fists so tight his knuckles appear white.
Obviously, things with dad didn’t go well. But is that all? We sort of expected it.
I step closer to him and try to hug him, but he brushes me off.
