“You should really think about selling this stuff, you know,” he said. “Luella’s Little Shop of Spells.”
I huffed a laugh, shaking my head at him.
“Be quiet and sit. Put your leg on the pillow,” I commanded, watching as he finally stopped snooping before he started toward my bed.
With a tiny hop, he made himself more comfortable, where my hand had patted one side of my comforter. He scooched over to make more room. The movement looked tense and strained.
There was a boy on my bed.
Ryan Gardner was on my bed.
“You know your RICE,” said Ryan, impressed. “Rest, ice, compress, elevate. Maybe you should think about going premed.”
I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly at him as I pulled the ice pack that was still mostly frozen out of Ryan’s bag. It had been stuffed between a textbook and his laptop, where another freshly printed assignment stuck out. Looked like he didn’t need my help for that one. I dropped the pack on his leg.
He hissed at the cold. “Or not.”
“Probably best. You’re such a baby. RICE is for injuries.” I wasn’t sure if post-injury rehab counted.
“Yet you’re taking care of me anyway. Practicing for when you take over for Gertrude?”
I resisted the urge to swat at his leg as I stood beside him. “Quiet.”
“That was one of the rules, I remember.”
I quirked a smile.
“Are you going to sit down?” he asked.
Carefully, I climbed up onto my slightly raised bed. The mattress creaked as I settled next to Ryan.
He watched me, rubbing his lips together, as if I were some sort of entertainment. Adjusting himself once more, he cleared his throat before I could ask him what in the world he was staring at.
“Can we put on one of those old movies you like? Like the one you put on in the library that first night?”
I blinked. Out of all the things I’d thought he’d ask me, that was not one of them. I found myself nodding anyway. “Why?”
“It was nice. Calming,” explained Ryan.
Reaching over the far edge of the bed for my computer, I slipped it from my desk and onto the bed in front of us. I maneuvered through my downloads of Hollywood classics I always had close by after I found the same calmness settle over me whenever Gertie put one on at the house. The actors played their stories on screen as background noise. Each of their movements was big and bold as if they were on the stage. Those actors were unabashed with who they were supposed to be.
I watched as the screen turned from color to black and white.
Slowly I angled the screen before looking back at Ryan. I tried to find a good spot but couldn’t seem to position myself anywhere on the narrow bed that wasn’t touching him. I stiffened with each minor brush.
“Why are you acting weird?”
“Honestly, I didn’t know if you were upset with me,” I replied honestly.
“What do you mean?”
“After I kissed you the other night,” I said at once. Sitting back from where I’d angled the laptop on the other end of the bed, I peeked at him from the corner of my eye. “I should’ve asked, and I’m pretty sure that basically ruined whatever sort of thing this was between us. So, I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore—”
“I always want to be your friend, Luella,” Ryan said, stopping me. “It was me who panicked, and I wasn’t sure …”
“What weren’t you sure about?”
If he wasn’t sure if I liked him back, I was pretty positive the whole my mouth eating his said enough.
