Chapter 07.

                                    

                                          
I can't.
                          
I'll regret this all in the end.
                          
He's trouble.
                          
You can't trust him.
                          
Ryan's advice will surely become the truth, I can see it already.
                          
I'm pacing in the living room thirty minutes before seven o' clock. I stare at my phone's screen with an empty text message that I'm meaning to send to Ryan, but I don't even know what to say.
                          
Oh, hey, Ryan. Yeah, I'm going out with Justin tonight, not sure when I'll be back, sorry if I don't make it back alive.
                          
Yeah. That sounds like a great way to explain it. That's probably what's going to happen, who knows how many women he's gone out with...hurt in the end.
                          
I shouldn't even be texting Ryan. I should just call him; quit being a coward and straight up call him.
                          
I click the call button and impatiently wait for him to answer. He's probably studying or doing homework, something I should be doing right now, even though I'm already ahead of the game.
                          
Just as I hear his voice greet me on the other end, papers are shuffling in the background and I know that's exactly what he was doing.
                          
"Hey," I say uneasily.
                          
"How are you?" his rather sophisticated voice asks.
                          
"Um, I'm actually not sure," I say honestly.
                          
"What's that supposed to mean?" he confusingly laughs.
                          
"It's just... Justin stopped by earlier, just as I knew he would. He wouldn't give me my books—"
                          
"I knew it, I knew it. I knew he stole your books! See? You can't trust him," Ryan interrupts.
                          
"No, no, I mean... He does have them, and he won't hand them over, but... He said only under one condition, he'll give them back."
                          
"That dirty man. He's using you, he's using your books as bait to lure you in."
                          
I couldn't help but smile at Ryan's assumptions to all this. He is definitely going crazy right now.
                          
"What is he talking about anyway? What is this 'condition'?"
                          
"He, uh, he's taking me out," I hurriedly say, hoping he didn't hear but then again hoping I wouldn't have to repeat it.
                          
"What? What? What do you mean?" Here we go. "You said no, didn't you?"
                          
I uneasily chuckled through the phone and nervously rub my forearm. "Actually, I didn't..."
                          
I hear him gasp over the phone, typical Ryan.
                          
"I didn't have a choice, Ryan. He was practically taunting me the whole time about my books."
                          
Ryan heavily sighs and takes a few seconds to respond. "I just, I don't know about this..."
                          
"Neither do I, really..." I truthfully say.
                          
I'm not sure what else to say at this point. Ryan's already vented out his feelings about this, but it's surely not every last bit of them. He's always got something to say about everything, especially when it comes to other people who try to get in contact with me. That's one of the reasons why I don't have any other friends.
                          
"So you're going?" Ryan finally asks.
                          
I nod, but then verbally say 'yes' when I realize that he can't see me and that I'm talking on the phone.
                          
"Okay... Just text me, tell me everything that happens. And if he does anything to you..."
                          
"I know, don't worry, Ryan." I am relieved that Ryan took this easily. I glance over at the clock above the television. "I need to go. He'll be in here in about fifteen minutes."