"Please be my chaperone." Rye begs Brian from his bedroom door which is open slightly to reveal him going about his dress up.
"Noo. I have a life Rye. And a girlfriend who will probably dump me if you don't close that door right now." He walks away from the visible area.
"Brian, don't you walk out on me. Brian!" she curses lowly as she walks over to her room.
"Fine, I'll just show up and pretend to look for Mason. Oh... they all think he's my boyfriend but what if I find the crazy stern man? What do I tell him then?.. why am I even doing this? Maybe because I am the one who might have pushed him to disappearing Okay. Let's do this." She convinces herself.
It's not like Logan to miss school, especially not for a whole week. She had to see him, even if she was afraid it would cause chaos now that Mason and Logan don't like each other very much.
She had tried to ask about Logan from Mason but he wouldn't tell her anything. He was busy trying to be the school bully.
You know that saying that says, 'bully them first so that they don't get a chance to bully you?'
Ryela Macharia was not the golden girl. She missed some details and was flawed in her own way. Maybe even when it came to love. She paces and hesitates before knocking on Morsey's mansion.
"Hello?" Nona greets after walking out in what seemed like ages for Ryela. She wears a smile on her face and looks down at the slightly shorter human at her doorstep.
"Hello Mrs. Morsey. Uuh..." she had not planned out this situation. She probably thought that Logan would show up and she'd drag his arse to school.
"I school with Logan... and Mason...I... Logan has not been in school and I wanted to.... is he here?" Nona's smile widens and Rye just wishes the ground could open up and swallow her whole.
"Come on in..." She makes way for me.
"Its Ryela. Macharia. Nice meeting you Mrs. Morsey." She follows to try and catch up.
"Aah..." Nona keeps moving towards the coffee area.
"Logan went to see his brother, but I see he forgot to mention it to his girlfriend." Nona gives Rye a stern look with one squinted eye.
"Oh, no... we're not-" Rye tenses and chuckles.
"Don't worry about it. I was just kidding. My sweet baby won't let go of trying to make his father proud. I'm afraid of what he might lose along the way." Nona appears sad for a moment.
The lively smile disappearing from her eyes and Rye watches her closely as life slowly creeps back to her face. She pours some green tea in a tiny cup in front of Rye who smiles in gratitude. "I also noticed that you have a similar surname to that of my son Mason."
"Uuuh…" She begins to stutter. Tension builds up on her face and her pupils dilate abit.
"Let us call that coincidence. Shall we?" Rye nods as she brings the hot cup of tea to her mouth.
They sit silently everyone sipping tea and pretending to look the other side.
"Mrs. Morsey, thank you very much, you are so sweet, I gotta run though. You know school and classes and all…." She gets up to leave and Nona gets up with her.
"I understand, I will let Logan know you came by."
"No!" she blurts, then quickly composes herself."I mean... I'll call him. On his cell. Which I… definitely have."She chews her lip, realizing how unconvincing that sounded.
The door yanks open before Rye has a chance to flee from the porch.
"Logan could use some burritos, Maa'—he's been whining—uhh, never mind that."His eyes flick to Rye."I could use this burrito," he adds with a smirk, extending a hand."And who is this?"
"I didn't mention he was coming back today," Nona says, stepping in quickly."This is Lary, Logan's brother."
She shoots him a warning look.
"Behave yourself, son. That's Logan's friend."
"Friend? Logan has no friends, he won't even bring his little toys over… unless… uuuuh, you are the girl he can't shut up about, the one that's dating Mason?"His eyes narrow at Rye, reading her reaction.
"Wait a second. You're the girl he can't shut up about, right? The one dating Mason?"
Rye's face goes crimson.
"You're Mason's girlfriend?" Nona asks, clearly confused."I thought—"
"Who's whose girlfriend?" Logan's voice cuts in as he enters, setting down a box that had been blocking his face.
"Oh, boy…" Rye shifts uncomfortably, rocking on her feet.Her face is flushed, and she's nervously chewing the inside of her cheek.
"Ryela?" Logan calls out, his voice uncertain.
She flinches at the sound of his voice, her eyes widening before her expression softens.
"What... what are you doing here?" he asks, tugging awkwardly at his pants, trying to wipe his hands on them like he's suddenly aware of how unprepared he is.
"Hi," he says, extending a tentative hand toward her.
Rye hesitates for a second, then turns to Nona.
"Mrs. Morsey, it was lovely meeting you—you're really sweet—but I've gotta run."
Before anyone can stop her, she's out the door.
She storms out of the house without a word and everyone turns to Logan. He widens his eyes and shrugs.
"Go!!!" Nona shouts, pointing toward the door.
"Yeah, I should definitely—"
"Just get out, Logan," Lary snaps. "Or I'll throw you out myself."
"Wait." Logan calls out. Rye stops and turns.
Logan is silent for a while and tugs on his hair.
"Hi?" He manages to say and rocks back and forth with his hands in his pockets.
"I have already said that." Logan starts "I mean… sorry,, not sorry for saying hi, just… shit!" He is fumbling this for sure.
"Ryela?" She teases and starts moving towards him and stops right at his feet then looks up at him. She didn't expect he'd call her that.
"Ryela?" She repeats, trying not to blush but we all know if she was white, there would have been no hiding it, her cheeks would be all pink and soft.
"uuh, I might have asked a first year." He explains as he rubs the back of his neck.