Chapter 4: Risk

Cadence

Saturday, November 17, 9:28 A.M

It's the next day and I get ready for to hang out with Hunter. I pick a nice flowy dress that's yellow with blue flower designs printed throughout the dress. I curl my white-blonde hair and I'm ready. I walk over to my driveway and to see Hunter inside a red Kia. I look down and laugh. I take a few seconds before I walk inside the car. I look down and laugh. I take a few seconds before I walk inside the car.

We sneak inside school and into the art room. I pose for him as he paints me. He sits there looking like Picasso and I can't help but chuckle a bit every now and then. "Stop laughing Ms. giggles, in almost done" He smiles and lightly laughs. "You know what? You need a little bit more color." He looks over to me and splashes paint on me. "Ok, bet." I smile as I dump a small can of paint on him. I try to grab the brush beside him but he restrains my hands by holding my wrists. I freeze and gaze into his olive green eyes. Sidesweeped to the side of his face was his fluffy auburn hair. In the moment, my heart raced once I saw his pursed lips.

He draws me in to his chest and clutches me tight. Time had stopped and in the moment he begins to inch closer to my face. As I begin to pucker my lips, I hear something.

I push away as I hear my phone buzzing. My eyes shift to the right and to see a call from Ryder. My heart almost drops when I realize that I need to meet up with Ryder. "Ignore it," Hunter says bluntly as if he's determined to finish where we left off...

"I'm sorry Hunter, I can't. I need to meet up with Ryder for an important project," I say, not realizing he probably doesn't know who Ryder is. "Who cares Cadence, it's just us right now." He let's go of my wrists. "I'll see you around, Hunter," I smile as I pick up my back on the other desk. I leave, feeling different.

After going home, changing, and taking a shower, I meet Ryder at the skate park.

Ryder

Saturday, November 17, 5:57 P.M

I see Cadence in black jean shorts with a cropped pink V-neck T-shirt. "Cadence!" I call and wave, seeing her in the distance as she looks around. She makes me blush a little. She walks over to me with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. "So I was thinking, we skate for a bit and then go to my house to study?" I tell her the plan again. "Of course. I forgot a skateboard so yea..." She looks down as she sits next to me on the bench. "It's ok, you can use mine. Do you know how to skate?" I ask. "Not exactly. Having a little sister does NOT help." She laughs. "You have a little sister?" I ask, handing her the skateboard. "Yea. She should be here next year. Her name is Carly." She mentions. "I'll keep a lookout. Cmon, let's skate." I smile and put out a hand. She takes as we make our way to the ramps.

Cadence

Saturday, November 17, 6:42 P.M

I skate with Ryder for more than half an hour until I trip and scrape my knee. "Agh!" I yell. I bruised my knee as well so Ryder had to carry me onto the benches with his hands feeling warm as he touches me. He gives me some tissues and we decided to go to his house.

I sit on his couch as he helps me patch up my injury. "Thanks for everything, Ryder." I say, looking at my knee then to him. "It's nothing. I'd do anything for you." He says, looking to his right. As I massaged the injured area of my knee, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Ryder had gone quiet and was staring at me. At first, I began to feel tense but when I turned and his eyes met with mine, I was unable to look away. Through his rounded glasses, I gazed to see that he had deep brown eyes that were like chocolate, sweet and can melt all my worries away. Just above it were strands of his autumn brown hair barely covering his eyes. Complimenting it on the side of his head were small wisps of honey brown that sealed the deal. I soon had the sudden urge to kiss him, not caring about all the adverse thoughts I have. But, I quickly try to forget all those crazed thoughts since that's never going to happen until...he kisses me.

His lips were warm and soft as it caresses against mine. He stands up, not pulling away and goes on top of me as I start to lay down on the couch. As he bites the tip of my tongue, to my surprise, I let out a slight moan. He runs his hand through my hair, making me feel as if I'm on cloud nine. At this point, my heart is beating so rapidly that it could literally give me cardiac arrest. Soon enough, he begins to lift my shirt up until I stop him. This isn't right.

"Ryder, I can't..." I say, sliding out of his arms. "Why, Cadence?" He asks, propping himself up. "Cause-," I choke on my own words. I begin to panic and quickly get my bag and run out, tearing up. I start to sprint as I hyperventilate. I soon sit down to the nearest curb and sob under the street light thinking, what am I doing?