He hurried into class, late to the teacher’s disapproval. After apologizing, he took his seat, eyes wide in disbelief.
His classmates eyed him as he sat down, and they whispered among one another, budding spells of gossip on their lips.
Cole tapped on his desk, trying to catch his best friend's attention while seeming inconspicuous. But Ryann was too dazed by the experience to notice.
Anxious for his friend’s attention, Cole lugged an eraser at his neighbor, effectively shocking Ryann out of his trance. “Dude. What happened down there? You left with that red haired guy you were supposed to avoid—”
“It was her,” Ryann interrupted his best friend with a blissful smile. “It’s Myah. She’s back.”
Cole’s face turned to stone, and the students surrounding the pair, who were eavesdropping, stiffened up in slight terror. “Wh-what do you mean. I thought sh-she died-d,” he stuttered. “No one on that ship s-survived.”
Ryann shrugged, knowing it didn’t really add up quite yet, but not really caring about it at all. “I don’t know, Cole, but it was her. There’s no mistaking it, she just…survived.”
“Because she caused it! She made that damn tsunami!” someone hissed from the seat diagonal from Ryann.
Ryann turned to the eavesdropping classmate, fire burning in his stare.
The student gulped, shivering in Ryann’s fiery glare, but he didn’t take back what he said. He only turned back to his work.
“Can you believe these people, Cole?” But when Ryann turned back to his friend, he found him visibly shaking and panicked, staring at something on the ground. “Cole?” Ryann asked, worried for his friend, before realizing what the terrorized stare meant. “Cole, you…don’t believe them, do you?”
Cole looked up guiltily, and Ryann jolted back, disgusted by the betrayal, his guts feeling like they sank to the bottom of the ocean. “Dude, listen. You have to know something is fishy about the whole thing, right?”
“Stop it, Cole.”
“Everyone died on the ship, Ryann. No one survives wreckage like that.”
“Stop.”
“It doesn’t add up. Given her age and size, how could she have survived?”
“I said shut up, Cole!” Ryann hissed with fury.
The class fell silent, staring at Ryann. Cole’s expression was grim and distressed.
The teacher set down his lesson book. “Anything you wish to share with the class, Ryann?”
Ryann kept his glare at Cole. “No sir.”
“Then please keep it down.” He went back to his lesson.
Cole let out a breath, nostrils flaring. “Listen, I don’t want to fight over this girl. I just want you to be safe.”
“She’s a normal girl, what is she going to do? What can she do? You guys make it sound like she can create havoc with the snap of her fingers!”
“That boat sank in the middle of the ocean, and she somehow survived.” Cole pointed out how unbelievable it sounded, and Ryann let out a heated breath. “Just please, do what we do, Ryann. Stay away from her. Come over after school and we can play Second Life all you want.”
Ryann shook his head, completely frustrated with his best friend for trying to buy him out. “Nothing is going to stop me from being with her, Cole,” he growled. “Not even you.”
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