The Interest
1167 Words
Ryder pulled his locker open and pulled his textbook out. He took a step back and took a deep breath. He turned and began the trek to history.
Luke joined Ryder. “Are you sure about this?”
Ryder shrugged.
“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this,” Luke muttered.
Ryder shrugged again.
Luke sped up and then stopped in front of Ryder. “Are you going to say anything?”
Ryder shrugged again and Luke rolled his eyes.
Ryder grinned. “I’m just going to class. You got something against that?”
Charlotte skipped up from behind Ryder. “Did I just hear that the infamous Ryder is attending history willingly? Someone write this down. It’s a miracle.”
Katelyn jogged to catch up with Charlotte. “What the heck, Char? How do you skip so fast?”
Charlotte winked at Ryder. “Ryder here is going to start attending history every day.”
Luke grimaced. Katelyn looked at Ryder in surprise.
“Really?” she asked. “What made you choose that decision?”
Ryder shrugged, causing Luke to roll his eyes again. “I realized that maybe if I actually attended class then maybe our tutoring sessions would make sense.”
Katelyn laughed. “Just maybe.”
Katelyn continued walking to class, Charlotte falling in beside her. Charlotte turned and gave Ryder a quick thumbs up before turning and talking to Katelyn.
Luke waved and walked off. “Good luck in prison, Ryder!”
Ryder quickly jogged to catch up with the girls, reaching them just as they got to the classroom.
“This is where I say goodbye,” Charlotte bubbled. “You guys have fun in history!”
Katelyn and Ryder walked in the door.
“Why do you choose to be a teacher’s assistant for this class?” Ryder asked. “It’s super boring!”
Katelyn grinned as she sat at the table in the back of the room. “You might like it if you pay attention.”
Ryder sat on the table facing her. “Why do you think I would like it?”
“History is just a bunch of stories,” Katelyn explained. “There are so many cool things that happened in history that read just like fantasy novels. There are wars, romances, murder, twists and turns, heroes.” Katelyn sighed. “History can truly come alive and we can grow and learn from it. And it all actually happened, meaning that we can use them as guidance for our own lives.”
Ryder smiled. “You can make history sound exciting. Huh. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Katelyn shoved Ryder off her table. “Haha. Very funny. Now go sit at your desk and pay attention.”
Ryder slipped into a desk at the back of the classroom as the teacher walked into the room.
The teacher dove into history, telling stories from the French Revolution. Ryder leaned forward in his seat as the stories got more and more intense. The bell rang suddenly, causing Ryder to jump in his seat.
“That was so weird,” Ryder said, looking at the clock. “The class went by so quickly.” Ryder looked back to where Katelyn was sitting.
“Hey Katie,” Ryder asked. “Did class seem really fast to you?”
Katelyn held up a stack of papers. “Not really. I was correcting the whole time.”
Ryder stood up and stretched. “Class seemed to fly by.” Ryder looked at the front of the classroom, then back at Katelyn. “Are all the stories as cool as the ones the teacher told us today?”
Katelyn giggled softly.
Ryder gave a confused look and followed her as she took the papers to the teacher’s filing cabinet. “What?”
Katelyn put the papers in and slowly closed the drawer before turning to Ryder. “I think you just liked the class.”
Ryder ran a hand through his hair and thought about the class period. Not once had he wanted the class to end early, and he was actually a little bit sad when the class had ended. Ryder let out a breath. “I think I did.”
Katelyn laughed. “See! If you just pay attention, history is fun!”
Ryder shook his head slowly. “I didn’t expect all of the cool stories. Ooh, like that guy who got stabbed in his bathtub.”
Katelyn grabbed her bag and joined Ryder as he grabbed his. “The French Revolution is a little bit more b****y than most parts of history.”
“But awesome!” Ryder exclaimed. “The storming of the prison, the guillotine, the death in the bathtub. It sounds like an action movie.”
Katelyn walked with Ryder to his locker. “I told you that history could be cool. You just didn’t believe me.”
Charlotte bounded up. “How was class?”
“It was actually really cool!” Ryder explained. “The French Revolution is pretty lit.”
“Speaking of the French Revolution,” Katelyn sidetracked. “How about we get together tonight to go over your assignment on it? I can also tell you all the stories you missed when you didn’t pay attention.”
“Sweet!” Ryder affirmed. “I’ll be there.”
Katelyn smiled. “Perfect.” She then turned to Charlotte. “I still have to go see a few teachers before we can hang out. I’ll text you when I’m done.”
Charlotte grabbed Katelyn’s arm. “Why don’t we invite Ryder here to hang out with us?”
Katelyn turned to Ryder. “Do you want to?”
“Well, I’m free now considering that I didn’t ditch class,” Ryder reasoned. “So sure.”
“Okay then,” Katelyn accepted. “Then I will text you both when I am done visiting all my teachers.”
Katelyn walked off. Charlotte watched her go, then turned to Ryder. “You can drop the act now. She can’t see you.”
Ryder looked to Charlotte. “What act?”
Charlotte took a step backward. “Wait, you actually liked history?”
Ryder shrugged as he grabbed things from his locker. “There are some pretty neat stories.”
Charlotte grinned. “Look at you go. Soon you are going to lose that bad-boy rep and will be another one of those history nerds.”
Ryder shuddered. “Can’t I like history stories without being a nerd?”
Charlotte laughed. “I mean sure. Anything is possible.”
Ryder closed his locker. “Good. I’m not sure that I’m ready for that big of a change.
- Writer
