Ryan

Downstairs Ryan could hear the phone ringing. He stood at his door and listened really closely.

‘Yes…Sure…Ok. Bye.’ Ryan’s mum, Mary, put the phone down and started to come upstairs. Ryan quickly sat on his bed and put his music back on. Ryan looked up as his door opened and his mum was stood there.

‘Can I come in?’ Mary asked when she was halfway in.

‘Sure.’ Ryan switched his music off and made room for his mum to sit down.

‘Who was on the phone?’ Ryan said as he put one of his text books down.

‘Your dad… Again.’ Mary said as she looked at Ryan and saw the look on his face.

‘What did he want?’ Ryan asked bitterly.

‘He wants you to go to his this weekend.’

‘No. I don’t want to go.’ Ryan said as tears started to fall down his cheek. Mary knew why Ryan didn’t want to go. Last time Ryan went to his dads he ended up in hospital after his dad pushed him down the stairs. Ryan hated his dad for hurting him but what he couldn’t understand was why his dad would do something like that to him. Ryan looked at his mum before bursting into tears. He still had the scars from the accident even though it was 1 month ago. Ryan noticed that his mum had left the room before closing his eyes. When Ryan woke up he noticed that it was dark. His clock said 10 o’clock and he realised that he had been asleep for 6 hours. He walked downstairs and saw his mum and his little sister, Jessica, sat watching TV.

‘Hey sweetheart. Are you hungry?’ Mary said as she turned the volume on the TV down.

‘No. I'm ok.’ Ryan said as he looked at Jessica who was falling asleep on the sofa. Mary looked at Ryan and he picked Jessica up and took her up to her bedroom. He opened the door and switched the light on before tucking Jessica into her bed.

‘Ryan. How come you’re not coming to dads on Saturday?’ Jessica asked as she played with her doll. Ryan looked at her and sat down on the edge of the bed.

‘Jess, remember what he did last time I came over.’

‘You were hurt.’ Jessica said as she looked at Ryan.

‘Yes I was and I don’t think I'm ready to go back yet. Go to sleep.’ Ryan said as Jessica closed her eyes and went to sleep. As Ryan sat there he noticed that Jessica loved going to her dads at the weekends but only if he went. As he looked around Jessica’s room he realised how much the 6-year-old looked up to him. He went up to her and stroked her blonde hair before kissing her goodnight. Ryan went back downstairs and sat on the sofa with his mum.

‘Ryan, you can talk to me you know.’ Mary said as Ryan was flicking through the channels.

‘Jess wants me to go to dads with her.’ Ryan said as he turned the TV off.

‘Do you want to go to your dads?’

‘No. But Jess wants me to.’ Ryan was starting to feel confused.

‘Go to bed. You have an exam tomorrow.’ Mary said before going upstairs. Ryan stayed sat on the sofa and looked down at the floor. His head was spinning but he didn’t know whether it was because he was dreading the exam or whether it was because of what happened at his dads. He got up and got a drink before going up into his room. As he entered his room he realised just how much he had missed it when he was in hospital. He had only being out of hospital for 2 weeks but all he could think about was what had happened. He got changed into his shorts and laid down on his bed. He fell asleep really quickly but kept dreaming that his dad was pushing him down the stairs. He woke up when his mum spoke to him.

‘Hey Ryan calm down.’ Mary said as she tried to comfort him. Ryan opened his eyes and saw his mum sat on the end of his bed.

‘I never want to see dad again.’ Ryan cried. As he said this Jessica walked into the room and curled up next to him before falling asleep again.

‘Just go to sleep.’ Mary said as she left the room. Ryan looked at the clock that said 1am. He looked down at Jessica who was asleep and he kissed her on the forehead. The light from the streetlight outside his room shone onto his arm and he could see the scars from the accident. He moved his arm and fell asleep.

‘Wake up Ryan.’ Jessica said as she jumped on his bed. Ryan rolled over and looked at the clock. 7 Am. He got up and started tickling Jessica until she shrieked.

‘Breakfast.’ Mary shouted from the kitchen. Ryan gave Jessica a piggyback downstairs before taking her slice of toast. He sat down and started reading his Biology textbook.

‘How is the revision going?’ Mary asked Ryan as she cleared away the pots.

‘Find out after the exam.’ Ryan said as he walked upstairs to get changed. He walked into his room and saw Jessica sat on his bed.

‘Jess move. I have to get ready for school.’ Ryan said trying not to raise his voice. Jessica looked at him and quickly ran out of the room. Ryan slammed the door shut before getting dressed for school. He sat down on his bed and looked at the floor. His head was aching but he couldn’t miss the exam. He walked downstairs where Jessica was sat in her school uniform playing with her doll.

‘I’ll walk her to school, mum.’ Ryan said as he put the textbook in his bag.

‘Ok. Don’t forget hospital after school.’ Mary said as she gave Ryan and Jessica a kiss.

‘Come on Jess.’ Ryan smiled. Jessica ran towards him and held his hand as they both walked out of the house. Ryan was busy talking to Jessica when his friend appeared.

‘Hey Jessie.’ Kane said as he walked up behind them.

‘Get lost Kane.’ Ryan said as he kicked a stone in front of him.

‘What's up?’ Ryan stopped and looked at Kane.

‘Just leave me alone. Ok?’ Ryan said. Kane put his hands up and backed off. Ryan and Jessica didn’t say anything until they got to her school. Ryan was helping Jessica take her coat off when her teacher appeared.

‘Come on Jessica.’ He said as he smiled at Ryan.

‘I’ll pick you up later.’ Ryan said as he gave her a hug.

‘Are you ok?’ Jessica asked as he looked at him.

‘Yeah.’ Ryan gave Jessica a reassuring smile before she ran into the classroom. As soon as Jessica disappeared Ryan sat there and sighed. Ryan noticed that her teacher was still stood there.

‘Are you ok?’ He asked.

‘Most of the time. Yeah.’ Ryan stood up and looked at his watch.

‘When you were in hospital, Jessica kept crying all the time. She was really upset.’

‘Yeah. I know. She still does…. I’ve got to go. I'm going to be late.’ Ryan said before running off. He managed to walk into tutor just as the bell went for registration. He looked around the class and realised that he was an outcast.

‘Cutting it close this morning, Ryan.’ His tutor said.

‘I'm sorry Miss. I had to take Jess to school.’ Ryan muttered before sitting down and realising that his arm was really sore. His tutor, Miss Levy, came over and sat down next to him.

‘Ryan, is everything ok?’ She looked at him and noticed that he was upset.

‘Yeah.’ As he said this a lonely tear fell onto the table.

‘You know that there are people you can talk too.’ Before Ryan could answer the bell went for lesson and Ryan walked out of the door in silence. He noticed that everyone else had taken off their jackets and hoodies.

‘Ryan. Want to talk?’ Kane said.

‘Look. Sorry for this morning. Jess was winding me up; the exam is driving me up the wall….’ Ryan was cut off before he could say anything else.

‘Hey I understand. The last month has been a challenge for you.’ Kane looked at Ryan and then laughed.

‘What’s so funny?’ Ryan said with a smile on his face.

‘You’re wearing your jacket and it is like 29 degrees out.’ Kane smiled at Ryan whose smile had faded. Kane suddenly realised why the smile had faded.

‘Sorry. I forgot about that.’ Kane said as he put a reassuring hand on Ryan’s shoulder as they walked into an empty classroom.

‘It’s weird. I keep telling Jess that everything is ok, but I can’t reassure myself.’  Ryan said as he sat down on a table and took his jacket off. As he did this he sighed and Kane noticed all the scars on his arm that were still there. Ryan knew that Kane was trying to help him get through this but he couldn’t help wonder whether Kane was scared himself.

‘Hey, you ok?’ Kane finally said after they had sat in silence for 10 minutes.

‘I will be.’ Ryan said as he put his jacket back on. Ryan looked at his watch and realised that he and Kane had to go to the hall for the exam. As they walked into the school hall Ryan could sense that everyone was looking at him. He tried to stay focus on the exam as he put his bag at the back of the hall and grabbed his pen out of his pocket. He followed Kane and sat in front of him. He felt better that his best mate was behind him. They had to listen to the boring talk about how to answer the questions, where to answer them, what to do if they ran out of space and how much time there was to answer the questions. Ryan didn’t pay any attention to this; he just stared out of the window.

‘You may begin.’ The teacher said. After he said this everyone opened the paper and started writing. Ryan looked at the paper and sighed. He looked around and saw that everyone else was writing something but Ryan’s head was spinning. He tried to focus on the exam but his thoughts kept drifting towards his dad and Jessica.

‘You have 45 minutes left.’ The teacher shouted. Ryan couldn’t believe that half the time had gone and he had written nothing. The teacher walked up and down the rows of tables making sure that everyone was ok and noticed that Ryan was crying.

‘Ryan, are you ok?’ The teacher, Miss Maguire, whispered.

‘I feel sick.’ Ryan said as he looked at the teacher. The teacher looked at the examiner before letting Ryan go to the toilets. Ryan walked out of the hall and ran into the toilets and locked himself in there.

‘Ryan. Come on. You have an exam to do.’ Another teacher, Mr Reece, said as he sat on the other side of the door.

‘Just go away.’ Ryan shouted back. Mr Reece got up and walked towards the office to get the head to call Ryan’s parents. All the while Miss Maguire was trying to get Ryan to talk. The bell went for break and for the end of the exam and all the students started walking out of the hall. Kane had hold of Ryan’s bag and walked straight into the toilets.

‘Come on Ryan.’ Kane said as he walked in. Ryan walked out after 5 minutes of sat there thinking. As he walked out of the toilets the head, Mr Webbe, spoke to him.

‘Ryan, can you come into my office for a moment please?’ He asked. Ryan knew it would be because he didn’t do the exam. He looked at Kane and sighed.

‘See you later.’ Kane said as he walked off. As Ryan walked into the office he saw his mum and dad sat there.

‘What is he doing here?’ Ryan shouted.

‘Ryan calm down. I just wanted to talk to all of you.’ Mr Webbe said as Ryan backed up towards the door. Mary could see tears starting to form in Ryan’s eyes.

‘Sweetie, just hear him out.’

‘NO! It’s his fault. Everything’s screwed up because of HIM!’ Ryan's voice was full of fear and emotion as he said this. The whole office had gone quiet before Ryan ran out. Mary went out of the office and called Ryan.

‘Ryan.’ Mary said as he picked the phone up.

‘Leave me alone.’ Ryan said as he went to hang up.

‘Wait. Where are you? We need to talk about this.’ Mary said.

‘Near the tech block with Kane.’ Ryan said before hanging up. Mary walked back into the office and grabbed her bag before going to find Ryan. True to his word he was sat on a bench next to Kane in silence. Kane looked up and noticed that Mary was stood there.

‘I’ll just disappear.’ Kane said as he got up.

‘Thanks Kane.’ Mary said as she smiled at him and watched him walk of.

‘Ryan, you can talk to me you know.’ Mary said as she put her arm around Ryan.

‘The police said it was an accident. They say I slipped and fell.’ Ryan said as he hugged Mary.

‘What?’

‘They are saying that I slipped and fell down the stairs.’ Ryan said as he started to cry. Mary and Ryan both knew that it wasn’t an accident but no one seemed to believe Ryan.

‘We know it wasn’t an accident and that is all that matters.’ Mary said as she hugged him.

‘There's something else.’ Ryan said as he stood up.

‘What? Ryan.’ His mums’ voice was full of concern for him and he knew that he had to tell her.

‘The reason I didn’t do the exam was because I felt like I was going to pass out.’ Ryan said before sitting back down again.

‘Has this happened before?’

‘Last night when you went to bed I stayed downstairs because my head was spinning and this morning my head was hurting. I thought it was just the exam.’ Ryan looked at his mum who was worried about him.

‘Let’s talk to Mr Webbe. I'm sure he can sort something out for you.’ Mary said.

‘Ok. Why is dad here?’ Ryan asked as he grabbed his stuff.

‘Mr Webbe wants to talk to us. I tried to persuade him not to let your dad come but he came.’ Mary said as they walked back towards the office.

‘I’ll talk but if dad starts, I'm walking out of there.’ Ryan said as he kicked a stone in front of him. Mary looked at Ryan and smiled but the smile suddenly faded when she saw the pain that Ryan was in.

‘Ryan are you ok?’

‘I feel sick.’ Ryan said before actually being sick.