*NOT EDITED*

Chapter 24

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I can't do this. I'm going to die. I'm going to fricking die. And it's all Ryder Sander Adams' fault. Well, 'twas nice knowing you world, but I guess this is my time.

Earlier . . .

   "Ash-pie, why'd you skip your desert?" Elyse asked, collecting the dirty plates from the counter.

   I smiled proudly and looked at everyone sitting around the table. "I am planning to eat healthy from now on. You know, get the healthy lifestyle."

   Dad, Sarah, Elyse, and Damon's faces were all blank, not giving away anything. I thought they didn't hear me, but then they all burst out laughing. They laughed so much, Dad had to hold the edge of the counter for support.

   Now I knew where I got my dramatic side from⎯ the whole family.

   "I-I'm sorry. But healthy?" Damon started another laughing fit again. "Consider being a comedian as a career."

   I rolled my eyes. If I could, I'd roll my eyes into another galaxy.

   "You guys can't be serious. I don't eat that bad."

   "Remember when we called you a wild beast? Yeah, I was serious," Damon said, shaking his head.

   "You're a funny kid." Sarah patted my shoulder, wiping the tears that had leaked from her eyes.

   "Come on, you'll be late for your date. Have your apple pie," Elyse said, sliding me my plate.

   I grunted, but took it nevertheless because, honestly, they were right. Hah, eat healthy. I really am a jokester.

   Taking one last look at my reflection in the mirror beside the door, I smiled in approval and left the house. Ryder had texted me and told me that he came here earlier than the supposed time.

Once he spotted me, he smiled back and unlocked the passenger seat. I got in and turned to him.

"What took you so long?" He asked.

"I told my family that I wanted to start eating healthy and⎯are you⎯why are you smiling?" I narrowed my eyes accusingly at him. He was struggling to keep a straight face on.

Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm not. It's just, have you seen yourself eat? No offense, but you can devour a large pizza in under a minute. And in the four months that I've known you, I think the only vegetables you ate were the lettuce in your burgers."

Listening to his words, I realized it was true. I just shrugged in return, accepting the fact that I'll never be healthy.

"Speaking of burgers, I'm taking you to the best diner I know. It was my childhood favorite, and it's very clean, so don't worry about that." He started the engine, and backed out of our neighborhood.

   I beamed at the sound of that. Ryder looked at me pointedly with an amused expressing, making me roll my eyes.

We got there in no time and I could already tell that the diner would be amazing. The exterior design was set to give off a vintage vibe and I could see from the windows the infamous red seats by the counter. 'Laura's Diner', the sign read.

   Once we entered, the bell rang at the opening of the door and I caught sight of a jukebox  in a corner.

   I grabbed Ryder's arm excitedly. "They have a jukebox!"

   He laughed. "I know."

   A woman that appeared to be in her late forties walked over to us with a warm smile. She had black hair that was styled in a cute way and reached her chin, dusky skin, and a beautiful broad smile.

   "Ryder, my baby! You finally came. Oh, who's this pretty girl? Is she your girlfriend?" She turned to me with an even bigger smile, making me blush and Ryder laugh. She pulled him in for a hug and the difference of height was kind of funny. She reached about his chest. And since I was also exceptionally tall, she reached my shoulder.

   I'm about to talk when Ryder says, "Yes, she is my girlfriend. Laura, this is Ash."

   Her eyes widened with joy. "She's the girl you've been talking your mouth off? Well, it's about time we met. I'm sorry I haven't officially introduced myself. I'm Laura, Ryder's eldest aunt. We're a big family." She laughed.

"Yeah, I know, he told me. I'm Ash Brooks. It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, laughing back. I extended my hand towards her, but she pushed it out of the way and pulled me in for a big tight hug. It was warm and strangely comforting.

"Likewise," she said as I wrapped my arms around her.

Laura took us to a red booth next to the large windows and handed us menus.

   "I think I'm going to take the large Swiss Cheese Burger with a large chocolate milkshake and cheesy fries," I said after quickly skimming through the menu.

   Laura jolted down what I said with a small smile before turning to Ryder.

   "I'll take what she's going to take."

   She nodded and collected the menus before leaving us alone. I turned to Ryder to see him smirking.

"I thought you said you just had dessert in your house."

"I did. What's your point?" I asked and we both fell into laughter. "So, you told me to wear something really comfortable. What's it for?"

"You'll see." He smirked.

Oh, no. Last time he said that, we ended up doing something illegal. Fun, but illegal.

"Don't worry. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll love it," he said upon seeing my expression with a lopsided grin.

   "So, I'm traveling to Cali next week."

   "Really? I thought that if you were to travel, you'd go to Arizona." The smile on his face grew smaller.

   "I thought so too. But everyone else thought otherwise," I said with a small laugh, "It's just that California was where we would always go to every year in our vacation."

   "My sisters are coming in town this week," he said.

   "All three of them? How big is your house?"

   "Really big." He laughed with me.

   "It's Jo, Sam, and Charlie. Jo and Sam are in college, Cameron is married," he explained.

   I nodded, impressed. "I love their names."

   "My mom decided to give them all unisex names. I'm the only one in the family that doesn't have a weird name."

   Before I could say anything else, a waitress came in and slid our plates towards us. The scent and look of the food was mouthwatering and it took everything within me not to devour it all right then and now.

   But I decided to take my time so I can enjoy the taste. The milkshake was thick and perfect and everything you'd want in life, while the burger was juicy and delicious.

   "I'm going to find a song to play on the jukebox," I said after I had finished the food.

   "Do you even know how to operate it?"

   "Heck no," I said, making him laugh.

   I walked over to the jukebox, looking at all the buttons. There was a playlist that displayed a lot of songs that I knew. Except I didn't know how to play them. I huffed, feeling disappointed.

   "Can't seem to make it work?"

   I looked to my right to see a guy with shaggy brown hair and forest green eyes smiling at me.

   "No." I sighed.

   "That's because it's turned off." He laughed.

   I furrowed my eyebrows and searched for the power button. Apparently, he was right, the button was glowing red, signaling that it was powered off.

   Way to go, Ash.

   "I swear I'm not that stupid, but this my first time doing this." I groaned feeling a light blush rising up my cheek.

   He laughed. "Let me try. I'm Peter, by the way."

   "Ash Brooks." I nodded.

   I made way for him, watching as he bent down. I guess, he looked cute, but he was more of the boy next door type. Not my type.

   "Did you get it?" I asked.

   "No, I don't even know how to work this either," he said and we both fell into laughter.

   "Come on, Ash. We have to go." Ryder came up next to us. His tone was kind of off and he wore a grim expression.

   "Oh, that's a shame. Maybe we can see each other again?" Peter asked hopefully.

   Before I can answer, Ryder snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, making my eyes widen in shock.

   "Come on, babe. We're going to be late," Ryder said with warning in his voice.

   I'm about to say something to Peter when Ryder pulled me away. We walked outside and into the car, and I was still shocked and speechless.

   "What was that?" I asked once I found my voice and Ryder started driving off.

   "What do you mean?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

   "You know what I mean," I said, feeling the anger slowly flood me, "I just met him, and he was nice. We could've been friends."

   "Who? Peter Pan? I think we have enough friends. And he was more than nice." He scoffed.

   "You're unbelievable." I shook my head, resisting the laughter that was bubbling on the surface when I heard Peter's nickname from Ryder.

   "You could've at least done better than Peter Pan."

   This time, I couldn't help but let out a smile. Ryder looked at me from the corner of his eyes and smirked.

   "What? He had the hair and eyes and the height."

   I laughed, remembering him. "So, where are we going now?"

   "Oh, here's the fun part. Here," he said, handing me a blindfold, "wear it."

   "Why?" I asked hesitantly.

   "Just do it. Trust me."

   I followed his orders and put it on. I don't know how much longer we were driving, but once we reached the unknown destination, he opened the door and took my hand, leading me.

   "Ryder, are you sure about this?" I asked after a few more minutes of walking. The ground was no longer grassy, but now it was hard⎯a parking lot or sidewalk.

   "Yes, I am." He led me into a building now. I could tell because the air was conditioned and the sounds were of people talking.

   "Ryder, my man! Come on, everything's set up," a deep unfamiliar voice called out.

   I couldn't hear what Ryder replied with because he must've whispered it into his ear. We walked some more until we were back outside.

   "Okay, I'm going to dress you now. You'll just have to jump into a one-piece thingy. You won't have to take anything off so don't worry," Ryder said.

   I nodded hesitantly as he let go of my hand.

   He gave me instructions on what to do as I slid my legs down the pants, leaning on him. I was started to get worried about what was going on. What kind of date required these clothes? Biking maybe?

   After putting it on, we walked some more until we had entered a small closed place where I can finally sit down.

   "Okay, you can take it off now."

   I sighed in relief and untied the strings. At first, everything was blurry and it took time for my eyes to readjust. After being able to see clearly, I realized where we were.

   "Ryder, why are we in a plane?" I asked nervously.

   "Because we are going to skydive." He smiled broadly.

   My jaw dropped to the floor as I registered his words. This was a skydiving suit, oh, God.

   At first I was scared and reluctant. I almost made him stop the plane. But then, as the plane flew higher, I grew more excited at the idea of jumping off the plane. My nerves were still on edge, but the adrenaline drove it away.

   "You sure know how to take a girl on the date," I said, watching the landscape from the window.

   "I was expecting you to freak out and make us stop the plane. But then I remembered who my girlfriend is." He laughed.

   I felt a funny feeling upon hearing the word 'girlfriend'. It made me happy. He made me happy.

   They started strapping us to the guys who'd skydive with us, and gave us instructions on what to do.

   As they started opening the doors, the wind blew my hair frantically and I smiled giddily as I took his hands. "I'm glad that the first time I'll skydive is with you. It's good to know that I won't die alone."

   He laughed and laced my fingers with his. "Same here. Come on, it's time."

   As I got on the edge, all the nervous thoughts returned back to me. Is it too late to go back now?

   Oh, God.

   Oh, God.

I can't do this. I'm going to die. I'm going to fricking die. And it's all Ryder Sander Adams' fault. Well, 'twas nice knowing you world, but I guess this is my time.

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Author's Note:

Hey, guys! I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday and I know that I'm supposed to update everyday, but I was in such a bad mood yesterday and I was very very tired.

  But here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! I really hope you liked it bec I certainly did lol.

   Tell me what you think of it. What about Peter Pan? Skydiving as a date? When I told my friend about the skydiving thing she freaked out and told me that I was going overboard but whatevs, you know me lol.

I also started a book cover shop because I really like making them. The covers will be similar to the ones that I did for TGTCTP, check it out. Only payment is creds and a follow to me.

Also, this is Laura (except younger 😂) down below: