It had been two weeks or so since the late time Ryder had contacted Katie. Messages had been sent, and texts had been drafted, but, there was no reply. Every day he would sit by his desk, staring longingly at the chat, hoping for a ping.
He couldn't quite understand the reason why he was being ignored by the one person he felt so trusting and loving towards. Day-by-day, he would wonder what it is that he had done wrong, but, there was nothing, aside from perhaps his questions.
Ryder had been faced with a personal ultimatum; your girl or your friends. He decided that, if his friends were not going to support him, then he would be best off without them. Now he realised that Jake and Marley especially, had made a good point, as, they were right. Katie had just vanished from his life.
The teenager was without a partner, and without friends. He was so lonely.
He wasn't, therefore, focused on school, homework, sleeping and other things that would normally not be a bother of Ryder's.
Jake walked to Ryder's house, and tapped on the front door. While it wasn't something he cared about especially, Marley had guilt-tripped him into visiting Ryder after she noticed he had been absent from school and glee practice for a few days, and if he did show, he was uninterested.
Ryder's dad opened the door quite quickly, and it became apparent that he was already about to leave. He slung a jacket onto his shoulders. The man was solemn, and had a noticeable sadness to him. He put the phone back to his ear, and continued to quietly talk.
"and, he isn't sleeping either, nor is he doing his homework. I dunn-oh" the man noticed Jake.
"Oh, hello Jake, just go straight through," he said, allowing the teen to enter, before walking away from the Lynn household. As Jake walked into the hallway, he crept around, peering for Ryder.
"Hello? Ryder? Are you here?" he said softly. A slight banging was heard upstairs.
Jake climbed the stairs hastily, and opened the bedroom door, to find Ryder splayed across the bedroom floor, face-first in the carpet. He was awake, perhaps not entirely, but this was still too risky. Jake lunged forwards and put his arm around Ryder's shoulders, before turning him the right way up.
"Ryder! Ryder can you hear me?!" Jake yelled at the boy whose eyes were dimming. He didn't know what to do in this situation, so, he sent a slap of his large palm to his face. Ryder's eye shot open and he gasped a little.
It became apparent that, for one reason or another, the teenager had collapsed in a faint-like way.
Some twenty minutes later, Ryder had drunk a few glasses of water, and had seemed to be normal. Jake plucked a pillow and sat him in the chair, and began to interrogate Ryder.
"So, care to explain?" he spoke harshly.
"I suppose I passed out…" Ryder replied. Jake got close to his face.
"What have you had to eat recently?" Puckerman asked. Ryder could tell what this question suggested, and attempted to reply accordingly.
"I had…a cheese sandwich…and beef…" he tried to say, but, Jake simply shrugged at it, raising an unimpressed brow.
"You're lying! You haven't been eating or sleeping since you broke up with Katie!" he snapped. Jake might not have wanted to go round Ryder's house in the first place, but, he was glad he did.
"It…it's hard, when the gi…the girl you love and want to spend the rest of your life with just…ends it. I told her all my secrets, my likes, my dislikes. I've sent her endless pictures…" Ryder struggled to say, before he wept.
Jake offered a supportive 'bro-hug' and allowed his friend time to cry. They then agreed in fewer words that they would go out, and get something to eat. Jake assured Ryder that it was all worthless anyway, and that he would help Ryder get through it.
Ryder had begun to go back to school again. He tried to keep more occupied, singing and dancing more in glee club. He even wanted to get over Katie. Perhaps it was because of Jake's influence, but, a new rage had built up for Katie. "She must have been some weird girl who was too scared to talk to me in real life!" he told himself reassuringly.
He opened his door, and remembered that his dad wasn't in the house. Hanging up his coat, and noticed an envelope on the floor. A brown bag, full and tightly sealed, addressed to him.
To his surprise, he inspected his package, and glanced at the address, wondering if there was a sender's address. Nope.
He scored his finger over the bag, glancing at the insides as he leaned on his kitchen table. Then, he tipped the contents out onto the table. Firstly, there was a note. "To Ryder, from K."
"Odd, but, okay!" he said to himself happily. Then, he laid the items onto the table.
Pictures of Ryder, shirtless, naked, and in drunk poses. All of which seemed familiar, but, Ryder couldn't quite work it out.
There were pages after pages of these pictures, all of which brought more shock and more tears to Ryder's young and juvenile face. After the last picture of Ryder's junk (which he swore he never took) he found a note.
It read "Meet me at the attached address, or God knows what I will do with this information. I have pictures of you naked, pictures of you doing crimes, and I know all of your secrets, such as how you get flustered whenever Sam takes his shirt off!"
Ryder found the address. He knew he was in trouble. He was being blackmailed.
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