Honey and Spice | ✔️

Chapter 2

Ryder

Nick asks me after school one day, "Wanna come with me and Sin to the bubble tea shop?"

"Yeah, sure." I finish packing my things and hoist my bag on one shoulder.

The bubble tea shop is a small store behind our school that sells bubble tea and other snacks. Even though principal Dawson tells us not to go there since the residents in that area are annoyed that the students who frequent there are a public nuisance, we still go anyway. It's not like Nick, Sin and I run around screaming obscenities - I mean, we used to in grade 10 - we are civilized.

After buying our drinks, we take our seat at a nearby table. I slowly sip on my milk tea, saving the pearls for last.

"Guys, I have an announcement to make," Sinclair says after a while.

"You're pregnant?" I feign shock.

"Haha, hi-la-ri-ous."

"The sky is blue? The trees are green? Your eyes are red?" Nick asks wryly.

Sin rolls his eyes. "First of all, my eyes are crimson. Get that shit right. Secondly, no."

"You're gay?" I offer.

"And so are you," he says a little too loudly. "Anything else?"

I quickly look around to see if anyone overheard. Then I tell Sin, "Fuck you."

"Ah, but the thing is: you won't." Sin winks at me and I roll my eyes.

Nick chimes in, "You like Vahn!"

Sin blushes, then mumbles angrily, "I wanted to be the one to say that, damn it. How d'you know?"

I reach across the table and stroke his cheek with one hand. "Sinclair." I take a sip. "Sin." Another sip. "Sin Chair." Another sip.

"Yes, Ry-chan?"

I take an extra-long sip for effect. "When it comes to having feelings for someone, Chair, being subtle about it is not in your capability."

He pulls away, vexed. "Bullshit. And also don't call me 'Chair.'"

"I do what I want." I shrug.

"It's true though," Nick says. "You're bad at hiding your feelings, man."

Sin looks offended. "I am not! I can win an Oscar for hiding my feelings, y'know?"

I snort. "Stop it, your delusional ass is killing me. Anyway, it's so obvious you like him, bro, you always find excuses to be near him and you punch his arm a lot."

"What's wrong with punching his arm?" Sin asks, finishing his brown sugar milk tea.

"Feels gay," Nick says vaguely. "And also, he might suffer from permanent nerve damage or something,"

"C'mon guys, I'm being serious here!" Sin throws his arms up in frustration.

"To be honest, he's kinda hot," I muse.

He is. Vahn is a tall, stoic, hunky guy with intense brown eyes that pierce into your soul and leaves you stammering, sweating and a blushing mess. He has short dark brown hair that he constantly runs his fingers through. He rarely talks but when he does, his voice is as deep as the Grand Canyon and velvety-smooth like melted chocolate. Vahn joined Fernwood High last year in the middle of Semester 2 and Sinclair couldn't stop looking at him. Honestly, I don't find it surprising that Sin has fallen for Vahn, literally the whole school has.

Sin reaches across the table to muss my hair. "Thank you, Ryder,"

"You guys are weird!" Nick says, furrowing his thick black eyebrows.