Closed Dotting I's, Crossing T's

[Ryan Fisk]

It had taken Ryan far longer than he would have liked to admit to crack who the note to Augustus was from. In fact, it'd taken long enough he'd nearly forgotten he was even working on it until he'd spotted Addison's notes in class earlier today. He'd stared at the way she'd dotted her i's long enough that he missed half the class, but he wasted no time afterwards shooting upstairs to rifle through Augustus' stuff until he had the note again, hurrying back downstairs to find Addison again.

Spotting her in the Student Lounge, Ryan stepped forward, slapping the note triumphantly on the table in front of her. He finally had the who, now he just needed the why. "Look familiar?" He said, tapping the note a few times for good measure. "You wrote it, right?"

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addy was starting to settle a little into the school year. She still hurt, but she was getting better at handling it. Mostly. Nik was helping. She liked the distraction. It made her a bit sad, perhaps, thinking that her mother wouldn't know. But she hid it well behind the feeling of Nik liking her. She was in the student lounge, reading, when out of nowhere an old note was slammed down in front of her. She jumped, looking up in surprise at Ryan. "That... is very old," she looked back down at the little poem. "And it doesn't matter, he likes an older girl." She shrugged, not wanting to tell Ryan the Augustus liked his sister. She looked back up to the boy, raising a brow. "I'm surprised he still has it."

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan was a bit put out that his big discovery went down so flat. And that Addison pointed out how old it was. "I forgot I was trying to work it out," he said defensively, sitting down across from Addison and crossing his arms on the table. "He doesn't still have it. I have it," he said matter-of-factually, uncrossing his arms again to tug the note back over to him. "Why'd you even write anyway? Augustus thought it was a joke but I don't think it's very funny," he said, squinting at Addison to try and read her expression. "Wait, what older girl?" Ryan added after a minute, catching up when he realized what Addison had said. Ryan didn't think he'd seen Augustus remotely near anyone but him and Addison in ages, so he couldn't think who she was talking about. Maybe one of the other prefects?

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addy gave the boy a dry smile, though it faded when he asked why she wrote it. She sighed softly. "It wasn't a joke, Ryan." She told him, looking bashful. "At the time, I.... had a bit of a crush on him." She explained with a shy smile, that faded away as Ryan continued to ask about the girl. She sighed again. She wasn't going to tell Ryan that Augustus liked Ryan's older sister. "It isn't my place to say," she replied, looking back down at the note. "I had almost forgotten I sent this." she murmured, running her fingers over the faded lettering. "Silly of me, wasn't it?" She sighed, shutting it and sliding it back to Ryan. "I'm surprised you figured it out. He had no idea."

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan raised a dubious eyebrow at Addison at her admission about having a crush on Augustus, huffing. "Why though?" He asked, glancing back down at the note. Ryan supposed as other students went at the school, Augustus was one of his own favourites, but he didn't think he had a crush on Augustus, or anyone really. He didn't really see the point of it. "Why write him a love note then and never say anything?" Ryan pressed, still trying to work out what Addison had been trying to do if it wasn't a prank.

He was frustrated when Addison wouldn't tell him who apparently Augustus liked, tapping his fingers impatiently on the tabletop. "I'll figure it out, you know," he offered, knowing it probably wasn't very convincing to get Addison to tell him. "It wasn't that hard to figure out. You didn't even change your handwriting," he muttered, sticking his chin in his hands trying to work out who Augustus would even have time to have a crush on.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addy smiled softly, shaking her head. "I'm weird, Ryan. I've always had a hard time being accepted by people." She brushed her hair back. "I liked Augustus because he's my best friend. He cares about me. He understands me." She chuckled softly. "And you have to admit, he's rather attractive. Tall, dark, handsome," she sighed. "But that's also exactly why I couldn't say anything. He thought the note was from another girl. The one he likes." She bit her lip and looked away. "I couldn't just tell him that he was wrong."

Addy peeked back up at Ryan as he asked why she didn't say anything. "Well, like I said. He's my best friend. I couldn't risk losing that, losing him, over something so silly. In the end, he was more important to me than some silly crush I had." she explained. She smiled lightly as he said he would figure it out. "Well, tell me when you do." She gave him a smile. "I think, since he still doesn't know I sent it, that I did an okay job of making the note anonymous." She shook her head.

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan looked at Allison quietly for a moment, not sure he believed her reasoning. "You look normal to me," he said dismissively. He'd never really seen Addison do anything that he would consider anomalous and besides, trying to get other people to like you was a boring waste of time. He didn't see why it'd matter. He furrowed his brow more when Addison mentioned being attracted to Augustus, not sure he agreed again. "He's too tall," he said, clicking his tongue in annoyance, both with Addison's weird logic and Augustus' height.

"He didn't know who the note was from. I don't get why'd you bother writing it if you didn't want him to know," Ryan said, getting frustrated with the conversation and crossing his arms. "Had? So past tense?" Ryan pressed when Addison talked more on her crush on Augustus. Her blase attitude about the note was frustrating considering how long it'd been such a big secret, but maybe he could at least untangle more details about her and Augustus' weird relationship. Ryan didn't dislike Addison, but he wouldn't be too upset if Augustus had fewer best friends to distract him from hanging out with Ryan either.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addy raised a brow, surprised by his words. "I didn't think you were the type to judge people on looks alone," she commented idly. She almost snorted at his words. "Maybe for you, but I like his height," She smiled gently. She did sigh as he commented on not telling Augustus. "I was afraid to just tell him, Ryan. Matters of the heart can be... tricky. And I was right not to. He wanted the note to be from an older girl, not me. I didn't want to disappoint him." She tried to explain. She sighed again as he brought up the way she'd said it. "Yes, had. And I'm trying. Yes, I had a crush on him. But I thought you of all people would know there are more important things in life than romance. I wasn't willing to risk everything I had for something so silly," She remembered an odd fact then, and lit up. "Oh, did you know that couples heartbeats can synchronize?" She asked. "There was a study done on it."