Her Sweetness: Hello! My name is Robyn and I will be writing for you from now on. I hope you enjoy the things I post! Please review and tell me your thoughts!

All That Matters

By: Robyn Ritchie

“It’s beautiful,” he said, staring at the small glint of the ring. Gavin stared longer than he meant to and when he finally looked up, Anthony was grinning at him. Gavin had to brush the rest of his hair out of his face to get the full effect of it but that was the same grin that got to him every time.

Anthony flicked the ring into the air and then tucked it away his front pocket. Gavin shrugged. “Is it for your girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” Anthony answered. He shook his hair back as he plopped back into his desk. The room the nearly empty, just a few early birds who rode the bus and got into class before even the first bell rang. The sun was still halfway hidden behind the trees and speckles of light were coming through the blinds, lighting up Anthony’s hair for Gavin to admire like he did every morning.

Anthony continued, looking past Gavin and out of the window, “It’s her birthday today and I didn’t know what to get her. At first, I thought maybe a kiss… But then, she gets those everyday.”

As the paler of the two boys continued, Gavin’s stormy eyes darkened. It was my birthday last week, he thought. And all I got was a stupid “Happy Birthday.”

“But then I saw this ring and I got it for her.”

“Must’ve been expensive,” Gavin said just to fill air.

Anthony looked away from the window and his ice blue eyes pierced Gavin’s. “I saw it in the gutter this morning. I dusted it off and there you have it—a perfect birthday present.” He smiled and patted the pocket the ring hid in.

Gavin blinked and blew air out of the side of his mouth. “That’s stupid,” he said. “She’ll know.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Girls just do. Give her something else.”

Anthony tilted his head. “Why do you care?”

I don’t, he thought and internally reprimanded himself for wanting to say anymore on the matter. He continued anyway. “Because I wouldn’t want to be treated that way,” Gavin said, mentally cringing. He sounded like he was identifying with a girl.

“Okay, whatever,” Anthony said and that as the end of it. Gavin took note that whenever those two words echoed from Anthony’s lips, the conversation was over and there was nothing a person could do to change his mind. Gavin let the hair fall back into his face and looked around the room. There were a few more people than before and when he looked up at the clock, it was ten minutes until class actually started. His class was only right next door but he felt that he had had enough of Anthony for one period.

Gavin started to head for the door but was stopped at hearing the screech of a desk’s steel leg scraping across the floor. He turned around to see Anthony walking lazily toward him, holding out the ring in his left hand.

“What,” Gavin huffed, clearly annoyed.

Anthony flashed a small smile. Not those cocky grins Gavin was so used to but a real smile. Gavin blushed and barely had time to register how beautiful it really was before that grin reappeared and Anthony dropped the ring into Gavin’s hand. He said, “You’re right. I guess I’ll get her something else… Probably just a kiss.”

Gavin nodded. “Fine, but why give this to me?”

“I didn’t get you anything for your birthday last week, right? If you’re still looking for a present, that’s it.” He paused. “Or if you wanted the kiss—”

“Don’t be gross!” Gavin recoiled much too quickly. The glint in Anthony’s eyes was just as playful as ever but still.

Anthony tossed his hair back and went back to his desk as Gavin hurried out of the room. He passed a trash can on the way to his own first period and thought about tossing the ring back into the garbage where it belonged. He clutched it for a second and then stuffed it in his back pocket. It was second-hand but it was from Anthony. That was all that mattered.