How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 4

We walked into the cafeteria, and I could feel my anxiety was reaching an all-time high. I was trying my hardest to stay calm but failing miserably. The cafeteria was where a lot of my torment occurred in middle school. So, I guess you could say I had a good reason for being nervous walking into the cafeteria. But I had Sophie and Cole with me, and I knew they wouldn't let anything happen to me. And yet, I was still nervous as hell. 

"You're slouching," Cole whispered close to my ear. 

I peeked over at him and stood a little taller, trying not to slouch so much. Unfortunately, I always slouched whenever I was nervous, and it became my usual walk throughout middle school. No matter how much I tried not to slouch, the minute someone would pick on me, the slouching would start. 

"There's a table over there." Sophie pointed to the left side of the dining area. She set her things down on the round table, which had five chairs around it. 

"Sophie, do we really need this big table for the three of us?" I set my stuff down on the table next to me. 

"Uh...yes. You never know who might want to join us in the next few weeks." She looked around the cafeteria. 

Cole and I looked at one another as if Sophie had lost her mind, then sat down in the chairs. We sat there and talked for a few minutes while the lunch lines died down a little bit, then went up there and got our food. Sophie and I went directly to the fresh veggies, and Cole checked out the A la Carte. Sophie got a couple of veggies and then headed back to our table. I tried to talk her into waiting a couple more minutes, but she told me I would be fine and that she was a few feet away with Cole. I could feel a big lump in my throat the minute she walked away; I went back to picking out my veggies, trying to ignore what was happening behind me. I grabbed some tomatoes and a couple more carrots, then got some ranch to dip my veggies in. I turned to walk back to the table, and there, walking across the lunchroom, was Austin Hayes. He was my neighbor for nine years before we moved away. My heart started pounding like someone beating on bongo drums, and the big lump in my throat had returned, making it virtually impossible to swallow. I lowered my head, grasped my bowls tighter, and started walking back over to the table. I was a foot away from the table when Austin went out of his way to say it again.  

"Duckface, I still can't over it?" Austin said right behind me. 

I paused briefly, then walked to the table like I didn't hear him. Sophie and Cole were sitting there at the table with their mouths open, staring in my direction. I know they were just as surprised as I was that Austin would be the one person to recognize me. I set my bowls down on the table, then turned around to face Austin. 

He took a step closer, looking down at me with his gorgeous brown eyes, studying my features. "Rylee? Are you going to say anything?" He asked.

I glanced over at Sophie and Cole, whose mouths were hanging wide open, then returned my focus back to Austin. "What do you want? Humiliating me this morning wasn't good enough for you?" 

"Wow, Duckface." 

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! You know what the fuck my name is!" 

Austin's eyes widened, and his mouth hit the floor. He ran his hand through his hair, and for a brief minute, it looked like he was trying to find the right words to say after I blew up at him. He finally opened his mouth to say something, and that is when Taylor decided to make her presence known. 

"Austin, what are you doing?" Taylor asked, glaring over at me. 

"Just talking to Rylee Evans. Remember her from middle school?" He turned to look at Taylor. 

She moved closer to Austin, narrowing her eyes and studying my face. "No, I don't remember her from middle school. Can we go back to our table?" She turned and tugged on his arm. 

Please don't tell her who I am. I just wanted Austin to turn and go with Taylor back to her table of friends without saying another word about me. I waited for him to tell her my nickname from middle school, but he didn't. Instead, he turned and went with her without saying another word about middle school or me. Finally, when he was far enough away, I let out a huge sigh of relief and sank down in my seat in between Cole and Sophie. I picked up my water bottle and went to open it, but I was trembling so bad that I couldn't get the cap off the bottle. Cole took the bottle out of my hands, opened it, and then handed it back to me. I took a big drink of water, then glanced over my shoulder toward Taylor's table at Austin. He sat close to Taylor as she talked and laughed with her friends. Austin was my crush from grade school up until we moved away. I thought being away for three years would get him out of my system, but seeing him today resurfaced some of those feelings. It's not like he and I would ever be together or anything like that. 

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked, taking a drink of her water. 

"Yeah," I said, stealing another glance at Austin. 

"He's with Taylor, Rylee." Sophie took a bite of a carrot. 

"I don't want him. Besides, he called me Duckface." I groaned, popping a cherry tomato into my mouth. He still saw me as the awkward little nerd who hung onto his every little word. We finished lunch, then Cole and I went to our next class, Marketing. The hour flew by in a blur because I was still trying to wrap my head around running into Austin. I wasn't prepared to run into him again so fast, and I really wasn't ready for him to call me "Duckface." Spanish class was about the same as Marketing, as far as not being able to pay attention. Would I be forever known as "Duckface Rylee"? 

Author's Notes:

I can't believe Austin called her Duckface again. Poor Rylee. 

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