How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 16

 I looked like a complete idiot standing outside the classroom, peering in, spying on Taylor and her friends, but I wasn't ready to walk in or for her to see me. That was until Mrs. Hart stepped up.

"Good morning, Rylee. What are you doing out here?" She asked, walking past me toward her desk. 

Taylor's eyes flashed over to mine, and her smile quickly disappeared as she turned away from her friends and focused on me. I stood there frozen, peeking in the doorway. Cole gave me a gentle nudge, still causing me to stumble forward a few steps inside the classroom. He eased past me, shaking his head in disbelief. I wanted to take off running out of the school, but I walked to my desk, trying to avoid eye contact with Taylor. 

"You better watch your back, bitch," Taylor said. 

"Taylor! Gather your things and go to the office now!" Mrs. Hart demanded. 

"Why? I didn't say anything!" She started gathering up her stuff. 

"I'm sure you believe that too. I better walk you so they know exactly why you got sent down there. Class, I'll be right back. Taylor, after you." She stepped to the side, letting Taylor enter the hall first. 

The minute Mrs. Hart walked out of the room, I expected Taylor's friends to start in on me, but they didn't. Instead, they turned to each other and started talking about random stuff. I didn't know how to respond to this either. Something wasn't right, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that I had completely forgotten that I was still in the classroom until I felt a slight tap on my shoulder. "Oh, my god!" I jerked, sending my English book crashing to the floor. Laughter erupted throughout the classroom while I scrambled to pick up my book that catapulted a few feet away, landing next to Taylor's empty desk. 

"Rylee, are you okay?" Cole laughed. 

I sat back down in my seat, glaring over at him. "Well, I'd be better if you'd stop scaring the shit out of me." I slammed my book on my desk. I was about to say something else when Mrs. Hart walked back into the room, telling us to open our books to page forty-seven. I sat there, making a conscious effort to keep my head toward the front of the room, not looking over at Tayor's friends, who now had decided to whisper insults and threats at me. I thought if I ignored them long enough, they would get tired of harassing me since I wasn't acknowledging them, but they kept it up the entire class. 

"And another thing, Rylee, Austin will never stay with someone like you."Taylor's friend Blair smarted off, glaring down at me. "I'd be careful if I were you as well." She turned and walked away before Mrs. Hart caught her threatening me. 

"Come on, Rylee, before we're late." Cole pulled me up out of my chair. 

Math class went by in a blur because I was still preoccupied with what Blair had said to me at the end of English about Austin. I had no idea what she was talking about, nor did I want to know. Then again, I had a right to know why Taylor and her friends felt the need to go out of their way to keep telling me to watch myself. I hadn't done anything wrong. In their eyes, I'd done everything wrong and, therefore, should pay for whatever I've done. 

"Rylee? Rylee..." Sophie said, tapping me on the shoulder. 

"Huh?" I blinked, looking up at her. 

"The bell rang a couple of minutes ago," Sophie said, motioning over her shoulder. 

I lowered my eyes, scanning the partially empty classroom. Most of the kids had already left for their next class or headed to the cafeteria. I stood up, crammed my books into my bag, and followed Sophie out of Math class into the madness of the hall. I stopped off at my locker and quickly switched out my books.