How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 17

The last bell of the day rang, and I sat there for a second in my seat, letting the room clear out before I got up. I knew Austin would be waiting for me, but I wasn't ready to face him. I couldn't stop thinking about what Cole said at lunch about Austin after he stood up for me to, Taylor. I wanted to stay hidden away in marketing class, but I knew Austin would eventually find me. I wanted to know why I was here instead of meeting him behind the school for tutoring. 

"Rylee, is everything okay?" Mr. Roberts asked, looking up from his stack of papers. 

I glanced at the empty desks around me and knew it was time to leave the safe haven of the classroom. "Yes. Sorry, I didn't mean to stay so long after class," I said, trying to sound convincing. 

"You're fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." 

"I should get going." I got up from my chair and placed my book in my bag. 

"Rylee, if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open." 

"Thanks, Mr. Roberts," I said, walking past his desk to the door. Except for a few teachers walking back to their classrooms, the hallway was empty. Luckily, my locker was down the hall and around the corner from my last class. I started around the corner to my locker when I spotted Austin leaning against the wall next to my locker, looking down at his phone. I stood there frozen, wondering why Cole and Sophie thought Austin could like someone like me. 

"Hey, I was wondering what happened to you," Austin said, putting his phone in his pocket and walking toward me. 

"Sorry, I had a question for Mr. Roberts." I motioned behind my back toward Marketing class. 

"No problem. I wanted to catch you before you headed out back anyway. It's hot outside, and I thought we could go for tutoring elsewhere. And no, we won't go to Coffee Oasis." 

"Where?" I asked, walking to my locker. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked, turning to walk with me. "I thought maybe we could get something to eat while we work on my Math." 

I opened my locker, peeking over at Austin. "I'm a little hungry." I turned around, reaching inside my locker for my Math and English books. 

"Look what we have here..." 

I closed my locker door to turn around to see who was talking, but Austin had moved in front of me, blocking my view. I tried to move to the right of him, but his hand gently pushed me back behind him. 

"What do you want, Blake?" Austin asked, keeping his back to me. 

"So, the rumors are true...You broke up with Taylor." The guy said, trying to look past Austin at me. 

"What the fuck do you want, Blake? I'm not going to ask you again?" Austin's voice was low and threatening. 

"Just trying to figure out why you'd break up with Taylor for her, that's all." He chuckled, still trying to look at me. Then, his hand reached around and grabbed my arm out of nowhere. 

 Austin lunged forward, pushing Blake backward. "I'm not going to tell you again. Stay the fuck away from her!" Austin threatened, leaving a small enough gap between us that I could see who was causing problems. The voice sounded familiar, but I had difficulty placing a face with the voice. I moved my head to the left, and all I could see was the guy's dark blonde hair and the side of his face. That's all I needed to realize it was the same guy from the other day. 

"Hayes, she must be a good fuck for you to leave Taylor." 

Austin moved away from me without saying a word. Finally, I was able to move away from the lockers. Austin had Blake by the shirt pinned against the wall, glaring at him. "DON'T. EVER. TALK. ABOUT. HER. AGAIN!" Austin growled, grasping Blake's shirt tighter, slamming him harder into the wall; a dull thud echoed down the hall. Austin backed away, making sure not to turn his back to Blake.