"Kelce, you never fail to disappoint"
I stop roughhousing with Bri long enough to look up at a very smug looking Connor
"How so?"
I release Brian's head and push him away from me by the shoulder before leaning against my locker and waiting for Connor to speak again
"You've been dating Swifty for how long? And already the good girl image is fading" he shakes his head and the smile on his face irritates me
"What are you talking about?" I drum my fingers against the metal locker, hopefully letting my friend know he's about to lose my attention
"You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Taylor being summoned to Quinn's office"
I stand up straight and eye him suspiciously, unsure if this is the truth or the start of some fucked up joke "I'm serious, they called her out twice, I guess you and Bri were too busy with the foreplay to notice"
"Why Quinn? She doesn't even have classes with him"
"I'm not psychic Trav, just saying what I heard"
"Maybe he heard Taylor's putting out nowadays and wants a turn" Brian snickers but I grab the collar of his T-shirt and pull him towards me
"A turn? What the fuck are you talking about?Don't say that shit to me" Brian's face blushes red as his joke lands flat at his feet
"That guy's a total creep, did you know Brit gave him head last year just to get a starring part in the end of year production?"
I see Brian nodding frantically, obviously pleased that Connor has come to his rescue but I feel my face flood with blood at the thought of Taylor being anywhere near a guy that gets sexual favours from students, lucky for me I know Taylor is not that type of girl. Her body isn't up for sale at any cost and it's for my eyes only, the way she looks at me like I'm the only guy alive means I would never doubt it for a second but Quinn... he's another matter all together
"Knowing Taylor he'll be looking for her help with something, she's involved in all those little clubs and stuff" I say it believing it until I look over Connors shoulder and see the black haired girl standing against her locker, her Latin skin tone paler than the last time I saw her and what looks like eye makeup of some kind smudged on her skin.
"You!" I yell louder than intended but her disheveled state has me feeling uneasy.
Her head snaps in my direction and then drops so her chin is almost resting on her chest
"Not now Travis, I can't talk to you now" she lifts her head and I notice her eyes are trained on the door to Mr. Quinn's office
"It amuses me that you think you have a choice. What's going on with Taylor?"
"What do you mean?" Once again her head whips up to look at me "what do you know?"
Okay... this is beginning to sit very fuckin uncomfortably with me
"What does Quinn want with her?"
"What do you mean?!" Her eyes look hopeful? As they latch onto mine
"I mean why's she been summonsed to his office?"
"I don't know" her eyes are back on the door
"You're lying and not doing it very well. What's she done?"
"Nothing"
"I'm going to give you ten seconds and if you don't spill your guts we are going in there and Mr. Quinn can spill his"
"I can't tell you!"
"Again thinking you have a choice, it's a demand nameless not a question"
"I promised Taylor..."
That's all I need to hear to know I'm speaking to the wrong person. Something's going on, something's being kept from me and I'm not fuckin having it.
"I guess I'll just have to get it from the horses mouth then" I say before walking down the hallway towards the office. I look back once and see her mouthing what looks like 'please' and for some reason my heart begins to hammer, suddenly afraid of what I'm going to find inside but I swallow it down, take the door by the handle and throw it open stepping into the classroom and looking for my girl, if that creep is standing within 2 feet of her he's a dead man
********************
"Is this some kind of joke?" I look back to Taylors friend who is moving slowly towards me, her eyes wet once again "there's no one fuckin in here!" The girl speeds up, running into the room and spinning around
"TAYLOR?!"
She screams her name so loud that I almost shit myself and then cover her mouth with my hand to stop the gazes we are getting from students passing by but she fights against me, scratching at my hand like a wild animal and in the struggle she falls to the ground, I step away immediately, afraid someone will think I have hurt her.
"What the fuck is your game?!" I ask as her face turns red and tears pour down her face like the heaviest thunderstorm
"They came in here, I was watching, I said I would keep her safe"
Safe...
One word causes the room to spin wildly around me
"Safe from?"
"Him! Mr. Quinn! He's been messaging her, threatening her, wanting things from her"
Bile burns my throat as her words hit my like a sledgehammer
"And you let her come in here with him?"
My voice sounds calm... I am not
"You let him shut the door with her inside?"
"She begged me, she was terrified"
Terrified...
The thought of Taylor, my Taylor being terrified of anything brings out the overprotective asshole in me but the thought of a man, a grown fuckin man, messaging, threatening, terrifying her just set a fire in me I didn't know the human body could endure and withstand.
"Where are they?"
I'm surprised when it's words that leave my mouth and not flames
"I don't know!" She screams at me and I drop to the ground and grab her face in my hands
"If he has hurt her, if he has hurt even one hair on her head, I'm coming for you"
"I'm not to blame!" She sobs as she pushes herself to her feet "I tried to protect her"
"That's my fuckin job!" I yell in her face and then it dawns on me and I begin running
"Where are you going?!" I hear her scream at me but I don't stop, I don't think, I barely breathe
The car park, that fucker drives to school in a car. If he has Taylor in it there's no knowing where he will go. I have to get to the car park before he can leave the school grounds and take Taylor somewhere that I can't find her
