How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 31

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Austin followed me to school so that he could park next to me in the parking lot. He wanted to be close to me if Blake and his friends tried to cause problems. We didn't know exactly when, but we knew it would happen sometime today. I sat in my car for a few minutes, debating whether to get out or start it back up and drive away. With Austin parked right next to me, I knew there was no getting away that easily. He got out of his car and opened my door within a matter of a few minutes. He grabbed my bookbag from the back seat while I got out of the car. 

"Thank you." I took my bookbag from him and looked around the parking lot. I just knew Taylor or Blake was waiting for us somewhere close by. Any minute, one of them was going to make an appearance. 

"You ready?" Austin asked, taking my hand. 

No, I wasn't ready, but I couldn't hang out in the parking lot all day. "Sure." I took one last look across the parking lot in search of them or any of their friends. 

"Wait!" 

I tugged on Austin's hand for him to stop. I turned and saw Sophie and Cole hurrying to catch up. "You two are running a little late this morning." I looked down at my watch. 

"Someone had to get coffee on our way to school." Cole pressed his lips together, glaring over at Sophie. 

Sophie scrunched up her face. "What? You wanted coffee, too." 

"Yeah, the whole reason I got to your house early, but you still managed to take forever getting ready. I've shown you numerous times how to apply your makeup quickly." 

Sophie looked over at him, raising her hand and flipping him her middle finger. 

"You know, I'm right." Cole laughed, walking over beside Austin. 

"Everyone hates a know-it-all." 

"Are you two done?" I swapped glances between them. 

"You should really control your friends." 

Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my calm. I so badly wanted to say something, but we were at school, and Taylor would definitely get me in trouble here. Austin gave my hand a light squeeze, letting me know everything would be all right. 

"What the fuck do you want, Taylor?" Austin asked, pulling me closer to his side. 

"Nothing. Just stating the truth." She walked past us toward the school. Blake walked out of the school to meet Taylor. His eyes zoomed in on Austin's and motioned that he was watching him. Austin let go of my hand and started walking faster toward Blake. He was already a few feet ahead of me when I took off after him. He was walking so fast that I could barely keep up; I stretched out my hand and grabbed his sleeve, yanking on it. 

"He's going to cause trouble." 

"He's not causing it right now." I took Austin's hand, trying to calm him down. 

"Okay." He raised my hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it. Then, he lowered our hands and started leading us toward the school's front doors. He wasn't walking super fast like before, but he wasn't exactly walking slowly, either. Luckily, Blake and Taylor walked inside the school before we made it to the doors. They were halfway down the hall by the time we walked through the doors. Austin told me he'd see me later, gave me a quick kiss, and then headed in the opposite direction to his locker. We headed to our lockers to grab our Biology books then headed to class. Sophie left me alone with my thoughts as we walked to class, which I appreciated more than anything. She knew now was not the time to press me for answers after everything I'd been through this past weekend. 

                                                                                            *****

The rest of the classes went by in a blur. I was surprised that Taylor didn't harass me in English. She glared at me when I walked into class with Cole but didn't make any rude remarks. I kept my eye on her throughout class, waiting for her to do something, but she never did anything. I'd be lying if I said it didn't freak me out a little bit. 

When Sophie and I rounded the corner, I saw Austin leaning against my locker, looking down at his phone. I stood there at the edge of the corner, staring at Austin as if he was going to disappear from in front of my locker into thin air. I studied his features, memorizing every little thing about him at that moment. He leaned against my locker, crossed his right foot over his left,  and held his phone in his left hand, using his thumb to swipe through screens. His right thumb was tucked inside his right front pocket while his fingers dangled down. 

"Come on, Rylee." Sophie nudged me, walking around toward our lockers. 

I was halfway to my locker before Austin saw me walking up. He moved away from my locker and put his phone in his pocket. "How were your classes?" He asked. 

"Okay, I guess." I opened my locker to switch out my books. "Are you ready for practice today?" I asked, closing my locker. 

"I'm so ready." He smiled. "Thanks again for your help." He took my hand and started walking to the cafeteria. 

"Do you think you can help me tonight after you get off work?" 

"Work?" Sophie's eyes were big. "What work?" Her eyes moved back and forth between Austin and me. 

"I forgot to tell you; I'm working at Coffee Oasis after school." 

"Does your dad know?" Sophie asked. 

"No." I lowered my head. Again, not the right time to point out the obvious, Sophie. She was doing great earlier but leaving me alone with my thoughts, and then she goes and does this shit to me. I didn't want to smart off to her, but when would I have told him about the job when he was smacking me across the face this past weekend? 

"When are you going to tell him?" She asked, peeking over at me. 

"I don't know!" I snapped. "Should I have told him when he was smacking me?" I let go of Austin's hand and walked down the hall by myself. Austin was at my side a few minutes later, retaking my hand. I told him I shouldn't have snapped at Sophie, but she knew why I didn't tell my dad about my new job, and yet she still made a comment. I couldn't handle listening to a lecture about how I should've told my dad about my job. She had no idea what it's like to live with someone that hits you for no reason. You definitely don't give them reasons to smack you around, that's for damn sure. 

Austin turned to me right before we got to the cafeteria doors. "Are you sure you want to go in there? You seem really on edge today." 

"Yeah, I'm not going to let anyone keep me from walking in there." I let go of his hand and walked into the cafeteria. I was getting tired of other people trying to intimidate me.