Chapter Eight
Taylor
I walked down the hall after math. Dylan had run out of class before I could talk to him, but for the first time, I hadn’t felt lost in class. I had some idea what the teacher was saying. I stopped at her locker and Greg, the guy I’d had a date with Saturday, stopped by. I groaned inside.
“Hello, Taylor.”
“I thought I made it clear, Greg, that I wasn’t interested.”
“No reason to be a bitch, Taylor.”
I pulled out the books I needed. I didn’t want this from him. Hadn’t my text been clear? “I’m not being a bitch. I’m telling you that I said everything I needed to tell you in that text. I want you to leave me alone.”
I slammed my locker and walked away from him. He put a hand on my shoulder. I spun back to him, pissed. This guy as an idiot. I’m sure my face was red. “What do you want?”
“Another chance.”
“I don’t want to go out with you again.”
“Why not?”
“Because you were rude to me and I’m not interested in you,” I said.
I stared him right in the eyes so he’d understand that I was serious.
“You can’t be serious. This is me. Girls would give their right leg to go out with me.”
“Not this girl.”
He put his hand on my shoulder again to stop me when I turned away from him. I didn’t turn this time, but tried to shake him off. “Stop it, Greg.”
“Or you’ll do what?”
I looked back at him. His eyes raked up and down me. “We meet alone somewhere, you’re mine.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, it’s a promise.”
He put his face close to mine, but then he was yanked backwards. Dylan had him by the neck and his arm was cocked back to punch Greg.
“Dylan, no.”
Dylan looked at me. His face was red with anger. “Is this the guy?”
“Yes, but he isn’t worth getting in trouble over.”
Dylan glanced back at Greg then back at me. “You leave her alone. She’d made it clear that she isn’t interested.”
He let go of Greg, who made a show of wiping off any dirt on himself. Not that there was any. He was just being an ass.
“What the fuck concern is it of yours?” Greg said.
He was brave now that Dylan had let him go. Dylan had a few inches on him and the asswipe was still mouthing off to him.
“She’s my friend,” Dylan said.
That was sweet. He considered me a friend.
Greg looked from Dylan to me. “Oh, I get it. You want her all to yourself.” He pointed to Dylan and asked me, “Slumming with him?”
Dylan’s arm went back again, but I grabbed it. “Don’t, Dylan. He’s an idiot.”
Dylan looked at my hand on his arm. He relaxed it. I really didn’t want him to get into trouble. My father might kick him out, and I didn’t want that to happen. I was beginning to like the guy. I wanted him to have a chance at a good life.
Back in the trailer, he wouldn’t.
Dylan stepped back. “Beat it.”
The bell rang. I was late. I was never late to class. Dylan looked at me as Greg left at the sound. “You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I deal with punks like him all of the time,” he said.
Right now, he was my hero. I had been beginning to be afraid of Greg when Dylan showed up. “You’re going to be late to class.”
“It’s just study hall. The teacher’s cool. You should go to your next class and tell her your stomach hurts. Tell him or her that you were in the bathroom afraid you were going to throw up. You can go to the nurse’s office and get to lay down for a few minutes, then she’ll give you a pass to your next class. That way you won’t be late.”
I cocked my head at him. “Spoken like someone who has done it before.”
He smiled, and I realized it was an adorable grin that lit up his brown eyes. “More than once.”
He spun away from me and walked to class like he didn’t have a care in the world. My step was lighter knowing that Dylan was on my side. It was nice to have a protector. I walked into my next class, hunched over. I hoped I looked pale enough.
“Mrs. Watkins, my stomach hurts. Can I go to the nurse’s office?”
It might be nice to sit out a class. I have to admit that Greg had shaken me up. I’d never had anyone treat me that way and I didn’t like it. Dylan had ridden in on his white horse.
I lay in the nurse’s office thinking about him. What a tough life he must have. Hopefully, it would be better now. I wondered what I could do to brighten it. Should I introduce him to my friends or did he not care about those things? I didn’t know.
What I knew about Dylan, I could count on one hand. He wasn’t a forthcoming with information. He still hadn’t told Daddy why he’d been writing on the wall. I wondered why he didn’t want to tell us. Was it embarrassing?
Had someone written something about him?
No, that wasn’t it. He didn’t care what most people thought. It must be a great way to go through life. Then again, the reasons he of how he got there aren’t good.
I sat up when the nurse came in.
“I’m feeling better. Can I go back to class?”
“Of course.”
She wrote me a pass. There was only ten minutes left in the period, so I sauntered and got there with only five left. No need to even open my notebook. Bailey was in that class and would give me her notes.
The bell rang.
“I saw Greg in the hallway. He looked mad. Is everything okay?” Bailey said.
It was. Because Dylan would protect me.