What I like about you

31

"I'll see you at lunch, okay? And I'll meet you back here." Ryder smiles brightly at me, his blue eyes shining.

I can't help the big smile that graces my lips, my eyes squinting.
"Okay. I'll see you then."

He pushes off the lockers.
"See you then." He smiles, swooping down and giving me a sweet kiss on the cheek.

He walks backwards, still smiling at me until he turns down a hallway and disappears from my sight.

I still smile after him, feeling a presence behind me.

I turn back around and shut my locker door.

I sigh out when I see who's behind it.

"We need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about, Blake." I start to walk away, but he falls into step beside me.

"Please, just talk to me." He tried to grab my hand but I yank it away.

"I have nothing to say to you." I whip around to look at him. The tardy bell rings, making me late to my class.

Great.

Blake still looks at me, his eyes soft and innocent.

"You can't keep looking at me like you did nothing wrong!" I bark out.

The few people left in the hallway turn their attention towards us.

Blake's flustered look is cute but annoys me more than anything. His hair sticking out in every direction, dark circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept.

"Just tell me what I did wrong!" He fires back. People stand and watch.

I nervously look around at all the staring faces. All the whispers filling my ears. My nerves get the best of me and I begin to tear up. My heart racing, hands shaking.

"Danielle?" Blake's soft voice trumps the others.

I look into his eyes, worry deep within them.

I try to say something, anything.
But I choke on the words.

I shake my head, feeling the tears get closer to pouring out.
My feet take over and I'm running away, my vision blurry.

"Danielle!" I hear Blake run after me.

I let my legs take me away, faster and faster.

I try to keep going farther away, not looking where I'm going.
Then, I run into something.

Or, someone.

"Danny?" I recognize Ryder's voice.

"R-Ryder?" I look up at him.

His eyes soften once he sees me crying.

"Hey, babe, what's wrong?" His hands move up into my hair, his eyes searching my face.

The tears start to pour out more.

"I don't know."

"There's something wrong." He smooths back the hair from my face, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

He continues to search my face until he sees something behind me. His eyes darken, his jaw clenched.

I quickly look behind me, my eyes connecting with Blake's.

"That bastard. He did this." Ryder drops his hands, trying to move around me.

"No! It wasn't him." I grab his face, forcing him to look at me. His strong jaw locks, his face refusing to budge.
"Ryder? Look at me."