(1) Talk Me Down: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 54: The Beginning

        I sped down the hallways of school, trying my hardest not to be seen by any of the girls. My nerves got the best of me, like I was a new kid on the first day.

        Well, I guess I wasn't that far off. I mean, I wasn't new to school, and I knew exactly who I was trying to avoid while I weaved between people in the hallways. I hoped that I could hide behind my hair, passing kids that I saw at my party without a word. But what they did was worse when they realized it was me, they stared like I was the walking dead. Like, I didn't stand a chance against anything that Veronica had planned for me.

        That terrified me.

        My name was being called behind me continously, and I was relieved to recognize that it was Rian's voice in the crowd. I turned around slightly, shifting to one side of the hallway while kids passed me slowly. I forgot that I even had lunch with Rian, too caught up in everything else to think about waiting for him.

        Rian had been a good distraction in school up until the end of first block, up until I stopped having classes with him. He made the car ride easy and the walk to Lit less awful than I expected. I was thankful that he was coming to my rescue once again, happy that there was at least one person still talking to me.

        He was walking at a casual pace that almost matched mine because of the different lengths of our legs. He flipped his hair out of his eyes while he brushed past kids with ease. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, books in my girp. I knew that I had room for them in my backpack, but having something in my hands occupied my mind a little.

        "Hi," I murmured softly, feeling strange talking to him in front of other people.

        It was familiar to the way I felt in my Freshman English class when my teacher informed us that we weren't allowed to chew gum in his class. It took me months after that class not to be worried of Mr. Evan's telling me to 'spit it out' when I popped a bubble at work or in the hallways.

        I guess it was just something I would have to get used to; along wth all the extra attention I was receiving in school.

        I'm sure most, if not all, of the school had heard about what happened at the party. I could tell by the way that most of them stared while passing, like we were some sort of exhibit to look at at the Zoo. I couldn't direct my attention at them, though. I was too focused on the feeling of Rian's lips brushing against mine softly. It was almost impossible to describe how much I needed that.

        "Don't look so worried. Veronica can smell fear," he said with a small chuckle, face lingering near mine. I couldn't stop the way the corner of my lips twitched upward just enough to be considered a smile.        

        "The more I can avoid them, the better," I said quietly, turning to walk forward once again. Rian followed closely next to me, reaching over and taking two of my books off the pile in my grasp. I attempted to protest his gesture, but he continued to walk while rolling his eyes and laughing shortly.

        I smiled at him, dstracted by his kindness while walking into the lunchroom. I wasn't aware of what he was going on in front of me until I felt an impact to my chest, catching me off guard and knocking me to the ground. Rian faltered at my side as I smashed my body on the floor, grunting in pain.

        "Watch where you're going," I winced at the tone of the voice, the sound of the venom in her words. I never thought that I would be on this end of an attack from Veronica, but here I was, staring up at her as she gave me a satisfied smile. "Piece of trash."

        I met Charlotte's gaze, noticing the way she bit the inside of her cheek. She knew that this was wrong, she absolutely knew that Veronica was wrong. But she was going along with it anyway. She wasn't going to stop it because she was spineless, just as I was.