~My Teacher Hits Me~ (Book 1) [Rewritten]

Chapter 21: All Around the Mulberry Bush

 Rylan heads back to class and dreads what Blake will do if he gets her alone again. She takes her seat and continues to ignore Blake despite his eyes burning holes in the side of her head. Rylan even answers a few questions. When class ends, Rylan sneaks a glance at Blake. He's too focused on her to simply let her go to her next class. She dashes out to find Tuck as quickly as possible.

Black follows, hot on her heels. Rylan pushes herself faster through the throngs of students.

"Rylan. Rylan!" Blake calls and speeds up in an effort to match her pace.

Rylan's heartbeat flutters out of control. She considers dropping her book bag and notebooks so she can run, but she's already running out of breath and she's not moving very fast. Rylan turns down the next hallway and spots Tuck at the end on his way to art. He faces her direction, but doesn't see her. She can't shout to him because he won't hear her over the noise of the other students. The hallway slowly starts to clear and Tuck begins to turn.

Blake shouts again, "Rylan!"

Tuck snaps to attention at the familiar name and turns back. His eyes land on Blake first and then frantically discover Rylan not far ahead of him. Tuck sprints down the hall to Rylan. Rylan cowers behind Tuck just as Blake reaches them.

"Keep away from her, Blake." Tuck warns. "Rylan doesn't want to talk to you."

His stands protectively between Rylan and Blake, ready to tackle him if he tried anything. Tuck may be shorter than Blake by half a foot, but that won't stop him if he tries to hurt Rylan again.

Blake takes a step forward so he is barely two inches from Tuck's face. Rylan cowers even further behind Tuck.

"I'm sure Rylan can tell me that herself."

Tuck grimaces. "I'm sure she already has."

Blake snickers, then frowns. "I'm not going away. What are you going to do about it?"

"Don't push me. Walk away." Tuck replies, his voice unwavering.

Rylan waits apprehensively as the silence drags on between the two. By now, most of the students have disappeared into their classrooms and the hallways are nearly empty. Rylan watches the few stragglers and pleads with her eyes for someone to get help before the situation escalates. They either ignore her or stare curiously, probably wishing they could stay and watch the unfolding fight.

"Look, we're all going to be late for class." Rylan says, hoping her statement will get Blake to back off, at least for now.

Instead, Blake looks at Rylan and says, "C'mon cupcake. You've skipped class before." He glances back at Tuck. "We all have."

"C'mon, Tuck, we should go." Rylan urges and tugs the back of his shirt.

Blake grips Rylan's arm tightly. "You're not going anywhere."

Tuck still stands between the two, but now he grabs Blake's arm just above the crook of the elbow.

"Let go." Blake sneers.

"You first." Tuck demands.

Rylan attempts to twist free, but Blake just digs his fingers deeper into her skin.

"Get out of my way, wuss."

"I'd be careful what you call me and what you do to Rylan. Or maybe the secret about what you did to her will surface." Tuck hisses.

Blake releases Rylan and grabs the front of Tuck's shirt in his fists. Tuck does the same with Blake's shirt.

"Tuck!"