CHAPTER 37: CONFRONTATION

My body moved before my brain could stop it. My hands were shoved in my pockets so I wouldn’t do something stupid, like clench them into fists. This was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.

I stopped a few feet away. "Tyler," I said. My voice was calm. Too calm. "Hey, man. Can we talk?"

He turned, his arm still around the girl. He gave me a quick up-and-down look, then put on a show for her. "Sorry," he said, like he was talking to a bug. "Have we met?"

The girl next to him giggled. "Yeah, Tyler," she sneered. "Who’s your little friend? Did he get lost?"

’calm yourself,’ I thought, my mind going completely quiet. ’Don’t kill them. Prison is boring. And they probably don’t have good Wi-Fi.’

I kept my face neutral. Playing the nice guy. "C’mon, man. You know who I am." I kept my voice friendly. "It’ll just take a second. It’s important."

Tyler’s smile tightened. He was getting pissed. He didn’t want this weird kid messing up his game. "Look, man, I’m kinda busy," he said, gesturing to the girl like she was a new car he was showing off.

"I know," I said, still polite. "That’s why it’ll only take a second."

I didn’t move. Just stood there. I was a mandatory, unskippable cutscene, and he was getting more annoyed by the second.

"Fine. Whatever." He finally snapped, unwrapping his arm from the girl. "Wait here, babe. I’ll get rid of him."

He walked over to me, pulling me a few feet away. The second his back was to her, the nice-guy mask dropped. "What the fuck do you want?" he hissed. "You trying to ruin my life? First Nina, now this?"

I just looked at him. One of the school’s top guy. The handsome prince. All I saw was a pathetic bully.

"Just some friendly advice," I said, my voice quiet.

He scoffed. "Advice? I don’t need advice from a nobody like you."

"I think you do," I said, taking a small step closer. "You should be careful who you talk to. Walls have ears."

He looked confused, then suspicious. "What are you talking about?"

A small, cold smile appeared on my face. "For example," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. "You probably shouldn’t go around telling people how you’re planning to ’wear down’ a girl who already broke up with you. It’s not a good look. Makes you sound... like a predator."

Bingo. His face went white. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

"You... you were listening to us?" he stammered, his tough-guy act completely gone.

"Just walking by," I said with a shrug. "Couldn’t help it. You and Ronnie aren’t exactly quiet." I leaned in a little more. "You also probably shouldn’t say that the only good things about her are her face and body. That’s the kind of thing that could really wreck a guy’s reputation if it got out."

He looked like I’d just hit him with a truck. He was speechless.

"You’re bluffing," he finally managed, but it sounded weak.

"Am I?" I asked, my smile completely gone. "Wanna find out? Wanna see what happens when Nina finds out what you really think of her? When the whole school finds out?"

I had him. The fear in his eyes was so obvious it was almost pathetic. Checkmate.

"So here’s my advice," I said, taking a step back. "Stay away from Nina. Don’t talk to her. Don’t text her. Don’t even look at her. Pretend she doesn’t exist. Because if I hear you’ve even breathed in her direction, everyone is going to hear that conversation. I’ll make sure of it."

He just stared, his face a mix of fear and helpless anger. He was a guy who used his fists. He had no idea how to fight like this.

I held his gaze for a moment longer, letting the threat sink in. Then, I turned my back on him and started to walk away. My work here was done.

But then I stopped.

’No,’ a cold voice in the back of my head said. ’He still doesn’t get it. He’s looking at my back and just seeing the quiet kid. The easy target.’ Guys like him always assume people like me are weak. Just because I’m a loner, just because I read manga. They think we don’t fight back. They think we’re just NPCs in their story.

I turned back around.

Before he could even react, my hand shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt, twisting the fabric in my fist. I yanked him forward, hard. He stumbled, his feet shuffling on the pavement, his eyes going wide with shock. He was taller than me, probably heavier, but right now, fuelled by my rage and hate for him, this felt like nothing.

I got right in his face. His stupid, surprised face. He could probably see it in my eyes then, the thing he’d missed. The thing they all miss. It wasn’t just anger.

"People like you always underestimate the quiet ones," I whispered, my voice dead calm. "It’s a classic mistake."

I saw the raw fear in his eyes. He finally, finally understood. This wasn’t a game.

"Don’t make it," I said.

I shoved him back. He stumbled away, catching his balance like a newborn deer.

Then, without another word, I turned and walked away for real, leaving him standing there on the sidewalk.

My hands were shaking. Crap. My hands were actually shaking. I shoved them deep into my pockets, my heart pounding like crazy.

’What the hell was that?’ I thought, my legs feeling a little wobbly. ’Did I just awaken my dark side or something?’

I had just threatened, blackmailed, and physically intimidated the school’s top pretty-boy. This isn’t a slice-of-life anymore. I’ve stumbled into the wrong damn genre.

The rage was fading, replaced by a jittery, high-strung energy. I needed to calm down. I needed to hear a normal voice, something to ground me before my brain just spun out completely.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I had my phone in my hand, my thumb hovering over her name. I pressed call.

It rang twice, then she picked up. "Hello?"

I took a shaky breath. "Hey," I said. "You, uh... you make it home okay?"

There was a pause on the other end. "Yeah, I just walked in. Why? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine," I said quickly. I had to play this off. I couldn’t tell her I just went full-on delinquent mode on her ex. I leaned against a nearby wall, trying to get my breathing under control. "Just checking. Figured you might be lonely without me."

I heard her laugh on the other end, a light, easy sound that was like pouring cool water on my frayed nerves. "Lonely? Please. I was enjoying the five minutes of peace and quiet. Couldn’t last without hearing my voice, huh?"

A real smile, the first one since the confrontation, spread across my face. "Something like that," I admitted. This was good. This was normal.

"So," she said, her voice still full of amusement. "That mandatory club thing is a total nightmare, right? Have you thought about what you’re gonna join?"

The sudden topic change was a relief. "Already got a plan," I said, my voice getting more confident. "The Literature Club. It’s the perfect loner loophole. No talking, just reading. It’s genius."

"The Literature Club?" she repeated, and I could hear her thinking. "That actually sounds... kind of nice. Quiet."

My brain screeched to a halt. ’Wait, what? No. Nononono. That’s my club. My safe space.’

"Maybe I’ll join too," she said, her voice casual, completely oblivious to the panic she had just set off in my head.

’My loner loophole,’ I thought, my brief moment of calm utterly destroyed. ’It’s a two-person party now. My plan to be a quiet loner is failing spectacularly.’

"You?" I said, trying to keep the alarm out of my voice. "The Literature Club? You’d be so bored."

"Why? Because I’m not a super-nerd who compares ancient Greece to RPGs?" she teased. "I told you, I like reading. And besides," her voice softened a little, "it sounds better than any of the other options. And... it might be nice to have a friend there."

"You’d really join the most boring club in school just to hang out with me?" I asked, and the question came out more sincere than I meant it to.

"Well, yeah," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I’m your pillar, remember? Pillars have to do pillar-y things. That includes suffering through boring book clubs together. It’s in the contract."

I just laughed, shaking my head. "There’s no contract."

"There is now," she said firmly. "Section C, subsection B: ’Pillar must accompany friend to lame club activities to provide moral support and prevent death by boredom.’ I’ll email you the full terms and conditions later."

"You’re an idiot," I said, smiling.

"Yeah, but I’m your idiot," she shot back, and my smile got even wider. "So, we’ll check it out tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah," I said, my earlier panic replaced by something warm. "Okay. Let’s do it."

"Great. It’s a date," she said, then immediately backpedaled. "A-a friend date! Not a real date. A club-scouting-activity. Thing. You know what I mean."

I could hear the blush in her voice, and it made me laugh again. "I know what you mean, Nina. See you tomorrow."

"See ya," she said, and hung up.