Price Check On Monogamy

"Tiger? Tiger, over here!"

I shouldn't have looked back. For a day that had delivered one of the shittiest pieces of news I'd ever received in my entire life, things had really been looking up. Eli managed to convince everyone-- even Tawny, who <i>never</i> did things like skip school with us-- to go to the movies without having to say exactly why I was so damned depressed. The movie had sucked, but we hadn't had to explain ourselves to any nosy security guards yet. I was drowning my sorrows in popcorn and Sprite. Things were looking up.

And then I had to go and ruin it by looking back.

"Tiger, wait up!" I plastered on a huge, fake smile as Tyler jogged up to me, that stupid half smile I used to think was so adorable making me almost flinch.

"Oh, hey, Tyler."

Weirdly enough, Tyler didn't seem embarrassed at all over what had happened, which managed to piss me off even more. He could avoid me for weeks over having accidentally making me fall into a lake, but he couldn't apply that same sense of guilt to leaving me with two drunk, disgusting college guys? Seriously?

Up close, everything about him pissed me off. That smile. Those puppy-dog eyes. That damned accent. Everything. Especially the way he was getting way too close to me, like he wouldn't run away if something went bump in the night.

"I've been meaning to call you, Tiger," Hands shoved in his pockets, Tyler didn't even have a clue as to what was going through my head. His smile broadening, Tyler asked brightly, "So, I was wondering, do you think you could--"

"Tiger, we have to go." Saved by the Eli. "Sorry, whoever you are, but we've got to jet. If we get caught skipping school again, we're all getting kicked out."

Tyler's eyes flickered slightly; finally, he was starting to understand what was going on. "Oh... okay, sorry about that, man. Well, I'll call you later, alright, Tiger?" And he was gone, just like that, jogging off to whatever friends he'd been with. I'd get that call, sure... when hell froze over. Maybe.

I smiled thankfully up at Eli, who's dark eyes were narrowed at Tyler's retreating back. "I don't like him. The kid just seems... flaky." His eyes flashing down at me suddenly, he asked slowly, "He's not a new Milo replacement, is he?"

My smile vanished. Milo. I didn't want to think of Milo. I did <i>not</i> want to fucking think of Milo. "No. He's not."

Eli sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Tiger, you know it's stupid. Don't think of him. Give him time to get over himself."

"Was that Tyler?" Saved by the Lexy. Jesus, how many people could save me in five minutes? Grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the door, Lexy glared in the general direction that Tyler had run off in. "Asshole. He needs to stay away from you."

I laughed for a good five minutes straight, and I don't even know why. Probably just that impending insanity that everyone was always telling me about.

More proof of the insanity than that:

All I really wanted right then was to see Tandem and hear those exact same words from him.