Breaking Their Hold

Tyler was waiting at my locker when I got to school Monday morning. I froze at the sight of him. I considered running away, but before I could even turn around, Tyler spotted me. His gaze was expectant. I knew I had to deal with him eventually, so I took a deep breath and trudged forward like a prisoner on her way to the gallows.

"Hey," I muttered as I reached him.

"Where were you all weekend?" he asked.

I focused on entering my combination into the lock on my locker. "I took some extra hours at work."

"And you couldn't take five minutes of your oh-so-valuable time to return a fucking phone call? I needed to talk to you."

"Talk to me now."

He glanced around, checking to make sure we wouldn't be overheard. "Why'd you leave Thursday?"

I jerked open my locker and shoved my backpack inside. "Oh, I don't know. Your behavior could have had something to do with it." I couldn't keep the sarcasm and anger out of my voice.

"And walking off like a pissed off child was better than staying there and working things out like an adult?"

"You were going to—"

"I was going to what?" He was suddenly in my face, and his voice was low and dangerous.

A tremor of fear went through me. In the next instant, Tyler stumbled back, surprise momentarily etching his features. His eyes landed on something to my left, and his surprise was quickly replaced by fury.

I looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Matt was beside me, and his hazel eyes were dark with rage. He had used one of his massive shoulders to knock Tyler away from me.

"Don't you EVER touch her," he growled, stepping closer to Tyler. His hands were balled into fists, and a muscle in his jaw was twitching. I'd never fully appreciated how built Matt was until that moment.

"Gentlemen!"

The crowd that was gathering to watch the brewing fight parted to let the principal, Mr. Ellis, through. "Is there a problem here?" Mr. Ellis barked.

Matt's glare never left Tyler's face. "I don't know. Is there a problem, Tyler?"

Tyler stared at Matt for a long, tense moment. I could tell he was thinking about the consequences of punching Matt in the face. Finally, he decided it wasn't worth it. He dropped his eyes, mumbling, "No, Mr. Ellis. There's no problem."

"Good," Mr. Ellis said. "Now, I suggest y'all get to class. All of you. Let's go!"

The crowd slowly dispersed. Matt gave Tyler one last dirty look and strode away. Jaimi and Tori approached, both frowning curiously.

"What happened?" Tori queried. "Who was fighting?"

Tyler's eyes met mine briefly. "It was nothing," he lied. "Just a scuffle between a couple of freshmen."

Jaimi rolled her eyes. "Stupid little kids."

Tori and Jaimi retrieved their books from their lockers and set off for pre-calculus.

"I kept your secret," Tyler whispered in my ear once they were gone. "But if you don't keep your mouth shut about what you think was going to happen Thursday, I might accidentally let something slip."

"I won't say anything," I promised. "But your threat is useless. There is no secret."

"Right," Tyler said sarcastically. "Because freaks always stand up for the homecoming queen."

"He just has a little crush on me. Losers like him always have crushes on the popular girls at school. It's completely harmless."

"Oh yeah. It's 'harmless.' Except that he and his friends are drawing you in."

"They are not!" I argued.

Tyler gave me a small, knowing smile. "Whatever you say. C'mon. We're gonna be late."

I gathered my books and followed him to class.

*****

I walked briskly out of the gym the instant seventh period was over. Evan and Tyler were at football practice; Sam was at basketball practice; and Jaimi and Tori were at cheerleading practice. I'd skipped out on practice. I had more important things to do than go over cheers I'd already perfected—I needed to talk to Matt and set him straight.

I found the new guys in the parking lot, gathered around the black car they all shared. "Hey," Matt greeted, first to notice me.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?!" I demanded.

"Damn! Zero to fucking bitch in less than a second!" Zacky muttered under his breath to Brian and Johnny.

"Shut the hell up!" I snarled at Zacky. "No one is fucking talking to you!"

Zacky opened his mouth, but Matt stopped him with a look. "Take a deep breath, Jordan," Matt instructed calmly, facing me again. "Relax. Tell me what's bothering you."

I gritted my teeth, wanting to smack the serene expression off his face. "You know what's bothering me! That shit you pulled in the hall this morning!"

"What shit you pulled in the hall this morning?" Zacky inquired curiously.

Matt and I ignored him. "You can't do things that link me to you," I lectured. "Not in public."

"That piece of shit needs to be taught a lesson!" Matt said, beginning to get angry. "He put his hands on you!"

Brian, Jimmy, and Johnny all snapped to attention at these words. Brian's dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's not your place," I said quietly.

"Well, somebody had to step in," Matt retorted. "You're obviously not going to take care of yourself, and if you think I'm the kind of guy who can sit back and watch something like that happen—"

"I don't need your protection!" I exclaimed. "Tyler's not going to do anything to me. He just uses his size to intimidate and get his way, but he'd never actually hurt me or…other things."

"Uh-huh." Matt's tone was disbelieving. "I'm sure he's a great guy. Just answer one question, and if you can honestly say yes, I'll leave you alone. Would he have stopped?"

"What?"

"On Thanksgiving. If he hadn't gotten the phone call, would Tyler have stopped?"

Jimmy cracked his knuckles. Brian was flexing his fingers as if he were thinking about choking someone. Johnny's eyes flashed with anger. Zacky was staring at me with no emotion on his face.

"No," I murmured finally.

Brian and Jimmy both made sounds that were a mix of anger and disgust. Johnny shook his head, looking thoroughly pissed off. For some reason, their defensive behavior on my behalf flattered me.

"That's what I thought," Matt said. "Jordan, you can't just let that shit happen because you're afraid he'll get mad and ruin your reputation. You—"

"I don't need a lecture from you," I interrupted coldly. "What do you know about protecting a reputation? You don't fucking have one."

Matt stared at me for several seconds in silence. "Listen," he said. "You've already blown off cheerleading practice to come talk to me. You're obviously not being yourself today, so why don't you be someone else for a few more hours and hang out with us?"

I couldn't think of a single excuse to say no. In fact, I didn't want to say no. I shrugged. "Okay."

My cell rang as I was unlocking my car. "Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Jaimi wanted to know.

"Um…I started my period," I lied. "I'm not feeling well."

"Oh. Alright. I'll tell Coach Smith. See you tomorrow."

"See ya." I snapped my cell shut and got in my car.