The words landed like a slap. Across the room, Tyler's pen slipped from his fingers, though nobody there noticed it yet.
Chris turned on Lucas slowly.
"Chris." Kai reached for him, too late.
Chris shoved him back with both hands, and Lucas stumbled into the desk behind him. "What the hell do you want?"
Heads turned across the room. Lucas caught himself, surprise flickering across his face before it settled into a grin. "Oh?"
"You've been following us around all day," Chris said, glaring.
Lucas straightened his shirt, unbothered. "And?"
"And shut up."
"Or what?"
Noah lunged before he could stop himself, and Kai's grip found his arm a second time. "Noah."
"Let go."
"Don't."
"What's going on?" Evans asked, stepping up beside Lucas.
"You seriously don't know?"
"I just walked over."
"Then walk back."
Lucas laughed. "Look at this guy."
Whatever was left of Chris's patience finally gave out. "You want to say something, say it."
"Fine," Lucas said, and stepped closer.
Noah moved up beside Chris. Kai hung back a half step, watching everything.
"Everyone already knows what you two did," Lucas said.
"You know we didn't," Noah said, eyes narrowing.
"Do I?"
"You do," Chris said.
"Why are you getting so angry if it's not true?" Evans put in, and Chris rounded on him.
"Because idiots keep repeating it."
"What did you call me?"
"You heard me."
"Oh, so now you're tough?"
Noah stepped forward again, and this time Kai got physically between them. "Stop."
Lucas grinned past him at Chris. "What, Tyler isn't here to talk for you?"
Chris's jaw clenched. Even Kai's expression sharpened at that one.
"You guys can't do anything on your own," Lucas went on.
"Shut up."
"What? It's true."
Miles watched from his seat, the whole thing sliding further than he wanted. Nobody in the classroom was pretending not to watch anymore. Danny stayed quiet, but his eyes tracked every word. Miles rubbed his forehead. Lucas needed to stop. Evans too. There had been exactly one rule between them.
Don't involve Tyler.
"You can't even do shit without asking your Tyler daddy," Lucas said.
Miles dropped his face into one hand. "That idiot," he muttered, and when the student beside him glanced over, he lowered his voice further. "The one thing I told them. Don't involve Tyler."
Ahead of them, Chris opened his mouth to answer and then simply stopped, his eyes fixed on something past Lucas's shoulder.
"What?" Lucas said. "Didn't have any words left?"
A finger poked his shoulder. He frowned. "Evans, what?"
Evans poked him again, but he wasn't looking at Lucas at all, his eyes fixed on something behind him. Lucas turned to follow his gaze, and whatever he saw wiped the grin off his face completely. The noise around them had already dropped away.
Tyler was walking toward them.
Lucas turned back around with nothing left to say.
He walked straight toward them, and for a moment nobody moved at all.
The classroom had gone strangely quiet, quiet enough that lunch break, usually the loudest stretch of the day, students eating and talking and drifting between desks, suddenly felt more like an assembly. Almost the whole class was watching.
He stopped between Chris and Lucas. Chris was still standing there with his shoulders tense; Lucas had gone equally still. For several seconds neither of them said anything, and neither did Tyler.
Then he turned to Oliver, and smiled.
"Come on. Let's go outside."
Before Oliver could answer, Tyler's arm had already looped around his shoulders, pulling him into a loose hold like they were old friends about to head somewhere together. Oliver stiffened.
Tyler glanced back at Lucas, then at Chris. "You guys continue your quarrel." He was already walking. "We're heading outside."
Oliver went with him, half-dragged. "W-Wait..."
Tyler didn't stop.
Lucas watched them go. He could have said something, probably, but the words never came. Tyler had barely even looked at him, and somehow that was enough to kill whatever nerve Lucas might have had left.
Chris was still standing there too, and Tyler hadn't said a word to him either. Not one. Somehow that was worse. As he passed, Chris caught the look in his eyes, just for a second: not anger, just quiet disappointment. Chris lowered his head. Beside him, so did Noah.
Kai watched Tyler and Oliver disappear through the door, then let out a long breath. "Let's go back."
Neither Chris nor Noah argued. The three of them made their way back to their seats.
The moment Tyler was gone, the classroom slowly started breathing again. Whispers returned, then quiet laughter, students leaning toward each other already, trading versions of what they'd just watched. Lucas heard enough of it to know exactly what they were saying.
"Why didn't you stop him from taking Oliver?" Evans asked, leaning closer.
Lucas shot him an irritated look. "It's not like I didn't want to." He glanced toward the door Tyler had just gone through. "I think... at that time, that was the right decision."
Evans stared, then smirked. "You're just a pussy."
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
"What's with you? You didn't stop him either."
Evans just waved it off and dropped back into his seat.
Lucas stood there a moment longer, then made the mistake of looking around the room. Several students were watching him. Some looked away fast; others didn't. He caught fragments of what they were saying.
"Did you see his face?"
"He was talking so much before."
"Then Tyler came and suddenly..."
His fists clenched. He dropped into his seat hard.
Miles watched him from a short distance away. Whatever was going on behind Lucas's expression right now looked like the kind of thing that led to bad decisions, and Miles had no intention of finding out what kind. He turned to Danny instead.
"If Lucas asks you to do something, don't agree."
"What?"
"Just trust me."
"That doesn't explain anything."
"It doesn't have to."
Danny studied him for a second, glanced at Lucas, then back. "Fine." A beat. "So what do we do now?"
Miles leaned back, and for a moment he looked genuinely tired. "Everything was going according to plan. Chris and the others argue with Lucas and Evans, lunch ends eventually, that's it. Then after school, we send Oliver home the second the bell rings." His eyes flicked toward the door. "Exactly the way we planned it."
His gaze shifted, pointed, toward Lucas. "Then that dumbass brought Tyler into it."
Lucas and Evans caught enough of that to say nothing at all.
Miles rubbed his forehead. "If he'd just kept his mouth shut, we'd have been fine."
"So now what?" Danny asked.
"Now we wait and see how this unfolds." He looked at the door once more. "Then we make the next plan."
Danny nodded after a moment, and let it go.
Across the room, Kai dropped back into his seat, Noah beside him. Chris followed a few seconds later, and the first thing he saw was Luna. He stopped. "We messed up."
Luna glanced at him, then went back to eating. "Well, now it's too late to regret it."
"That was helpful."
"I try."
"Why didn't you stop them?" Eris asked Kai.
He looked genuinely offended. "What do you think I was doing?" He pointed at Chris and Noah. "These idiots don't listen to a single word I say."
"Yeah," Noah agreed immediately. "You're right."
Chris looked at him. "Whose side are you on?"
"The correct one."
Chris sighed and dropped into his chair.
"He's angry at us," Kai said, leaning back.
"And disappointed," Chris added.
"You already know exactly what Tyler dislikes," Eris said. "You came to him for advice and then immediately ignored what he told you."
Chris rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, yeah. I know."
"Do you remember what happened in second year?" Eris asked, tilting her head. "When that senior tangled with Tyler?"
A chill ran down Chris's back. "Of course I remember." Noah and Kai both looked over at that. "I still don't know how Tyler avoided the teachers, let alone that senior's parents."
"Honestly, that's still one of the biggest mysteries in this school," Luna said, laughing.
"Well," Chris said, narrowing his eyes at her. "I guess it's our turn now."
"Nothing will happen," Noah said, leaning back. Everyone looked at him. He shrugged. "We're his friends." He turned to Chris. "Right?"
Chris didn't answer, and Noah's confidence visibly deflated.
"What should we do now?" Chris asked Eris.
She glanced at Luna instead. "Well, Luna forgot something."
Chris turned on her. Luna kept eating.
"What?"
"What?" Luna blinked, all innocence.
"You forgot something?"
She tapped a finger against her chin. "Hmmm."
"Luna," Kai said.
"Oh." She snapped her fingers. "Yeah, now I remember. Tyler left a message for you. He said you guys should meet him on the third floor."
Chris was on his feet instantly. "And you're telling me now?"
"Well," Luna said, unbothered, going back to her food, "now who's wasting time asking stupid questions?"
"Later," Chris said, pointing at her, "you'll be crying for mercy."
Luna looked at the finger, then slowly down, her expression turning thoughtful. "Do you have an ability..." She looked back up. "...to make me cry?"
For a second Chris genuinely didn't have an answer. Eris slapped Luna lightly on the back, and Luna nearly choked on her own laugh.
"You..." Nothing else came out. Chris lowered his hand. "Just wait."
"Are you done?" Kai asked, already standing.
"No."
"You can threaten her later."
Noah got up too. Chris gave Luna one last look before following them out, and behind him she'd already started giggling.
"You're becoming more blunt every day," Aria said.
"I'm learning," Luna said, pleased with herself.
Tyler had let go of Oliver's shoulders as soon as they left the classroom, but he kept walking right beside him, and he hadn't said a single word since. Oliver was beginning to regret every decision he'd ever made in his life.
"Ty... Tyler?"
No answer. He swallowed and kept walking anyway.
Why isn't he saying anything?
He glanced sideways. Tyler looked completely calm, which somehow made it worse.
Maybe he's just thinking.
A few more seconds passed.
No. This is definitely worse.
"Tyler...?"
Nothing.
His thoughts started moving faster. Is he angry? Of course he was angry. This entire mess was Oliver's fault. Chris, Noah, and Kai had gotten dragged into rumors because of him, Tyler had just watched them argue over it in front of the whole class, and now he'd pulled Oliver out of the room without a word of explanation.
Maybe he's taking me somewhere nobody can see.
His eyes widened. He glanced around the hallway. Barely any students up here.
No.
They reached the stairs, and Tyler started up them. He's taking me upstairs. Oliver's heart picked up speed. Why upstairs?
Tyler said nothing the whole way. By the time they reached the third floor, Oliver had constructed an entire disaster scenario in his head, complete with an ending.
Tyler stopped in front of the Literature Club room, took out a key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open, gesturing for Oliver to follow.
Oliver stopped dead. His eyes went to the dark room, then back to Tyler.
Is he going to beat me?
Tyler went still. He'd heard that one loud and clear, same as every other thought Oliver had spiraled through on the walk over. At first it had been mildly amusing. By now, Oliver looked like a man preparing to write his last will.
"Oliver," Tyler started.
"Wait!" Oliver threw both hands up. "Before you say anything, I just want you to know I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And Chris and Noah, they're not bad people. Kai too, I mean, I know Kai doesn't really talk that much, but that's probably because..."
"Oliver."
"And I know I caused problems for everyone, I should've said something earlier, but I didn't know what to do, and Danny keeps..."
"Oliver."
"And if this is about what happened yesterday, I didn't..."
"Oliver."
He finally stopped.
Tyler waited. Oliver took a breath, and the words came rushing back out anyway. "Please don't hit me. I'll do whatever you want, I'll clear Chris's name, Noah's too, I'll tell everyone they didn't do anything." His voice dropped. "Please... don't hit me anymore."
Something shifted in Tyler's face. Oliver's eyes dropped. "My face still hurts from yesterday." His voice shook. "I can't take d to you."
"But... you're so silent," Oliver said. "It's scary."
Tyler looked genuind to you."
"But... you're so silent," Oliver said. "It's scary."
Tyler looked genuinely confused for a moment. Oliver lowered his head. "And you don't know what's happening with me."
"No," Tyler said, something in his expression easing. "I don't know what you're going through." He stepped aside and gestured toward the room. "But I know some people who might."
"They're already involved in this because of you," Tyler said. "I just brought you here so you guys can talk."
Oliver said nothing for several seconds. Then the door opened behind him, and he turned to find Chris, Noah, and Kai stepping into the room. He looked back at Tyler, then at them, his expression completely blank.