● There are some parts of this chapter that could be triggering so here is a trigger warning ●
Tyler's P.O.V
"Do you have work tonight?" Daniel asks me as I take my insulin, "No" I take my shot then put it back in the drawer.
"Good when I get off tonight we're gonna start putting up our Christmas decorations" he smiles. "So you want me to help?" I'm not sure why he's telling me this, if he wants me to help just say that.
"If you want to, you don't have to" he says dragging out the 'o' at the end.
"Yeah, I'll help" I nod and go over to where I left my bag in the living room then go to my car to head to school.
I'm worried that Daniel and Chris might treat me differently now after what Dallas showed them yesterday. They shouldn't I hope, but I can't be sure.
When I pull into the parking lot I see that James is already there. I get out of my car and go over to his as usual.
"Anything exciting happening today?" I ask shutting the door behind me. "I think we have those lectures today" he says looking at me.
"Lectures?", "Yeah, they'll put all the girls in the school in one and all the boys in another and talk about who knows what".
"That sound very, I don't even know" I shrug, "Well probably get a talk about not sharing nudes girls send us. Ya'll will probably get one about don't send nudes. It's kinda sexist but it's how it is" he turns and leans his back against his window.
"What if I didn't go, like hid in the bathroom or something" I turn so I'm sitting like him. "Won't work, they go and check all over the school to make sure everyone's in them. They take these things very seriously I don't know why we never learn anything from them" he shakes his head.
"Why are you wearing a quarterback hoodie?" he asks taking in what I'm wearing. "O,h this was Greyson's from our last school, I stole it from him" I shrug.
"You know that school is our rival right? You'll get eaten alive for wearing that in there" he says and digs in his backpack.
"Here, can't have you wearing a hoodie from another school, let alone a quarterback one at that. I'm a lineman show your support for me at least" he says throwing me a hoodie.
I open it up and see that it's his, and says 'LINEMAN' in big letters across the chest, and the school's name under that.
"Sorry," I say taking off Greyson's hoodie, "I was kidding, you don't have to apologize," he says when I put his on.
"This one's better anyway, smells like you" I put the sleeves up to my face and sniff.
We go into the school and into first period, first as always. "So what are you doing tomorrow?" James asks stretching.
"Well we're putting up Christmas decorations tonight so hopefully it won't take up two days" I pull my hair up into a ponytail.
"Oh, so you wouldn't wanna come and decorate our Christmas tree tomorrow?" He raises an eyebrow. "Will you're parents be okay with that? I know some people see that as like a family only type of deal" I know many foster family's I was at were like that.
"Well, they actually told me to ask you to come. Being honest with you if you say no they'll just make me go to your house and drag you over to mine so" I giggle. "Yeah, I'll go" I haven't decorated a Christmas tree in years.
"They'll be happy, and you'll get to meet my siblings" he smiles. Oh that's um, "You said your brother is autistic right?" his eyebrows scrunch together. "Yeah, why?" "I've met very few other autistic people, and the few I have met it never seemed to go well" I mess with the strings on his hoodie.
"I'm sure it'll be fine" if he says so.
The bell rings and class starts, we didn't do anything today though just had a make-up day.
We're headed to English, "Um, James I need to go to the bathroom. You can go ahead to class I'll meet you there" I say when we get to the bathroom.
"Do you want me to wait?", "No go ahead" I wave my hand at him and go to push the door open. "Well do you want me to take your bag?" he stops me, "Uh yeah I guess" I hand him my bag.
The thing about diabetes is it constantly makes you have to pee, it's so annoying.
I leave the stall and wash my hands, the soap is basically just more water.
As I'm drying my hands I take a step toward the trashcan and kick something on the ground. I look down and see a cigarette lighter.
I pick it up and twirl it in my hand, it has a lake scene on it. I put it in my hoodie pocket then throw my paper towel away and bead to class.
I don't know why I took it, sometimes I just see random things on the ground and pick them up.
I get to class and am in my seat about thirty seconds before the bell rings.
"Okay class on your desks I've left copies of Macbeth. We're going to start reading it this week and you will have assigned reading to do over Christmas break" Mr. Johnson says.
I run my finger along the spine of the book. I've read this before so I could get away with not reading it but I'll probably still do it. I could definitely read it all tonight.
Class ends, and they only got about five pages in. I read ahead and got to scene three in act one.
I'm on my way to Science when they make an all-call on the intercom telling all girls to go to the gym and all boys to go to the lecture hall.
"Well, are you ready for this?" Addison says coming up behind me. "Is this a normal thing for this school?" I ask as we turn around and head down to the gym.
"Oh definitely, once a year they separate us all and tell us girls not to send nudes and tell the guys that if you're sent a nude don't spread it because that's 'Such a terrible thing to do.' Doesn't stop anyone though".
We go into the gym and Addison sets us in the first open seats she finds, right on the front row.
"Okay ladies this year we're taking things a little differently" this older man says. He's wearing like an off-brand cop uniform, it's a light blue polo shirt with a pair of black slacks and all he has on his belt is a pair of handcuffs that I'm pretty sure you could snap in a second.
"Do you know how many girls are raped or almost raped each year?" he has this weird kinda creepy mustache and a lack of hair on his head.
"Way too many, and we're gonna have a self-defense seminar," he says and claps his hands together. "I wish we were just gonna get lectured on how to not send nudes" Addison whispers in my ear.
"Okay I'm gonna need a volunteer," he says and scans the crowd. Obviously none of us volunteer ourselves because he himself looks like he'd rape someone.
"Okay well how about you," he says and points at nonother than me. "Oh um, I'm fine," I say and try to make myself as small as possible.
"Come on now I don't bite" he comes over and grabs my arm pulling me up and over to where he was standing before.
I look at Addison trying to beg her with my eyes to get me away from him.
I see her pull out her phone and start texting someone. Addison, that is not what I silently asked you to do.
"Okay so you're a defenseless girl and you're walking home, it's dark. Suddenly a man grabs you" he says and grabs my wrist and kind of pulls me to him.
The sleeve of James' hoodie got pulled up so he's touching my skin. Fire. I'm on fire.
"Now see how like this you can't pull down or back?" I try to pull away, it burns. I look out to the bleachers and see them just staring at this, some with their phones out like their recording.
"Please. Let go. Please" I whisper tears forming as I keep trying to pull away.
"But the weakest part of the grip is the thumb, so you need to cross grip..." I zone him out, I know he's talking I can hear him but just not what he's saying.
I put my other hand into the hoodie pocket and feel the lighter I found earlier.
I continue to try and pull my wrist from his tightening grip as tears are now falling. I take the lighter out and flick it on, I see him crossing his other arm over to his hand on my wrist. I jab the light lighter into his arm.
"And -OW!" he pulls both his arms back. I pull my arm down to my side, "Did you just burn me?!" he asks holding where I jabbed him and looking at me than the lighter in my hand.
"Got you to let g-go didn't it?" I sniffle, "Well that wasn't the point" he then grabs my wrist again so I flick on the lighter and jab him again.
This time when he let go I run straight out of the gym and down the hall, tears falling the whole way.
I hear the bell ring and I look at the clock on the wall and see fourth period would have just ended. "Tyler!" I hear someone call behind me.
I start running again, trying to just get away. Up ahead I see a door open and Greyson walks out of the room.
"G-greyson!" I call running to him, he turns around and I fly into his chest hugging him tightly.
I don't care about not liking hugs right now. I don't care about anything but him keeping that guy away from me.
"Tyler, hey what's wrong? What happened?" he wraps his arms around me. "He wouldn't let me go, he grabbed me and wouldn't let me go" I cry into his chest.
"Who?" he asks pulling back, "The guy who did our lecture. Us girls have upgraded from sending nudes to getting raped so we had a "self defense" lesson. He used Tyler as his example, he grabbed her wrist and didn't let her go so she burned him with a lighter. Then he grabbed her again so she burned him stain then ran away" Addison says coming up to us with Viv and Brooklyn, who had my bag in her hands.
"What's going on out here?" James asks coming out of the room Greyson came from. "Tyler?" he notices me in Greyson's arms, "I wanna go home," I say looking up at Greyson.
"I texted Daniel, and he seems pretty pissed, said he'll be here soon" Addison adds. The bell rings again signaling lunch and we head to the cafeteria, Greyson hands me off to James and he wraps his arm around my shoulder as we walk.
Me and him go to the table and I just sit. I don't want to eat, I don't think I could anyway.
James sits beside me and I lead my head on his shoulder, "You okay?" he puts his hand on my knee under the table, I flinch at first but then I'm fine.
"Yeah, it was just scary. And my sleeve rolled up so he was touching my skin and it was burning" he rubs my knee with his thumb a little.
"I saw the video of what you did, that was pretty badass," Landon says sitting down with his food. "Video?" I lift my head off James' shoulder.
"Yeah a bunch of the girls took videos and posted them," he says pulling out his phone and showing us the video he was talking about.
There I stand, with that man's hand on my wrist and me crying trying to get away. Then I pull out the lighter and got him.
I push his phone down not wanting to relive it.
"Where'd you even get a lighter?" Felix asks sitting down along with everyone else. "I found it on the floor earlier" "so you picked it up?" Oscar asks scrunching his eyebrows together, I nod.
"TYLER REEDS TO THE OFFICE. TYLER REEDS TO THE OFFICE." comes across the intercom really loud. "Well I guess Daniel's here," Oscar says as I stand up.
"Or that guy is trying to press charges," Landon says taking another bite of his food. I turn to him, "What?" "Well I mean you did burn him, technically that's assault" he shrugs.
How is he gonna try and press charges on me for assault? HE GRABBED ME!