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?"