I flinch and stare out the window, trying to come up with an answer that isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
That I would love to solve what caused my father to snap.
What caused him to kill.
Are kids doomed to become their parents? Are we doomed to repeat their mistakes?
For now, I’m the daughter of a killer. Will I one day be destined to kill too?
It’s not until now that I realize this is exactly why I’ve been ignoring the Mutineers. As much as I want to fight back, physically, verbally, and every other kind of way, I’m afraid to. I held back that time I went after Brett. He thinks I’m weak now, but I’m not. I’ve brought down guys bigger than him before, stronger too.
All it takes is one punch to the nose at the right angle with the right amount of force, and boom, you’re dead. Bone meet brain.
“Life. And before you say it, I know the answer is forty-two.”
Tyler chuckles.
“Mr. Tremaine, I would rather you not corrupt our new student,” Mr. Winters admonishes.
“Corrupting can be fun,” Tyler protests.
“I wouldn’t dream of being corrupted by you,” I retort.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“Mr. Tremaine.”
“I just think that corrupting can, at times, be a good thing,” Tyler says.
“We are not here to weigh on the pros and cons of corruption,” Mr. Winters says dryly. “Corruption has a negative connotation, and that is not something you can argue.”
“There is more than one definition of the word,” Tyler argues. “That something can be changed from one meaning or form to another.”
“The other being erroneous.”
“Typically, but there are always exceptions to the rule, don’t you think?”
“Ty has a point,” the girl who had been sighing and pro-teacher says.
I snort. Tyler’s corrupted her, not me.
“I mean to form one notion. There is to be no corruption in my classroom,” Mr. Winters says firmly.
“What about outside of the classroom?” another girl asks.
“Or after school is done? After the school year?” another asks.
And poor Mr. Winters has to tackle a bunch of hormonal teenage girls.
I notice Tyler’s looking at me, and I shake my head. “I don’t want to be corrupted.”
“No, but you don’t want to solve a mystery either. You want to be one.”
“Nope. You don’t have me figured out at all. I just want to graduate and get out of here.”
“Where are you from?”
“Doesn’t matter. Not going back.”