“Where do you want to go?”
“Ahead. Climb the ladder. See where it leads.”
“If you don’t have friends to support that ladder, it can fall over.”
I smile, but it’s not a pleasant one. “I don’t want you as a friend, Tyler. Not any of the Mutineers. If you might consider yourself friends with me, fine, I can’t stop you, but if you could get the others to back the fuck off, that would be great.”
“We are all our own people,” Tyler says, his tone now possessing a tone I never heard before.
Not from him at least.
But it’s similar to the hateful tones from his fellow Mutineers.
“We all have our issues, our problems, same as you. We worked our way to the top. We’ve put in the time, and we’re here to stay,” he adds.
Worked their way up to the top? As if stepping on other people’s backs to reach the top is something to be proud of. Unreal. Tyler is no better than the rest of them. They might all be good-looking, but they’re all rotten to the core.
And if he or the others think I can be shoved into whatever twisted box they want to put me in, they’re so wrong. I’ll shove my foot up their ass instead.
I step up closer to Tyler and lay a hand on his chest. “And since I moved here in the middle of the school year, I can be run off, is that what you think? That I can be made to leave? Let me tell you something, Tyler. I don’t run off, and I’m not scared. You have your own issues? You’re damn straight I have my own, but I’m not bullying you. I’m not harassing or tormenting you, but if you and your friends continue to pull this shit with me, you’ll see what happens.”
Perfectly timed, the bell rings. I grab my books and brush past Tyler before he can so much as blink.