Tyler knew there was something totally off when Nate didn't sit beside her in their morning English course. Even so, she brushed it off, assuming that he may be upset about his outcome with Dante. However, she found it odd when she waited for him at the cafeteria during their lunch hour and he never showed. Even Eric showed up, glancing around and asking Jules and herself where Nate had gone, but neither had a clue.
"The last time I saw him was in class but he sat away from us," she explained, glancing towards Jules who shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't really care," he admitted coldly, snorting as he reached for her sandwich and stole a bite before she could stop him. "Besides," he muffled with a mouthful, "it probably has something to do with Dante."
Even though Tyler knew it must have something to do with Dante, she was still worried about him. That was why she waited until the end of the school day, standing by his locker right when the bell rang and waiting for his arrival. Surprisingly, after his last class, she spotted him with his head lowered, his eyes following the lines across the floor as he stormed past the other students.
He only raised his eyes when he was close, and she waved at him when their gazes met. However, his response was not what she expected; his eyes narrowed. He didn't wave, he didn't smile, he didn't even seem to acknowledge her anymore than the narrowed look had, and he took the few steps to the locker. She had been leaning there for a dozen of minutes, but he didn't say anything as he unlocked his locker and pulled it open, instantly covering her behind it.
That was when she knew there was something awfully wrong. Nate appeared gloomy and somber, a black hoodie covering his ginger curls and his green eyes appearing to be a vomit green rather than the emerald ones that always seemed carefree and bright. Even how he threw his textbooks in the locker seemed unreasonably aggressive. Before she even said anything, she attempted to place her palm gently on his shoulder, but he instantly shoved it away, glaring in her direction and exhaling a scoff before returning his gaze at his books.
Tyler had enough. "What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Can you leave me alone please?" he spat nastily, glancing in her direction with the dirtiest glare she had ever seen pulled across his face. Even his lip was curled in such disgust, as if he wanted to spit on her but couldn't. "Thanks."
Tyler was taken aback, inhaling a sharp breath and even glancing elsewhere, unsure how to react to this sudden maltreatment. For a few seconds, she paused, her mind rushing through thoughts on what she could've potentially done to upset him or betray him in anyway—the last time they had spoken, he was absolutely fine.
She again thought of her conversation with Dante, but she hadn't said anything off putting that could even hurt his feelings. Even so, there was no way she would let this slide so easily, and she was not one to reflect hostility with kindness—her ego was way too high for that. "You know, if you did something that bothered me, I would come up to you and talk to you straight to your face instead of avoiding me all day, as if were fucking kids."
"I didn't talk to you because I was going to punch you in the face if I did," he growled, slamming his locker closed and furrowing his brows even more, looking at her for a split second before shaking his head and walking towards the exit.
But she was not going to let him leave without at least a conversation, which was why she reached for his forearm and pull him back before he could push her away. "The fuck did I do?"
"You know what you did."
"Actually Nate, I don't." She shrugged her shoulders, feeling a little sting in her heart from the sudden animosity that she was not used to at all. "Enlighten me as to why you think it's alright to tell me you'd punch me in the face—"
"You had to go run your mouth to Dante?"
That confused her even more, who couldn't resist a chortle that escaped her lips, which only frustrated him even more. "How the hell did I run my mouth to him?"
"You convinced him to drop what we had."
Tyler was utterly confused, staring at a passing student who eyed them strangely before returning her eyes onto the raging Nate. "I didn't convince him of anything, you're the one that did that!"
"Well," Nate shrugged his shoulders, "Raphael said it was you. You couldn't just mind your business?"
Tyler pointed to her own chest. "Dante came to me and asked me to kill you. You're lucky I didn't agree to do it. I would be thanking me if I was you."
"Thanking you?" He repeated in disbelief, dropping the books that were in his hands into his locker. "You might as well have done it since all you do is betray people!"
Tyler inhaled a sharp breath. All she wanted to do was lash out at him and scream at the top of her lungs, but she needed to control herself as they were still in the hallway and students were starting to stare. She leaned in and her voice lowered as she said, "Nate, all I did was ask him why he wanted to kill you and he said it was because you screamed at him that you could never love him—"
He waved his hand dismissively. "I was drunk and I apologized to him."
"Then why are you mad at me?"
"He wouldn't have been convinced to drop me if it hadn't been for you spouting in his ear."
Tyler slammed her fist against the metallic locker, which had taken both of them by surprise. She hadn't expected herself to do that and Nate didn't realize how strong she was until that resonated across the entire hallway and caused nearby conversations to fall quiet.
"All I did was agree with everything you fucking told him!" she screamed, seeing his gritted teeth start to unclench. "I even told him that he was wrong for being upset after he found you and Eric sleeping together."
Nate rolled his eyes, glancing elsewhere and exhaling a sharp scoff. He was irritated, but maybe he was targeting his rage at the wrong person. "Well," he waved his hand dismissively, "next time, keep whatever you have to say to yourself."
"That's my fucking brother Nathan!" She spat, waving her arms frantically. "He came to me at four am and cried in my arms over you." She had enough of this conversation, knowing for a fact that she had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve this hostility. "If you didn't want to be dumped by him, well then maybe you shouldn't have been having sex with your ex-boyfriend!"
That instantly heated a nerve at the side of Nate's face. "You better watch what you say."
"Just get over yourself." She waved her hand dismissively and began turning away from him. "Stop being mad at everyone when it's been your fault from the start."
"What's going on?" She felt a reassuring palm on her waist and that was when they both realized Jules had approached them.
"We can hear you both screaming from down the hall." Nate was surprised to hear Eric's voice beside him, turning to see him walking towards them. "The principal is on his way here."
"Nothing's going on," Tyler spat harshly, pulling herself away from Jules grasp but keeping her glare on Nate. "Nate's being a cry baby because my brother doesn't fucking like him anymore after you two fucked. Maybe you should take that up with Eric? You know, the one who caused it all?"
"Whatever, fuck you Tyler." He rolled his eyes, stepping past them and having Jules shield Tyler away from him.
Tyler flipped him off. "No, fuck you, Nathan."