Locked Away - Book 1

Chapter 10

The next day comes, and with a lack of sleep comes plenty of time to think things over. I was a dick to Tyler. I had just met him and I shouldn't have just expected him to tell me every single secret of his. And I may have been slightly harsh with him yesterday at school. And to Brinker... maybe.

So I wait until lunch when I see Tyler alone at a table to walk up. Everything in me is telling me to turn the other way. It's telling me to run. To run and never look back. But I push that back. Barely, but I push it back. I shove it deep down in me and walk up to the table.

"Hey." I wait for a response, but he just looks up at me, then back down at his food. "I'm..." It truly hurts to say this. "Sorry." He looks back up.

"I hear you're coming to game night."

"Yeah. didn't really have a choice."

"Kinsey's good at that." He gives me a look that says I should sit down.

"Yeah." I sit and try to get comfortable. "You know, I really am sorry. I know I just met you and shouldn't have expected everything from you."

"Wow. I can see how much it hurts for you to admit you were wrong." God, that smile!

"It does." He laughs a little.

"And I..." Tyler moves the chip crumbs in front of him. "I really do want to share with you. I want to tell you everything, but... but it's not just my secret. And it's not something small."

"What, are you secretly a Russian sleeper agent?" He laughs hard this time.

"No. No. No." Then Kinsey and Scot appear.

"Hey." Scot sits next to me.

"Hey."

"Good to see you again." Why is this whole family so nice?

"Good to see you guys too."

"So Kinsey and I are goin' to a Savini Squad meeting after school if you wanna join Eliot."

"Oh...?"

"It's our little friend group that really loves horror movies and then we make our own movies." Kinsey clarifies.

"Um..." How do I say so nicely?

"Actually, Eliot and I were gonna hang after school." I look at him. "I'm gonna show him around town some more." My savior.

"Oh. Cool." Scot looks slightly disappointed, but I know I wouldn't be able to hold myself back in that place and would've said something means, so this is good for everyone. "Maybe another time."

Oh hell no! I want to say that, but instead, I say...

"Yeah. Sure." Being nice is not easy.

After lunch school continues. There are boring classes after boring classes. But eventually, the day ends and I find Tyler walking towards his car.

"So, where we goin'?"

"Oh, you don't have to. I was just trying to get you out of the Savini thing."

"Oh, then I guess I'll just go home and... study." I turn around.

"Wait. I could never let you torture yourself like that." We both smile and I feel the sudden urge to move forward and kiss him, then immediately push that feeling far far away.

Tyler first drives to the edge of a giant cliff overlooking the ocean.

"Um... are you planning on driving off?" He laughs. God those dimples!

"No. But there are trails throughout here with some amazing views."

"So instead of showing me the town you've decided to bring me to the woods and kill me?"

"Exactly." I can't help but laugh.

We get out and start walking. The air is slowly becoming colder by the minute, but it's a comfortable cold. Tyler looks cute in the puffer jacket and beanie.

"How are you not freezing?" He looks at me in my short sleeves.

"My anger keeps me warm." A sudden look of shock appears on his face. "I'm joking. I"m just warm-blooded."

"So where were you living last?" I look up at the trees above us.

"D.C."

"Wow. That must've been cool."

"It was... complicated."

"How so?" He looks over at me as I look down to the ground. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that."

"Oh. No. It's fine." We continue getting closer together as the path slowly narrows. "I had a lot of friends there. Or at least people I pretended were my friends. I mostly just used them. And they used me. And relationships like that never end well."

"What happened?"

"I snuck out one night to go to this club with some of my so-called friends. They decided to instead bring me to an alley where they started to beat on me. I fought back of course. And..." I stop walking. "You ever have one of those moments when a feeling inside of you is just too much for your body to handle? Then it all just comes out?"

"Yeah. I would say it's happened a few times for me."

"Well, that sort of happened. But it was this pure rage that I had only felt a few times before in my life."

"What did you do?"

"Promise me you won't judge me?"

"Of course."

"Well... two of them I beat up badly. A few cracked ribs, a popped eye socket. But the third guy. I couldn't stop myself. While I was hitting him, I was also bashing his head into the concrete..." I can feel my body starting to crumble and my defense mechanism about to come into action. "I ruptured something or other in his brain. He's in a coma."

"Oh." I can see he tried to keep his reaction in, but I don't blame him.

"The cops called it self-defense, so I didn't get in any trouble. But that's why Abby took this job. She wanted to "get me out of this hell hole"."

"Wow."

"And that's only one of many messed up stories that make up my life." I laugh a little.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Laugh off everything. Like it's not meaningful."

"Defense mechanism. Avoidance. Delusional. Pick one."

He just turns and continues walking. I follow him until we reach this beautiful oversight. The water is thrashing into the rocks. It makes everything feel so small.

"I'm really not a good person. It probably would be best for you and your family to kick me to the curb while you still have the chance."

"That's not happening. We Locke's don't give up on people easily." He turns his head to me. "We can see the good in everyone." Is he about to kiss me?

He gives me this look. Our eyes meet. The wind dies down to a subtle bristle. I then close my eyes and move forward, my lips connecting with his. But then he immediately moves back.

Oh, fuck! Did I read that wrong?

"Oh... um..." He seems in complete shock and speechless.

"I..." For once I have no words.

"I should be getting home." Tyler turns back around and starts walking.

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course."

We both walk back really fast and get in the car. Tyler drives me home, not a single word spoken between us. Just dead silence. I get out. He drives away.