Rugged Lace

Chapter Two

*One foot leaning off the edge, another staying on the ledge.*

An explosion of music catches Tyler in her sleep, leaving her dazed and worn out as it ends. "Wha...?" She mumbles, caught in the last remains of slumber. For a brief second, darkness rules, and her eyes begin to close. Soft, tender sleep. Then the music starts up again. 'You change your mind like a girl changes clothes. Yeah, you, PMS like a bitch,' The beginning to Hot N Coldplays. Tyler reaches for her phone with a sigh. "Who is it this early?" she asks with a grunt, annoyed to be woken up before her alarm clock. Tyler puts in her combination twice, too tired to fully remember what it is. After a couple more seconds of confusion, she sees Kyle's name on her screen, flashing with the beginning of a text.

Kyle, an old family friend, basically her uncle.

'Tyler, are you ok' She reads before turning off her phone again. There's more to the message, but Tyler doesn't want to read it, instead wanting to sleep until it's time to get up. Though she usually answers her messages, lately she's felt too worn out to talk to anyone. Her parents have made her go out and do things with them after school, and the past three days of trying to get her grades up enough to pass high school have left her wishing the end would hold itself off a bit longer, just enough for her to understand. As she's getting back to sleep another burst of music awakens her, this one the beginning to Pain.

'Pain, without love. Pain, I can't get enough..'This time Tyler groans, picking up her phone to answer it. "Mm? What is it, Kyle?" she mutters, rubbing at her eyes. "It's too early to be calling me..."

"I needed to talk to you without your brother being up. And it's only six, Jeez, Tyler. I get up at this time every day. Besides the point," Kyle starts, sounding rushed, "Tyler, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Did you seriously call me to ask that?" she asks, rubbing at her throat with her left hand. It still feels sore from the other day when Don had her make a video on showing girls how to swallow a cucumber without coughing. It had taken a few tries, but she got it right eventually. The camera lies next to her on the desk, and she reaches over it to turn on her lamp, squinting in the dark.

"No, I want to know how you're really doing. I know you don't want to do this Tyler. I've known for a long time, but I had no facts to say anything. I've...noticed something between you and Don," he tells her, voice serious.

Tyler frowns, not understanding what he's talking about. "No facts? What don't I want to do? Kyle, what are you talking about?" For a moment, Tyler waits for him to respond. Then it dawns on her what he means, "Wait, are you threatening to blow this? You're no nark, you wouldn't!"

She hears him sigh loudly, and can picture him running his hands through his hair like he always does. "Tyler, I'm going to have to. I need you to help me though, this isn't good. You're only a young girl-"

"It's Marcus, isn't it?" she asks, standing up and starting to walk across her floor. Closing her cracked door, she walks back, not knowing what she's doing. I'm standing up for Don?Tyler can't let her brother get in trouble, not for something so stupid. Yet her heart races at the thought of getting to quit. "He's making you do this, isn't he?"

"Look now, Tyler, that isn't what's happening-"

"What is it? Kyle, I've known you since I was fifteen. You've always known that I do what I want to do. It's not Don forcing me or something, if that's what it looks like...sometimes we don't get along. I love him though, and I like doing this," Tyler tells him, partially forcing our her last words. While she does love her brother, doing what she does still sickens her at times.

"Tyler, I've seen you after 'hanging out' with him at Suzy's. You look dead, girl. And he's touched you-"

"Not like that! He's been friendly, that's all," Tyler shoots back, careful to keep her voice lowered. Her nightgown catches on the floor, and she pulls it up. It's a white, thin robe, with her underclothing on underneath. "Jeez, you make it sound like he molests me or something. There's nothing extra going on here, okay? Just a few little insignificant videos."