The Lunacy of Tyler Lockhart ✔️

Chapter Six - Past

Past

Victoria

I ran away.

Yes, I admit I was a coward for running away when Archer had practically done a favor by revealing my feelings to Tyler, and instead of meeting his gaze head-on and waiting to see how he responded; I'd done the next worst thing by fleeing and spent the rest of the lunch break in a secluded space by a large tree outside the school building. My phone had about six missed calls; five of them from Tyler and one from Archer.

After that, I spent the rest of the day successfully avoiding both of them.

Boys would never keep their mouths shut, and since I was the odd one, a lone female in the group of two loud teenage boys, it was a given that I would always remain a target. It often turned out to be domestic bullying, my brother being the worst one, and Tyler was the silent, sweet-talking, the charming bully.

And I've had enough of those two ganging up on me.

During the last period, I went to my locker and deposited the books that I needed for tomorrow, and retrieved the ones I wanted to take home with me. When I shut the locker door, I was taken aback by an imposing figure leaning towards my locker, staring at me.

I placed a hand on my heart, "You psycho, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Tyler grasped my cheeks harshly between his forefinger and thumb, his expressions dark, "watch your mouth, missy!"

I was shocked by his behavior. Until now, Tyler had never manhandled me, much less touched me this way. The look in his eyes was scaring me.

He let go of my cheeks slowly but I could still feel the burning sensation of where his fingers were touching.

"Tyler...I'm...I'm..."

His serious expression dissipated into the sound of roaring laughter, "Do you know how scared you look right now?"

I sighed in relief. "You're never going to grow up, are you?"

He was still laughing, "I wish I had a mirror to show you your face."

"Ha.ha. Very funny." I mocked him.

He cocked a brow in mock humor, and wiggled them, "it's my serial killer face. I like to do it to scare people."

"And how many faces do you have?" I asked closing the locker and walking down the hallway.

"A lot of them." He answered falling in step beside me.

I had to arch my head up to look at him. The handsome giraffe.

"Which one of your faces are you showing me right now?"

"The closest one to me." He answered. "The face I show everyone."

"Everyone?" I asked, halting midway. "But Tyler, I thought I was special."

Yeah. I was flirting. We usually did that, flirt with each other that is; I would say something suggestive, something that opened one doorway to my feelings but I kept the door open only partly. There was a line neither of us was crossing. I hadn't told him outright that I liked him but gave him subtle hints, Tyler being Tyler acted oblivious most of the time but also occasionally passed innuendoes, the kind that I couldn't take seriously because he had a very annoying habit of teasing me.

We always teased each other, flirted even, but it had been discreet and after we'd turned sixteen, something had changed a little. While the jokes and flirting remained, it went a little out of our usual teasing zones. It had become something more.