Oh, and last year there was that whole thing with Lily Macintosh. I guess they were going out and he got mad at her, and he sent everyone in the school these photos of her topless that she apparently sent him when they were going out. I felt really bad for Lily, although you have to be really stupid to send naked pictures of yourself to a guy like Tyler Martinson. Anyway, she left school too. Madison told me she tried to kill herself, but I’m not sure if that’s true. I overheard Tyler laughing about it in the hallway once.
So yeah. That’s Tyler. That’s the kind of shit he does.
“What is it, Tyler?” I wrap my arms around my chest, because it’s even colder than it was earlier. Tyler is wearing a coat, but there’s no chance in hell he would offer it to me the way Liam did. He’s too self-absorbed to even notice I’m cold. “What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you about Liam.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t bother.”
“It’s important.”
“Liam is a really nice guy.” I raise my chin to look Tyler in the eyes. “There’s nothingyoucould tell me about him that would change my mind.”
“You’ve got to listen to me, Olivia.” Tyler’s voice cracks slightly, which surprises me. Is he actually upset? “I’m not joking around. Liam is… he’s dangerous.”
I snort. “Liamis dangerous?”
“I really think…” He frowns at me. “I think if you go out with him, your life could be in danger.”
“Oh, comeon! So you’re saying he’s amurderer?”
“I’m saying… of everyone I know, he’s the only one who scares the shit out of me.”
“Why?”
Tyler shifts between his thick legs. “It’s a long story. You have to trust me.”
I just shake my head.
“And anyway,” he adds. “Liam has barely any experience with girls. Wouldn’t you rather be with someone…” He winks at me. “Someone who knows what they’re doing?”
Right. And now he’s finally come to the real reason he’s here. Because he’s pissed off that I went out with Liam after rejecting him.
“I wouldn’t, actually,” I say.
I start to turn away from Tyler, but before I can, he reaches out and grabs my arm. I try to shake him off, but he holds tight.
“You’ve got to listen to me, Olivia,” he pleads with me. “You’re making a huge mistake. I promise you.”
Tyler’s fingers are the size of sausages. I try again to shake him off as I feel bruises blossoming on my skin. “Let me go,” I say through my teeth.
“You don’t understand…”
“Let me go or I’ll scream.”
That finally gets through to him. He opens his fist and I pull away. My arm still throbs where he was grabbing onto me.
“We’ll talk about it more later,” he says.
“No,” I say. “We won’t.”
Chapter Seventeen
ERIKA
Jason and I love to binge-watch TV series in bed. When we first got a television in our bedroom, it felt decadent. Up until then, we only had the TV in the living room. “What kind of TV addicts are we that we need to have a television in every room?” Jason had said. But we got the television, and it was a flat screen that was just as big as the one in the living room. And we watch itall the time. I can’t think of any purchase we get more mileage out of than this TV. Even our cars.
Jason has stripped down to an undershirt and boxers, and he puts his arm around me while I snuggle up against him to watch episode five of season two ofBoJack Horseman. It’s this television show about a drug-addicted horse who was on a nineties sitcom. Don’t judge.
