There was no point in staying here. I pushed myself off the wall and started the slow, defeated walk back downstairs. The hallways were mostly empty now, just the echo of my own footsteps.
I limped out the front doors of the school and into the afternoon sun. The walk home felt like the longest walk of my life. I didn't even have the energy to be angry anymore. I was just tired. Tired of the drama, tired of the system, tired of myself.
I was a few blocks from my place when I saw them up ahead, standing on the corner. Tyler and Ronnie. They were laughing about something, their backs to me.
I stopped dead. I didn't want to deal with them. Not now. I ducked behind a parked van, hoping they'd just keep walking.
Their voices carried over in the quiet afternoon air. I wasn't trying to listen, but I couldn't help it.
"So for real, man," Ronnie said, his voice loud and obnoxious. "You fuck her yet?"
My stomach twisted. What a disgusting piece of shit.
I expected Tyler to tell him to shut up, or to brag, or something. But his laugh was just… mean.
"That annoying bitch?" Tyler scoffed, and the sound of it made me freeze. "Dude, I can't even get her to kiss me. She's all like, 'I don't think I'm ready for that' and a bunch of other crap. It's so fucking lame."
Ronnie howled with laughter. "No way! You're telling me you haven't even gotten a kiss?"
"I'm working on it," he said, his voice full of a confidence that now just sounded fake. "Give me another week. I'll wear her down."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. 'Wear her down?' What the hell did that even mean?
"But wait," Ronnie said, and I could hear the confusion in his voice even from behind the van. "Didn't she break up with you? How you gonna fuck her now?"
My breath caught in my throat. 'So she was telling the truth,' I thought. 'She really did break up with him.' The knot in my chest loosened for a fraction of a second, but then Tyler laughed again, and it came back twice as tight.
"Dude, she's just being dramatic," he said, his voice dripping with this slimy confidence. "She'll come around. I've got my ways. Girls like her just need a little... persuasion."
'Persuasion?' The word felt disgusting. It made my skin crawl. What the hell was he talking about?
"I don't get why you even bother, man," Ronnie said with a sigh. "She's hot and all, but she's so high-maintenance."
"You're not wrong," he agreed, and my fists clenched at my sides without me even telling them to. "Honestly, only her face and body are any good. The rest of her is just annoying. She should just let me fuck her and get it over with, you know? It'd be easier for everyone."
Something cold surged through me. It started in my stomach and shot up into my chest, my neck, my head. My vision went a little blurry at the edges. I had never, ever in my life felt anything like this. It was pure, unfiltered rage.
My hands were shaking. I wanted to step out from behind this van and just… I don't want to think about what I want to do to him. I just wanted to do anything to make him shut his filthy mouth.
They were talking about Nina. The girl who made me lunch, who worried about me, who cried because she hated her reputation. And these two pieces of shit were talking about her like she was a thing. An object to be 'worn down.'
"And what about that loser she's been hanging out with?" Ronnie asked, and I knew, I just knew he was talking about me. "The cripple kid. What's his deal?"
Tyler snorted. "Kofi? Please. He's nothing. Just some charity case she feels sorry for 'cause he saved her or whatever. Once I'm back with her, he'll disappear. Guys like that always do."
My whole body was buzzing. It was like I was outside of myself, watching my own hands shake. 'Is this what it feels like?' I thought, my mind racing. 'To be this pissed off?' It was a terrifying feeling, one that is too dangerous.
Their voices finally faded as they turned a corner, but I didn't move. I was just frozen behind the van, my whole body trembling.
'So this is who they really are,' I thought, my hands still shaking. 'Just a couple of fucking bastards who want to get in a girl's pants and then move on.'
The cold rage was still there, a feeling so intense it was making me dizzy. 'I want to rip them apart so bad,' I thought, and the violence of my own feelings was a shock. 'Where the hell is this bloodlust coming from?' I wasn't a violent person. I'd never been in a real fight in my life. But hearing them talk about her like that... like she was just a thing for them to use...
I knew I couldn't just leave it like this. I couldn't just go home and let that be the last thing I heard. That slimy, confident tone in Tyler's voice when he said he'd "wear her down." It made me feel sick.
I had to do something. I had to talk to her. My earlier plan to just let things go felt stupid now, childish.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, my fingers fumbling a little. I didn't even think about what I was going to say. I just scrolled to her name and hit the call button.
The phone started ringing in my ear. One ring. Two rings.
Then I heard it. A faint ringing sound from behind me.
My head whipped around.
She was standing there, maybe twenty feet away. She was just staring at me, her phone held up to her ear, her expression completely shocked.
"Nina?" I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"Kofi?" she asked at the exact same time, her own voice just as quiet through the phone pressed against my ear.