Chapter 184

• Of course I saw Tyler everywhere. In the halls, at the store, even walking down the fucking street. As asked, I faded into the background, hiding behind other people and even once ducking behind a tree. It wasn’t like I was being stealthy, he saw me, but to his credit, he did his part to look away. And unless I was imagining things, he even distracted his friends a few times to keep them from seeing me.
• None of it made sense. Years of being slammed into lockers in the hallway or being elbowed in the stomach for no reason left a mark. The broken noses, black eyes, and cracked ribs left behind were strong enough memories for me to take his warning seriously. Every time I hid, I felt like a failure. I’d made it this far on little more than mother-fucking-moxie and fleeing from a literal big bad wolf was shit on my self-esteem.
• But it was almost over.