Wrong Number

The Gutter

Song: The Gutter

Artist: Coheed and Cambria

^^^

After Simon and I left the restaurant, I messaged Tylor on Snapchat to check if he was okay. He never responded. I figured I'd talk to him before class in the morning, but I didn't see him for the first half of the day. He wasn't in the practice room at lunch, and he never ate in the cafeteria, so I assumed he was hiding from me.

It felt as if I let Tylor down. I promised him I'd take him out to thank him for his help with the audition, and I brought Simon along without even thinking about Tylor's feelings. Then I left them alone at the table, even though they only talked decently for two minutes. If I stayed, would none of that have happened?

Even though I knew it wasn't my fault, I blamed myself. Tylor most likely did as well, which was why he wouldn't text me back. All I wanted was to apologize, but there was nothing I could do until he decided to stop hiding.

Once free period rolled around, I headed straight for the practice rooms. There was no way Tylor would skip practice after he already skipped at lunch.

When I turned the corner, I froze as I saw the two familiar punks messing with Tylor again. But instead of him fighting them off, Simon punched one square in the jaw. The punk cupped his face, groaning as he stumbled back. I ran towards everyone, hoping to intervene before anything worse could happen.

As the punk pulled his fist back to punch Simon, I grabbed his arm and yanked him back, throwing him against the wall. Looking up, I saw red as the other punk choked Tylor down to the ground. Before I could take a step, Simon grabbed the punk's neck and dragged him off Tylor and kicked him to the ground.

I ran over to Tylor and helped him sit up as he coughed violently. I rubbed his back as he let it all out, and he blushed as he gazed up at me.

"I swear to god, if either of you fucks ever touch Tylor- no, so much as look at him again, I'll fucking kill you!" Simon seethed as the punks stumbled up.

"Are you threatening us?"

"No. I'm warning you."

Spitting at us, they rushed down the hall away from us.

Once they were out of eyesight, Simon turned to Tylor and stared deadpan at him. Extending his arms to the side, he said, "We're even," and walked the way where the punks left.

Jerking my head to Tylor, I whispered, "Can you speak?"

Tylor nodded, choking out a "Yeah." He reached for his throat, rubbing it softly. "I've been through worse."

"Those guy-"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"But they-"

"Please," he begged, grasping tightly onto my arm. "Just drop it."

Huffing, I reached over to where they tossed his backpack and slung it over my shoulder. Helping Tylor stand up, I placed my hand on his back as I led him to the nurse's office. His favorite nurse was there again, and she luckily claimed there was no damage.

"You need to tell the principal what happened," she stated, not even looking at us as she put her stuff away.

"No, thanks."

"Then I'll see you back here next time."

As Tylor walked out of the nurse's office, I gawked at the nurse as she continued to clean up her station. "That's it?"

"I did all I can," she claimed as she glanced back at me. "This goes down on official record, but so long as he doesn't come clean about who those two boys are, there is nothing more we can do."