The Scaly Boy (G #3)

I Make Some Stupid Decisions

    "Are you saying," I licked my lips only to discover my whole mouth was dry. "Tui...and Alex, are my...siblings?"

Will nodded slowly.

"And you're known this ever since Casey?" I repeated.

He nodded again. "Tyler, I'm sorry. We just got so caught up in everything and it slipped my mind-"

"It slipped your mind?" I spat, he winced.

"Tyler." Tui was looking at me weirdly.

I met her gaze. She looked distraught. Will shouldn't have opened his mouth. She was already upset over Alex. Alex...he was my brother. Alex was my brother. I had fought him on the rooftop in New York. I had a family and they were right in font of me this whole time. Did Tui even want me to be her brother? The look on her face told me there was a whole list of boys who she'd rather be related too than me. Probably because I was the one who screwed up the most. She didn't want me as her screw up brother who had done nothing but hurt Alex this whole time.

"I'm sorry." Will said again.

"Yeah? Well I don't care!" I yelled at him, my hands were shaking.

"Tyler hold on, we can talk about this-" Genny started.

"Oh shut up." I nearly snarled. "You're only taking his side because he's your boyfriend."

"Hey." Will frowned. "Don't-"

"Are you gonna tell me not to talk to her like that?" I pushed away from the group. "Genevieve, young and in love, and Will the white knight always there to protect her and save the day for everyone else. Adorable."

Will started to look a little angrier than I had seen him before. I was pushing his buttons. For once it was me pissing other people off.

"Gentleman." Justin said coldly. "Let's take this outside."

Justin forced us out of the room and into and empty classroom. He shut the door behind us and turned, he looked like Mr. Wales, responsible and ready to slap us on the back of the head if necessary.

"Would you look at that, the three of us, symbolic." Justin mused to himself.

"Tyler needs to apologize." Will insisted. "Genny-"

I stomped forward and put my face up in his. "Let me guess, she's the one who distracted you huh? You guys were too busy locking lips to tell me about my own family."

Instead of getting angry, Will and Justin just kind of stared at me in shock. I realized my face was wet. I was crying. Crap, I didn't mean to- not in front of them.

"Calm down." Justin suggested, reaching out to put his hand on my shoulder.

I slapped it away. "Don't touch me."

"I really meant it when I say I forgot." Will said quietly. "You were always so angry all the time. I didn't know how."

"Yeah?" I bit my own tongue. "You could have at least looked out for them. If you knew, you should have protected them."

I looked up at them, the world was starting to go red. It wavered back and forth. Because I was a screw up mutant who's been thrown away.

"I've lived my whole entire life and I thought you guys were the closest thing I would ever get to a real family. If I had known- If you had just told me earlier, you'd have no doubt I'd die for them. Alex would...he would..."

"You are part of this family." Justin insisted. "And you're important part of this team."

I laughed, shakily. "No I'm not. I've caused you guys nothing but trouble. Dylan's better than me. He's a better version of me. My abilities are useless."

"That's not true." Justin tried to interrupt me.

"It is! You heard what James and Lucy said. Literally everyone who's taken the same serum as me is better. It's a fact."

"You're not a science experiment Tyler, you're a human being!" Will shouted abruptly, it made me shut up for a moment.

    I was angry. I was really angry, not just with Will but with myself. I could have spared Tui, I could have spared Alex. I didn't want to burden them like this.

"Not I'm not. None of us are." I spat sourly before pushing past them, I slammed the door behind me.

    The loud bang of wood on wood was satisfying as I lumbered down the hallway. My face was still embarrassingly wet and I needed air. I wanted to fly away and...break something. I wanted to completely wreck something.

    Thirty minutes later I was in a beat up wear house lot. It was abandoned. I blacked out a few minutes ago and woke up in a cold sweat, splinters and jagged pieces of metal surrounding me as I stretched out on the floor.

    My phone kept buzzing. Tui kept texting me. I left it in my jacket pocket a few feet away so I didn't have to listen to is. I didn't deserve to talk to her. She deserved a better brother. One who could warp metal if he wanted to.

    I picked up a piece of it and chucked it across the room. It smashed against a wall, making a loud clang and leaving a dent. It felt good.

    How long ago was it when Will's parents went up on tv and told the whole world we existed and there was a cure for monsters like me? Weeks, months? I never kept track of time. Did it matter? Would anyone like me if I took a cure like that? Maybe Tui would be okay with having me as a brother if I were normal. She wouldn't be scared of me.

    "Tyler Santos." I said out loud.

    What if I wanted to live a normal life? What's high school like? I had never been to a normal school before. It was always either on the run or Mr. Wales wacky demon teachers like Mrs. Candleburg. What's falling in love like? I don't think anyone could really feel safe around me like this let alone love me.

    For the first time in my life, I understood James Worthington.

    I picked up my phone, ignoring the hundred of texts and missed calls from everyone, and looked up the address to Gilligan Industries.