𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 ☾ 𝗘𝗨𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗔

Following Tyler

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I didn't understand much about what the fuck was going on, but, I did know that Nate had broken Jules and he had broken my sister's heart. And for that I was going to sink him in the fucking river.

After Halloween, Jules didn't go to school for a full week. And even though I sent her about 50 texts she didn't respond. In fact, she skipped town to go visit some old friends of hers. I could tell something bad had happened and that it had something to do with Nate. Based upon public record, Tyler Clarkson was booked for assault, but this shit wasn't adding up and I was putting together pieces of the puzzle with a little help. I wasn't going to stop until I got the truth. We weren't going to stop until we got the truth.

My sister spent the night in tears. Absolutely devastated, she didn't even want to talk to me at first. On her own, she was trying to understand what she saw and what she felt, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't comprehend it. I didn't know that before we left the party, she had a conversation with Nate at the side of the house. Apparently he text her and she met up with him, tears and mascara rolling down her face but she didn't care. She was hurt and that's all that mattered to her.

"Saf--"

"Don't fucking 'Saf' me, you asshole." She said through gritted teeth. "How? How, Nate? After all we've been through, I thought you would do the right thing? Why can't you ever do the right thing?" She fumed at him. Hot, angry, tears falling down her face.

Nate sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're fucking drunk, Safaya. Why would you get drunk at a party with all of these guys who can't control themselves? What if something happened to you?" He changed the subject, trying to deflect from what he did.

"Why are you pretending to care? You weren't here!" Safaya spat at him, attempting to step away but the tall boy blocked her.

Nate always knew he was wrong, he just never cared, and he knew Saf wouldn't care because she was so fucking in love with him. "Why would you put yourself in danger?"

"Why would you get back with Maddy after she lied on you? Why would you put yourself in danger, Nate?" She threw it back in his face. "I can't believe I had sex with you. I knew I wasn't good enough. You will always choose Maddy and I'll always be the one left behind."

Nate brought his hand to her face, wiping away her tears. He leaned in to kiss her but she was stiff while their lips touched. She wanted to fall into his touch so badly, but she had never been so upset with him in her life. "You've always been good enough." He whispered before kissing her again.

"I h-have to g-go." She said hastily. Walking away to meet with me at the front of the house.

That was the last time she spoke to Nate.

Ever since then she's been in her room, depressed, just sleeping and crying her life away. I wasn't doing much better. I was in my room watching twenty-two straight hours of Love Island before I decided enough was enough. There was too much running through my head that I needed to figure out and honestly, I needed Safaya to help fill in the missing pieces.

Being in school fucking sucked. Maddy and Nate were back to being the poster children for the perfect couple, and, the piece of shit jock was issued an apology by the school. Safaya hadn't spoken to him, but, if looks could kill then they would have been six feet under before the first-period bell rang. While it was amusing to see Nate embarrassed and avoided by his best friend, I had more pressing things to handle.

I couldn't understand why Jules would lie to help Nate, if anything, that's something I would expect from Safaya. But even she didn't know what the fuck was going on. Nate kept staring at me in the classes we shared. He looked unfazed but I knew he was shitting bricks deep down and I loved it. He didn't know me like he knew my sister and that's where I had an advantage. I was a fucking wild card.

Safaya and I sat in her room. Numerous text messages printed out and blown up, screenshots, and photos, and dick pics laying on her floor. We stared at them as if the puzzle would solve itself but we knew we needed to dig a little deeper. It was like we were detectives and we were the only ones who could solve this mystery.

"Ruey, you said Jules came over the night of the carnival? Right?" Saf asked me. Sitting on her floor and looking at text messages between her and her best friend.

I nodded, sitting on her bed cross-legged. "Yeah. She snuck in the window and asked to spend the night. When I asked her about her date she said he didn't look like his picture. And then we went--"

"What was his name?"

"Tyler." I shrugged.

"Like Tyler Clarkson." She placed together. "The same twenty-two-year-old mother fucker who Maddy was fucking in the pool at McCay's. She told Nate that she blacked out, but she lied, and I tried to tell him."

I frowned, my gears turning. "We all saw them fornicating. It was statutory, but Nate definitely saw it. But Tyler wasn't booked for that, he was booked for--"

"Assault." She finished. Throwing the screenshot back down onto the carpeted floor.

We were beginning to piece some of this together but there was still so much missing like why did Nate have so many dick pics in his phone, and, what the fuck made him snap to the point where he decided to choke Maddy at the carnival?

Then suddenly Safaya's phone rang.

We both saw it lit up on the floor and the name shook the both of us.

"I'm not answering it." She shook her head.

I grabbed her phone and handed it to her. "Answer it! Answer it!"

"No way!" She pushed it out of her way. "Get that thing out of my face, Ruey."

I answered the call anyway and held the phone to her ear. Based on her face I could tell she was pissed, but, I just had a feeling and I knew she needed to accept this call.

"Uh, hey Maddy." Safaya said, staring me down on the other end. "Huh? Oh ... okay. Sure. I'll be over in fifteen." She hung up the call and we were both easily confused at what the fuck the happened.

I sat back down on her bed. "What the fuck just happened?"

"Maddy wants to meet with me...and I'm gonna go."

I stared at her incredulously. "Well, shit, do you need backup?" I asked. The last thing I needed was like, Safaya getting jumped or something. I didn't fight or know how, but I'd do whatever I could do to help her.

My sister rummaged around her room, grabbing a black jacket to slip on over her tank top and wide flare pants. "No. I'll be okay." She grabbed her keys, phone, and wallet. "I gotta, uh ... I gotta do this on my own."

Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear.