Tyler
*Kayla*
December 31, 2015
Dallas is holding Mikey against the wall, screaming in his face a series of profanities. His anger chills me to the bone. Everyone knows of Dallas’s dark side. I was at the other end of it a few times. But seeing it again, after months of him working hard to change into someone else, it frightens me.
“I’m going to kill him.”
I can’t let that happen. No matter how much I hate Mikey for what he did, I can’t let Dallas harm him.
“Dallas.” My voice is small and lost in the shouting. I step forward and say his name a little bit louder. Still, Dallas doesn’t relent. I notice Mikey turning blue from the lack of oxygen. “Dallas!” I cry, placing a hand on his shoulder and using all the strength I can muster to wrench him off Mikey.
Dallas staggers back a few steps before he turns on me, lifting a fisted hand and aiming it at my face. I wince, throwing my hands up to block his blow. With one hit, Dallas could knock me out.
A few seconds tick by, and everything is still. I peek out from my hands to see Dallas looking at me with wide eyes, his hand still in the same position. As if noticing my eyes zeroing in on his fist, Dallas instantly drops it and sucks in a horrified breath. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he looks around the room at the damage done.
A lamp lies shattered on the floor, along with a few picture frames and an alarm clock. There is a hole in the wall where Dallas slammed Mikey’s head. I wince, looking down at the unconscious body at my feet. I resist the urge to kick him in the stomach.
How dare he kill Kyle. How dare he try to kill me, someone he hardly knew. How dare he try to kill anyone, period.
“I’m so sorry, Kayla. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” I turn my head to the sound of Dallas’s voice and let out a sigh.
“It’s all right, Dallas.”
“No. None of this is all right, Kayla. He killed Kyle, trying to kill you. How are you so calm? How can you just stand there and act as if everything is all right?” Dallas’s voice rises as he speaks.
“I’m not calm, Dallas! But I’m trying to be, because you’re losing it right now! I’m so scared…I was the one who was supposed to die. They went to the cemetery for me! They were going to try to kill me again! So no, I’m not all right with any of this. I am terrified!” As if on cue, my nearly dried-out tear ducts begin to overflow.
I have never been so unstable and insecure in my whole life. I now know that Mikey has a hired hitman after me. Everywhere I go, I will have to be looking over my shoulder in search for a black SUV. I am not safe.
I bring up my hand to my mouth and begin to chew on my middle fingernail as tears roll down my cheeks. My eyes lift to stare into Dallas’s blue ones. They are so beautiful, even with all the anger and sorrow within them.
Dallas takes a step forward and places a heavy hand on my shoulder. His fingers dig into my skin as he bends down so our eyes are level. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Kayla.” His promise is strong, and his voice doesn’t shake with uncertainty. “We will find a way to prove him guilty. We will lock him up. I promise you this, Kayla.” Dallas’s bottom lip begins to quiver, but he quickly bites it to hide it from me.
We are both scared.
When I nod my head, Dallas quickly leans down to place a kiss to my forehead and grabs my hand. “Let’s go.”
Dallas leads me out of Mikey’s house, and when we reach the road, he gives me a tight hug before we go to our separate vehicles.
I was right; the Chevy Impala is still running as I slide in the driver’s seat. I’ll have to give Anne gas money.
Dallas follows me back to Naperville Settlement where Anne, Tyler, and Katie are waiting for us.
It’s been almost two weeks now since that night. Two weeks since we confronted Mikey. Two weeks that I have been walking around with fear that a gun is pointed at my back.
Two weeks since we saw Kyle.
Dallas and I both silently assume that we may never see him again. We found out who the murderer is. He no longer needs to see us, to help us. Is he at peace? Is he at peace, knowing that we will make Mikey pay for his crime?
I’m thankful it’s second semester of our senior year. With our college acceptances nearly set in stone, we don’t have to worry as much about keeping up our grades. Dallas, however, has remained on the basketball team. He is determined to see this team to State one last time.
Mikey quit the team. He has been nonexistent. We see him every once in a while walking through the halls, but he has made no effort to resume things as they were. Not that we assumed he would.
Tyler, however, doesn’t relent on asking why there’s a rift between Mikey and Dallas. He has even cornered me a few times, demanding that I tell him. But it is not my place to tell Tyler. If Dallas wants him to know, he will tell Tyler in his own time.
Even without the explanation, Tyler chose to remain friends with Dallas instead of Mikey. He must understand that whatever Mikey did, it was enough to ruin a lifelong friendship.
That’s because it was.
I confided in Anne. I told her everything, with Dallas’s consent. She was just as surprised as we were, asking the same questions.
“How could Mikey do that?”
“Why?”
“Why would Mikey want you killed?”
Anne has tried to help us figure out a way to get Mikey to confess to his crime. We considered her approaching him with a wire and goading him into confession.
When we tried, Mikey only laughed and walked away. Of course, he would assume we’d do something like that.
I asked Dallas if he could confide in Tyler, tell him everything. Perhaps we could then use Tyler as a double spy. Dallas seemed to have considered it for a moment but didn’t want to put Tyler into harm’s way. If Mikey found out, who was to say he wouldn’t put a target on Tyler’s back?
I mentally shame myself for not thinking of recording the whole conversation in Mikey’s room. Why wasn’t I thinking in advance? Everything would be over now if I had done so.
“Earth to Kayla.” Anne’s voice is distant, and I suddenly see a hand waving in front of my face. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I look over at Anne. She’s sitting across the lunch table from me, her eyebrows raised. “You still here with us?”
“Sorry. Just thinking.” I turn to gaze at Dallas. He offers me a small smile and places a hand over mine.
“Well, I was thinking we should look for a cabin to rent out for Prom. One with a lake. We could spend two nights there, go swimming and what not,” Tyler says, biting into his sandwich.
Prom. I totally forgot about it. The traditional high school dance. One every senior “must” attend. How could I forget?
I look over at Dallas again to see him staring at Tyler. “Who would all go?” he asks, popping a grape in his mouth. I reach over a steal a couple from the Ziploc bag. Dallas slides the grapes over so they’re in between us, offering me another smile.
“We can invite people from the basketball team. We haven’t really hung out with Travis, Zack, or Eric in a while. We should all go bowling or something. This is our last semester. You guys have been down in the dumps and won’t even tell me why. You need to at least pretend to be teenagers.” I look over at Anne to see her eyes widen slightly at the mention of Travis’ name. I almost laugh at how uncomfortable she looks.
“I think that sounds like a great idea,” I say suddenly, surprising everyone, including myself.
“You do?” Dallas asks, looking down at me. I shrug my shoulders.
“Yeah. I’d like to meet your basketball buddies. And Ty is right. We should enjoy being teenagers while we still are.” I’m not going to let Mikey keep me from living my life with my friends. I may be terrified to step out of my house, but to lock myself inside my house will mean that Mikey won.
And I am not about to let that happen.
“All right. I’ll let everyone know. This is gonna be awesome.” Tyler smiles widely as he pulls out his phone and begins messaging his friends.
Anne and Dallas stare at me, causing me to twist in my chair and look right back at them. My lips part as I go to defend myself and Tyler. Tyler is not involved in this yet…and he deserves to enjoy his senior year, even if the rest of us can’t.
“It’ll be fun,” I whisper. Anne sighs and turns her attention back to Tyler, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. Tyler instantly holds her close as he sends all the details to his friends.
Dallas places a kiss to the side of my head, and I lean into him. “I love you,” he whispers in my ear, rubbing his hand up and down my back.
“I love you too.”
Tyler lets out a laugh, and I peek over to see him smiling down at his phone.
He’s happy.
Until Tyler finds out about Mikey and Kyle, I will ensure that we do our best to live out our last semester of high school as normal teenagers.
It’s what Kyle would have wanted.