"You just don't know when to quit, huh?" Kyler snapped. "You don't even know how badly you screwed up, man."
I heard a familiar voice hollering over the crowd."What the hell are you guys doing?" Tanner shoved his way through. "Nathan, you can't be serious right now. What is going on here?" he demanded angrily, reaching out and pulling Nathan back as Kyler geared up to throw another punch.
"Whoa, okay, I'm fine, everything is cool," Nathan conceded, putting his hands in surrender. "Tanner, let me go. I’m good. We're good. Promise."
I wondered if Tanner would be able to see through Nathan's cool façade. Nathan wasn’t just going to back down so easily. I could tell.
Tanner loosened his grip on Nathan, just long enough for Nathan to throw himself at Kyler again.
"I told you! Look at this crazy, stupid asshole!" Kyler howled. "I didn't do a damn thing!" He stumbled around as Nathan resumed his frantic attempts to pummel him.
"Damn it, Nathan," Tanner hissed at him. "Can I get a little help here, please?"
Four guys on the football team all looked at each other and shrugged, none of them wanting to get involved in the fight, especially considering that fight was with Kyler. Finally, one of the guys rolled his eyes and groaned, pushing his way through the crowd helping Tanner break it up.
"Grab his other side. Grab his arm, there," Tanner instructed, restraining Nathan while the other guy dealt with Kyler.
Nathan struggled in his grip, trying desperately to land a final blow to Kyler. Kyler smirked, taunting Nate, the right side of his jaw already swelling and turning purple.
"Jesus, that hurts," Kyler groaned, rubbing the side of his face again. "What? You going to attack me again? Crazy asshole.” Kyler spat as Nathan struggled against the two giant football players attempting to drag him out of the room. "Yeah, you better back off. This isn't over, Nathan!"
Nathan finally gave up, allowing himself to be pulled into the kitchen and away from the gawking crowd.
"Oh, I know this ain't over, Kyler," Nathan retorted, his voice cracking. "You better not so much as look in her direction ever again. If I ever see your ass again—"
"Jesus, Nathan, relax. What the fuck has gotten into you?” Tanner huffed.
I followed them into the kitchen, shaking my head, trying to ignore the crowd's whispers. People immediately suspected that I was at fault and started talking. It was the day of the English test all over again.
"I guess she's what caused it.”
"I've never seen Kyler so pissed!"
"What was Nathan's problem?"
I wanted to disappear, but also needed to console Nathan. As badly as he handled the situation, I knew he was trying to stick up for me, and I have to admit that I liked it.
Tanner and Nathan were standing in stunned silence.
I took a deep breath and approached them. Tanner looked furious, and Nathan was staring down at the floor, a fresh beer in his hand. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or ashamed. I just knew he was really drunk.
“Uh... so do you guys want to explain what the hell just happened?" Tanner asked.
I hung back meekly, my hands trembling. A tear fell down my right cheek. I hated that when I got anxious or upset, my first response was to cry. But I couldn’t help it.
“It’s fine," Nathan said flatly, gulping his beer. "You didn't have to interfere. I could have handled him myself." He glared at Tanner.
"Yeah, and when you're hit with a lawsuit from Kyler's daddy, you’d still be thinking punching him was a good idea?” Tanner retorted, furiously. "You're lucky as hell that I was able to pull you two apart. You probably would have destroyed him, but you know damn well Kyler wouldn't let something like that slide. He's a sneaky bastard, and his family would have completely buried you! Hell, they still might. Why would you ever pick a fight with him like that?"
Nathan rolled his eyes. "He was smothering Elizabeth," he explained. "Would you let some random dude hang all over McKenzie like that?"
"Hey, I could have handled it," I said, finally finding my voice. "He was being kind of a creep, but you didn't have to throttle him like that," I heard whispers coming from outside the kitchen, no doubt gossiping about me and the spectacle I had just been part of.
"Elizabeth, he was practically forcing himself on you!" Nathan reasoned, anger in his voice again. "You don't know Kyler like I do. He's an egotistical asshole, and he just walks all over anyone he feels like. He knows his rich daddy can fix anything for him, so he just takes advantage of any girls he wants, and I'm sick of it.” Nathan slammed his beer down on the counter.
I flinched, quickly wiping away a tear that threatened to roll down my cheek. "Nathan," I whispered, my voice cracking, "I've never seen you act like that before. I know you were trying to help, but you made the whole situation worse."
Nathan's expression softened. "Elizabeth, I'm sorry, but I didn’t think you were going to speak up. I didn’t want to see him walk all over you. God knows what would have happened if I hadn’t stepped in," he said, his voice lowering to a whisper. He looked down at his feet sheepishly as he shook his head. "I'm sorry. I really am. But Kyler is horrible. He's not a nice guy, Elizabeth."
