“Ha!” Andie rolled her eyes and slid her hands into her pockets. Dyllan was trying to threaten her, and she wanted to make it crystal clear that it wasn’t working. “No.”

Dyllan narrowed his eyes, tightened his grip on Andie’s collar, and lifted her up slightly - leaving her just close enough to the ground that she could still support her own weight by standing on her toes. “That wasn’t a request.”

At this point, Dyllan was carefully riding the line between aggression and violence, and Andie could tell that he was making a conscious effort to avoid actually crossing it. That meant he knew as well as she did that if he resorted to real, proper acts of violence here… Well, he’d practically be admitting that he had no real counterargument to what Andie had said. Which was the same as admitting she was right.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

And Dyllan would never admit Andie was right - unless his ego made him.

“Believe me, I’d love to leave you to wallow in your own little pit of groundless self-loathing.” Andie pulled her right hand out of her pocket and used it to grab the arm Dyllan was using to lift her up - tightly enough that it was clear she was in control of the situation, but not so tight that it would be seen as physical retaliation. “Unfortunately, your problems are becoming my ego’s problems - and as soon as I wake up, they become my problems.” She arched an eyebrow and smirked provokingly. “So unless you have a better counterargument than just being louder and angrier than me…”

“Well. That depends.” Dyllan let go of Andie and gave her a quick shove - half heartedly trying to knock her over. “Is a murdered eleven year old a good enough counterargument for you?”

Andie clicked her tongue. “You didn’t murder him. You bullied him.”