TYLER

"tyler joseph! face me when i speak to you!" i rolled my eyes before turning around and facing my mother.

"for the last time, i only want the best for you! i don't think you should be hanging out with anyone else but nice, wealthy people! think about your future with a rich girl like jenna. she's perfect for you!"

i was honestly about to throw up with how sick i am of hearing her say the same thing every day. she only wants the best for me, but last i checked, i'm my own person.

"mom, i keep telling you. i don't like girls!"

"honey, that's just a phase. you'll see right through it. when you get older, you'll see how naïve you are right now."

what the fuck? just a phase?

this time, i didn't hide it to roll my eyes in front of her. i was too annoyed and tired to even begin to argue with her, so i just ignored her and went up to my room. arguments like this happen almost everyday, and i was so tired of it. i could never understand why my mom thinks that i'm going through a "phase". i picked up my phone and began scrolling through my instagram feed.

yup, still the same pictures i liked before my mom started yelling at me.

i saw a notification run across the top of my phone screen, though.

one new kik message

i tapped the notification before it disappeared, opening up the app.

djspooks: salutations, fren

tylerhoseph: wat who r u

djspooks: ur fren, josh

tylerhoseph: but i dont know u

djspooks: we should get to know each other then

what the hell. who is this guy? he could be like, an eighty year old creep who wants to give me free candy or something, no thanks. i was taught not to talk to strangers. i locked my phone and tried to find something to do, my first thought was to watch supernatural and see sam and dean kill some shit.

i grabbed my headphones that were strewn on my bed, plugging them into my laptop and clicking the tab that was open already. i had prepared myself last time. i got into a comfortable position and started watching the show. not even four seconds in, my phone went off again, the bell sound chiming throughout the room and through my headphones.

noise resistant my ass.

i checked my phone again, it was another message from that spooky kid.

djspooks: can we please talk? my sister's out with her friend and she left me alone :(

tylerhoseph: okay fine but i have a really important question

tylerhoseph: how old r u

djspooks: i'm turning 18 in june

okay, cool, he was my age. but that still didn't change anything. i didn't know him and he didn't know me. to fix this, i started asking him questions.

they were basic, like "what is your favorite color?" and "what do you look like?". he sent me a picture, and he was really cute. he had light blue, wild hair and black gauges in his ears, but they were small, not like those giant ones where you could fit a whole hand through. he had a silver nose ring too, and a pretty cute nose to go with it.

he was really attractive, and it almost made me want to start talking to him more. almost. i was distracted as my best friend texted me, the notification appearing at the top of my phone screen.

jennablack: hey, ty. you wanna hang out with me and gina today?

tylerhoseph: sure, i'll meet you guys. where, tho?

jennablack: the fair. come quickkkk

tylerhoseph: okay im omw DONT RUSH ME WOMAN

jennablack: wear something cute, she brought her brother with us

i glanced at the text, not thinking anything about it, but made sure i wore something cute anyways. i ran a hand through my fluffy hair, replacing my plaid pajama bottoms with black skinny jeans and put on a band tee. it was simple but clean, whatever. i slipped on my beat up black converse and left the house without saying anything more to my mom who was somewhere in the house.

|-/

tylerhoseph: okay, im here where r u guys

jennablack: we're coming to the front

i got out of my car, and saw jenna and gina come up to me, hugging me excitedly.

"hey, tyler!"

"hi, guys." i smiled.

i looked up and saw him.

yes, him.my heart was in my throat as i saw it was the guy who texted me over kik. what the hell? i was beyond confused. why is he here? and why is he walking towards us? and why is he smiling at me?

he had the same light blue hair and nose ring and gauges. he was wearing a red sweater and black jeans, black converse to go along with it. he looked really comfortable, to say the least.

"tyler, this is josh, but you already knew that." gina, my other best friend, said. she was the first person to come up to me in middle school when i transferred.

"i did?"

"yeah, he's only my brother and you're only my best friend." she rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

ooohhhh.

now i remembered, i met him only once when gina and i were still in middle school. everytime i go to their house, i don't ever see him, though. now i felt really stupid.

"hey, josh." i said calmly, but mentall because josh was really attractive in person. like, very.

"hi, tyler." his voice was sweet, like a little kid's.

i put my hands in my pockets, rocking back and forth and feeling very awkward. i didn't have anything to say, i only met him once!

"so! what should we do first?" gina asked.

"i came here for one thing only, and that's food. where is it?" jenna looked around for stands.

"can we get elephant ears?" josh asked excitedly, his eyebrows raised.

"they should have everything in the same area." i said. "let's go."

gina and jenna trailed behind josh and i as we started walking to wherever, me with my hands still in my pockets since i didn't know where to put them. i didn't want them to hang by my side, or else i'd just look weird. i can't believe i was being so awkward in front of a not-so-stranger. and why did he even start texting me in the first place?

"whoa! look at that funhouse!" josh suddenly said, interrupting my thoughts.

he was pointing to a big house with a giant, ugly clown face on it, its oddly large mouth the entrance. it contained those mirror walls in which i absolutely hated. why trick us into thinking it's a safe and clear path when in reality is just a one way ticket to a broken nose? but josh looked really excited to go in it, and i couldn't deny that bright smile that made his eyes crinkle up and dimples to form at the sides of his mouth.

"but didn't you want to eat first?" i asked.

"forget that, there's a funhouse!come on!" he grabbed my hand, and pulled me along with him to the funhouse.

what the hell? we weren't even friends and we were already holding hands. not that i minded, his hands were soft and warm, but even then, i didn't know him well enough. it was just a friendly gesture, though, he was taking me with him somewhere.

i shoved any other strange thoughts to the back of my head, following josh through the maze of clear walls. i giggled everytime he would run into one, amused at his childlike behavior. josh is actually pretty funny.

we went up some stairs that led to a completely dark room, bright neon lights lining the walls. it was really cold in here, and i, being the dumbass i am, didn't leave home without a sweater or anything.

"hey, are you cold? it's pretty chilly in here." josh commented.

"yeah, it is."

i couldn't see him clearly, but i heard rustling and suddenly i had a ball of cloth in my hands. i looked down at it to see it was his red pullover.

"now you're going to be cold." i said, staring down at the sweater.

but it was really warm and it smelled good too, like a mixture of roses and vanilla, if that made sense. i really wanted to put it on, because it wasreally cold, but i didn't want josh to suffer because of me.

"we're going to get out of here soon, no biggie. please wear it. you're cold." he said from in front of me as he kept walking.

"thank you, really." i said gratefully.

i put it on, the sleeves falling over my hands and the bottom of it pooling around the waistband of my jeans. i turned my hands into fists, balling up the sweater in my hands to block any cold air out. i can't believe he did that for me, no one's ever done that before.

but that's what friends do, right?

|-/

it was getting dark, the sky casting light hues of orange and purple across the sky, deepening the yellow orb that was the setting sun. jenna and gina really wanted to take a picture of the sunset while we were on the ferris wheel, so we were now waiting to get on it.

josh and i were talking until it was our turn to go on. the guy asked how many to a car and i was about to say four, but nope. gina and jenna said they were a pair, so they were seated alone. when the ferris wheel moved up they shot me looks and winked.

what the hell are they doing.

i was forced to go on a car with just josh. not that i minded, considering he was the only one in this line that i was comfortable with. spending the day out with him let me know who he was, and he had an amazing personality. it's rare that you could find someone genuine and fun, so i was enjoying the fact that we were kinda-but-not-really friends.

i was still wearing his sweater when we got on the car, and i tried to give it back to him.

"here, josh. thank you for letting me borrow it." i said as i began to take it off.

"no, it's cold out here. please keep it." josh said, shaking his head.

"aren't you cold?" i asked, my eyebrow raised. what was wrong with this kid? he's too nice.

"nope, i like when the air's like this. i don't want you to get sick or anything." he said, looking out into the sunset.

the golden light shot rays into his pretty, light brown eyes, allowing me to see the streaks of gold speckled across them and the dark brown ring surrounding them. the shirt he was wearing underneath let me to see the bright sleeve of tattoos on his right arm, it looked like a tree, and i'm sure it had a meaning behind it.

"thank you." i said. aw, he was looking out for me. that's sweet.

the ride stopped at the top, me and josh instantly pulling out our phones to snap pictures of the beautiful view. josh aimed at the sun while i put on the selfie mode and caught josh's attention. i smiled big and he made a silly face from the other side of the car, making me laugh.

i felt this warm feeling inside my stomach, like when you're home alone and you know you could do anything you wanted to. being with josh made me feel so carefree and happy. if this is what he brings, then i hope we stay friends.

well, kinda-but-not-really friends.

|-/

josh's eyes filled with happiness as we ran up to the elephant ears stand. we lost gina and jenna, but when we called them they said they'd meet us here after they got off of the ride. i watched as josh pushed his finger against the glass seperating us from the toppings as he told the guy what he wanted on it.

he got one with nutella and powdered sugar on the top, and i could honestly say it looked really good.

"tyler, this is huge. do you want to share it?" he asked, pouting at the elephant ear.

"sure." i giggled as he beamed again, going towards a vacant table.

he ripped off a piece of the elephant ear, the warm, gooey nutella dripping slowly off of it. i ripped off a piece too, maybe a little too big, but oh well. i don't really like nutella, but this elephant ear was making it work.

we finished soon enough, and then started talking again. at first it was awkward, but josh is pretty easy to talk to after a while.

"uh, tyler – you have a little stuff on your lip. here, let me get it." he grabbed a napkin and before i had time to react, i found him wiping off the sweet hazelnut spread from the corner of my mouth.

i noticed he kept looking at my actual lips, but maybe he was just checking for anything he might've missed? i was actually kind of surprised at the sudden gesture, but i mean, whatever.

"thank you." i smiled sweetly, glad that he saved me from walking around looking like i had poop on my face. that would've been embarrassing.

gina and jenna met us right when we were about to go find them, their hair messed up and they were laughing.

"guys, we just rode the best ride ever. but now i'm kind of tired. could we go?" jenna asked, yawning at the end of her sentence.

"yeah, me too. my legs are tired, there's too much walking around here." josh said, looking down at his legs to prove his point.

"okay, let's go." we all walked back to gina's car and on the way back, blasted fall out boy over the radio because they were some good shit.

we got back, me instantly going to my car to leave. i really wanted to sleep. josh walked over shyly as i got in. i rolled down the window for him.

"hey, tyler. i was wondering..."

i raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"do you want to be actual friends? because if you don't that's totally okay too, like we don't have to if you don't want to, but i just thought-"

"of course."

"huh?"

"let's be friends." i smiled really big this time, showing teeth and everything.

"oh! okay. uh...cool."

"cool."

"yeah. okay, i'll see you tomorrow."

"bye, josh."

i sighed as i drove away, that was really freaking awkward. but on the bright side, josh and i levelled up.

we were friends now.

cool.