Anathema

twenty eight - lying's all i've learned

Clancy refused to talk to him at all that night or the next day. It would have been nice except for the fact that he was still present, and made a show of sulking whenever he caught Tyler looking at him. Frankly, Tyler didn't blame him. He'd heard people make fun of him behind his back before, and it was one of the worst feelings in the world, especially coming from people he thought were his friends. He felt horrible that he'd encouraged Nico, but there was nothing he could do to take it back.

But the fact that he'd called him a monster...

Tyler was starting to believe it. All he ever did was hurt people. He had hurt Clancy when he made fun of him the night before. He hurt his mother whenever he yelled or disobeyed her. He'd hurt Josh somehow, and in response, he'd hurt himself. He was more similar to Nico than he wanted to admit.

Clancy finally spoke to him again that night, almost twenty four hours later. Tyler was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling with his hands folded on his stomach. He glanced across the room at the corner where Clancy was huddled and sighed. "Clancy, I'm sorry," he said again.

"Quit lying to me."

The fact the he responded at all surprised him, as well as the snap in his voice when he did. "I'm not lying," Tyler insisted, but he knew it was no use.

"Really? How am I supposed to believe that?" Clancy demanded, his voice cracking. He tried to sound angry and tough, but Tyler could tell he was really upset. "You lie to everyone else."

"Not everyone."

"You lie to your family, you lie to Nico, you lie to yourself, your team, your coach - you even lie to Josh. How am I supposed to believe you haven't lied to me this whole time, too?"

Tyler cringed at the truth in his words. He hadn't said a truly honest thing to his parents in weeks. He couldn't remember specifically lying to Josh, but he hadn't told him about his imaginary friends, and they were a huge influence in his mood and personality. Since he was keeping it from Josh, he felt like he was essentially lying to him, too. And he couldn't deny having lied to Clancy sometimes to try and make him feel better, or to get Nico to stop bugging him. Clancy was right. That's all he was. A liar. 

Clancy took his silence as an answer. "That's what I thought," he grumbled, turning his back to them and pulling his knees to his chest. 

Tyler sighed softly and yawned, and then sat up to fight the drowsiness. He couldn't go to sleep, he reminded himself. He climbed out of bed and turned on the light, and Clancy flinched and buried his face in his arms. Tyler could have sworn Nico hissed softly under his breath, but he ignored it. Maybe if he put on his regular clothes instead of his pajamas, he could trick his body into thinking it was day time. 

"What are you doing?" Nico asked as he pulled off his pants. 

"Changing."

"Well, duh, but why?"

"Maybe I won't fall asleep."

"You need a shower," Nico said. "You stink."

"I do not," he protested, but Nico was right. It had been almost a week since he'd last showered. The worse his mind got, the less he took care of himself. 

"Maybe then you'd stay awake," Nico pointed out.

Tyler sighed loudly and then trudged across the room and opened his door. "Fine, but you two have to stay in here."

Nico flashed him a rather frightening grin, like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. "Will do." His teeth looked especially pointy, as if he was some sort of demon, and Tyler shivered. Clancy shot him a frantic glance, but didn't say anything.