"ty, it's just a stupid paper," syd tried.
tyler knew people didn't like him. and he didn't care. he had his friends - and that's all he really needed. and he knew he was dumb as fuck. but its pretty fucking embarrassing. he doesn't even think he knows twenty four people.
"yeah," earl agreed, with syd. "im sure syd didn't choose you."
there's a moment of silence. the entire group turned to her.
"no way-" jasper said, before falling into a fit of laughter.
"he made me choose from a bunch of names!" she argued, throwing her hands in the air. "you were the only one i recognised!"
tyler shook his head. okay. he didn't really care about syd choosing him, because if he was asked that question, and saw any of his friends, he'd choose them within a heartbeat.
but still. he was upset. and he knows he shouldn't care. shit like that can really put you down, though. he feels like one big ass joke.
"this is so fucked." he groaned, covering his face in his palms for a moment. "how is this shit allowed?"
"your right." syd nodded. "listen, i didn't know it was for the paper - but now i do. and thats fucked."
taco nodded in agreement. "but can i have the paper, i havent finished reading i-"
tyler turned to him. he was half tempted to rip out the thing infront of him, and maybe eat it or some crazy shit like that. but he tried to rationalise his thoughts. think properly and not say something stupid.
eventually, earl took the paper, ripped it up and started chewing on it.
"who manages the paper shit?" tyler finally said. but taco was too busy staring at earl, in shock.
"my paper, man." he sighed.
tyler taps taco. "who manages the paper?"
taco shrugs. "why the fuck would i know?"
"cause your the one who reads it." syd whistled, mocking him.
taco sighed again. he stared at earl, then tyler. "probably someone in media studies, or somethin'"
tyler looked at him, blankly. "what is media studies?"
"y'all see why he got voted, now?" jasper snickered in the background.
"shut up," syd gritted, nudging at the other male.
"i'll show you tomorrow." taco said. "when i go get a new paper." his eyes diverted to earl.
eventually, the group started talking about something else. tyler found himself mentally spacing out of the conversation. it had been about ten minutes, and the crowds around school started withering slowly. he felt strange, being surrounded. some of these people think hes most likely to fail. fail in what? the question didn't even specify. fail what? school? life? they just thought of the question and chose him.
it wasn't really a good feeling. it felt - tyler didn't know how to describe how it felt. hes not good at words. not good at describing how he feels. hes not good at alot of stuff.
but before he could spiral into his thoughts, he found that the rest of the group was walking along, and now frank had also tagged along. tyler doesn't remember when. and he didn't know where they were going - and he already found that he was behind from the rest, so he gripped onto his skateboard and started speed-walking to catch up to them.
they're get to the skatepark. it's the same day but its falling dark; the moons clearly visible in the sky, glowing bright. there's lots of kids there; a shit ton that he recognises from school, even.
