Headlights - Joshler

the lucifer effect

flipping the page of the small book in his hand, tyler slouched down in his chair a little more. the library was one of his favorite places to be. it was very big and very clean and very neat in the library, unlike his house. the only sound was the quiet hum of the air conditioning.

once he turned the last page, he slowly rose out of his seat and stretched. now he was on the hunt for a new story to capture his mind.

after putting the finished book back, he roamed the plentiful aisles. history? no. theater? no. child development? no. psychology? sure, why not?

tyler walked into the aisle and someone was already there. he hated that- when somebody was hovering close while he was trying to explore the stories.

he tried to keep his gaze away. he hated when people stared at him, so he tried not to do it to others. the guy's red hair was very captivating, though.

he rummaged through the books high on the shelf. he found novels like stumbling on happiness and thinking fast and slow, but they didn't interest him. what did catch his eye was the lucifer effect: understanding how good people turn evil.

tyler grabbed at the book, but many others came down with it. he scolded himself in his head for being so clumsy and he hoped the man next to him hadn't noticed his foolishness, but he soon saw red hair bending down next to him.

"oh, you don't have to help. i- i'm just clumsy," he said quietly.

"nonsense. which of these books did you want?" the guy said, gesturing to the many books on the floor.

"oh, um... this one," tyler said, pointing. he was embarrassed to say the name aloud.

the red-haired boy handed him his book and they piled the rest of the books back onto the shelf. tyler was about to leave when the boy started talking again.

"so you like psychology?"

"yeah, i do... it's pretty interesting," he said, nervously.

"definently. are you like... majoring in psychology?"

"what? no, i'm not in college yet. I decided to take a year break after um... high school."

the man seemed surprised. "really? me too!"

"oh, that's cool." tyler smiled.

"yeah. it is pretty cool. i'm josh, by the way."

"my name is tyler."

"do you um... do you want to go get some coffee?" josh laughed a little. tyler's heart sank.

the brown-haired boy frowned. "that's not funny." he turned to walk away. he had been asked out as a joke many times before, and each time it happened, it hurt more than the last.

josh touched his shoulder. "what? no, i was just laughing because i was a little nervous..."

"wait, so... you're serious?" tyler asked.

"yeah, i am." josh scratched his head.

"okay. then yes, i would like that, josh."

tyler left the lucifer effect on the ground. he had found something more interesting to the eye.

_______

hope you guys like, i loved writing this

-katie