eyelashes ~joshler~

one~autumn

Tyler felt the soft fabric glide over his body as he assembled his clothing ensemble for the day. Countless skirts were pulled on and off, making sure it matched well with the soft pink crop top that adorned his chest. Finally making a decision, he paired it with white knee highs and flawless eyeliner.

The small boy fluffed his chestnut hair a bit before making up his bag, making sure to include his creme colored journal.

You see, Tyler had a tendency to think a bit too much, over everything and nothing, all at the same time. Therefore, he would fill up journals with his thoughts, no matter how innocent or grotesque they may be.

But, the small boy always tried his best to not start off the day with a fearful mindset, he knew it would get there eventually, so why rush it? Tyler focused on cleaning up his lipstick and coating his lashes evenly with mascara, instead of other questionable topics. He carefully smoothed out his skirt and took one last look in the mirror.

You look nice today.

Gripping the straps of his denim bag tightly, Tyler walked out of his bedroom and out the front door, not giving his house another glance before closing the door quietly behind him.

The wind and small rustle of fading leaves from brittle branches were all he heard for a few moments until he recognized the voice of his most trusted friend, Jenna Black.

"Ty!" He immediately looked ahead once realization occurred. Jenna was a sweet girl with bright eyes and a kind smile, whom he'd known for years,

Jenna brought the small pastel boy into her arms, holding him tightly. "How have you been? I missed you a ton." Tyler pulled away and smiled. "I m-missed you t-too, Jen."

The blonde girl gave him a large smile as they started walking towards the bus stop, pleased with the fact he could talk to her with more ease, as they have grown closer. Of course there was the stutter, but that's always been there. He wasn't afraid to speak anymore.

Before, Jenna often initiated a majority of the conversations when they became friends. He would many times just nod, smile, or shrug in response to whatever Jenna said.

"You look lovely today, Tyler. I really like your skirt. I'm very envious." Tyler easily noticed the emphasis on the last word of her sentence. New vocabulary.

"Env-vious?" Jenna smiled when she saw how Tyler had detected it so quickly. "Envious. Full of, feeling, or expressing envy; Jealous." Jenna finished her explanation and looked to Tyler for confirmation. He smiled brightly and nodded to Jenna. "Envious."

When the bus arrived, Tyler and Jenna stayed behind, letting the unruly teenagers board first and find their seats. Tyler's anxiety immediately spiked, as soon as the doors opened and a few groups of kids clambered onto the bus and loud conversation ensued inside the vehicle. Jenna's hand found Tyler's and clasped it, letting him know she was still there. Tyler gulped and held onto her soft, manicured hand and closed his eyes, counting his breaths.

You're going to be okay.

One. Two. Three.

Jenna's right here.

Four. Five. Six.

"Tyler? Are you ready to go?" Jenna asked cautiously, not wanting to startle the boy. She knew he was triggered easily as simple interactions with people his own age frightened him to no end.

Tyler nodded quickly and stepped onto the bus, quickly walking to the closest open seats, dodging flying school supplies and trying his best to avoid the people yelling to their friends as he did so. Tyler leaned his head against the cold, smudged window and breathed in and out, feeling Jenna fill the seat next to him. Or so he thought.

"I'm sorry, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full." Tyler turned his body to face the stranger sitting beside him. His eyes were met with a boy's, and Tyler was immediately intimidated by him.

This boy had strong arms, black gauges, a sliver nose ring in his left nostril, and to top it off, bright purple hair. There was a look of hope in the boy's face, and although his first thoughts of him was rather frightening, Tyler saw that this punk boy had rather comforting features. Soft brown eyes, high cheek bones, and a little bit of scruff.

Tyler concluded that he was attractive, based on his analysis of him so far. There was heat rising through Tyler's cheeks as he realized the violet boy was staring at him. Tyler hadn't answered his question yet; he had gotten too caught up in his thoughts again.

"Y-yes, s-sure." A look of relief washed over the boy's features as he settled into his seat more and slung his backpack off of his shoulder. He looked back up at Tyler, catching Tyler staring at him.

"Thanks so much, I was afraid I was gonna get mauled back there." He made a gesture with his head to the seats towards the back of the bus. Tyler looked in the direction of where the purple haired boy indicated, finding Jenna squished between several varsity boys. She looked worried. Tyler and Jenna made eye contact and some calmness came across the young girl's face.

'You okay?' Jenna mouthed to him. Tyler turned his head to look back at the boy beside him, and nodded, smiling.

The brunet turned back around and smoothed out his skirt, straightening out his knee high socks as well. "I like your, um, outfit." Tyler's eyes flicked up to the boy once again, gasping quietly. Tyler was surprised the boy wanted to initiate conversation with someone like himself. They seemed quite the opposite.

"Th-thank you. Very m-much." Tyler smiled shyly and felt a blush coming back to flush his cheeks once again. The boy smiled back to him, and Tyler noticed how his eyes squinted when he smiled. "You're welcome. I'm Joshua. Uh, well Josh. You can call me Josh." Josh spoke hurriedly while outstretching his hand to Tyler.

Tyler looked down at Josh's hand then back up at him. Panic, flashing in his eyes for a moment before delicately taking Josh's hand in his own and shaking it slightly. Tyler didn't remove his hand from Josh's grasp after the weak handshake. They both just sat there, with their hands holding each other mid-air. Josh giggled a bit and shook his head, taking his hand out of Tyler's, much to the small boy's dismay.

"What's your name?" Josh spoke, once again, intentionally initiating conversation with Tyler. This concept itself really was baffling him. While Tyler pondered how to answer the simple question, Josh was running over Tyler's facial features quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Brown hair. Chocolate eyes. Winged eyeliner. Long lashes. Plump lips. Make eye contact again, you're staring. Josh flicked his eyes from Tyler's lips and back to his eyes, just in time to catch the beautiful boy's name.

"T-Tyler. My n-name's Tyler." Josh smiled widely, showing off perfect, white teeth. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tyler." The brunet stared wide-eyed at Joshua.

Why was this boy being so nice to him? Usually only Jenna ever wanted to talk to him. The people at this school just didn't ask questions and kept their mouths shut, which was much better then what's happened at previous schools. So what was a boy looking like Joshua, talking to a boy that looked like Tyler? But, before he could answer his own question, Tyler began to speak again, feeling it was improper not to respond.

"I-I am envious, Joshua" Oh frick. Josh furrowed his eyebrows and smiled a bit. "Of what, Tyler?" Josh shifted so he was sitting on one leg, the other dangling off the side of the seat, hands folded in his lap.

"Your hair, J-Joshua. I e-enjoy lilac. It's..." Tyler couldn't remember the word that Jenna used this morning to describe him. He felt very happy when he heard her say that to him, and he wanted Josh to feel that too.

"L-Lovely." Tyler watched as Josh's face was filled with joy and the lilac boy smiled so wide, his eyes crinkled at the corners and you could see his teeth. "Why thank you, Tyler." Josh chuckled to himself while Tyler blushed profusely.

The rest of the bus ride to school, there was no further conversation between them. But one thing running though Tyler's mind was certain: Envious indeed.

~~~

a/n: woooohoooo first chapter is up!! I've been working on this fic for a month or two and I'm really trying to make this one good and actually try hard on it so please tell me what you think!!! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it!