Ruby -joshler-

chapter three

     I could tell Josh was thinking the same thing. We rushed up the stairs, completely ecstatic. 

     "Yes yes yes yes yes!" I pranced around the dinner table like a nine-year-old. "Taco Bell!" My mom couldn't stop laughing. I'm pretty sure Madison was videotaping us the whole time so that she could watch us acting like little kids over Taco Bell. 

     Can't blame her...

    Mom got me and Josh steak fiesta burrito bowls. We ate those burrito bowls like they were the last food on Earth. Seriously, we practically inhaled them. My mom was sort of worried that one of us would choke and die from getting some burrito bowl in our lungs. See, that's how I want to go.

     When we were finished with dinner, we ate a cookie or two more and headed back down to my room. "You wanna play Mario Kart?" I asked him. He nodded eagerly.

     "I have dibs on Yoshi!" He declared.

     "Fine by me! Mario's my man!" I retorted, laughing. I grabbed Mario Kart from my shelf and we started playing it. Before that day, I thought I was good at Mario Kart. But Josh was the boss. We played seven rounds, and he won six of them. I admitted defeat and we decided to find something else to do.

     "Wait a sec..." He looked into my eyes, and his expression was really thoughtful. "If we live in the same area, then we probably go to the same school, right?" 

     I thought about it and nodded. It was logical. "Red Fir High Shcool?" I grinned hopefully.

     Josh's eyes lit up. "Yes! That's it! Your last name is Joseph, right?" I nodded. "I'm in a few of your classes! Math, english, and biology, I think." I smiled stupidly.

     "Dude, this is so awesome!" We high fived each other and laughed. "So who'se your favorite teacher?" I asked him.

     "Um... Either Ms. Sello or Mr. Gabhood." I immediately recognized the names of some of the art and P.E teachers. 

     "Nice." I nodded. "I always liked Ms. Sello the best. She never punished me for not wearing my stupid P.E uniform or anything."

     "Me neither." Josh nodded. He smiled, probably remembering all the times Ms. Sello had let kids get away with not wearing the P.E uniform. "I'm just glad she's not like Mr. Moggo. He's a total jerk."

     "Definitely." I agreed. I had Moggo for my junior year. He was pretty rude to any student that didn't live up to his unrealistic expectations. 

     "Don't you have that skeleton hoodie?" Josh inquired. "The one that makes it look like you have a skull instead of a head when you zip it up far enough?"

     I nodded. "Yeah. I don't know why I zip it over my face. I guess I just don't like people looking at me. I haven't been diagnosed, but I think I have anxiety or something like that. Social situations scare the crap out of me..."

     "But aren't you in the choir? How do you do concerts?" Josh asked curiously. It was an understandable question.

     I shrugged. "It's different when I'm singing in a group of kids, I feel more safe. I mean, I got a solo once, but it was a good son that I was fine singing. I don't really know."

     "Why do you put up with people being jerks to you?" I could tell Josh was surprised by my next question. He put up a guarded expression.

     "What do you mean?" He asked. I could tell he was trying to sound casual. But I didn't think he was as fine as he seemed. I raised my eyebrows and frowned. 

     "You're an awful liar, Josh. I saw that kid and his friends kicking you out from that lunch table because you were spending more time with Ava. And that kid- Mason, I think -punching you. Why did he do that?"

     Josh rubbed his jaw. I knew he was remembering the spot where Mason had hit him. "Because I told him something about myself and he didn't like. So he decided that instead of talking it out with me, he'd beat the crap out of me." His voice sounded angry and bitter.

     I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. I wanted really badly to know what he'd told Mason, but I really don't want to pry. It's clear that the memory alone was painful. He'd tell me if he wanted me to know.

     "But why did you let him do that?" Josh shrugged and looked down at his feet. "I was caught off-guard, I guess."

     "What did your parents think?" I knew I'd struck something when he looked up. He stared into my eyes.

     "They don't know. I sort of told them I fell off my bike. I only had a few bruises. They believed me." I shot him a worried look. "Dude, it's fine. I'm fine now." At that point, Josh sounded annoyed that I was so concerned about him. 

     "Okay..." I wasn't so sure that he was. I had dealt with bullying, too. But again, I didn't want to be too pushy. "If you say so." Neither of us were looking at each other. "You can tell me anything, y'know. You can trust me." Sure, we'd only just met each other, but we'd both already seen most of the bad things going on in each others' lives. Most of them...

||A/N: Hahaha well wasn't that suggestive. See this is how I get you wonderful readers to keep reading my dumb stories: Suspense. What will happen to Tyler next? How will Josh react? When will some real Joshler action happen? Read on to find out!||