Hey... It's Me

Chapter 4.

That day I could barely walk without passing out but I managed to get home. I stumbled into my bedroom and took of my shirt standing in front of my mirror, there were bruises all along my body. Tears in my eyes. I should've ignored Josh on the day we met. Maybe none of this would've happened. Then my phone vibrated on my dresser. I picked it up, I was getting a call from someone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey... it's me." I knew exactly who it was.

I stayed quiet.

"Can i come over?" He asked.

"Why?"

"I just wanna talk, please Tyler."

"Fine, I'll text you my address."

I hung up and then did exactly what I said I would. Why did I do that? He'll probably beat me some more but I don't care anymore. I deserve it anyways. Why did I think it'd be okay to follow him home and take pictures of him? The questions I asked myself a few days ago were back.

Why am I alive? What's my purpose? What's wrong with me?

There's so much wrong with me.

The doorbell rang. I opened it to see Josh.

"Hey we have matching black eyes." He joked.

I didn't laugh.

"C-can I come inside?" He asked.

"Go ahead."

"This is a nice place."

"What'd you want to talk about?"

"Well I was wondering if you could help me study. I'm not that smart."

A few minutes later, we were sitting on my floor looking through a science textbook. Josh was a lot smarter than he thought he was.

"Were you hitting me?" I asked. "I couldn't see anything."

"No. I- I left."

"Thanks for not hitting me. I wasn't expecting you to stop Ryan either."

"I'm sorry Tyler."

"Josh it's fine."

"Tyler I'm serious. I'm sorry. Those pictures, they were really cool and so was that drawing."

"Josh don't say sorry."

"Okay."

The next day at school I didn't see him in the morning until we got to homeroom. He was sitting with his friends and I as soon as I walked into the room they all turned their heads and laughed at me. I sat down in the corner and waited until they were done looking at me to raise my head again. When I did, I saw that Josh had his arm around a girl. A girl I'd seen him with before. Her name was Rose. I assumed she was his girlfriend. At lunch, Josh didn't walk over to my table to talk to me. He didn't talk to me at all during school hours. When I got home again, he texted me.

Hey I'm having a party tonight and maybe you'd like to come? You could even make some friends if you want but if you can't make it then it'll be okay.

A party? Why would he invite me?

Sure Josh.

He replied almost instantly with the time and address. Now I just needed something decent to wear. I put on a black hoodie, jeans, a plain white tee, and some black sneakers. As you can tell, I totally loved wearing bright colors.