cabaret | joshler

x. happy birthday by the way

josh let out a shaky breath as he drove slowly into tyler's street, double checking the car clock read 5:59. to say he was scared of mrs. joseph was an understatement.

by the time he reached tyler's driveway, the time had rolled around to 6, the garage door opening immediately.

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"tyler, i have a surprise for ya'. follow me." his mother ordered softly, wrapping her bony fingers around his slender wrist. "cos ya' got rid've that no good joshua, i got you a gift i thought you'd really like."

tyler swallowed thickly, giggling nervously as he trailed behind his mother into the garage, his heart crashing against his ribs painfully.

as the electric door slid open, his mouth fell open and his eyes widened. he couldn't believe his eyes.

"jo-"
"your very own car!" mrs. joseph and her son said at the same time, both of their eyes shooting wide.

mrs joseph looked down, trying to comprehend what she just heard. there was no way... "what'd ya' just say, tyler?"

"i said, uh—gosh!" tyler quickly spoke, making his way down to his new rig—with his old rig behind the wheel. "yeah, gosh! it's... beautiful! thank ya', mama."

the woman simply smiled, rolling her eyes once the boy turned around. she heard him and there was no way in hell this was going any further.

"josh?!" tyler whisper shouted when he reached the window, glaring at the man in the drivers seat. "are ya' out'a your damn mind?"

"surprise?" he flashed a smile to the unamused boy before him, shrugging his shoulders with a chuckle.

"she knows it's you." tyler sighed, resting his head against the cold metal of the upper window. "i think y'should leave before this gets... messy."

"uh, yeah—right." josh agreed, shaking his head with an inaudible wince. "i'll uh... i'll walk home." he climbed out of the car, handing the keys over to the younger boy before giving a quick wave to tyler's mom.

"oh, happy birthday by the way."

tyler didn't say anything, simply sighing in annoyance before turning to his mom with a fake smile. surely she wouldn't say anything. well, at least not right now. after all it was tyler's birthday.

he was dreading her upcoming lecture and internally panicking at what she was planing to do to josh in her free time.

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kelly bounced out of her seat at the sound of the doorbell ringing, practically sprinting to the door.

she grinned approvingly when she came face to face with the same pair of warm eyes she'd met earlier. "anne." she smiled, opening the door for the young woman. "please, make y'self at home. i'm gonna grab us some refreshments."

"tha-thank ya', ma'am." she smiled before making her way to the dining table, shooting a friendly look to tyler. "i'm assumin' you're tyler."

"yeah i am." he have a half hearted shrug, crossing his arms, trying his best to figure out who this random chick was and why his mother let her inside their house. "and you are...?"

"anne," she reached forward to shake his hand, retracting it with an embarrassed sigh as he didn't unfold his arms. "ya' mom didn't tell ya' 'bout me, did she?"

"she did not." he groaned, all the dots suddenly connecting. he looked around the room to see if his mother was in the room, leaning closer to anne to whisper, "look, i'm guessin' m'mom is payin' you t'be here or somethin', right?"

"does this happen often?" she whispered back, extremely concerned for someone who'd just met him.

he laughed for the first time that day, sitting back in his seat, eyeing the woman up. "thankfully not. but uh, ya' seem lovely but... if i'm gonna be frank with ya', i play for the other team."

she sat back, astonished at the words that left the pretty boys mouth. "so you're..." she looked around before leaning forward and whispering, "gay?"

"basically." he deadpanned, quickly sitting back as his mom walked back in the room with a silver tray of drinks.

"how're y'all gettin' on?" kelly asked, winking at anne who glanced at tyler, looking back at the woman with a fake smile.

"peachy." tyler said through and equally fake smile. "say ma', how 'bout ya' go find those files and things ya' collected from beauty school? anne was tellin' me 'bout how she wants to do beauty studies in college."

"oh, that's excellent! i'll go fetch 'em." kelly chirped excitedly, shooting an approving smile to the young woman before making her way up the stairs.

"right, now that she's gone," tyler leaned forward again, searching anne's face for any signs of disgust or discomfort. "you can't tell m'mama 'bout this... she-she'll kick me out! and if ya' have a problem, feel free t'leav-"

"i'm gay too, tyler." anne laughed as tylers face contorted into one of shock, his eyes widening and his mouth falling slack. "chill, you're actin' like you've never met another gay person."

"y-you're... a lesbian?" he gasped. he'd never met a full blown lesbian before! hell, he'd only met a few gay guys.

"basically." she mocked him from earlier, a warmth bubbling inside her when tyler laughed loudly, joining him.

as if on queue, kelly walked back into the room, hundreds of papers in her grip. "here's all the basics. what area are ya' focusing on?"

"uhh—the um—" tyler tried his best not to laugh as anne stuttered, struggling to make up a topic. "i, uh, haven't actually decided on an area yet. b-beauty?"

"duh! of course it's beauty... there's forty odd topics covered by it, anne." kelly sighed, flipping though a large folder, anne turning red while tyler masked his laughter by coughing.

"right." and laughed, smiling up at the woman. "i was just jokin'."

"college ain't somethin' to joke 'bout, miss." kelly warned, glaring at the younger woman. "ya' can't open a locked door without a key. the key won't just come to ya'. ya' gotta work for it... college will grant ya' the key."

"yes, ma'am." anne tried not to laugh, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "beauty school will unlock... my door. yeah."

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that got super sloppy towards the end, my apologies. also i fucking suck at updating so uhhh!! surprise!! i don't even think i have readers anymore.

two chaps up today!! hope u enjoyed

xomaddi