The Broken Hearts Club [Joshler]

Is This A Cult?

Tyler slammed the heavy door shut and exhaled the air out of his lungs with relief. He clutched his heavy chest and turned around expecting to see some old abandoned flat with a bunch of broken glass bottles, tin cans and old newspaper rolling around. Instead of that classical, grimy abandoned building aesthetic, he got a heart attack. Not literally but it was getting close to that. Tyler let out a surprised snort that came out of his chest the moment he turned around. Tyler didn't even know that he could make such a sound but human body was full of surprises.

"Hello?" a brown-haired man eyed Tyler down curiously "Welcome, have a seat."

"I-..." Tyler looked around mortified

Five pairs of curious eyes stared straight at him, all waiting for the boy to do something rather than stand in one spot clutching his chest. Tyler let out a ragged breath, his anxiety kicked in. Five people that he never saw in his life. Five freaking people, Tyler would've rather chopped off five fingers than interacting with five strangers. He was weird like that.

The boy decided that he should do something because it was getting awkward. It was already awkward because he barged in panting and sweaty with his eyes rolling back to his skull from fear. But now Tyler was just standing there, hair standing up like a rabid squirrel. The brunet looked like a psychopath. He gulped audibly and moved to the back of the room making as little sound as possible. 

The chair was louder than a damn jet engine. The metal rods slid across the floor screaming like a neglected newborn. Everyone turned back to him immediately. Tyler cursed under his breath and sat down with his head down. Damn, savages. Have they never heard a squeaky chair? It's not like they were taken by a surprise, their chairs probably screeched too. Why do people always had to turn around when they heard the quietest of sounds? Tyler fiddled with his thumbs and bit his bottom lip. He didn't even know what he walked into, what if this was a cult and they were waiting for a jolly virgin to stroll in so they could start the ritual? 

Tyler felt sweat form on his forehead, he wiped his face with his palm and continued staring at the tips of his shoes. He had to get out. The room looked like the inside of a garbage can that was never cleaned and the shitty trash bags always broke making the walls grimy and oily and smelly and... Ew. 

"Well, I think that we can start our gathering now since I don't think that anyone will be showing up." the dark-haired male glanced on the watch around his wrist

Tyler squinted his eyes, even from this distance he could see that the watch was expensive as hell. Golden, shiny. Damn rich people, Tyler hated them. He hated them all. Pretentious, high-maintenance bitches who's shiny asses just waited to be kissed. Tyler scoffed, there was no way that he would pucker up, he would rather die. 

The man glanced at his watch once again, Tyler couldn't help himself but stare at it. His inner raven woke up. Shiny thing, must take, bring to nest. Shiny thing! Tyler mentally slapped himself. No, he wasn't touching that. Hell, he wasn't going to even look at it. Bitchy rich people, always whining that their lobster is cold or too mushy while Tyler had to dig around garbage for a slice of pizza. Tyler scoffed again. He didn't know the man but he already hated him. 

"I see we have some new faces today and I'm glad." the man spoke loudly making sure that everyone heard, even Tyler who was nested up at the back of the room "I'm sure most of you know each other already but I'd like you to introduce yourselves for those who are here for the first time."

Shit, Tyler thought, this really is a cult. Who on earth would be cruel enough to force someone into public speaking? School teachers and cult leaders. Tyler shifted nervously in his seat, his bottom lip was already bitten down raw and bleeding. He wiped his palms on his jeans and continued bouncing his leg. 

"Okay, as you know, I won't force anyone to speak if you don't want to." the man's eyes darted around the room and landed on Tyler making the boy even more uncomfortable "But it would be the best for everyone if we all knew a little more about each other. "

Silence fell on the room, the man looked at each one of the youngsters expecting at least one of them to stand up and start speaking. No one shifted from their seats. Tyler felt cold sweat run down the back of his neck when the man's gaze landed on him. The man stared at Tyler with hope in his eyes but when he realized that the boy wasn't going to move the man moved his gaze away and sighed.

"Well, I'm going to start first. " the man rubbed the skin beneath his watch, Tyler sensed that the man was a little bit nervous as well "My name is Josh Dun. I'm the youth counsellor of this particular establishment. "