Joshler Because I'm: Soft

Part 3

(Tyler's POV)

When I woke up in the morning, I was exhilarated. I might see Josh today. I don't know what he looks like, but I might see him. And he might see me! I quickly threw myself out of my bed and put on some decently nice clothes: a floral button up, black skinny jeans, and floral shoes. I looked at myself in the mirror and brushed my hands through my hair a few times. I felt like I looked pretty decent, so I finished getting ready, grabbed a waffle, and headed out the door. I was soon on the run-and-go to school, which I often did because the last time I drove and parked my car in the parking lot, somebody stole my car radio. And I know that doesn't sound too bad, but when I'm driving without music, I'm forced to deal with what I feel. There is no distraction to mask what is real. And my thoughts can get pretty screwed up, so after I bought a new radio, I decided driving to school was a no-go.

          Once I got to the school doors, I noticed a group of punks looking over at me. Some of them looked weirded out, while some, intrigued. One specifically caught my eye, as his red hair stood out. Once I realized he was looking at me, I simply just looked down and kept walking, not listening to any rude remarks I thought I might hear. I quickly walked straight to first period, sitting in the back of the class. I rested my head in my arms, shielding the awful florescent lights from my eyes. I was a little tired because I couldn't sleep very well last night. I just couldn't stop thinking about-

          Oh my Josh, I almost forgot about him. I wonder who he is. I wonder if he's in this class! Is there a Joshua Dun in this class?? I can't remember.... I do not recall a Josh, but then again, who pays attention during first period anyway?

          I anxiously tapped my foot all period, glancing around at everyone. None of the bored high schoolers gave me 'Josh' vibes, so I let this class slide. Soon, the bell rang. I dashed out of class to my second period. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Yøu're taking tøø løng. They're gønna see yøu. Døn't let the-

          "Hey, fag."

         Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. What am I supposed to do? The last few weeks I've been taking the long route to the class because I thought they didn't walk this way, but I guess I was wrong.

          "Tried avoiding us, huh? Too bad I can smell faggots from across the school."

          I held my head low, feeling the eyes of everyone burning into my soul, almost as if they were glowing. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, and I could barely breathe. I felt like I was drowning. I opened my mouth, trying to form coherent words, but to no avail. I suddenly felt my shoulder smash into a locker. My breath hitched, and my heart started pounding.

          "You gonna talk, mute boy? Or should I say girl, considering all you ever wear are flowers."

          I felt tears sting my eyes and I kept looking down. Lucas was holding me in place, his jock-jerk-buddies all surrounding me. I wasn't even paying attention to their remarks anymore, I was just trying to calm myself down. After I had somewhat slowed my breathing down, I suddenly felt a horrible pain in my cheek as I fell to the floor. I curled myself into a ball against the locker as Lucas and his jerk-brigade started coming closer to me.

          "Hey!" Someone called a little ways away. It was so silent, you could've heard a drop of blood hit the floor. "Stop it! Don't freaking talk to him like that!" He yelled, fuming with anger.

          I tried seeing who it was, but I couldn't see anything from my spot on the floor, and I didn't have the strength to stand up. I decided to just listen.

          "The fuck did you just say to me?" Lucas stomped over to where I assumed the voice came from.

          "You heard me. Now lay off." He said in a confident and very serious tone.

          And with that, the bell rang. Everyone filtered out to their classrooms except for me. I still couldn't stand because my knees were too weak, so I decided to just chill there for a while.

          Once Lucas stormed off to his classroom, I saw the boy who stood up for me. He had flaming red hair and a nose ring. He's the punk kid who was looking at me this morning.... I stared at him in awe for standing up for me. Speaking of standing, he walked over to me and reached out his hand to help me stand up. Once I grabbed his hand, I almost didn't want to let go. Of course, I did once I stood up, but it felt strange. Not bad, but different. I still stared at him, wondering what the hell just happened, but he simply smiled at me before slowly starting to walk away.

          "Wait!" I called probably a bit too loud. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. "Th-thank you...." I spoke quietly, feeling slightly shy in front of this kid.

          He just smiled brightly at me again before he turned around and happily walked to his class. His smile suddenly made my face slightly heat up, but I didn't know why. Despite that, I just stared down the hallway he walked down, astounded. I slowly picked up my stuff and then walked to my second period, thinking about that kid the whole time.