{Josh's POV}
On my walk back home, I couldn't help but feel bad for Tyler. The Jackson brothers were jacked up and would pretty much mess with anyone. I've known them for years and lets just say, we're not on good terms.
Aside from that, Tyler didn't deserve to be beat up. I would usually ignore someone getting hurt by them, but he looked so scared and lost. I could tell right away he didn't belong here, just by his reaction.
I sighed, walking up to the door of my house, I opened it, and walked inside. There wasn't a lock, which wasn't very safe, but nothing in my life was.
The first thing I saw was my two roommates making out, I groaned and covered my eyes.
They quickly pulled away from each other, and I shook my head. "We saw you and the Jackson brothers arguing."
Sarah nodded, wiping her mouth, "Yeah, why'd you help the preppy kid?"
I scoffed, taking my jacket off and tossing it to the floor. "He's not preppy, and cause he was getting hurt by those jackasses, why shouldn't I help him?"
"Cause he's probably some rich, spoiled brat who should 't even be over here in the first place" Jordan replied
I chuckled, "Seriously? You can't just assume that. I'm going to bed, it's late. Night"
They both mumbled a goodnight and I headed towards my room. Our apartment has 2 bedrooms and they have the master bedroom, since they share one.
I sighed, shutting my door and changed quickly into sweats and shirt. Afterwards, I grabbed my phone, which was just an old flip one, I plugged it into the charger, then shut off my lamp light and wen't to bed on my sheet-less mattress.
-
When it was time for school, I woke up and realized I was late. I quickly looked around for clothes and sighed seeing there was no clean ones. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt from the dirty clothes pile and rushed out.
By the time I got to school, I was thankfully earlier than expected, I grabbed a cigarette from my back pocket, along with my lighter. I lit it up and sighed in relief.
After I was done, I tossed it to the ground and stomped on it to make sure it was out. When I walked into the school there was lots of people in the halls, I walked to my locker and put my skateboard in along with my book bag, only taking out what I needed.
As I walked to class, I stopped in my tracks, eyes widening when I saw Tyler. He doesn't go here, he cant, I would have noticed.
He was walking down the hall, head down and books in hand. I can tell he didn't like attention, though I would have assumed he did. Still, he did come off as shy last night.
Much to my surprise, he walked into my class and I followed. Tyler stood in the front, waiting for the teacher so he could figure out where to sit.
A guy saw Tyler and snickered, eyeing him in amusement, "Hey freak, this is high school, what the fuck are you wearing?"
"Clothes," Tyler replied, I chuckled when the guy glared at him.
He stood up, giving Tyler a challenging look, "Alright smartass, wanna repeat yourself?"
"I don't, you have ears and I suggest you use them." Tyler said, walking past him taking a seat 3 down from me. He fixed his sweater a bit and ran his hand through his wavy brown hair.
I smiled to myself, he's not how I expected.
The teacher walked in and Tyler wen't up and spoke to her, she said something to him and he glanced back quickly, looking at me. He gave me a small smile and thanked her, then took his books off the desk and sat next to me. He hesitated, "Hello Josh, do you mind if I sit here?"
"Of course not!" I shrugged, taking out my books knowing the bell would ring soon. I saw him doing the same.
"Um, no offence, but why are you in public school? and not private?" I asked in confusion.
He laughed, "I have been homeschooled, but I was...kind of lonely and asked if I could come to school here"
-
When class was over, Tyler was packing his things and started walking towards the door. I grabbed his wrist "You're new to Columbus, right?"
"Yes, we recently moved here," He said as we started walking down the hall. People were staring, but who cares? So what if he's in a school uniform, while I have tattoos and piercings. We're still people.
"Have you been around yet," I asked quietly.
He seemed confused, but shook his head, "No, my mom insists that I stay indoors, that is why I was walking around last night. I wanted to see the town."
I looked at his schedule and led him to his next class while asking, "Why don't I show you around town? We could hang out after school, you know, if you're not doing anything."
He frowned, "I can't, my mom likes me home right after school."
"Just ask if you can be a little late." He seemed to be contemplating and I rolled my eyes, "Come on, you can't always follow the rules. Just hang out with me, then go home and tell her you had to stay back. Live a little."
He sighed, but nodded, "Okay, we can meet out front?" I agreed just as the bell rang.
I turned and headed to class, a smile across my face. He is definitely different than me by a long shot. The way he acts, speaks and dresses, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing.
-
When school was over, I went outside after getting my things and was shocked to actually see Tyler waiting for me, I thought he'd back out and go home.
"Hey," I greeted, smiling at him.
He jumped, sighing in relief when seeing it was me, "You scared me half to death!"
"Sorry," I replied, though I wasn't sorry and he knew it. I motioned him to follow me in which he did, we headed down the street and I held my skateboard in one hand and my backpack was on my back. "So, over there is the movie theater, my friends and I sneak in there a lot, the movies these days suck, but we still go.
Tyler nodded, following me across the street to where the movies were, "I find recent movies inappropriate. The best are the old ones. Their plots are much more appealing and usually have a lesson at the end, whether they are sad or happy."
"Exactly!" I grinned. "Sometimes movies have lessons, but they usually don't. I think my favorite 'old' one is Fight Club."
"Oh! that was a nice one," He agreed smiling.
I pointed to the store across the street. "Over there is Benny's, it's a hangout place for lots, they have amazing ice cream"
I then continued showing him the rest of town, when we got to the park, I headed to the skate ramp and Tyler hesitated.
"Come on! skate with me." I grabbed his hand and tugged him along. "You can use my skateboard if you'd like."
"I don't exactly know how to skateboard" He said quietly, causing me to stop walking. "But, I can watch if you'd like."
I tugged him along so the side walk and sat the skateboard down, "Here, I'll teach you."
"No, it's fine! I think its best if I sit and watch."
I groaned and grabbed his hands, "Shut up, now lets start!" I laughed at his reaction as he sighed, but nodded. I helped him on and told him how to position his feet, keeping a hold of his wrist. "Okay, now use your foot to push and then keep going until you get a nice speed, then put your foot back on and keep balance."
He nodded, biting his bottom lip and did as told. I watched as he skated off, then lifted his foot on the board. It wasn't long util he fell off, which I expected to happen. I rushed over and heard him groan in pain.
He did pretty good, despite the fact he fell and scraped his elbow off the cement. I looked at it, seeing the blood drenching his white shirt. He must have noticed too, since he gasped.
"My mom is going to kill me! I was not suppose to get this dirty." He muttered
I helped him up and lifted his sleeve, examining the scrape, "Ouch, that looks bad. I guess we should get you home, you might wanna clean that up a bit."
Tyler nodded and I grabbed my skateboard, I must admit, it was nice hanging out with him.
I was positive we'd be doing it again.