Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 33

"I don't even know why I still have his number," I muttered to myself as I declined the call with a shake of my head.

"I have an idea," Dee announced as she held her hand for my phone. "Just turn it off until we get back to the car, and we'll worry about it later."

"Exactly!" Dwane exclaimed while giving me a mock stern look. "I need you to be mentally present when we go onto the battlefield."

I couldn't resist chuckling at his word choice and said, "We're just going to be sledding and maybe having a snowball fight. We aren't going to war."

"That's what a loser would say! But, of course, if you're on my team, there will be no talk of that."

"Who said I wanted to be on your team?" I quip back, catching onto the game and the apparent fact that he was trying to distract and cheer me up simultaneously. "I might already have a team put together in my mind that will turn yours into slush!"

"By the sounds of that, I'm volunteering for Ashley's team," Brandon remarks with a playful smirk as he reaches across the car to give me a high five.

"You traitor!" Dwane shouts and then surveys the rest of us. "Who here would like to join the side wishing to fight evil?"

"You're so dramatic," Dee mutters with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. "But sure, I'll join you."

"We have one brave soul in our ranks! Who else?"

Unable to stop his chuckling, Tyler raises his hand.

"Ohhh, the lovers are fighting!" Carly calls out in a singing tone.

"Nah, Tyler just likes the idea of Ash chasing him around because he's a creep," Josh joins in on the teasing, making Tyler stick his tongue out at him even though Josh couldn't see it from this angle. 

"Oh! Turn right here!" Carly shouts as she shakes Josh's shoulder vigorously while pointing to the left. "The park is just down that road!"

True to her word, the park revealed itself as we turned the corner. The place was a rolling expanse of powdery white dotted with the running figures of other people enjoying the winter landscape. The rolling hills looked like perfect spots for sledding if the slightly snowed-over sled track marks were anything to go off of. It honestly looked like something off of a postcard. A fair amount of snowmen lined the group of trees the parking lot faced as we parked, and without a second of hesitation, Dee threw the door opened and hopped out. It was like a starting pistol telling the others that it was time to allow chaos to unfold.

"We have to make one of our own!" Dee announces while Brandon and Dwane follow after her. "Look for some broken branches we can use as arms!"

"I see some!" Josh shouts as he scrambles out of the car like a little boy while the remaining three of us chuckle.

Carly made her way to the trunk to pull out the sleds with mine and Tyler's help before we joined the others, only to find that they were already to the point of rolling the midsection of the snowman. So I scooped up two pine cones for eyes and dusted the wet snow off them as best as possible while Tyler plucked a handful of rocks off the asphalt.

"I guess this will have to do for its mouth," He muses with a shrug and a soft smile.

"Judging by the shape Brandon and Dwane are going for, we might not even need these," I point out as I nod at the increasingly questionable snow structure.

"Absolutely not!" Dee exclaims with an outraged sort of laugh.

While Carly yells as she brushes off the added bits of snow, "There are kids here, guys!"

Brandon sticks his tongue at the two of them and begins to roll the mound of snow into its correct shape. Soon after, it's given a head, then the twig arms Josh had gathered, and my pine cone eyes.

"Hold on! He needs a scarf!" Carly exclaims as she tugs Josh's scarf off of his neck.

"That's not fair!" He whines as he swipes at her, and she darts out of his reach to drop the dark green fabric around the snowman. "Why did it have to be mine?"

"We can share the one I have on. It's extra long," She amends with a playful grin and a sudden blush.

That gets Josh to hush immediately as his own cheeks redden while Dee and I make kissy noises at the two of them to make them even more embarrassed. Finally, seeming to take pity on his best friend, Tyler approaches Josh with a sled in tow and a pat on his shoulder.

"Right!" Josh exclaimed as he grabbed the plastic disc, clearly seizing the opportunity Tyler was silently offering him. "Who's ready for a race?"

Without complaint, the others grabbed the remaining sleds and raced off toward the closest hilltop, leaving me giggling as I waited for Tyler to join me.

"So, how long do you think they will take to get together?" I ask once he's beside me and nod in Josh and Carly's direction.

"Probably not long if Josh can get it together."

"What do you mean? He's been doing great so far. I swear, sometimes Carly looks like she's about to have hearts popping out of her eyes."

Tyler chuckled, "I've noticed, and you should hear how Josh talks about her when it's just him and me. He sounds like a lovesick schoolboy."

"So, what's the issue?"

"Quit holding up the race, you two!" Dwane bellowed from the top of the hill, halting our conversation.

Tyler sent me a mischievous glance as he asked, "What do you say we race to the top?"

"You better hope you don't fall on your pretty face on the way up."

He rolled his eyes and began calling, "On your mark..."

"Go!" I shout before he can continue and take off in a mad dash, knowing that was the only way I would have a chance of winning because of his athletic background.  

"Oh, that is so unfair!" He shouts even as he quickly gains on me and then passes me with a sly wink. "I'll see you when you reach the top, Ash."

Despite the fact I had very clearly just lost, I let out a bright laugh and ran after him like I'd already won the race anyway.