head in the clouds

thirty six; tyler

Today is a weird one. Remember when Jenna spray painted that shit on the school building? And everyone acted weirdly towards me? They've been doing that again, but to Josh. I'll get the occasional side glance and shit, but nothing like what he's getting. People are throwing shit at him, giving him death glares, I've heard a few guys say shit in the bathroom but they scattered when I jumped out at them. They posted the videos and pictures of Josh online, all over social media. 

"I'm gonna kill myself." J whispers as he sits next to me.

Almost choking on my french fry, I look at him confused. "Why? What happened?"

"In the bathroom down hall, in big, bold letters it says "josh dun is a fag" which I mean, it isn't wrong but what the fuck!"

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask, mostly to myself.

"I don't fucking know Ty. Have you seen Bren or any of them today?"

I shake my head. "I saw Frank at first class but not since then."

He sighs and steals one of my fries. "I don't know what to do."

I look at him and frown. "I'm sorry, J. We're gonna get to the bottom of this, okay?"

He nods and rests his head on the table, still looking at me. "Thank you."

I smile softly at him and nod. "In the mean time, I have to piss. I'll be right back."

He mumbles an 'okay' as I get up and walk out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the boys bathroom. I open the door and go to the closest, empty stall. As I'm doing my business, the door swings open. I think nothing of it at first, until I hear the voices.

"No, I haven't. Have you?" A voice says.

"No, I've been avoiding him all day. Haven't seen him once."

It's fucking Ray and Brendon. I chuckle and shake my head, pull up my pants then exit the stall. I walk to the sink, ignoring them completely. Their talking comes to a complete stop as they realize it's me. I go to throw out the paper towels, but I turn on my heel and face them.

"You guys are horrible people, you know that right?" I say. They stutter, but I continue talking. "Josh has done absolutely nothing to any of you but be there for you guys. The countless hours he has spent on the phone talking to you Ray, because of your shitty parents. The too-many-to-count days he's spent at your house, Brendon, helping you pick yourself up off the floor because you got too wasted. He's cleaned your whole house more times than I remember just cause you were busy puking in the toilet.

"He's given you guys innumerable amounts of rides from parties because he didn't want you guys sleeping on the side of the road. He has done fucking nothing but be a good fucking person, a good fucking friend to each and every one of your stupid fucking friends. You guys are the worst kinds of people." I flip them off and go to walk away but Brendon starts talking.

"You don't know him the way you think you do, Tyler." He says.

I whip my head around to look at him. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Josh, he isn't the person he acts like. He isn't a good-"

"You shut the fuck up before I beat your ass, Brendon. He is the best person I have ever met in my entire life. He's better than I could ever try to be, and he's better than you could ever dream of being. He let me sleep at his house when I was abandoned at your friends stupid fucking party. He was always a friend to me even when I told him to go to hell. He took me in when I had no one, when my parents kicked me out. No one was there for me but him! You just have to make up this shit so you can feel better about the shit that you've done to him."

He stands silently, shifting his weight on his feet. I look between him and Ray and scoff. "Both of you are disgusting human beings."

"Ty, he isn't lying." Ray says.

I glare at him and laugh angrily. "Are you fucking joking?"

"N-No," Ray shakes his head. "Josh, he said some shit and we just wanted to get back at him."

"He said some shit? He said some shit so you trick him into whatever the fuck you did just so you and your shitty gang of friends could take pictures and videos and literally expose him all over social media? You know what this shit is going to do to him? If it gets back to his mother? That shit is on the internet forever, Ray. You fucking know this."

"He said something about you." Brendon says.

I let my guard down and look at him with a confused look. "What?"

"He said something about you, Tyler. I-I didn't want to tell you, but I don't want you defending him like this."

"What'd he say?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. They stand silently again. "What the fuck did he say?" I yell.

Brendon looks down at the floor and shakes his head. "He said... he said you're a bitch."

I take a step back as they start laughing. I shake my head and run my hand over my face. "You think this is fucking funny?"

"Yeah, it's pretty funny." Brendon shrugs.

I take a deep breath before lunging at him and punching him directly in his face. Ray gasps as Brendon falls back, falling to the floor. I look at Ray and he just puts his hands up in defense. I stand up straight, go to walk away but turn on my heel.

"You have until the end of this week to clear up what you both fucking did or I will kill you." I say, punch Ray in the face and leave.

I smile to myself and make my way back to the lunch room, and sit down next to J.

"Why were you gone for so long?" He whines.

"I uh, I punched Brendon and Ray."

"You what?!" He yells, drawing attention from everyone.

"I punched them in their faces because I fucking hate them." I smile politely at him.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I was taking a piss and then they walked in. I walked out of the stall, washed my hands and went to leave but then told them they were shitty people. Said they don't and never have deserved a friend like you. Brendon lied, said you weren't the person I think, and I told him to shut the fuck up before I beat the shit out of him. He didn't shut the fuck, so I punched him." I shrug.

J laughs and hugs me tightly, catching me by surprise. I giggle and hug him back. "Thank you so much Ty."

"Anything for my best friend."