summer child // joshler

1

josh's point of view

i don't get up at my first alarm.

or my second.

with the third cycle, i finally stop the noise coming from my phone and rub my eyes, sitting up slowly.

the last monday of the school year.

after this week, i'll be a senior. the thought is terrifying to me and i try to pretend it doesn't make me a huge ball of anxiety, though i'm not sure i'm very good at pretending.

i decide to skip my morning run. i'll be okay if i miss this one time. instead, i go ahead and get ready and begrudgingly head to the kitchen to make myself a bowl of cereal. then i walk down the street and wait for the bus, which arrives at the same time it always does.

adam is in our usual seat, offering me a small wave and moving his bag to make room for me, as is our routine.

we make small talk and eventually arrive at school, piling in with everyone else and mulling our way to our first class.

-

the day passes fairly quickly, which is both relieving and stressful at the same time.

when i walk inside my house, my mom is leaning against the kitchen counter on her phone.

"oh, no. sweetie, i know. it'll be okay." she pauses when she looks up and catches sight of me. "actually, josh just got home. i'll talk to you later, alright?" another pause. "goodbye, hun."

"what was that about?" i shrug my bag off and let it wait for me on the table while i grab an apple and rinse it off.

"oh, that was miss kelly next door. tyler's mom." she sounds... nervous?

"oh. i didn't realize you guys were still friends." i look down at my shoes, a weird, bitter nostalgia rising in my chest.

"well, she just told me that her and chris are getting a divorce."

"oh."

divorce isn't that big of a deal, in my personal opinion. my dad left when i was much younger. he'll call every other christmas and stop by every three or four birthdays with a shitty gift and his new wife in tow. divorce is more common than not nowadays anyway. a great statistic to add to my contemplations about the future.

"she's coming to dinner tonight. her and tyler. i offered to cook for them," she speaks quietly, gauging my reaction.

oh.

tyler. i haven't talked to him in... awhile. we were best friends when we were smaller, but i hardly ever even pass him in the hallways at school now. i see him in the cafeteria sometimes. that's pretty much it.

"okay. great." i grab my bag again and nod once, my voice monotone. "i'm gonna go do some homework."

i leave the kitchen and go down the hall to my room. i let my backpack drop to the floor. there's four school days left, i don't really have homework. i just needed an excuse to leave the conversation.

i sigh and flop onto my bed, glancing towards my window. the blinds are closed, but if i were to open them, i'd be able to see tyler's window directly across from it. we used to open them and talk to each other across the little section of yard between us before we had phones. we'd make silly faces and laugh at each other, smiling wide with red cheeks and baby teeth.

we never had a big fight or anything. it's not like i have any hard feelings. we drifted apart when we started high-school. he joined the basketball team and we just... went our own ways.

i decide to try and distract myself by watching tv until my mom calls me out of my room. here we go.

kelly and tyler stand just inside the door, kelly looking a bit frazzled. her hair is tied in a messy bun, strands falling down around her face. her eyes are red and her mascara is smudged a bit under her eyes. i feel sorry for her. tyler's dad was always an ass, but she's been kind to everyone i've ever seen her interact with.

tyler stands right beside her, hands in the pockets on his hoodie, which has 'westlake high basketball' printed on the front (because of course it does [and why is he wearing a hoodie anyway? it's 78 degrees outside]). his hair is buzzed and he keeps his head down, his eyes glued to the wood floors.

"josh?" my mother's voice pulls me away from my thoughts.

"oh, sorry. hi, miss kelly." i hold my hand up awkwardly. "hey, tyler."

miss kelly pulls me into a hug, which is unexpected, but not uncomfortable. "hi, sweetie. it's good to see you again. you're so tall." she pulls away and then smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "you always were taller than tyler. you look just like you did last time i saw you other than that. how've you been?"

"mom." tyler finally looks up and rolls his eyes at the comment about our height difference.

"i'm sorry! it's true. you haven't even said hello, tyler. miss laura invited us to dinner. you should thank her for having us," she scolds him gently, clearly not very upset at all.

"sorry," tyler mumbles then steps forward a bit. "hi, miss laura. thank you for having us. it's nice to see you." he turns to look at me, clearing his throat. "hey, josh."

"alright, now, no need to thank me. let's go sit down. i think the lasagna should be about ready to come out of the oven." mom clasps her hands together and leads us to the table before going to take the dish out of the oven. "perfect!" she smiles as she brings the dish to the middle of the table.

she serves each of us a portion, then offers tyler and i water bottles and pours herself and miss kelly glasses of wine.

both of our moms ask us each questions about school, about summer. we make light conversation until we finish eating. it didn't go nearly as bad as i thought it would.

"josh, why don't you and tyler go to your room? we're gonna sit and talk for awhile," mom says, reaching over to squeeze my hand from where i sit to her right. "i'll handle the dishes."

"right. sure."

tyler and i stand, saying nothing to each other as we walk to my room. he sits on the edge of my bed and i sit in my desk chair, spinning it around so i'm facing him.

"so... my mom said she thinks this'll be good for me or something," tyler speaks quietly, looking around my room as if he's taking inventory on what's changed since he's seen it last.

"what do you mean?"

"like, that it will be good for me to start... hanging out with you. again. i dunno, just something about how it's supposed help me feel better or whatever."

"oh."

"yeah. so, i guess i'll be here at few times a week while my mom cries to yours about my stupid, asshat dad."

"cool."

"cool."

(an: hello!!! maybe an underwhelming first chapter, but thats kind of on purpose. it can only build from here. im so excited and nervous for this, ahhh!!! hope you're all having a good day! i think im going to update this every friday along with my other ongoing stories. this will be about 50 chapters so we've got a long way to go!)