Tyson is your average 14 year old kid living in a Florida orphanage. He doesn't have many hobbies, but he does love to paint -- it's the only thing he can do to take his mind off his depressing situation.
Until one day, a tall, dark haired guitaris...
"Hey, Tyson," Maxx stopped by my door, watching me paint. I looked up curiously. "Yes?"
"It's Zach's birthday today," Maxx explained. "Dan, Cody, and I were thinking about pranking him -- it's kind of our friend group's 'thing'. Would you like to help us?"
I laughed. "Sure! But when do you need me? I kind of want to finish this painting."
Great, Dad's birthday was today?! I hadn't even done a single thing for him! I flipped the page I was working on around and pondered on where to begin my new one. I had an idea, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off.
"Well, we need some time to come up with a plan. But we were thinking of doing it in a few hours... maybe in the afternoon," Maxx said.
"Alright, I'll be there," I grinned. I turned back to my easel, staring at it as if my eyes could magically draw something by thinking hard enough. What to draw? What does Dad like? A couple of ideas came up. Well, I know he loves Harry Potter a lot... maybe he'd like something related to that! Oh, I know. I'll draw him with a Hogwarts scarf. Let's do Hufflepuff, since he's really caring!
With that plan in mind, I began to sketch. I always sketched the outline of the thing I was drawing, using simple shapes. Then, I would draw it, and finally, my favorite part -- painting. I sketched and painted for hours, adding basic colors and then shading, until I finally came up with a simple masterpiece.
"This is perfect! I hope Dad will like it," I said, standing back and admiring my creation. Just then, Cody walked in. "Hey, Tyson, it's 2:00... and Zach is asleep. We were going to prank him the old-fashioned way -- whipped cream in the face!"
"Revenge for doing it to me a few years ago!" Maxx laughed. "Although honestly, it was all three of you who did it, sooo..." he gave Cody and Dan a mischievous smirk.
"Oh hell naw," Dan laughed.
"I'm kidding," Maxx reassured him. "But still sleep with one eye open. I'm coming for you."
"That moment when Maxx is scarier than Cody acts like he himself is," I joked. Luckily, my joke was taken as such this time, as all three of them laughed.
"Now come on, let's get Zach before he wakes up," Cody said, leading us down the hall.
*****
The four of us entered the living room, where we found Zach -- Dad -- sleeping on the couch. Cody, Maxx, and Dan exchanged sly glances, and Cody crept closer to Zach, a bit of Reddi-Whip cream in his hand. The blue-haired singer hovered over his friend
"Now!" Dan said.
Cody slapped Zach in the face, and the guitarist jolted up in surprise and confusion. Maxx, Dan, Cody, and I burst into laughter.
"Oh wow! That was amazing," I grinned. Suddenly, I noticed Zach frowning at all four of us. "Really?"
"Yes, really!" Maxx smiled at him innocently.
"Sorry, Dad, but that was awesome," I rubbed my eyes, checking for tears of laughter. There weren't any, but that didn't make this any less funny. "Hey, I've got a better surprise for you, anyways."
Zach perked up, getting off the couch. I loved that he cared so much about me and the things that I wanted to show him -- he was such a good father. "Alright, but first, let me wash my face off."
After Zach had rinsed the cream off his face, I led him -- and the other Set It Off members -- to my room. "It's right here," I smiled, internally praying that he would like my painting.
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(AODC = AutumnleafOfDawnClan. Basically giving myself credit too, but acting as if Tyson drew the picture. I know it doesn't really look like a painting -- it's a drawing -- but cut me some slack, I suck at painting and it would have taken too long anyways :'))
As it turned out, he loved it.
"Wow, this is... beautiful!" Zach turned to me, looking emotional. "And you even wrote 'Tyson D'... D like DeWall?"
"Of course!" I said, embracing him. "Happy birthday, Dad." Zach returned the hug, smiling brightly. A few seconds later, I felt more weight surround me, and realized that Cody, Maxx, and Dan had joined our hug. And neither I nor Zach would have it any other way.
Of course, we ate birthday cake -- store-bought, since apparently the last time the four tried to bake a cake, they failed miserably -- and opened a few presents, but according to Dad, my gift was still his favorite.
Finally, this was starting to feel like my true family.
I came up with this after the Hourglass chapter, even though Hourglass was filmed on July 21st and Zach's birthday is July 19th! I guess we can just assume that they were JUST starting to film Hourglass, maybe a few days prior, and hadn't finalized it yet. Or something. O_O
