One Road

Chapter 10

After spending a while in the Textiles department where Jess chatted happily to one of the teachers, we make our way to the Art rooms; to see what (or who) we can find.

I walk into my usual Art room and smile faintly as I catch sight of Tyler drawing quietly with his hood pulled up. Just where I thought he would be.

"Oh hey Tyler." I say, causing him to look up. "What a surprise to see you here."

"Well there's not many places I usually go is there?" He grins easily. "Hi Jessica." He nods his head politely.

"Hey Tyler." She replies perkily. Her phone buzzes and chimes as she gets a call, and she grins slyly at me before going to answer it by the window. I sit down on the desk next to Tyler, looking over at his drawing. It's the start to a beautiful picture of what looks like a pretty girl. He had the shape of the head and the basic outline of the body, far more detailed than I would ever do it.

"Who's that?" I ask curiously.

Tyler shuts his drawing book quickly, not having realised that I was looking. "Oh, it's no one." He says, giving me a rushed grin. I return a slightly downcast smile, and wonder who he's drawing. Maybe it's a celebrity or a family member.

I vaguely wonder if he's doing Ashely, the girl who flirts with every guy. She is very beautiful after all.

The idea fills me with dread.

Tyler doesn't seem to notice my sudden quietness and puts his book away, swinging his bag's strap over his shoulder. "Since I have a free period now, I was going to go buy some coffee from the Year 10 to 13 cafe. You want to come?" He asks.

I look up distractedly. "What?"

"Hey," he pauses and says gently, looking at me in concern. "You okay?"

I nod, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I give him the best grin I can, even though I still feel slightly dismayed.

Tyler shakes his head and smiles. "Of course I'm going to worry about you Briana, you're the best friend I've got here. And you're too nice not to worry about."

I smile, my mood instantly rising and my stomach filling with faint butterflies. "Thanks Tyler. That made me feel a lot better."

Jess walks back over to us, putting her phone into her pocket and smiling perkily.

"You want to come get coffee with us Jess?" I ask.

"Nah, I'm fine. Plus I have some homework to do."

I open my mouth to interject, frowning in confusion. She gives me a kick in the shin and motions her head to Tyler; who is thankfully too busy being oblivious to notice. I nod, finally understanding what she means.

"Alright. Don't struggle too much with that... Ehh... Algebra."

She grins. "I'll try not to. You two have fun though."

Tyler smiles at her. "Thanks. See you around."

I vaguely wonder if he likes Jessica and Ashely, or one of the two. I'd rather be liked Jess over Ashely, but at the same time I'd rather he didn't like any of the other girls. I laugh slightly at how stupid that sounds, and Tyler raises his eyebrow at me curiously. I just shake my head and we carry on walking down to the yard.

Other boys in our year kick around footballs and mess round, cheering and laughing loudly. I catch sight of Jake sitting on one of the benches, talking to a girl who is obviously very interested in him. Jake looks up and meets my eyes for a second, his face freezing slightly.
He stands up and makes to go after me, but the girl grabs his sleeve and pulls him back down. I just smile awkwardly and look back at Tyler as we walk.

Finally, we reach the cafe at the edge of the yard. Year 7s gather around near it, looking up hopefully whenever the door swings open - probably wishing they were old enough to go in. I smile at them as Tyler holds the door open for me, and they look up hopefully again before looking back down and whispering. I go in quickly, followed by Tyler.

The cafe is small and cute, a little square building with two floors, the top one of which is half open. But we only sit there on particularly sunny days in the summer, otherwise we would probably freeze. Or get rained on. Or there would be drizzle.

Maybe it would just be easier to say that it's England. That explains a whole lot more.

Tyler smiles at me, hands in pockets. "What'd you want to drink? I'll pay."

"Oh gods no, I'll buy my own if you prefer."

He grins. "Your friend gave me a free drink the other day. Plus I want to buy this for you anyway."

I smile, a slight fluttering feeling filling my stomach. "Alright, fine I'll have a Vanilla Latte. But I'm buying next time."

"Next time?" He quirks his eyebrow up at me and I laugh.

"Yeah, next time." I reply, nodding slightly with a smile. He moves into the line and I wait quietly.

My phone buzzes with a sudden text, and I take it out of my pocket with my free hand to read and reply.

Jess: You know, I think that Briler is very possible, and very cute.

Tyler joins me, handing me the Vanilla Latte and raising his eyebrow questioningly. I smile and look back at my phone.

Me: Briler?

Jess: You know, you and Tyler. You guys would be so cute together, and I would completely support it if it wasn't for Jiana (You and Jake).

Tyler chooses a table by the window and pulls my chair out politely. I grin and then smile in thanks.

Me: Jiana? Seriously?

Jess: Yes, of course. That would be really cute as well. #TeamJianaeventhoughBrilerisalsosupercute.

And that last bit actually makes me laugh out loud, spilling a tiny bit of my latte on the floor. Tyler raises his eyebrow at me but I just smile and sit down in a chair, Tyler dropping into the seat across from me and smiling at my faintly.

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(Ship names thanks to ceryscooper ! Thanks for them, LBE x)