new york wonders [joshler]

I

::.Tyler.::

"Ah, there we go," I said as I made my last stroke on the painted canvas. I had been working on that piece for weeks.

"I'll call it..blurry."

The painting consisted of a person that is so colorful, beautiful shades of pink and blue and green on the inside, but their face was just black, nothing else. I felt that this painting represents me, and how I feel. Sure, I'm a happy lil dood on the outside, but I can be also a lil sad too. I had so much more to give to people than what I showed, which is what the painting means.

I looked out of my window, catching a glimpse of the beautiful sun rising over the New York City skyline. There were wisps of cotton candy pink and fire orange. I snapped a picture with my phone so I can have a landscape to paint later.

"Tyler, if you don't get your butt down here right now you're going to be late for your first day!" My father yelled, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Coming!" I said back to him, even though I was nowhere near ready; I stayed up all night painting. I threw on my black skinny jeans, grouplove hoodie, and floral vans. When I walked into my bathroom to brush my teeth, I came to a horrific realization. After this school year, I was going to have to figure out my entire life. Now that was something to think about.

I brushed my teeth and hair, even though my hair was already fine, and headed downstairs. My father had a bagel out on the table for me, and it was just staring at me, intimidating me.

"Thanks for the bagel dad, but I'm gonna pass. I'll grab a bite later, I'm not too hungry right now," I said to my dad, trying not to sound disgusted by the thought of eating something that would make me so fat.

"Okay. Be careful today, and make friends, I love you," he said as I was moving my body away to get out the door, mumbling a 'you too'.

I unlocked my car doors and sat inside, but I didn't put the keys in the ignition.

"This is my last year of school," I said to myself, but also to the world around me, who never heard me anyway. "I can't believe this." I smiled and started the car.

On my way to the worst high school in existence, I played Fall Out Boy through my car radio.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK AS LONG AS IT'S ABOUT ME," I screamed to myself in the car, only to have my singing interrupted by a horn honking behind me.

"Shit," I mumbled, remembering that I was sitting at a green light. I pulled into the school parking lot, stopping next to a car I've never seen before. Someone is sitting in it too, who is that?

::.Josh.::

The sound of the alarm blaring was like negative ASMR to me now. After over 11 years of waking up every morning for school, today was finally the first day of my last year. My alarm was unfortunately one of the only few things that was set up in my new room, in this new town. I got up and gathered all of my school supplies together, making sure I was prepared.

"Josh? You almost ready?" I heard my dad ask from down the hallway.

"Getting there," I answered shortly, not in the mood to do anything.

Today was one of those days where it was hard to get out of bed, let alone go to school. My mind felt like the sky right before a thunderstorm hits. Gray and cloudy. This past week had been so hard to adapt to this new house, in a completely different state. I missed Ohio. As much as I loved New York, it was so weird having to get used to a place so different than Columbus.

I put on a flannel, black skinny jeans, black vans, and I ran downstairs. My dad was on the couch dozing off.

"Dad, I'm leaving for school, have a good day and try to get some sleep," I said to my father, genuinely concerned for him. He'd been working so late since we moved, I was starting to wonder if this new position was really good for him.

I slipped out of the door without making too much noise, and got in the car. I plugged in the aux cord and put on some Panic! At The Disco.

When I pulled into the parking lot to this new school, I started to panic. I didn't know how I'd be able to handle such a big change my senior year. I parked my car and just sat in it for a while.

After about twenty minutes, I couldn't help but notice a beautiful blue car pull up next to me. I didn't lift my heavy head up off of the steering wheel, but I used my peripheral vision to see it. There was a boy in the car, probably in my grade, seeing as he could drive. He looked at me for a moment, with a very confused and distant look on his face, and he turned away.

I got out of my car after the strange boy walked inside the school. The warm summer air hit my covered arms, absorbing the heat. I strolled into the school, not expecting much, but boy was I wrong.

The school was beautiful, maroon and gray tiles, which I was suspecting were the school colors. The main office had all glass windows, letting every inch of the room be visible by the students. Speaking of students, there were so many. I walked into the clear office, asking the secretary for my schedule, since I hadn't been in New York yet for my day of orientation.

"I will gladly give it to you, but first, do you mind going to see Mr. Vedder over there? He will take your picture for your school ID," the secretary said. I checked her name plate; Sarah McCready.

"Okay, thank you Mrs. McCready," I responded politely, shyly walking over to where said Mr. Vedder was.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Vedder? I'm Josh-Mrs. McCready told me you would take my ID picture," I told him, although it came out more as a question than a statement.

"Of course, follow me," he sayid back, his voice was very deep and soft, making it hard to understand him. "Stand against this wall, and smile please." he requested, mumbling his words. I did as asked, flashing my crooked smile to the camera. There was a bright flash that blinded me for a moment, and I hoped I didn't blink in the picture.

"Thank you, come over here, your ID will be ready in a moment," Mr. Vedder sayid, walking towards his desk. His name plate said Principal Vedder; who'd've known? He pulled a small card out of a machine, and connected it to a red lanyard, symbolizing my seniority. "All I ask of you is that you wear this at all times, please and thank you."

"Thank you so much Mr. Vedder, have a good day," I bid my goodbyes and walkeed back over to Mrs. McCready

She handed me my schedule, and I thanked her politely. Walking out of the large office, I became overwhelmed by the size of the school and all of the people in it. I looked at the paper to see that class starts at 7:14. It's 7:10.

"Shit shit shit," I mumbled to myself. I spotted a tall boy with a very large forehead, sitting on a bench by himself, reading. I took a glance at his book and saw that he was reading Catcher in the Rye, which happened to be my favorite book. As much as this interaction put a weight in my stomach, I walked over to the boy.

"Um, e-excuse me, do you mind helping me find my class?" I said, afraid that I sounded rude or dumb.

The boy looked up, seeming astounded. "Uh, yea. Can I see?" he asked, grabbing my schedule from my hands. "First class is- oh! It's with me. We have Trigonometry/Statistics with Mr. Cameron. Oh, by the way, my name is Brendon," Brendon said, reaching his hand out, waiting for a shake. I shook back.

"Okay, well, can we go? I would rather not be late," I asked, growing worried. "Of course, let's go. Don't worry, Trig Stat is easy, and so is Cameron. It'll be a fun class, besides all the dumb math."

That comment got a laugh out of me, making the boy tense up. We got to our class and sat next to each other. This would be an interesting year.