The Boy Sitting Next To Me/TylerJoseph

3. Rusty Metal Box

As the final bell let out an extreme screech and students flooded into the crammed hallway, I slowly dragged my legs along, being shoved repeatedly. I disliked school; but I absolutely dreaded home. The screaming, fighting, pure hatred. Honestly, my day couldn't have gone worse.

In choir, the teacher decided that he was going to put Tyler right next to me. The entire time, I could sense that he was listening to me sing. Then in math I met Josh, who by the way is the biggest puppy dog I've ever seen besides Tyler or Peter, who everyone asked if I was dating. It seems that in society today, two people of different genders can t even hang out without being asked that. Anywho, then in biology, I spilled chemicals all over my lab partner. She ended up going home. I made a complete fool out of myself. That's not even counting what happened at lunch. I knew the guy for, what, four hours?

I sighed and pulled out my phone, the text tone going off.

Mom: Hope you had a good day at school! I'll be gone today but Alice will be home.

Great. Mom will be gone on another trip, and I'll be left with the boys.

Loren: Mom can I have a friend over?

It was highly unlikely, but sometimes I could weasel her into letting someone come over.

Mom: Who?

Loren: A new kid at school. He doesn't really have friends so I thought I'd invite him over.

Mom: How sweet! Of course. I'm so proud of you!

I rolled my eyes and looked up. The sight of short brown hair sent me flying down the hall, screaming. "Tyler! Ask your parents if you can come over!" He turned around with his phone in his hands, twiddling it between his fingers. He cast me a small smile. "I was getting ready to see if you wanted to meet up somewhere, but I guess going to your house would be better." I mentally rolled my eyes and smiled. I shifted my backpack on to my right shoulder and pushed him out of the door. "Come on, we're walking." Tyler let out a groan before striding ahead of me, his slender legs much longer than mine.

°°°°|-/ °°°°

The walk home was uneventful. I managed to trip over a crack in the sidewalk and faceplant, earning a laugh from Tyler. I got my revenge when we got to my house and Ethan and Joey were planning to pelt me with waterballoons filled with milk (I made Tyler go in first). This made things awkward though, given that he was soaked and I had to give him some of my old hand-me-downs from Tim.

"Loren! Come downstairs!" A small voice floated upstairs, catching me off gaurd. I'd completely forgotten about Alice. Tyler followed me downstairs, watching for my brothers. "Yes?" I cleared my throat, standing in front of the blonde woman. "Oh, look at him!" Alice cried, attempting to get a closer look at Tyler. "What's your name hun?" He glanced toward Ethan, who was staring him down with Joey by his side. "I'm...Tyler." Alice smiled and turned around, facing the pink tea pot. "Welcome Tyler. Did Loren tell you who I am?"

Heat rose to my cheeks and I could feel tears on the brim of my eyes. Tyler shook his head and made a small 'mmnn' noise. Alice turned around, pouring tea into a cup. "I'm her step-mom." My breathing quickened and tears threatened to fall. Tyler turned to me, not noticing my problem. "Where's your dad?" Alice chuckled and sipped her tea, shaking her head. "She has no dad hun. It's just her mother and I." Dead silence.

"I'm going upstairs." I rasped and hurried up the stairs, heading straight to the bathroom. I locked the door and walked to the cabinet. I reached on top of it, grabbing the rusty metal box. I flicked it open and grabbed the first thing I saw. I placed the cool metal against my skin and tears dripped off of my nose.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

My fingers twitched and I dropped it, the metal clanking against the floor. "Loren, I'm sorry. I didn't think- Loren?" Tyler's voice became concerned as he twisted the door knob. The twisting became more frantic as he continued. Suddenly, the twisting stopped. I slumped to the floor, slamming against the bathtub. Quickly, the door flew open, and I was caught. "Loren, why didn't you l- Oh my gosh! Loren!" He fell to his knees next to me, grabbing my wrists. I whimpered as pain flowed through it. Tyler looked up at me, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Why?" I looked away. He inched closer, to the point where he was basically sitting on my lap. I felt our foreheads connect and his nose touch mine. "I'm sorry...ever since my dad..." It was a lie. All of it.

"Alice....she told me you never met your father. Please, will you tell me why you did this?" Tyler pleaded, pulling his forehead away from mine. I seemingly choked on my own words. I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell anyone.

Tyler stood and pulled me to my feet, leading me out of the bathroom. We walked in to my bedroom and closed the door. Tyler sat on the bed and I sat next to him, resting on my elbows. "Your step-mom is pretty cool." He smiled, laying back. I turned on my side to face him. "Do you remember those drawings you saw?" I questioned, standing and scrambling around my room to find more drawings. Tyler nodded and looked at my dresser, noticing the four other pair of gauges I had. I picked up a drawing and held it up. "This one is my favorite." It was a picture of a person playing a piano that had its strings attached to power lines. "That's....wow." Tyler replied, eyeing the picture. I was proud of the drawing because it made me think. Sometimes all we need to do is think. "You know, when I showed this to my mother, I said 'it makes me think, thinking is important. People try to mask their thoughts with distractions, but we all need to wake up one day'. She called me strange." I rubbed the back of my neck.

Tyler shook his head. "It's true. And you're not strange; you're unique." He smiled. His smile was like the sun brightening a cloudy day. Plus, his deep brown eyes filled me with emotion that I couldn't express.

Sure, Tyler was new, but he was definitely someone who understood.