Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 7

"So, are you dating anyone Tyler?" Carly asks out of nowhere. 

Josh and I had been in a heated debate on what the best type of pizza was and Tyler seemed to just be laughing along at our behavior, but as soon as she said that the whole room fell silent. Josh and I turned our attention to Tyler. 

He was bright red from his neck up as he gave a hard swallow, "Not at the moment actually." 

"Are you talking to anyone then?" She pressed on and I noticed Josh sent me a confused glance that I could only shrug as a response.

Tyler shook his head no and thankfully for him Carly got a text from her dad asking her to head home a second later. When she moved to exit the room I followed her out, pulling the door ajar behind us. 

"What was that about?" I questioned as we made our way downstairs.

"I'm just trying to help you out."

"By embarrassing him to death?" 

"Well at least you know that he's not in a relationship."

"That doesn't matter either way." I hissed before adding on, "I'm pretty sure that he doesn't see me like that anyway. I don't even know if I want him to."

"You guys have been hanging out nearly nonstop since the first day you two met. That has to mean something." She points out and opens the front door. "Even if you're right, things just might change."

I rolled my eyes murmuring, "I'll see you at church."

She grinned and waved goodbye as she stepped out. I let out a puff of air as I shut the door behind her, thinking about her words and deciding to not put much weight in them. The sound of laughter snapped me out of my daze and I quickly headed back upstairs to see what I was missing. I was pleased to know that Tyler and Josh had been hanging out quite a bit since I had introduced them. Right when I reached the second floor I heard them mention my name, which caused me to pause outside the doorway.

"So you and Ashley? You two seem really close." Josh pondered aloud.

Tyler's answer was a simple, yet happy, "Yeah."

"Is there a reason?" 

"Well besides the fact she's a total dime piece, she's the nicest person I know."

At that moment I decided to push the door open and question, "What's a dime piece?"

Tyler nearly jumped out of his seat and Josh burst out laughing. I actually did know what that phrase meant, I had just wanted to see what his response would be. 

"Um, it's nothing. Just a saying." Tyler mutters, shaking his head.

So that meant Tyler thought I was attractive, right? Or maybe he was joking around. If he had truly been being serious, I didn't really know how to take that. I mean it wasn't like I didn't find him painfully adorable and sweet, but the fear of what the people around us might think had me hesitating. What if they thought that I was just claiming to be into to Tyler only to get  back in the communities good graces? 

I just nodded while I noticed Josh grinning like a fool, because of course he knew what it meant. Thankfully the topic was dropped after that and an hour later Tyler suggested that we go to his place to practice a bit. I agreed, secretly wanting the extra distraction, and when we arrived I was surprised to see an extra car in the driveway. We stepped inside to see a woman standing with her hands on her hips in front of Tyler's dad, Chris, and she did not look happy.

"Hey mom." Tyler greeted her, "Is everything alright?"  

"When did you quit the basketball team?" She asked, seeming to want to get straight to the point. 

Tyler's tan complexion faded ever so slightly at her words, but his voice was steady as he said, "A few weeks ago." 

She gave him a perplexed look questioning, "Why would you do such a thing? You know that your basketball scholarship is absolutely necessary to you being able to afford going to college. How are you planning to stay without it?"

"I still have my job." He pointed out with a weak smile.

"Catering isn't nearly enough to keep you there. What even made you come to this decision?" 

"I realized that there are other things I much rather be pursuing." He states and I tried to pretend not have noticed his slight glance in my direction, something that his mother clearly caught too.   

"Is it her? Tyler you can't quit something that is so important for your future over a girl you just met." She tells him, but she can't stop sending me harsh glares. 

Tyler shook his head swiftly, "It doesn't have anything to do with Ashley. All she did was help push me into making the choice since I would have been too afraid to without her words of guidance. I saw that whatever I decide to do, it needs to be something I actually want."

"Are you hearing yourself? That scholarship is the only way you're going to get what you want in life. This girl is trying to fill your head with nonsense so you'll be with her! She's a setback!" She cried before turning to speak to me, "Don't think that I haven't heard about you and your family. I know what you're trying to do to mine."

My jaw dropped at her statement and I stepped backwards until I could feel the doorknob against my spine murmuring, "I think I should go."

As soon as Tyler heard that his head whipped around and I wished he hadn't because I could feel tears starting to prick in my eyes.

"No, wait a second!" He called after me as I made my way outside.

I hurried to my car, furiously scrubbing the water from my eyes and that made it difficult to find the right key.

"Ashley, I'm sorry for what she said in there. She says weird, untruthful things when she's upset." Tyler tells me in a rush while looking panicky. 

I shook my head trying to hide my tear stained face, "It's fine. I just need to head home."

He sighed deeply, "At least let me come with you, no one should be driving when they're crying."

I didn't really care about how my emotions were going to affect my driving abilities at the moment, I just needed to get away from here. Of course his mom thought I was using him, something I knew everyone had to think when they saw me with him. So I understood that I needed to stay away from Tyler for my own good, I didn't want to make my reputation worse than it already was. My fingers found the plastic of the remote to unlock my car, at least I could get inside now. 

Tyler hastily grabbed my hand as I reached for the door handle, staring me down. "I'm not letting you leave on your own like this."

I let out a huff of air, giving him the keys and moved over into the passenger seat. He waited until he saw me buckle up before starting the car and I was grateful that he turned on the radio so we wouldn't have to speak. Tyler had proved to be very good at avoiding awkward silences, making sure they were always cast away with music. But not even that could help me right now.