"what did you want me in here for," tyler asked, picking at his nails anxiously.
"you've been sleeping in class. a lot. and so we've called in your parents to sort this out," mr. baldwin, the principal, spoke sternly.
"oh," tyler muttered, closing his eyes for a brief moment before the door behind him opened.
"mr. and mrs. joseph, please, sit," mr. baldwin shook their hands with a smile before returning to his desk in front of the anxious boy.
"tyler, what did you do," tyler's mother whispered nervously next to him. tyler sighed and looked up at the principal as he began to speak.
the brunette stared out the window as the adults discussed his behavioral issues. he didn't see the point in arguing about a problem that couldn't be fixed. so he watched the birds outside the window fight over a worm. eventually, the smaller bird gave up and flew away, which caused the other bird to leave with the worm as well.
"suspended," his mother suddenly shrieked. tyler looked up in alarm.
"it'll only be for three days," mr. baldwin explained.
"alright," tyler's dad sighed.
"let's go, tyler," the boy's mom demanded in a monotonous tone. tyler stood up in confusion and followed his parents, his bright red backpack slung over his shoulder.
"what the hell," his dad spoke after they got in the car and began the drive home. tyler shrugged, unsure of the whole situation. "tyler, do you even understand what's happening?" tyler shrugged once again, gazing out the window and watching all of the cars pass in a blur. "were you even listening?"
"not really," tyler mumbled.
"jesus, tyler. you got suspended for the next three days," his mother explained angrily.
"lucky me," tyler laughed under his breath.
the rest of the car ride was spent with tyler's parents arguing over tyler's punishment. tyler didn't really care to listen because listening wouldn't change what would happen.
when tyler got home, he immediately walked up the stairs and crawled into bed. not because his mind was tired but because his body was tired. his mind never stopped thinking. but his body always felt like it was about to break up and fall apart.
so the boy just laid there, staring at his wall. he wondered if his life was ever going to get better. maybe he was meant to mess everything up. it's not like he had any real plans for the future, sure he planned on going to medical school to become a heart surgeon, but was that something he could really see himself doing? no. he tried to picture an assortment of different futures for himself but they all lacked a sense of possibility. he soon decided that maybe he couldn't see a future for himself because he didn't have one to begin with.
maybe he was meant to die a tragic death before he could even get to the point of needing to decide on a future. and seeing that he was in his last year of high school, the time to decide was coming up quick. tyler felt overwhelmed by this and often hoped the whole thing could go away. but the reality was that nothing truly ever goes away. and tyler knew this. he knew he was going to have to accept becoming a heart surgeon and live a stressful life cursed with student loans and never ending work.
tyler rolled over onto his back with a sigh. his life wasn't ever going to get better.
~
"tyler," the boy's mom entered his room. tyler set his phone down and looked up in response. "i've been calling your name for five minutes now. dinner is ready," she spoke in annoyance before turning around and walking away. tyler stood up and went down stairs to the kitchen and got a bowl of spaghetti. he sat at the table and awkwardly pushed his food around.
"tyler, stop playing with your food," his dad suddenly spoke, frustrated. tyler sighed before taking a bite with a roll of his eyes. three small bites later, tyler set his fork down and stood up.
"i'm full," he mumbled before walking up the stairs and retreating to his room before his parents could stop him. tyler wasn't really full, he just felt that he shouldn't be eating, like he didn't deserve to eat. he got suspended from school and felt like a terrible son, he figured that eating was a luxury he shouldn't have.
so tyler laid back in his bed and pulled out his phone, beginning to scroll through tumblr and reblog all the ironically sad posts with memes about bleach and death. after a while, the boy got a text from his brother and reluctantly opened it.
jay: mom and dad r mad at u
tyler: but why
jay: well u left dinner but also something about school idk
tyler: oh so its because i got suspended ok cool
jay: suspended wtf how
tyler: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
tyler didn't really know how he got suspended, sleeping in class shouldn't get you suspended it should only get you detention. so there had to be other reasons. maybe the principal just hated him. that seemed likely. or maybe it was because he always let other people copy his work. that also seemed likely.
tyler grabbed his laptop from the floor and pulled it onto his bed with him and opened up youtube. he decided that watching lame diys, makeup tutorials, and story times would take his mind off of his most recent failure. maybe he might even learn something new and totally not useful like how to make a chip flavored eos. or maybe he'd fall asleep and ignore his problems for a few hours.
new joshler, and imma try and make it sorta rlly sad because i can and sad joshlers are also kinda fun to write so yeah
feedback is highly appreciated and
i hope u guys like this story cuz i got some cute plans and some sad plans and just wow plans
ily,
-abbi
update: it's both concerning and heartbreaking at how many of you can relate to tyler, i hope you guys find help or at least talk to someone. just know that i love and care about every one of you xx
