It Ain't The Speakers |-/ JOSHLER

6.2: wøn't yøu tell us øf the cløuds?

👻 JØSH'S PØV 💫

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Totally fine!" I told him, rubbing my back. He didn't see me wince.

"Okay then... But wow you should do it on stage someday!" Tyler was so amused.

"Haha nahhh, I suck."

I finished off my taco and we both scrunched our wrappers into a ball. "Beginners should never try a backflip without help."

"I'll spot you next time." he assured me, and tossed his wrapper into the dustbin at the nearer corner of the room.

"Psh I can do that too." I aimed and tried to look as professional as I could.

Nope.

Show off.

"It wasn't too bad..."

"Oh please, I wasn't even trying." I brushed it off and we both laughed at my feeble attempt. "Just thought it would be cool if I could be good at something."

"You're good at being you, I think that's good enough..."

"Like what? Crazy, unfathomable, mysterious, antsy, bad at math?"

"Describes most famous philosophers and mad scientists, don't you think?" he grinned. "Umm, other than the last one perhaps...but you can't trust a perfect person."

"You are."

"I'm not, trust me."

"Wudever you say, Tyjo"

"Ah, but I think you should be a bit less mysterious and tell me why you skip lunch."

He keeps bringing this up. Why is this boy so persistent?

Having to tell someone about it made me realise it was a silly idea, skipping lunches just to save up money. It had felt like a really good way so far, as school food was expensive (and not very nice in the first place), but I wasn't gonna to tell Mom about it. How would she react? I don't even want to think about it.

"Mom bought me a different hair dye, an early birthday present, really appreciate it though I haven't tried it out. Just thought I could save up some money to get something for her too." I picked up the bright red bottle on the desk beside me and showed it to Tyler.

This wasn't the whole truth, but he didn't need to know that. Not yet.

"Ooh. You're such a nice son."

"Not sure if it would look nice on me though."

"It will!" he burst out and even he himself was taken aback. "...you look great with anything."

My dad wouldn't say the same...

He never will.

"What? Why not?"

"Wuh?" Holy crap, I said that out loud?

"Why wouldn't he think so? You look amazing."

How does one escape a real life conversation? This is one of the reasons I prefer texting.

Tyler rested his chin on his forearm and waited. I guess it's storytelling time.

"Dad never really liked me in general, haven't figured out why exactly. He takes things out on me, even when I'm good. Mom was a bit more understanding and told me not to take what he says too seriously... Then things got worse, alcohol and stuff, so she brought me here."

Tyler's expression was a mixture of awe and bitterness. "Despite all that, you don't hate him?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore at least. I was planning to save up and buy him something too. Not that he would accept me... I'm just hoping he'd no longer push me away."

We both sighed.

"We all make mistakes sometimes. You're a really great son... Our Father knows best." he pointed to the ceiling. "But I'm sorry for your dad."

"You're sorry?"

"He failed to see...you're an angel."

His smile was filled with so much warmth, it proved how hot he was.

"Three more days, Josh. Ready for round one?"

"With you, absolutely."

It's like the pain in my back no longer mattered.

===============

For people who haven't listened to the song that this chapter is based on:

Regional at Best is so nice sighhh but they pretend the entire album doesn't exist, and it's not on Spotify?

I feel bad for changing the context of this song. Tyler and Josh said that it's actually about a girl with Down Syndrome named Ruby which goes to their church, and also his relationship with God. It's a bit too deep for me to explain well enuff.

I know I've been making Josh's life hard and making his dad sound evil. Whoops. But I'll fix it.