Just Like Yesterday

4

He smiles, but his eyes are worried and unsure. It's the kind of smile you give someone when they tell a bad joke. He squeezes my arm. 

"You sure you're okay? That was a nasty fall,"

I rub the back of my head where soreness is blooming. I don't quite feel like throwing up anymore, but I have no idea what's going on. It's like a dream, but much more vivid than any I've ever experienced before. I nod again. Josh lets go of my arm.

Rubbing my head, my hands grasp more hair than I'm used to. It feel softer than usual. Lighter. Then I'm suddenly aware that everything about my body feels slightly... off. I reach my arms out before me and see hands that aren't mine. My eyes focus on three black lines around my left wrist, and then on an assortment of blocked figures on my right forearm. I know these tattoos. I've seen them in so many pictures. They're Tyler Joseph's, but why are they on me? I try to make sense of it, but my mind is still foggy. I must have hit my head. 

Josh has been watching me this whole time. I must look like I'm high off my mind, examining my hands with such interest like that. But his face is full of worry. 

"Hey, dude. Come on. I think we should go backstage, at least to get you checked out."

Backstage? With Josh Dun? No way. He puts his hand on my back and I walk with him towards one side of what I can now see to be a stage. I glance over my shoulder towards the roar, which has since turned into the ghostly sound of a thousand people murmuring. Wriggling bodies cover the area before the stage and stretch back far into the stadium, looking like a lot of worried ants. They're all fixed on me as Josh pulls me away. 

Something about the sight churns my stomach, and just as Josh and I get past the stage, I'm on all fours and throwing up all over the floor. My sight goes black again, and I slip away into darkness, Josh yelling in the distance and sparkles dancing behind my eyelids.