Wonderwall :: Tyler Joseph

Øne

I stare at the fully packed suitcase on my bed. I mentally go over my checklist in my head to make sure I packed everything I need for the summer.

"Come on, hun! Your flight leaves at 12:00! I'll be waiting in the car!" My dad yells from downstairs. I allow myself to have one last glance in the bathroom mirror before I grab my bags and go downstairs. I walk into the garage and put my bags into my dad's white civic.

My dad and I live in Virginia all school year, but in the summer time I visit my mom in Ohio. I can tell he gets dismal when it's time for me to spend the summer away from him, and frankly, so do I. My dad is my favorite person. I loathe leaving him for three months. As much as I love Mom, I still feel resentful because she was the one that called for a divorce four years ago. My dad went through a wave of depression and had no motivation to work, leave the house, or even sleep and eat! It took a whole year for dad to get himself straightened out and become his normal, joyous self again.

After we pull up to the airport, he faces me and says,"Alright, ladybug. Have a fun summer with your mom, okay? I'll call you everyday. If you need anyth-"

"I know dad, I'll call. I love you, and I'll miss you," I assured, "Are you sure I have to go?"
He hesitates before responding.

"Yes, Ladybug. You'll have fun. Try and make some new friends." He paused before continuing, "Alright. Go on before you miss your flight."

I get out of the car and grab my bags. My dad gets out and opens his arms to let me in on this ten year long hug before letting me go. After we exchange goodbyes, I head to my flight.

--After arriving at Ohio--

I walk out of the Ohio airport and see my mom's black cube. As soon as she sees me, she leaps out of the car with the biggest grin on her face. She scrambles her way over to me and embraces me in a long hug. I always look forward to seeing her, but I always feel this somewhat awkward tension when I'm around her. My chest always tightens up, and I feel like I can't just be myself around her, unlike the way I can with my father.

I told her about my school year and other not-so-exciting stories while I put my bags in the car, and then we head to the bustling city of Columbus. After an hour of nonstop forced conversation, we arrive to Mom's house. I grab my bags out of the trunk and head up into my ugly, lilac purple room and start to unpack my bags. After two hours of unpacking and settling, I get bored, so I change into a purple polo and jean shorts and walk to the book store; which I didn't mind doing, because it's only about a mile down the road.

I walk into the book store and go straight to the coffee shop inside. I paid for a black coffee and then go straight to the realistic fiction section. I look for a book for about thirty minutes, but I have no luck.

God, I wish I wasn't such a picky reader.

I continue to ponder the shelves for a few moments, and then a worker, an extremely cute one, comes down the isle.

"Having a hard time?" He asks, with a smirk.

"Uh actually.. Yeah, I am." I say, feeling my. Cheeks blush. The worker walks down the isle a ways and grabs a book. He walks back towards me, and hands me the book.

"It's one of my favorites. I'm almost positive you'll like it." I read the plain black cover.

The Road
Cormac McCarthy

Want me to ring you up?" He asks with the same smirk.

"Sure," I hand him the book, and follow him to the checkout line. He rings me up, and hands me my book.

"Enjoy! Have a good day!" he cheers as I exit the store

God, he's so cute.

I rush home, eager to start my new book. I start reading as soon as I get in my room, and I finish the book in about two hours. On the last page, I was perplexed to see a sticky note.

"Call me when you finish, Tyler :)"

Below the smiley face was a phone number. I just met him, barely. But he's so adorable! I couldn't help myself. I grab my cracked iPhone and dial the number on the sticky note. When it began to ring I was hoping to God he didn't give me a fake number.

"Hello?"

Sweet Jesus, his voice is almost therapeutic.

"Hey. The book was fantastic!"

"You finished already? Impressive."

"It was so good. I couldn't put it down.

"Same here," he laughed a little before continuing,"What's your name? I forgot to ask at the bookstore."

I could feel heat rising to my pale cheeks.

"It's uh.. Mae. Like the month, but spelled with an E."

Like the month? What are you thinking? Get your life together.

"That's beautiful. My name is Tyler, but I'm sure you already knew that because of my name tag."

"Yeah," I giggle

There was a brief silence.

"Well uh-- What are you doing at the moment?" He sounds nervous.

I pause before saying anything back, curious of why he asked.

"Just talking to you, why?"

Nailed it.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to discuss the book in person. Maybe at Alum Creek Park?"

I didn't hesitate at all to respond.

"Yeah! See you in ten?" I say, hoping not to sound too eager.

"Sure. See you then".

I hang up the phone and do a mini-dance before putting my black converse on. I speed walk out the door and almost tell my mom that I'm going out, but I remember my mom isn't home; she never is because she's a brain surgeon.

It took me about 5 minutes to get to the park, and Tyler was already there. He was sitting on a bench, wearing dark skinny jeans, and a loose red t-shirt.

Damn, he looks even hotter out of uniform.

"Hey" he says as I sit next to him. I turn my head to look at him and he smirks, yet again.

"Hey." I reply.

"Can you believe the ending?" He asks.

"No! I never saw that coming." I groan. We talk a bit more about the plot and our theories. After an hour or so passes, I get up from the bench, suddenly remembering I have spent far too much time here, and that my mom is going to be back soon. She would kill me if She found out I was hanging with some boy I just met.

"Where are you going ?" He asks, seeming like he didn't want me to leave.

"I have to go home. My mom gets home at ten, and she would kill me if she knew I wasn't home." He stands up next to me.

"Alright. Well you should call me again." He smiles the infamous smirk again.

"I totally will." I say as I slide my hands into the back pockets of my jeans.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He murmurs with a different, deeper voice than he's been talking with. I began to blush.

"See you later!" I wave as I start to walk away from the park. My phone vibrates literally thirty seconds after we bid our farewells. It's from Tyler.

I mean it, call me.

I look back at him and grin. He smiles back.