It Ain't The Speakers |-/ JOSHLER

11.2: i wanna be listened tø

🍁 TYLER'S PØV 🍁

"Just a little further..."

Josh got back into position and I braced myself from below.

He pushed off as hard as he could, arching his back, then hit the ground almost soundlessly.

"WHOA"

"SICK!"

"SO SICK!" We ran at each other with a high five.

"That took, like, a hundred tries?!" he exclaimed.

"Forty-eight times, actually... I counted."

Josh gave me an impressed look which I returned. He just perfected a backflip after forty-eight tries. Fricking amazing.

He hopped back up onto the platform again, practically drenched in sweat. I followed and picked up my uke, while he proceeded to pull his shirt up over his shoulders, draping it over a branch nearby.

"Well that's distracting..." I said, looking away.

"What's distracting?"

"You. Shirtless... But that's okay... Just don't do that on stage or anything."

"You could do it too, Tyler"

"NO."

"The crowd would love it."

"NO!"

"I'd love it."

I cast him a sideway glance.

He laughed. "Fine."

"I'm fine. You're fine. We're all fine..." I trailed off.

"I'm more than fine. I'm hot. No one can deny that."

"Kay. Yeah. Because you're sweaty." I rolled my eyes. "So, song ideas?" I asked, strumming a fast G chord.

He chuckled at my awkwardness. We simply threw out all our thoughts, and everything we wanted seemed to line up almost perfectly. I'd say something weird or crazy like, "I want a chorus that nobody wrote, yet everyone knows" and he'll be like "Dude, I want that too!"

"There's gonna be a whole lot more people watching us in round two though...and I heard the judges might ask us questions?"

"Damn..." Josh frowned. "I've got stage fright, just so you know."

My eyes widened for a moment and I turned to look at him. "Oh... I couldn't tell."

He smirked at me and gazed at the forest in front of us. This was the boy who pulled me onto stage when I had hesitated. The boy who gave me courage to step out of my boundaries. How did I miss it?

"I really couldn't tell... You always looked so natural."

"When I'm with you, yeah."

"Then I guess I'll stick around..."

He raised his little finger and I hooked it with mine. If I ever had to break all my promises except one, I guess this would be it.

"What if we wore some sort of masks? Would that help?" I suggested.

"Maybe?"

I nodded and made a mental note to check out some masks we could wear. Though I wasn't exactly afraid of performing on stage in front of people (I just get a little tense) I did want to wear a mask too... Then maybe the crowd would focus less on us...more on the music... And actually listen.

"And I could go half naked."

"NO!" He was obviously trying to agitate me as usual but well it was always interesting.