hooked ↣ joshler ✓

9. Music

The five got back into the car once they finished eating, with Tyler groaning because of his headache from the screaming children in the McDonalds Play Place and with Madison and Pete yelling.

Tyler shoved the key into the ignition as Madison animatedly told the other two about what happened to her at school that day.

"So I was just sitting in Mrs. Williams' class when all of a sudden-" her excited yelling was cut off by her older brother.

"How about we listen to some music?" Tyler asked with feign enthusiasm. Madison frowned but quickly lit up when she saw Tyler take out his phone and the aux cord.

"Can we play-"

"Not One Direction."

"How about-"

"Not 5 Seconds of Summer."

"Then what about-"

"Not Katy Perry either," Tyler told her, swiftly plugging his phone in and then putting his hands back on the steering wheel. Madison pouted and crossed her arms.

"Can I pick?" Pete asked.

"Depends," Tyler hummed.

"Can you play Post Malone?"

"We're not listening to that," Tyler laughed, pulling up to a red light.

"Why not?" Pete asked, getting upset.

"Firstly," Tyler began, pressing gas once the light turned green. "The dude can't rap. Secondly, you shouldn't be listening to his music at the age of eight. It's inappropriate."

"Sorry, Mom," Pete sneered, folding his arms like his best friend did. Madison burst into a fit of giggles which eventually made Pete laugh too and Patrick even smiled a little.

"How about this?" Tyler pressed something on his phone and music filled the car.

"Hey, no fair!" Madison said. "This music is dumb!"

"Shut up," Tyler looked at his younger sister through the mirror and stuck his tongue out, making Patrick giggle from where he was sitting behind his older brother.

"What's this?" Josh asked.

"Young Dumb and Broke by this guy named Khalid. This song is hella popular. How do you not it?"

"I don't really listen to music. I like this though. Doesn't seem like something you'd listen to," he voiced.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno you seem like the kind of person to listen to heavy rap with a lot of cussing."

"Well I listen to that too but if I put that on in the car you'd yell at me," he laughed.

"He also listens to Celine Dione!" Madison piped up from the backseat.

"Madison!" Tyler laughed again, much harder this time. Josh laughed too. "Hey what's your address?" The brunette asked once he was done. Josh hesitated for a minute before he told him. Turning corners and passing stores, he finally pulled up to a nice blue house with white shutters and a red door.

"This isn't our h-" Patrick began before being cut off.

"Thanks for the food and the ride Tyler, gotta go!"

"Wait!" Patrick said quickly, turning to Pete. "You have to promise me. Swear this isn't a joke."

"Patrick, I promise I'll meet you at the swings tomorrow at recess," he held up his pinky finger. "I won't let you down."

Patrick warily locked fingers with Pete before waving to him and sliding out of the car, following his older brother to the door. Not bothering to see if they made it inside, Tyler sped on the gas, heading towards his house. "Hey, you two," he began, grabbing the kids' attention. "When we get home I'm gonna pop two Tylenol and you guys are gonna be quiet, okay?" They each nodded and Tyler sighed, relaxing into the seat. Taking out a cigarette, Tyler cracked his window and lit it. "Pete do you care if I smoke?"

"Nope," he replied. "My mom does it all the time," he added nonchalantly.

"Nice to know," Tyler chuckled, pulling into his own driveway. Grabbing their backpacks, Madison and Pete quickly got out of the car, giggling and running inside. Tyler slowly followed after him, taking one last exhale of his cigarette before dropping it in the grass and stomping on it.

As soon as he entered his house, Madison and Pete raced up the stairs, laughing and yelling. A second later, there was a loud shush and their voices stopped. Zack appeared, walking quietly down the stairs with a scowl on his face.

"Jay's sleeping," he informed Tyler.

"Sorry," Tyler mumbled, going into the kitchen to grab some Tylenol. His brother followed him in and began rummaging through the cupboards.

"What took you guys so long?" Zack asked, boredom lace in his tone.

"I dropped a friend off and we stopped to get something to eat," Tyler replied, grabbing a glass and filling it up with water. He quickly swallowed the pills and dumped the rest of the liquid out of the cup, setting the glass in the sink.

Zack noticed this and sighed. "Mom just loaded the dishwasher before she left."

"Okay?"

"It would be nice if you could at least load that glass yourself," he continued with attitude.

"Woah," Tyler held his hands up in surrender. "What's gotten into you?"

Zack didn't respond but instead walked over to the sink, picking the glass up and shoving it on the top rack and slamming the door shut again, making the dishes rattle slightly.

"Zack," Tyler began. "What's wrong?" He attempted. His brother turned back around and started walking towards the stairs. Tyler touched his shoulder to keep him from walking. Zack instantly pulled away, whipping around with a glare.

"Nothing," he lied, turning back around and going back to his room. Tyler sighed and walked into the living room, plopping down onto the couch and turning on the TV to act as background noise as he messed around on his phone, which Kelly didn't know he stole back after she fell asleep.

She shouldn't keep her purse out if she didn't want people rummaging through it.

After awhile, Tyler felt his eyes start to droop. Sleepily, he set his phone in his back pocket and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch. He laid down fully, stretching his legs to the end of the couch, making his feet barely hit the arm rest.

As he drifted of to sleep, Tyler thought about one thing: the quiet boy with dark curly hair whom he spent his somewhat enjoyable afternoon with.