Josh waits for Tyler at the main door right after school ends.
Once Tyler comes into view, Josh grins and gives an awkward wave.
"You ready?"
"Yeah!" Tyler nods.
They begin to walk out the door when Tyler freezes and rolls his eyes.
"Frick. I left something in the music room."
Josh chuckles. "That's alright! I'll get it with you."
When they arrive at the music room, Tyler dashes to the other side, opens up his band locker and rummages through one of many folders.
"What instrument do you play?" Josh asks, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
"I, uh," Tyler stutters. "Piano, Ukulele, and my voice."
"Wow! That's sick!" Josh beams.
Tyler blushes, but Josh doesn't seem to notice.
"Ok, I found it." Tyler sighs of relief.
"Can I see it?" Josh asks, walking over to his locker.
"Um, yeah, sure. It's a song I wrote." Tyler mumbles, looking down at the floor.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"It's kind of just a rap-thing right now," Tyler says nervously as Josh smiles down at the lyrics, "But I actually have a chorus planned out. Just haven't written it down yet."
They sit in silence for a few moments, then Josh looks at Tyler, pure admiration twinkling in his eyes.
"Do you, uh, have any notes planned for this? Like on the piano or something?" Josh says as he twiddles with his fingers.
'You sound like a timid fucking rabbit.' A voice states harshly.
"Death inspires me like a dog fucking inspires a rabbit, ok?" Josh whispers to himself.
"Huh?" Tyler cocks his head and raises his eyebrow. "What didya say?"
Josh laughs it off.
"Nothing, nothing! Just thinking."
Tyler chuckles back, but something seemed off. For some reason he decided not to say anything.
Why?
He's not sure.
"Anyway, yeah, I do have some melodies in my head. They probably suck, though."
"No, I wanna hear them!" Josh insists, tugging on Tyler's shoulder.
Tyler shrugs, trying to hide his combination of panicked and flattered feelings. "If you say so."
Tyler walks over to the piano as nonchalantly as he possibly can. The moment his fingers touch the keys, though, he feels safe, and free.
He plays his beautiful song without hesitation. He feels like it's almost like the song has been programmed into his brain, like it's a part of him. He loves it so much.
Josh loves it too.
After the song ends, Josh sprints over to Tyler and hugs him from behind, nearly picking him up off the piano bench.
"That was amazing, Tyler! I'm not even joking. That's one of the best songs I've ever heard. I loved that so much. Your voice, too! It sounds like an ocean, so soft and pretty, yet also mysterious and meaningful. You have an astounding gift, dude."
Tyler feels his cheeks turning bright red as Josh gushes, but he doesn't care. No ones ever told him that he actually sounded good. Probably because he has never full-out sang in front of anyone; not even his parents.
"Thank you, Josh. That means a lot to me."
"I only speak the truth."
After a few moments of them starting at each other, Josh breaks the silence.
