Hometown | Twenty One Pilots

10

Tyler was confused. Could that be Jenna? She looks exactly like the girl in the pictures he had inside his closet.

"I guess I'm better now." Tyler came up with an answer, but this was a lie. He is still not 100% better. His head was still killing him when he got out of the hospital and he still doesn't remember who anyone is yet. He doesn't even know himself anymore. Maybe he just got out because he woke up from his coma. At least his head started to get better, but Tyler wished he knew the people around him.

"Jenna, remember what the teacher said. Give him space." Another girl whispered to her. That confirmed his question. That's Jenna.

"Do you remember me?" Jenna asked Tyler, ignoring what the girl just told Jenna. Tyler assumed this girl was Jenna's friend. She had light brown hair and almond eyes. She also looked familiar, but where has Tyler seen her?

"No, not exactly." Tyler nodded, feeling bad because Jenna was probably a very good friend if she was in the pictures he had and she was so upset.

"You seriously don't remember anything yet?" Jenna asked one more time. She was more sad than angry. She knew that what happened wasn't Tyler's fault, but she wished he would remember at least something about her.

"Jenna, please." The same girl tried to calm her down. Jenna looked like she was about to cry, but tried to hide it.

"Okay class." A teacher walked in, making everyone rush to their desks. "Remember what I said, Jenna. Poor Tyler needs a little space. It must be very overwhelming coming to school as if he were a new student and having all these people come up to him."

Tyler was a little embarrassed that the teacher had to say that in front of the whole class as if he didn't know how to handle things. But at the same time Tyler was glad he did. He did need some space and he did need time to place the puzzle pieces of his life together.

After the teacher's small speech, he started writing a few notes on the board and people started to copy them down on their notebooks.

---|-/---

Not soon enough, it was lunch time. Tyler was already feeling like he didn't belong here at all. He thought for a moment that maybe being here around people who he used to see almost every single day would make him remember something. Nothing was coming to him.

As he walked in the cafeteria he started looking for his brother Zack, who had told him he would see him there. The cafeteria was big and full of students. Some of them have started to stare at him as he walked around the room looking for Zack. It made Tyler very uncomfortable and made him wonder why everyone was staring. Did he used to talk to any of them before?

"Tyler!" Someone called, making Tyler look at the very end of the cafeteria. Thankfully, it was his brother.

Tyler rushed to his table, wanting the feeling of being watched to go away as soon as possible. For some reason he didn't feel safe, even inside a school building. He didn't know who to trust, or what other people are saying about him. His anxiety was starting to take over.

"How are things?" Zack asked Tyler as he sat down. He was already eating.

"Okay." Tyler lied.

"Why didn't you grab anything? You need to eat."

"I'm not really hungry. I'll just eat later when I get home." Tyler shrugged.

"What's up?" Nick came out of nowhere to sit at their table. He also brought a food tray. Nick always used to sit with Chris and Josh. But now that Chris is gone, some things have changed.

"Nothing much, we just got here." Zack answered.

"How are you doing?" Nick asked Tyler, who was staring into space.

"I'm fine, no need to worry so much about me." Tyler was starting to get annoyed.

"I know. But believe it or not, we were friends before and I'm worried about you. That's all." Nick expressed his worries.

"Believe me, I'm fine." Tyler reassured him, half smiling.

There was a moment of silence in which they all stared at each other. No one knew what to do or talk about, especially with Tyler there. Zack and Nick have both accepted the fact that Tyler doesn't remember them and he probably isn't the same as before. They'll miss the old Tyler, but they were very glad he was still alive after the accident. It was a miracle he was still here.

"Does anyone have a pen I can borrow? I think I lost it." Zack asked, breaking the small awkward silence.

"I think I have some." Tyler picked up his backpack which he had left on the ground to sit down. "I just forgot which side pocket."

Tyler searched for a pack of pens he had found earlier inside his locker. He unzipped one of the side pockets of his backpack. There were no pens, but there was a folded piece of paper.

Tyler wondered what it was since he hasn't seen it in there before. It was also folded up in a neat way, like a note. He didn't know if Zack or Nick could see it, so he took it out and put it in his pocket to look at it later.

Turns out the pack of pens was in the other side, but he found them and took one of them out to give to Zack.

"Thanks. I'll give it back."

"No problem." Tyler said, then continued to look at his surroundings. The cafeteria was loud and had many tables all around the room, which were all filled. It was so full some people were sitting against the walls.

Tyler looked at the people at the tables. He didn't recognize anyone, for obvious reasons. He wondered what they all knew about him and his life, and who he should talk to to ask questions about himself.

He kept looking around the cafeteria. Finally, some familiar faces. It was Jenna, Josh, and that one girl with the brown hair that tried to calm Jenna down in history class. They were all sitting at a small table just big enough for the three of them, maybe one more person. This made Tyler wonder why Nick wasn't with them, since he was in the photos along with Josh and Jenna. He has now been able to make a connection between them and the girl with the brown hair, the girl was also in the pictures and that's why she looked familiar. Now Tyler just needs to find out her name.

After a few minutes lunch was over, and it was time for everyone to go to their next class. Both Zack and Nick had classes on the other side of the building, so they left quickly so they're not late after saying bye to Tyler.

Tyler stayed behind to look at the note he found in his backpack. It took a while to unfold because it was folded so professionally.

"Meet me down by the treehouse at 12. It's important."

Treehouse?

This just created more questions for Tyler to ask himself. Who is this from? Whoever this was has very neat handwriting. When was this written? Was this before the accident? Could this be the abandoned treehouse Zack talked about earlier? Is this the same treehouse Tyler had pictures of inside his closet?

He needed answers, and he was determined to get them.