the florist ❀ joshler

(1) begonia

beware

tw: bullying going to be a constant for a bit, and a certain derogatory word will also be used a few times within the first few chapter.

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"move it, dun," tyler grunts, knocking into josh purposely.

josh's books tumbled out of his arms, but he doesn't make too much of an effort getting upset. this was a casual thing.

and so, josh carried through his morning quietly, head down, mouth shut. submitting to the mockery and taunting. a casual thing.

it was mechanical to josh. wake up, go to school, shut up and let the popular kids torture him, go home, barely eat, sleep, repeat. save for weekends. he was too scared to do anything for himself.

the problem, though—josh had a massive crush on the main bully, and it just wouldn't go away. it's like the analogy of a crush being the pebble stuck in your shoe, so you stop and shake out your shoe and keep walking thinking it's gone, but then along the road, the pebble appears again. that's exactly how josh felt about the situation.

he wanted to hate tyler so badly, but he just couldn't.

and so he was stuck getting taunted and beat by the guy his brain thought was a great idea admire in the sense of appearance. josh already knew tyler's personality was filthy.

unfortunately, there was nothing josh could do about it without worsening his life. it was just the way things were.

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josh felt numb. the insults being thrown at him didn't hurt as he was pinned against the lockers. tyler's breath was hot on josh's face as he spat damaging words without remorse.

"watch out, tyler. don't let the fag infect you," one of the others snickers.

"i got it. as long as i hold the collar," he laughs, looking back briefly. josh takes this opportunity to let out a quiet whimper, but that was his first mistake.

"did you say something, dun?" about the only redeeming thing about tyler was that he was the only one of the group that didn't use that derogatory term.

josh frantically shakes his head, wishing he could just melt into a puddle of nothingness right then and there.

"are you sure about that? because i'm pretty sure i heard something," tyler snarls, pulling josh off the lockers briefly before slamming him back down. "don't lie to me, or else this'll hurt more than i originally planned. got it?"

josh nods this time, wanting to leave the situation as soon as he possibly could. he just wanted to go home; it was the end of the day, and the halls were desolate asides from the group of menacing jocks and the weakling nerd.

"good," tyler grins, letting go of josh and backing up a step. "only one hit each, this time. two to whoever delivers the hardest."

josh already felt the pain before anything made contact with his body. he hunches forward and curls up as much as he can to soften the now unavoidable blows. he was most definitely walking out of there with a multitude of bruises.

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josh quickly opens the front door, carefully shutting it. he only cares to remove his shoes before attempting to sprint upstairs.

but about halfway up, his mother calls out to him. "joshua? is that you?"

josh just sighs, letting go of the railing. "yeah, mom. i'm just going upstairs to do homework."

she appears around the corner, a tea towel in hand, drying between her palms and fingers, toying with her wedding ring. "fine by me, just at least say hi before you—oh my goodness! josh, what happened?"

his mom was worried and she had only seen the ugly black eye he had received after one of the jocks pulled him back up from his protective position and landed a nasty punch on his face. josh's mother rushed over to him.

"honey, are you okay? do you need some ice? what happened?" she was bombarding her son with questions, and he already felt claustrophobic. he just wanted to reach his room, safety.

"it's nothing, mom. really. i'm fine."

his mother scoffs. "you are not fine. here, come to the kitchen, let me get you an ice pack."

josh complies, though he merely trails behind his mother. he seats himself on a bar stool at the island as his mom pulls out a blue gel ice pack along with a cloth and places it in front of her son. josh gingerly grabs it, and places it over his eye, wincing at the sudden cold and the pain of the bruise.

"now tell me, what exactly happened? was it something with those boys at school again?" his mother continued to interrogate. josh felt as if he was going to suffocate as the questions were piled on. he just wanted to go up to his room in peace.

josh just sighs, shaking his head slightly. "no, we were playing soccer today and the ball hit me in the face," josh lies, hoping it would a valid enough excuse. but of course not.

"josh, sweetie, a soccer ball couldn't give you a black eye like that even if it was purposely hurled at your face. plus your lip is bust," his mom sighs. "josh, i'm not gonna go all super protective parent if you tell me the truth."

josh knew that was most definitely partially false. either way, she'd still be worrisome over her son's wellbeing.

josh removes the ice pack from his face, revealing the black eye and a nearly saddened, stoic face. "fine. i got beat up after school," he grumbles.

"so it was those boys again. josh, i don't understand why you won't let me talk to the school about this," his mother sighs.

"i just—" josh lets out an exasperated sigh. "it'll just make things worse, mom. if they find out i told someone—"

"first of all, who is 'they'? maybe i can just call their parents, tell them that their kid is bullying my son. i don't like seeing you walk home with a new injury every day, josh."

"no, 'cuz then they'll confront their kids and, yet again, i get even more hurt," josh huffs. "i'm going up to my room."

"joshua—"

it was too late, though. josh was already storming out of the kitchen, backpack still clinging onto his shoulders and ice pack in hand.

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hey, new story¡!
because i can't control myself.
i'm so sorry.
enjoy.

-parker