:[march to the sea]:

||two||

J O S H

Tyler did kind of intimidate me at the end of lunch, but he really just intrigues me. I haven't heard anything about him before. I walk over to my usual group of friends. Brendon's the first to come up to me.

"Dude, why the fuck were you talking to that Joseph kid?" He asks harshly.

"I don't know, he looked lonely." I shrug.

"Oh my god, he's not the kind of kid you want to be friends with." The taller boy warns me as we start walking down the hall.

"Why? He seemed pretty cool." I say matter-of-factly.

"You haven't heard the rumors have you?" I shake my head. "Well, basically back in elementary school, he just disappeared. He came back to school in freshman year. Completely different, really fucking weird. Rumor has it, his dad sold him to the black market and he became a sex slave. He got bullied a lot, and he like randomly changes to act like a completely different person. It's really freaky. I don't know if I believe the sex slave stuff, but I've seen him change. It's weird. Just- don't get too comfortable around him, ok?" That was a shit ton of information to take in all at once. I just nod at the ebony haired boy. He pats my back and tells me to get to class.

Luckily, there's only 3 more class periods and then I can go home.

____

As I'm walking out the back door to get to my car, I notice someone get shoved against a wall.

"We heard you can turn into different people. Do it. I SAID DO IT!" Someone barks at the kid. The kid who got shoved is standing against the wall with their hood up and their head down. There's another boy there, pestering the kid, who I've identified as Tyler.

"I will change if you don't leave me alone. Then I'll bash your skull in and jump around in the puddle of blood like a little kid after it rains." Tyler growls. His voice sounds slightly deeper than when he was talking to me. I take a few steps towards them.

"Hey, leave him alone." I say firmly.

"Oh, is he your sex slave?" One of them asks. He has dark red hair and bright green eyes. The other one is blonde and slightly shorter than the first. I see Tyler twitch before he's pounding his fists into the redheads face. He pulls the boy up by the collar of his shirt and says something into his ear. His voice is much deeper than I've heard him speaking before.

"Say something cocky like that again, and I'll make you my sex slave." He hisses. He slams the redhead back into the ground before getting up and stalking in my direction. He doesn't seem to acknowledge me though, he just keeps walking. I follow behind him, curious.

I can hear him muttering to himself.

"What did you do? No just let them beat me up. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" His voice sounds normal again. He's shaking a little.

"Tyler? Wait up!" I say, jogging ahead a little so I can walk next to him. "You ok?" I ask softly. I'm not expecting him to let out the heart wrenching sob. "Hey, hey. It'll be alright, they're just a bunch of douchebags." I tell him.

"Can I give you a ride home?" I ask. He shrugs. "Ok my cars this way, follow me." I motion towards my car. His head is down when he turns and follows me. I open the passenger door for him and wait for him to get in before I shut it and get into the drivers side.