hooked ↣ joshler ✓

19. Understand

It was the end of the school day and Tyler was walking to his car, wanting to hurry home and sit around, doing nothing. Sadly, his mom found out he took his phone back and put him back on pickup duty. He was about to put his hand on the door handle to open it, when he was cut off by a voice.

"Tyler!"

The brunette looked up towards the source of the voice and saw Josh walking towards him. "What's up?" he asked.

"Um, can we talk?"

"Sure," Tyler nodded. "I have to pick up my sister, we can get Patrick too."

"Uh... okay, sure."

The two got into his car and Tyler started it, looking out the back window and pulling out. "Are you still mad at us?"

"No, I talked with Dallon earlier."

"That's good," Tyler explained. "But what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for lying. I'm sorry for being mad at you. I'm sorry for not telling you everything."

"Josh," Tyler sighed. "You didn't have to tell me. I get it. You've been friends with Dallon since preschool, that's gotta count for something. You've only known me for a couple months."

"I know, but still. I feel like I can trust you. We're friends."

"I'm honored," Tyler laughed. "To go from history partners to friends."

"Shut up," Josh laughed back.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What exactly did you mean when you said Dallon doesn't have to deal with abusive parents?"

It instantly became dead quiet in the car. "Can you ask a different question?"

"Yeah, of course," Tyler's voice softened. "How long have you been in foster care?"

"I bounced around in a few different homes for about six months when I was first put into the system but I've been with my parents since I was eight."

"What about Patrick?"

"He came when I was twelve, he was only four at the time."

"Why the fuck did your parents decide to foster two kids if they're just gonna hurt you guys?" Tyler pulled into the school, but took a spot in the parking lot so they could continue their conversation.

Josh laughed dryly, no humor in the noise. "So they could get double the money to waste on things that didn't benefit us. Mostly cigarettes and alcohol."

Tyler instantly became guilty from the other day when he tricked Josh into drinking Vodka.

"Can I ask another question?"

"You can ask it. I might not answer it."

"How'd you end up in foster care?"