I am You Now?

Chapter One

Mark woke up in the when the sky was still died a dark purple outside his window which was bordered by neat black curtains that were flapping in the humid breeze. He sat up, looking at the window in curiosity, biting his lips slightly. He had shut it the night before, he was sure, to keep out the humid air of the LA night. He hated sleeping with his window open, it made him feel nervous. And the curtains, black. The one colour he had immediately set aside when he had chose house decorations on account of the heat they would attract. He turned his attention to the rest of the room. A simple wood dresser was pushed against the far wall and a closet was pushed closed in the wall to his right. The room was simple except for pictures that were all framed by a simple black frame. They were small, arranged, it seemed, in random places around the wall. In one was one of him and Tyler, Tyler's beanie pulled over Mark's eyes as Tyler looked into the camera his mouth open just slightly, caught in mid-laugh. Mark remembered that day. Tyler and him had gone to the beach and had acted like little kids, sprinting up and down the beach, kicking up sand and pushing each other in the refreshing water.

Another picture hung a few inches a way. It depicted Ethan balanced on Tyler's shoulders, his eyes closed in mirth as blue hair fell in messy curls in his eyes. Tyler held onto Ethan's legs and was spinning around in tight circles. Mark had taken this picture in the park the day they had discovered that Ethan was horrible at football but could sprint up and down the field at amazing speeds. 

Mark did not own a copy of the second photo, although her had given a copy to Tyler on his birthday. There was the gift that he had given Tyler, the only photo in the room with a brown frame. 

Mark scrambled out of the tangled white bed sheets and sprinted down the hall that he knew well for not living on the house. He flew into the bathroom, where black towels were hanging from the wall to the right of him. Not that he payed much attention to that. Instead, his eyes found themselves looking into Tyler's his hulking, tall frame taking up most of the mirror. A loose t-shirt hung off his shoulders as flannel pants stopped right above his ankle. 

"Tyler," he breathed into the humid air. The reflections lips parted slightly as Mark whitened. He bent over the toilet, porcelain hitting porcelain as he slammed the lid up to hard. He emptied whatever Tyler had for dinner the previous night into the toilet bowl. As he pulled back, chest heaving and forehead sticky with sweat, he cursed. He could not help it. All of the words he wanted to say about this situation came out in long lines of foul, primitive lines. 

He pulled himself together after about 15 minutes, pulling himself from the tile ground of the bathroom and flushed the toilet. He made his way back the bedroom, changing into a pair of blue jeans and t-shirt, careful not to look down. He headed to the kitchen and made himself a smoothie with protein powder. He sighed into the green substance and attempted to run his fingers through his hair before he got them stuck in a mass of curls. He gingerly pulled them out and looked at his, Tyler's phone. 

7:02 read the small white numbers in the upper corner of the screen. The screen told him he had three missed calls, all of them from Ethan. He remembered Ethan telling him once that he had a horrible sleeping schedule, staying up late and waking up at dawn to run through the streets before complete hotness took over on the summer. 

The screen lit up again and snapped Mark out of his revere. Another incoming call from Ethan. He reached one of Tyler's pale finger forward to press accept. 

"Thank god you picked up this time!" came Ethan's voice from the other side. "This is Amy. I am not sure what happened but I need help, please Tyler."

"This isn't Tyler," Mark said slowly, leaning against the counter and turning his head to look up at the white ceiling in the kitchen. "This is Mark."

"Fuck," came the reply. 

"Fuck," Mark agreed, still not used to the voice. " I'll pick you and the others up and we can head over to my house. Go ahead and get dressed."

"Okay." The voice on the other side sounded week, trapped between quick breathes. "Okay."

"You are alright, Amy. I'll come get you."

"Do you want-t me to get d-dressed?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure he won't mind if you don't look."

"Okay. I-I will see you in a few."

The call ended and Mark gulped in a few breathes of air before he put his discarded cup in the sink, not even half finished.