SAVING...
SAVING...
SAVING...
GAME SAVED!
WELCOME BACK, PLAYER!
CHAPTER TWO:
IF YOUR LIFE HAD A FACE, I WOULD PUNCH IT
Halsey has stars in her eyes. Literal anime stars spin around in the reflected whites of her eyes. Her jaw drops as Hayley crashes her symbols to ends the song. Young Ryan gives a halfhearted hoot while Halsey sits there in awe.
"You guys... are so... amazing."
Max sends her a flashy grin and elbows Josh in the ribs. Hayley groans from behind them. When Halsey starts to clap, Young Ryan claps too.
Halsey leaves right after their practice finishes since her curfew is 7:30. Josh walks her home, not going any farther than the porch. She looks over her shoulder as she enters.
"See you tomorrow?" She asks, holding her hand out for Josh to grab.
He grabs it, kissing her knuckles, and lets her hand fall from his. "I'll meet you at the library at 9:30, is that okay?" She nods, suddenly flustered, and she can't hold in her squealing long enough to close the door, so Josh can hear her.
Josh starts to walk back to his apartment, humming to himself in the cold. When he passes a pizza place, something makes him freeze. A figure inside catches his eye, but he can only see the back of them.
All he can see is brown hair, a bulky green jacket, and yellow roller skates.
His heart thuds. Mesmerized, he walks in, making his way to the counter. The person turns around, a pizza in one hand and a receipt in the other. Josh stand behind them, eyes widening when he realizes this person is a man who looks around the same age as him.
Being gay isn't exactly sinful in Toronto. Jon and Other Hayley are gay, Halsey's bi, even a lot Josh's other friends are part of the LGBT community. But for Josh and the environment he grew up in, being gay was a product of his friend's manipulation, not a part of himself that he couldn't control. So, maybe he is a little gay, but it didn't matter because he'd never act on it. It isn't like an extremely attractive man his age would pass by on roller skates carrying pizza and erase all the repressed gayness inside of him at any moment.
The man dips his head down and rolls around Josh, mumbling excuse me under his breath. Josh watches him go, unable to move until the cashier snaps her fingers over the counter.
"Joshua!" Billie snaps, grabbing his attention. "Are you gonna order something or just stand there like a fucking creep?"
Josh blinks and looks over at the silver-haired girl with disinterest. "Oh, hey, Billie."
CHARACTER UNLOCKED:
BILLIE EILISH: the explicit know-it-all
AGE: 24
STRENGTHS: probably knows everything, works everywhere, can and will kick anyone's ass, is the epitome of beauty according to everybody in Toronto who's met her, makes killer hot chocolate, can hook you up with any drugs or alcohol you need, is loved by everyone she knows even though she's an asshole
WEAKNESSES: almost always drunk no matter the situation, can't hold down a stable job, swears in nearly every sentence she speaks, is inappropriately vulgar any time of the day, hates everyone she meets, seems to be everywhere at once
WEAPON OF CHOICE: Black censor bars
"What the fuck are you staring at?" She asks, clearly annoyed already by his mere presence.
Josh points with his thumb in the direction the man left. "Who was that?"
"Nobody. Now, are you going to fucking order food or do I need to kick your ass out of here?"
He leaves with dinner.
The four of them sit around Max and Josh's dinner table, a half eaten box of vegetarian pizza in the middle. Hayley is scrolling on her phone and avoiding the small conversation brewing between them. Jon, Josh's other roommate, stumbles into the apartment, obviously drunk out of his mind.
"Halsey seems nice," Young Ryan says, avoiding the windmills that are Jon's arms.
"Yeah," Josh leans back in his chair, still thinking about the man he saw, "Awesome."
Max whistles, reaching over to grab his third slice of pizza. Hayley finally looks up when Josh sighs, as if she knew he wasn't thinking about his girlfriend.
"Joshua, if your life had a face, I'd punch it."
"Yeah, I- wait what?"
She rolls her eyes and sets her phone down for the first time since Halsey left. Six empty beer bottles surround her paper plate, but she doesn't look anywhere near as drunk as Jon is.
"I mean, are you really happy or just really fucking evil?" She asks, but it's not a question.
Josh groans. "We've gone over this. I'm not screwing around with Halsey. I really like her."
"Mhm. Just like how She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named liked you?"
Young Ryan coughed awkwardly. Max chokes on his pizza. "Hayl, that was a bit far."
"Farther than dating a seventeen year old girl?"
Jon hits the wall with his shoulder and stumbles into the bathroom, heaving his life away into the toilet. Josh grimaces. He just cleaned the bathroom that morning.
"Young Ryan, you were saying how cool Halsey was?" He asks, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, she seems nice," Young Ryan says.
"Yeah."
Max whistles again.
Hayley is the first to leave around eight. She has college classes early in the morning. Since it was the beginning her her last semester in college, she couldn't stay as late at their apartment as she normally did and drink herself to a stupor.
"See you fuckers later," she crows with a grin, walking in a slight tilt outside to the bus stop down the street. After fourteen beers, she's finally drunk. So much for sox weeks of sobriety.
The door closes behind her, and Young Ryan stands, grabbing his book bag and hiking it over his shoulders. "Someone's gotta make sure she doesn't pick a fight with another homeless man." He sends three a meager smile, saying his goodbyes before heading off after Hayley.
Max stands and clears the table, dumping all the paper plates and half eaten pizzas into their mini trash can. Jon stumbles out of their bathroom and collapses on the mattress he and Josh slept on together, groaning.
Josh continues to sit, day dreaming about the man on roller skates until it's time to go to bed.
CHAPTER TWO COMPLETE!
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JOSH DUN VS THE WORLD ✓
Fanfiction«joshler» Josh Dun, an overconfident Canadian lowlife with two jobs and a mediocre rock band, falls for new mystery boy Tyler Joseph who's running away from his equally mysterious past. However, in order for them to be together, Josh must defeat Tyl...
