crybaby | joshler ✓

SEVEN

tyler did end up wearing the yellow dress.

he woke up in a cheerful mood that monday morning. he got up an hour early just do he could look pretty. pretty for joshua. he finished putting on the yellow dress and tied the white ribbon that went with the dress around it. tyler missed his dresses. he sat down at his vanity and took out his mascara. after applying a few coats he powdered his nose and grabbed his bag and went downstairs.

"gooodmornnning mama" tyler said as he approached the island table. his mother had just finished buttering the toast she makes for tyler every morning. she looked up and smiled at his appearance. he looked happy again.

"hi baby you look so cute today" kelly said before handing tyler the toast. tyler thanked her and took a bite.

"oh honey don't forget your dads gonna be at your school today walking around and going to classes" tyler's mom said as she sipped her coffee. tyler groaned in annoyance. he hated that his dad was the superintendent for the school district. yeah it had it's good parts, but he hated how fake people were to him because of it.

after tyler finished his toast he kissed his mom goodbye and got in his car. when he got to school he noticed joshua's car wasn't there. tyler thought maybe he wouldn't be at school again. trying to not let that affect him he walked in the school. he instantly saw his friends sitting down by jenna's locker and he skipped over there. he decided to forgive jenna's behavior because she was just trying to be a good friend and they hung out and watched movies.

"tyler you're wearing dresses again!" ryan said happily and tyler smiled cheekly. "joshua told me this was his favorite one so i knew i had to wear it! he's so nice" jenna's ears perked up at that sentence and she turned towards him.

"what do you mean he told you?" she asked with confusion and anger in her voice. "I saw him at the movies and book store! he was there with his sister and he looked so cute and was so nice-" tyler rambled before jenna cut him off.

"of course he said you looked good in your dresses. he always looks at you like you're candy" jenna scoffed and tyler frowned. what was wrong with people liking his dresses? before tyler could say anything dallon spoke.

"jenna stop i'm sure joshua was just being nice, leave him alone" tyler mouthed a thank you and dallon winked at him. tyler wanted to be friends or potentially more than friends was their little secret.

moments later joshua walked in the school with hayley and matty next to him. some people moved immediately out of their way out of fear. tyler looked at joshua and noticed he had a faint purple bruise on his cheek. he frowned at that. he hoped the mysterious boy was okay. joshua looked over at tyler's direction and smiled. he was wearing the yellow dress.

"dang i wonder what happened to his face" ryan said. "he probably got in a fight" jenna rolled her eyes.
                                            —
"joshua that looks really bad" brendon said during lunch. he gently put his hand on the bruise and joshua winced in pain.

"what happened?" ashley said softly. joshua put the ice pack back on his face before he told the story.

"came home at the wrong time i guess. i'm just glad he didn't hurt ashley" joshua shrugged.

the crybabies started tearing up. they hated this. they always have.

"joshua are you gonna make til june? it seems like it's getting worser everyday" hayley said.

joshua nodded. "i have to be strong for ashley. she can't know how scared to death i am every single day. you guys keep me going" joshua said with a weak smile.

he was just so tired. taking care of his sister and keeping her happy, fighting with his dad, working 5 days a week, and struggling to graduate highschool has taken a toll on his body. all he wants is a good nights rest without checking every hour to see if his little sister was still safe in her room. all he wants is for this to end.