choke ↣ joshler ✓

19. Confession

"Ty!"

"Hi, Jenna," Tyler laughed into the phone upon hearing how excited his friend was. He had been sitting at home, doing his homework, when Jenna called him. It was a Saturday so he planned on getting a jump start on his homework so he didn't have to stay up late Sunday night like he did last weekend.

However his plans were disrupted when she spoke again. "Do ya wanna come over? 'M bored."

"Don't you have other friends?" Tyler teased.

"Not really," Jenna laughed. "My parents are super paranoid but they like 'nd trust ya."

"Good," Tyler smiled. "Yeah, I'll be over. Give me a few minutes."

"Okay. Bye, Ty!"

"Bye, Jen."

He smiled as he hung up the phone and got off his bed, stretching. A sigh escaped his lips as he got ready. It was already almost mid October and it had started getting a little colder out so he grabbed a windbreaker from his closet before tugging his shoes on and grabbing his phone.

His eyes caught the pack of cigarettes and lighter Josh had given him last night and he grabbed both items before leaving the house and locking the door behind him.

As he walked to Jenna's house, he lit one of the cigarettes and began smoking it. Josh was right. It did make him feel good. Why would he give it up?

He didn't know how long he'd be at Jenna's and there's no way she'd just let him slip out to smoke so he basked in the nicotine entering his system.

Tyler stubbed it out on a tree before flicking it into the road. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker, making a mental note to zip them up when he got to Jenna's so his cigarettes didn't fall out.

A few minutes later he was heading up the steps and ringing her doorbell. She opened it with a smile on her face. "Hey!" She pulled him in for a hug and he hugged back. However, when she pulled back her face was scrunched up. "Ya smell like cigarettes."

Tyler bit his lip nervously. "I thrifted this," he laughed slightly. "The person who had it before probably smoked a ton."

"Oh, okay," she smiled and stepped off to the side. Tyler entered and kicked his shoes off. "So I don' know what ya wanna do but my dad's in his office workin' so we jus' gotta be quiet."

"Gotcha," he nodded. "Is there anything you wanna do?"

"Not really..." she paused. "Do ya wanna watch a movie? I can make some popcorn."

"Sure."

"Cool. Go sit on the couch. Ya can pick a DVD or find somethin' on Netflix. I don' care."

Tyler complied and went over to the shelf of DVDs by her TV. His eyes scanned the variety before stopping on The Outsiders. He remembered watching the movie in middle school and enjoyed it enough so he put it in the DVD player and went and sat on the couch while he waited for Jenna.

A few moments later the blonde entered the room and handed Tyler the bowl of popcorn before picking up the remote and starting the movie. "Good pick."

"Thanks," he smiled, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

The two were intently watching the movie for about half an hour before the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. Seconds passed before Jenna's dad walked into the room. "Oh, hello, Tyler," he spoke, nodding towards the mentioned.

"Hi," Tyler looked over and smiled towards the man.

"Hey, Jen, 'm goin' run ta the store, I'll be back soon."

"Okay, Daddy," she reached over and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. "I love ya."

"I love ya too, sweetheart. Bye, Tyler."

"Bye," Tyler replied quietly.

Jenna hit the pause button on the remote before setting it back down. She looked at Tyler and let out a sigh. "'M bored."

"Me too," Tyler admitted. The movie wasn't bad but he was just uninterested at the time.

"How's school?" She asked, leaning back and propping her legs up on Tyler's lap.

Tyler refrained from laughing. He didn't think he actually attended school enough to give an answer. "It's fine," he shrugged. "What about you? How's being homeschooled?"

"Uneventful. I get all my work done before ya even get outta school. It sucks because my parents won' let me go back ta public school no matter how many times I ask."

"I'm sorry," Tyler frowned.

"It's fine," she waved him off. "Enough about me 'nd my lack of friends," she laughed. "How are your other friends?"

"Good," Tyler's frown quickly became a smile. "I've had a... complicated life," he said loosely, not wanting to get into his past again like he had the night before with Josh. "And for the first time in it I actually have friends. Good ones too. Not just them, you too."

Jenna smiled. "Tell me about them."

"Brendon's... Brendon I guess? But that's a good thing. He's funny and he makes me laugh a lot. Like genuinely laugh. Ashley's very forward but she's a sweet girl and she cares about her friends. And Josh..." he sighed happily. "He's perfect. He gets me on a whole other level. He makes me feel comfortable with myself and he was the first person to welcome me when I moved here. No ones ever done that before."

The smile on Jenna's face widened and she looked like she knew something Tyler didn't. "Do ya like 'im, Ty?"

"Yeah," Tyler admitted. "I do. A lot. I think he likes me back. He kissed me for the first time the other day and we've kissed a lot more since then. Neither of us have said anything about it but I want to."

"That's adorable," Jenna cooed. "And if ya like 'im, tell 'im!"

"I think he knows I like him," he replied, a blush making its way onto his cheeks. "We just haven't made anything official and it's kinda bugging me."

"So tell 'im that. If he kissed ya first he's jus' as interested."

"You're right," he nodded, a feeling of confidence surging through him. "I'll tell him the next time we hang out. Thanks, Jenna."

"Anytime. Jus' let me know it goes," she giggled.

"Of course," Tyler smiled.