small mouth

miles martinez

before both of the boys know it, it's monday. half of the day already blew past, so they are sitting in the cafeteria with their friend group. tyler's noticed that melanie has been acting weird and she's been more quiet. so he stands up and sits next to melanie instead. "hey, mel, is there something wrong? you seem off." he asks.

"um.." she sighs. "could i talk to you privately?" she mumbles. tyler nods slowly and melanie leads him to the hallway. "tyler.. don't tell anyone this, okay?" the brunette nods again and melanie parts her lips. "i.. i wanna be a boy." she frowns, folding her arms. tyler gasps and just hugs her. the brunette comforts her and whispers sweet nothings into her ear.

"i'll help you.. it's okay. what name do you prefer?" he asks, softly rubbing her thumb with his. "miles." and tyler smiles at the name. miles martinez. it sounds so good like that. "you wanna be a boy? you'll be a boy. i'll help you. we can get you binders and cut your hair and you can practice for a lower voice. i'll help you, okay? with all of it. we can get you masculine products and clothing.." melanie is now crying into tyler's chest.

after school, since melanie goes on the same bus as him, they sit with one another as josh sits with some other girl with orange hair. "tyler, could you.. maybe come home with me? just for tonight.. i just want you to help me go shopping for some masculine stuff. also.. um, my parents won't let me cut my hair.. so i'm going to do it anyway.. i've been saving up my birthday money." melanie mumbles to her mocha-eyed friend. tyler gladly accepts it even if his uncle is going to beat his butt later. "tyler, it's our stop," josh says and stands up. "oh, i'm gonna be going home with melanie-" "i'll go with you, josh. i'll just text my mom that i'll be home later," the orange haired girl grins, rudely cutting tyler off.

"oh, okay. we can hang out and play mario kart, i guess," josh murmurs to the gorgeous girl. tyler feels his mood slightly change. that was his and josh's thing. that's what they did on the first day they met; even though they barely knew each other. tyler does not have a good feeling about this chick. "josh, do you think i could get your number before you go? i never asked.." tyler says out of nowhere. josh looks at him and a smile spreads on his lips. "yeah, dude." the boys quickly exchange phone numbers and josh and the girl leave the bus. "sorry i called you by your birth name. didn't want him to get suspicious, y'know?" melanie smiles at the brunette's words and nods, "it's fine, tyler. i'm not ready for anyone else to know, anyways."

tyler and melanie eventually reach melanie's stop. they both hop out the bus and melanie leads him to her house. "i'm gonna grab my wallet real quick. wait by my car.. it's the blue one." she informs and goes inside. the boy stands by the car, examining its beautiful blue skin. his hand strokes the smooth blue, bringing a smile on his lips. his mother used to wear this lovely blue scarf that matched her beautiful eyes every day. it looked very similar to this shade of blue. once, when tyler was really cold, his mother had wrapped the scarf around his pale neck herself, then pulled her coat over the brunette's shoulders.

tyler had never felt more warmer that moment. he loved his mother so much. he never felt more comfortable and just proud to have a mother like that. too bad she changed very quickly after the unforgettable event of christopher joseph missing. tyler's life then started to turn colder and lonelier. this also brings tyler back to his siblings. he is oldest of four children. he had two brothers and a beautiful sister. he hasn't seen them all in forever, though..

his youngest sibling was named jay. jay was really young when they all got seperated, ten years younger, in fact. jay probably doesn't even remember tyler; his own brother. he was two years old when everyone sort of split apart.

madison was four years older than jay. she was six and she loved all of her brothers; especially tyler. tyler was so sweet to all of his siblings and he loved them all very much; even though they all argued and grumbled. but that's a normal thing.

and here comes in zack at ten years old. he was really close to his older brother, they did a lot of things together since they were together the longest. the two brothers were the least immature, and they didn't fight a lot.

after losing all of his siblings and his parents, tyler was a mess. it was so quick, losing his father, mother, and then getting taken away from all of his siblings who were all his best friends and being thrown in with an uncle who was nice at first, but became colder year by year to the point where he doesn't give a single crap about his nephew. tyler didn't eat for two weeks straight because he missed his parents and siblings dearly. he was more quiet, dark, and sensitive after the dark fiery hell that happened.

"sorry i took so long. my mom made me eat her stupid casserole." melanie says with the keys clinking in her soft hands. she unlocks the blue vehicle as tyler lets out a small chuckle, wiping away the tears in his eyes with his knuckles. "hey, what's wrong?" she asks the brunette as they both sit in the front seats, her in the driver's and him in the passenger's. "um, nothing, it's really personal. sorry, your car reminded me of someone in my past."

"oh.. well, cheer up! you're about to turn your friend into a man!"

the two friends head to the mall and salon, buying products and creating the new boy that is in melanie's heart. melanie shows herself after the boyish haircut she got, tyler can't believe his eyes.

in surprise, his hand smacks over his small mouth.