teeth ↣ joshler ✓

8. Aquafaba

Hewwo pls comment throughout the chapter I had a bad afternoon and crave attention and validation 🥺

Tyler narrowed his eyes at his reflection in the mirror. Well, it didn't feel like his reflection. He was staring right back at himself but he didn't feel like Tyler. Or, he didn't feel how he used to.

He opened his mouth and he cringed when he saw his own top two sharpened canines. He knew they were going to be there because he willed them to come out, but it's not like he didn't hate them.

Tyler watched carefully as he slid his tongue gently across them. Not hard enough for them to wound his tongue, but if he did cut his tongue open with them nothing would happen.

He examined them carefully. Ever since it happened, he's been able to catch details of things quicker and easier. His sight was enhanced and reflexes were fast. Those parts of himself were what made him a hunter. They were what helped him survive.

Tyler hated how fucking normal his mouth felt like that. It's not like he didn't have control over his fangs coming out— he always had. But he felt better when they were out. Control hasn't been his strong suit since it happened but he was thankful he didn't have to learn how to control his fangs. That would have been a whole other problem.

His hatred turned to sadness as he watched his own teeth shrink back into their normal size. It didn't take much work to make them retract or extend but it shouldn't be something he was able to do.

Tyler took one last look at his now normal, familiar, crooked teeth and sighed before pulling his basketball sweatshirt on and grabbing his house and car keys off his dresser. He would probably be back after his parents fell asleep even if he and Jenna weren't planning on feeding tonight.

He left his room and pulled the door behind him. He was about to make his way down the steps when he stopped, feeling an overwhelming sensation hit him.

Tyler grasped the stair railing with one hand and the other rested on the wall.

He knew his parents had company over. It was just his mom's co-worker and her husband. He had met them a handful of times. Hell, he heard them come into the house.

However, his body and senses hadn't seemed to register extra people in the house.

It used to be extremely hard for Tyler to be around big groups of people. All the heartbeats. All the veins. All the food.

But since it happened at the beginning of the summer, Jenna's been helping him ever since she found him in the woods that night.

Her parents knew and offered to let Tyler stay with them as long as he needed to. Or until he learned to control his hunger.

That only took a week or so but trying not to go berserk in public with more than three people around was harder.

He got used to it for the most part by the time school started but the first few days were tough for him. They were nearing the end of September so he didn't really have issues at school anymore.

He rarely had issues with it in general unless he was in somewhere with over thousands of people.

Sometimes his body freaked out though. And this was one of those moments. He just needed to re-establish himself.

Tyler felt his mouth shift slightly as his fangs extracted again. That was really the only time he couldn't control them. Either when he was feeding, he saw blood, or when his body was in overdrive.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clutching the stair railing until his knuckles went white. You have more power than you think, he thought to himself.

A moment later, he felt his teeth retract once again and he opened his eyes. He felt fine. He was okay. Everything was okay.

He continued down the rest of the steps and stopped when he saw his parents and their friends sitting at the living room table. They were drinking wine and playing Scrabble.

"It's a word, Kelly."

"Chris, honey," his mom argued, flipping through the Scrabble dictionary they had. "It's not a word."

"That dictionary is from years ago!" His dad replied, his reading glasses drawn to his nose as he glanced at his phone. "Right here. It's a revised one."

His mom's co-worker spoke up. "I hate to disagree with you, Kelly," she turned her phone around. "But it's in this article. Aquafaba."

His parents weren't terribly old or anything but they were older than most of his friend's parents. They were both in their early fifties and really hadn't planned on having Tyler. Of course they were happy when they found out but he wasn't in their cards.

Tyler watched them and stifled a laugh. "Mom? Dad?"

The two looked up at him. "Yes, honey?" His mom asked.

"I'm going to Jenna's."

"Okay," his dad waved him off. "Don't die."

Tyler held back another laugh. Well...

"Maybe you could pick me up a new Scrabble dictionary since this thing is useless," his mother tossed the book on the table. She looked at her husband. "Fine. I'll count it. From now on, if it's not in our book then it doesn't count."

"Fine," his dad copied. "I'm winning anyway."

Tyler shook his head with a smile on his face before slipping out the door and shutting it behind him.

He could technically just walk there and arrive in minutes but that made him feel more like a freak so he made his way to his car and got in.

He made sure to turn the radio on so he wasn't left alone with his own thoughts.

Before he backed out, Tyler got a text. He put his car back in park and read it.

Jenna
Josh is coming over. Is that alright?

Then the strangest thing happened.

Tyler... smiled.

He realized what had happened and his eyes widened.

He was not supposed to be getting attached to Josh. He was just supposed to be friends with him until he found other people to befriend. He was a placeholder. He was only doing it for Jenna. She had saved him.

Tyler shook his head and replied before he put his car back in reverse.

He could not get attached to Josh. Even as friends.

For the sake of both of them.