teeth ↣ joshler ✓

19. Time

Tyler was all for community service and donating.

Except...

For when he pulled into the school parking lot and was reminded of the blood drive going on at their school today.

He parked in his usual parking area (spot was almost impossible) and saw the sign by the front of the school and his face metaphorically paled.

He grabbed his phone and called Jenna. She answered on the first ring. "Don't freak out."

"Jenna! How am I not supposed to freak out?" He stressed. "There's a fucking blood drive! I forgot about it!"

He felt his throat tighten and if he had a heartbeat it definitely would have quickened. Could vampires have panic attacks still? Tyler didn't know but he sure as hell was about to find out.

"Tyler," Jenna tried. She could probably tell he was going to start hyperventilating. "Tyler," no response. "Tyler! Calm down!"

"Okay," he replied in a small voice, his head on the top of the steering wheel. He was going to lose it. He was going to kill someone. He couldn't handle it. He had only been the way he was for five months. He was weak. He was supposed to remember not to come to school today. He just wanted to see Josh. Josh! What if he hurt Josh? What if Josh saw him do something? What if—

"Tyler, stop overthinking."

"How did you—"

"Because I know you," she replied. "I want you to get out of your car, walk inside the school, and head straight to my mom's classroom. She has a meeting this morning and is letting me chill in here."

"I don't think I can walk in by myself," he admitted. If he tried hard enough he could already focus on what he could smell. Any closer to the building than he was would for sure set him off.

"Do you need me to come meet you?"

Tyler was about to say yes but he paused. Jenna was right. He had more control than he thought. Maybe he was just getting confident again but at some point Jenna wouldn't be there for him every waking moment. He had to learn to grow on his own. "No," he replied but his voice was still shaky. "No. I can do it. I have to learn to control it eventually."

He could almost see Jenna beaming. "I'm proud of you Ty," she spoke sincerely. "The lights are off and the door's locked so just knock when you get here. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll be there soon."

He hung up and set his phone in his pocket. He grabbed his bag and as soon as he got out, the smell intensified. He couldn't imagine how it would be when he walked closer to the school.

He knew they were already doing appointments. School started at 8:30 and it was only 7:45 but they started taking appointments at seven.

Tyler took a deep breath and kept his head down as he walked towards the school. He repeated the mantra Jenna always told him when he went into overdrive in his head.

He thought everything was going to be fine until he entered the school. The gym was only a few doors down from the entrance he used everyday. The gym was where they were doing the blood drive. The smell was so intense Tyler couldn't focus on anything else. He wanted to go in there and rip—

Tyler's eyes widened when he felt his jaw start to shift slightly. He kept his head towards the ground as he speed walked towards the math classrooms.

Luckily, no one tried to speak to him. Hopefully he looked in distress.

Tyler kept his mouth clenched, because he knew his teeth were out, as he knocked on Mrs. Black's door. It opened a second later and as soon as it did he hurried inside and shut the door, relocking it.

He felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he collapsed into them, tears filling his eyes. He let out a sob against Jenna's shoulder. This was killing him.

"I'm so proud of you," she spoke soothingly as he gently ran her manicured fingers through his hair. "I'm so, so proud of you."

"Jenna I can't handle this. I shouldn't have to. I'm supposed to be a normal teenager. The only good thing that came out of this was meeting you."

Jenna pulled back and wiped the tears under Tyler's eyes with her finger. She gave him a sad smile. "I know, babe. I know. But you're doing better than I did. I wouldn't have been able to do that five months into being turned. Hell, I struggled coming into school today. I had to ground myself."

"You did?" He sniffled, not caring that his fangs were still out or that his eyes were probably bright red as his body tried to get used to the new environment.

She nodded. "Yeah. That's why I snuck off to the truck and grabbed these," she walked over behind her mom's desk, where she probably had been sitting, and pulled out two bags from the drive.

Tyler's eyes widened. "Jenna! You can't do that! What the fuck? What kind of world am I living in?"

She shrugged. "Better than taking it straight from the person. Besides, they already had a few in there from the earlier appointments. They probably won't even notice these are gone."

"Jenna..."

"They're both O positive it's fine it's not like it's rare."

"How do you know—"

He cut himself off when he realized there was a straw stuck in one of them. Like a fucking Capri Sun. Tyler was mortified.

Jenna thrusted it towards him. He let his fangs retract as he brought the straw to his mouth and sipped. Tasted like O positive. "Yeah, okay."

"Plus the bags are labeled," she winked. She sat back down under her mom's desk and patted the spot next to her. She stuck a straw in the other bag and handed it to Tyler.

Although he felt like he was losing his mind at the scene in front of him, he drank the substance anyway. It help him make it through the day. "Aw, it's warm still too," he frowned, hating that it tasted like the best thing ever to him.

"It's great," Jenna grinned. "C'mon, Ty. This is just something you gotta get used to. I didn't ask to be like this either. But doing this is better than going and killing someone sitting out there. It's just another thing you have to do to keep yourself in check."

Tyler sighed. "I know."

"Now enough about our sadness..." she trailed off. "Are you excited to see Josh today?"

The name alone brought a smile to Tyler's face. A genuine smile. "If I don't freak out then yes, I'm excited."

Jenna was the only person he's told about him and Josh. He wasn't close enough with his parents for them to know he was gay let alone that he had a boyfriend. And he didn't really have any other true friends other than Jenna.

But as soon as he told her, she was so excited for him that it made his heart full. Dating Josh was normal. It was something that made him feel like a normal teenager.

And the stunt he pulled on Halloween let him sort of gauge Josh's potential response if he ever found out. Maybe, just maybe, Josh wouldn't hate him. Maybe Tyler could tell him if things worked out.

"I really am happy for you, Ty," she told him. "You deserve to be happy. And Josh is a great guy."

"I'm trying, y'know, to be happy. Josh helps. And you help too. I just hope things get better."

"They will," Jenna confirmed. "I was in your same place four years ago. I think it just takes time and the people you surround yourself with."

"Yeah," he smiled at her. "I think so too."