We all have our masks [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Fourteen: Another brick in the wall

Why the hell was it so cold in Ohio? The day before, Lena was running through town wearing only a tank top and shorts, but this morning was so different. It was like the season had changed overnight, from summer to winter in the blink of an eye. The freezing wind was blowing hard and Lena mentally grounded herself for not taking the time to blow-dry her hair, still damp from the early shower. Pulling her hood up, she took her phone out from her pocket to check the time. 6:05 am. The boys were late.

She had accepted their offer to join them on tour, and she couldn't be more happy with the idea that she would have actual stuff to do for the next month, keeping her mind off the dark thoughts that kept crawling inside her head. Although she had to admit, she did pretty good for the past week or so. The text that Tyler had sent her that night had made her feel... something. The boy was so mysterious, she still wasn't sure how she felt about him, but he seemed to care. Sometimes. In his good phases. But that was enough, for now.

Lena had replied that she would "think about it", although she was almost sure that she would say yes. She didn't want to seem too clingy already, especially since Tyler had the weird tendency to close up and brush her off whenever he felt like it. She didn't want to scare him away. Since then, she had picked up a little routine: she would try waking up at fixed hours in the morning and go for a run right away. She needed to be in shape for a tour, after all. Then, she would eat and catch up on friends through the internet before going away to discover Columbus. And for someone who didn't like routine, Lena felt better in this one than she had ever felt. 

As impatience, combined with the low temperatures of this typical Ohioan morning, grew on her, she started typing on her phone.

"Where are you guys? I'm freezing my ass off!"

After giving it some thought, she deleted the last three words, selected Tyler's name and hit the send button. As the message went through, her eyes got caught in the last texts Tyler and her had exchanged and she smiled, reminiscing their conversation.

"I hereby accept the offer. Thank you, Tyler."

"Ok."

Ugh. Infuriated by Tyler's seeming lack of emotions and empathy, Lena had almost thrown her phone away. He was starting to drive her crazy. She never knew what to expect from him, and she didn't really like the fact that he could be such a doll, then turn into a basic bitch so fast. He was worse than a girl on her period. She would have snapped at him if it weren't for the Skype call that caught her off guards. 

It was Jey. Lena knew perfectly well that any conversation with him could make her or break her, and she didn't have a lot of hope considering how the last ones went. But she picked up anyway. Maybe he was just trying to be nice? Maybe he would just tell her about his new girlfriend? Maybe he just wanted to make sure she was ok? Her hopes completely disappeared as soon as he started talking, though. He did wanted to tell her about his new girlfriend, but not in a nice way. And as Lena couldn't help the sadness from showing up on her features, Jey completely destroyed her with his most cutting weapon: words. 

He had said many things that she couldn't even remember. The only thing she knew, when the call was over, was that she deserved it. She was the one who broke his heart, after all. And she deserved every bit of bitterness and hate thrown at her. But it hurt nonetheless, and with tears flowing down her cheeks, Lena did anything she could to let it all out. She tweeted. "He drives me crazy, and I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing". She knew Jey wasn't following her anyway. 

A few minutes later, as she was still trying to get a hold of herself, her phone buzzed. The name on the screen made her heart drop. Why the hell would Tyler call her? Maybe he just pocket dialed. She shrugged, picking up anyway.