Mr. Misty-Eyed | Josh Dun

reality | seven

"We live for the nights decor,
It reveals what we dream of."

. . . . .

My eyelids fluttered slightly as I started to wake from my dreamstate. My entire body tensed, my senses going wild as I heard the creak of the floorboards. Someone was in my room and I was almost too frightened to look.  Maybe if I kept my eyes closed it would just go away.

I sat up slowly and opened my eyes, scanning the empty room as a precaution before I ran my fingers through my messy bedhead. I sucked in a quick breath of air as I heard the floorboards make yet another noise and in an instant I let out a loud, high-pitched yelp as Tyler jumped up into view.

It felt like I was about to have a heart attack as I backed away from him with wide eyes, a plastic Frankenstein's monster mask covering his face. His hands were held up near his head as they wriggled around like tiny talons.

"Boo," he spoke quietly.

"What the hell, Tyler!" I yelled at him and he quickly pulled the mask from his face, looking guilty.

"Sorry," He squeaked out as he stood near the end of my bed. "It's Halloween dude, what did you expect?!"

A glared was evident on my face as I stared up at him, my heart still pounding in my chest. I wasn't a morning person to begin with and this had just made it worse.

"Not to have the crap scared out of me after waking up from a dream that had already done just that," I spat back at him with a harsher tone than I intended.

Tyler jaw clenched tightly as he held his hands behind his back, hiding the mask in the process.

"Sorry," He mumbled again and averted his eyes to the ground.

I stood from the bed before I forced a smile onto my face. As always I felt horrible for making Tyler feel bad, but sometimes I think he forgets that I'm always on high alert. But I knew he was just trying to make it seem as though we were both as normal as everyone else in the world.

"It's okay, Ty. Don't worry about it." I sighed after a moment of silence.

"Was the dream really bad last night?" He followed after me as I made my way toward the bathroom.

"They're all bad, Tyler," I said before I shut the door in his face.

It wasn't long after that I found myself perched up on the counter next to the stove with a mug of coffee in my hands. Jenna stood next me as she poured pancake batter onto a hot pan. My eyes trailed after Tyler as he pranced through the kitchen, setting little Halloween ornaments around the house as pointless decorations.

"You should come with us tonight, Josh." Jenna nudged my knee with her elbow to get my attention, her bright blue eyes sparkling as she tried to persuade me.

I shook my head as I took another sip of coffee. "Parties aren't really my thing."

She huffed, blowing her short blonde bangs up off her forehead. "I know, but it could be fun to just get out of the house, you know?"

I grunted in response, ending the conversation as quickly as it started. It was true what I had said, parties really weren't what I liked to do. There were always too many people crowded into a hot, tiny space and everyone would be drunk, only heightening my anxiety.

"Josh is going to do what he always does on Halloween," Tyler spoke up as he reappeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "He going to sit around watching scary movies and eating the candy he should be passing out to trick-or-treaters."