chuck e. cheese ; joshler [✔️]

stupid for you

the boy stood there grasping onto the arm of the girl next to him whose hair was a bright shade of blue. he was wearing an oversized white sweater that hung low on his shoulders and a short lilac tennis skirt. josh had seen and done a lot of weird things during his time working here but hosting a birthday party for a 16 year old was at the top of the list. he knew he had no choice but to be kind because he couldn't afford to lose this job.

"well what's your name birthday boy?" josh chirped, leaning down to match the short boy's height. he brought his sweater covered hands up to his face and giggled loudly into them. josh almost found it cute. almost.

"he's really shy, don't take it personally if he doesn't respond. he's tyler and i'm ashley," the girl with the blue hair explained, a toothy grin etched onto her features.

"nice to meet you tyler and ashley. i'm josh and i'll be hosting your party today! how old are you turning?"

"he's turning 16," ashley stated matter of factly.

"wow 16! i remember being 16, it's a good age," josh replied. he was proud of himself for putting on such a believable act despite wanting nothing more than to walk away at that very moment.

for the first time since tyler walked into the building he looked up and made eye contact with josh, turning bright red after finally seeing how attractive the worker was. he whispered something to ashley and the two giggled, josh standing there confused as to what was going on.

"he wants to know how old you are," she spoke for him.

"oh, i'm 21." josh shot the two an awkward smile and tyler's giggles increased.

after explaining the rules the two of them ran off to the games hand in hand. josh walked over to tyler's parents and siblings, smiling as brightly as he could.

"thank you so much for treating tyler normally. he doesn't fully understand but so many people look down on him and act as if they're so much better. ashley is his only friend, everyone else at school bullies him for how he dresses and acts and because of his sexuality. chris and i are so grateful that you aren't treating him like everyone else does" his mom said and josh felt extremely guilty for how he judged tyler. he had just never seen a male in traditionally female clothing and it kind of surprised him. josh was also surprised because a 16 year old was having a party at chuck e. cheese, that was a little weird to him.

"no problem ma'am, i'm here to make your son's birthday special" he said sincerely, partially because he was getting paid to do so and partially because he really did mean it after seing tyler's mom genuinely happy that josh was being kind.

🍼🖍🍼

josh carefully balanced tyler's cake in his hands, placing it on the table in front of the birthday boy. ashley held her hands over his eyes so he couldn't see what was going on. josh put 17 candles around the edges of the cake, one for each year he's been alive and one for good luck. he lit the candles and nodded for ashley to remove her hands from over his eyes. tyler let out the biggest gasp and brought his hands up to clutch over his mouth.

they all sang happy birthday to tyler and clapped happily as he blew out the candles using five or six breaths.

"what'd you wish for tyler?" josh questioned, hoping he would answer for himself. he still hadn't heard tyler's voice because every time he wanted to say something it was whispered to ashley so she could say it for him.

"you can speak, it's okay ty," his mom comforted. he nodded warily before looking to his lap, picking at a few loose strings on his sweater.

"i-i wished for a-another fr-friend," tyler stuttered and josh felt his heart breaking with each word that came out of his mouth.

"do you have a phone tyler?" josh asked to which tyler nodded. josh grabbed one of the crayons on the table and ripped a piece of the paper table mat off before writing his number on it and handing it to tyler.
"i'll be your friend tyler, just text me okay?"

tyler pulled his rose gold iphone out of his pocket and unlocked it, opening up the messages app and typing josh's number into it. he texted josh even though they were sitting right next to each other, giggling as if it were the funniest thing.

unknown number: hi joshy

josh: hi baby boy