BE H I ND MY E YE L I DS • J OS H LE R

O N E

out of all the places to be on that chilly november afternoon, tyler joseph had to be in front of the cafeteria when he bumped into michael clifford and spilt his lunch tray on him. this was the first time in weeks he had eaten at school in fear of this scenario happening, and now his worst fears were coming to life.

the chunky beef stew stuck to michael's uniform and sunk beneath the fabric onto his skin. it was scolding hot.

maybe it wouldn't and shouldn't have been a big deal, but this is the second time he's 'messed' with the small group of friends, luke, calum, ashton, and the most intimidating of them all, michael.

michael glared at tyler and smiled. tyler's lip trembled as he tried to whimper out some form of an apology, quickly.

"o-oh m-my g-g-go- i-i'm i'm s-so s-sorr-"

"shut the fuck, up." michael laughed, dropping his book bag onto the floor. "this was my favorite shirt too you little shit." this statement literally meant nothing, all the uniforms at the school were the same, a dim baby blue colored dress shirts with tan khakis that hang loosely around the ankles. but even with tyler knowing the boy had another 4 shirts at home, it didn't help the anxiety growing in his chest at the thought of him showing up.

"i-i'll b-buy y-y-you a n-n-" michael cut his sentence short by shoving him into a lunch table, nearly full of students. tyler fell into them, the entire back of him getting covered in food from the lunch trays in the process. the beef stew turned his sensitive porcelain red. mashed potatoes stuck to his hair, and corn chunks littered his left arm.

michael marched over to him, grabbing tyler by the collar of his shirt, causing the students at the table to sprint away, avoiding the inevitable.

in that moment, with mashed potatoes globes in his hair, tyler couldn't see anything except for the color red.

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"again tyler?!" kelly joseph shouted while grabbing hold of her son's folded shirts and shoving it harshly into a box labeled 'tylers room'.

the entire joseph family has been moving nonstop it almost seemed all because tyler robert joseph was different. different would be a bit of an understatement.

"i-i-it wasn't my fault mom, i-i'm sorry." tyler sheepishly rubbed his arm up and down and stared at the ground. michael had punched tyler on his right cheek, busting his lip in the process. there was bruising forming on his back from being thrown onto the table.

if you thought tyler was bad, you should've seen the other guy.

"i know it wasn't your fault, i'm just frustrated." mrs. joseph gently set the next piece of clothing down and turned to face tyler. "we're lucky michael's parents aren't going to press charges."

tyler nervously bit at his still black fingernails. "they aren't?"

"no, his parents actually understood the situation, his cousin has a similar reaction as you. and they even admitted to michael egging situations like that on, he's just an overall trouble maker."

"so why are we moving if it's all okay?" zack frowned walking into the room. "why should we have to keep moving when he keeps screwing up?" zack gestured to tyler.

"yeah," madison said popping her head out from behind her older brother. "i really liked this school, and i made a bunch of friends this year."

tears started to weld up in tyler's eyes his finger tips and hands began to turn that despicable black. "it's not my fault." he said a little rougher than intended.

zack laughed to himself harshly. "yeah, I forgot, it's that screwball in your head-"

"zack!" their mother shouted. all three of the children turned to see their mom. "you have no say on this matter, whatsoever. tyler is still expelled, we're still moving."

zack and maddy sighed. zack glared at tyler causing the all to familiar tightness in his chest to grow.

"i hate you." zack spat venomously at his older brother. he marched out leaving maddy to cry by herself in the door way.

the guilt was eating tyler alive. his mother, still trying to process that zack had said that to tyler, heard her son's jagged breaths.

"ty baby, don't cry." his mother cooed. tyler jutted his bottom lip out and let the tears stream down his face. despite him being 17, he never once felt shame in crying in front of his mother, no matter what his peers would tell.

"mama, i'm sorry for being born." tyler whispered between his partially separated lips.

"ty.... no baby come here."

"no." tyler said sternly through the tears. he didn't want his mom to see him. tyler was already afraid of himself and hated himself, so when other people saw him it destroyed his self esteem even more.

"ty, come here, as much as i can't stand him sometimes, he's my son too. come here ty guy." although nearly ever fiber in his body told him to get away from her and stay by himself, when she called him ty guy be couldn't resist.

he turned and melted into his mom's hug. he continued to cry as his mother whispered supportive calming words into his ear. his neck was nearly all black now, and the tone had reached up from his finger tips to his elbows. he slowly opened his eyes and the crying died down.

instead of the brunette's typical dark brown eyes, it was now a piercing red. a shaky breath escaped his lips.

"sh... it's okay." his mother comforted. "it's okay blurryface."

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this is a just write it challenge, in which i need to complete this entire story in less than 30 days. please don't be afraid to comment and tell me what you think, and please share it with friends~ 😛