Colors // Joshler

// 26. One Of Those People Who Naturally Understood //

The rest of Tyler's day was a pale yellow, partly from it being his birthday, and partly from hanging out with Josh in school and at lunch.

Tyler still didn't entirely know how it had happened, but he had somehow been accepted by the clique. He supposed it was Brendon's fault for dragging him along to McDonald's that first day; once Brendon had acknowleged Tyler's presence in the group, the others had gone along with it.

He only talked with Josh, really, but apparently as long as he was a friend of Josh's, he was a friend of the others too.

School went well enough. Tyler was getting good grades in almost all of his classes. He didn't study a whole lot, but he was one of those people that just naturally understood what he was learning. It just made sense to him.

That afternoon, once school ended, Tyler and Josh walked home together, as they were growing accustomed to doing. They would still take turns asking questions about one another; it helped to start new conversations, especially for Tyler, who wasn't that great at socializing yet.

"What do you normally do for your birthday?" Josh asked as they walked.

Tyler shrugged slightly. "I get gifts in the morning before school, and then I get to choose what we have for dinner."

"That's cool. What are you going to have for dinner tonight?"

"I was thinking about Taco Bell at first, but that's what I had for lunch. So probably pizza or something."

Josh smiled. "I still feel kind of bad about not getting you anything."

Tyler smiled too. "Don't, it's perfectly fine."

Before long, they had arrived at Tyler's house, and bid one another goodbye in their regular fashion, with Tyler waving just before he went inside the house, and Josh giving him a final grin before disappearing down the street.

In the end, Tyler's mom did end up ordering pizza, and that was what the Joseph family ate that night, all sitting together at the dinner table. They rarely ate breakfast or lunch together, even on weekends, but a nightly family meal was mandatory.

"So, how's school going?" Tyler's father asked as they ate. He, like Tyler, wasn't much of a talker. Unless you were talking about court decisions (he was a lawyer) or sports (he enjoyed basketball). Then he'd jump right in. Perhaps tonight, he was trying to start a conversation with his son because it was his birthday.

Tyler took another bite of his pizza. "It's okay."

"I hear they have a good basketball team," Tyler's father went on, and Tyler's heart sank. His brothers were both basketball players in their respective schools, but Tyler had denied his father's frequent pressuring to play the game. He didn't seen the point of basketball; it was all about entertainment, and there was no real, genuine purpose to it. Additionally, Tyler wanted to pursue painting, not sports.

"I guess," was all Tyler said. He couldn't make himself outwardly deny his father's dream for him, even if it was fruitless.

"Have you thought about joining the team?"

Before Tyler's mind could formulate an excuse, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" He quickly got up from the table and left the room.