glory days ↣ joshler ✓

37. Disappointment

"Joshua William Dun!"

The mentioned's head shot up from where it was looking at his phone as soon as he heard his father yell his name. He knew what he was in trouble for. He had predicted this and knew it was coming. Josh simply sighed and got out of bed before exiting his room and heading downstairs.

"Yeah?" He asked.

He then got a good look at his father. The older man's face was a bright red and the vein in his neck was popping out. If Bill Dun was a cartoon character he would have steam coming out of his ears at that very moment. His father's eyes darted up to Josh's head and his anger only amplified. "What did you do to your sister's hair?" He roared. Josh didn't flinch. He was used to this.

"I dyed it," he simply replied.

"I know that!" Bill yelled. "I specifically told her no and you were there, Josh! And you dyed your hair again? You're lucky your mom let you keep it when it was red because I woulda made you dye it back to brown!"

"What's all the commotion?" Laura walked in, a tired look on her face. It was a little after five and Bill had just gotten home from work, seeing his daughter's blue tipped hair. Josh knew his mom hasn't seen Ashley's hair because she had hung out with her friends all day, coming home just before her dad did and slipping into her room. He must have caught her.

Despite how late in the day it was, Josh could tell his mom was tired of always coming to his rescue. He decided she wasn't going to do that this time.

"Dad's pissed because I dyed Ashley's tips blue last night when you two were gone."

Laura just sighed as his dad yelled at him about language. "Bill..." she began.

"No, Mom," Josh told her. "You don't have to cover for me. You always do," he turned to he father. "Why is it a such a big deal if she dyes the tips of her hair? Why is it such a big deal if I dye my hair? It's something we want to do to make us happy!"

"It makes you look—"

"What? Ridiculous? Like a hooligan? No one cares about that stuff except you! Or at least the people I want in my life don't care!"

Bill wasn't having it, ignoring the last part of what Josh said. "We're gonna have to cut her hair and she's going to look like a dyke."

"Excuse me?" Josh was stunned. "Seriously? Her hair passes her shoulders you'd only have to cut off an inch! And just because someone has short hair doesn't even mean they're a fucking lesbian!" He stressed, getting worked up. "Even if she was gay wouldn't you love her the same? Wouldn't she still be your daughter? What if Abbie was gay? Or Jordan? I'm literally dating Tyler and y'know what I don't really care what the fuck you think of it because I'm already a disappointment to you anyway! I could have straight As and be the quarterback of my football team and be dating the head cheerleader and be going to some Ivy League school for business but it would never be fucking enough for you!

"Sure I'm not going to college right now and I'm dating a boy and I have a nose piercing and bright ass hair and a tattoo but that's just who I am! I've dealt with you not accepting me for eighteen fucking years and I'm sick of it! I'm never going to be your idea of perfect and based on where your other children are in life right now neither are they! They're happy and it's not okay for you to treat any of us like shit because we're not a model citizen of Dickland!"

By the time Josh was finished, he was panting and out of breath. His face felt hot and knew it was as red as his dad's was earlier. Dad. That word felt foreign to him. Dad's don't treat their kids like this.

"Go ahead and fucking ground me for my language or my outburst or my back-talking or my hair or whatever else you'd like to pull out of your ass! I'm going back to my room," he told him before walking away and climbing the steps again. He entered his room and slammed the door angrily.

Josh didn't know what to do. He wasn't an angry person. He didn't get angry very often. He wanted to put his fist through his wall but he knew that wouldn't help anything and it would just make everything worse.

Decided to just sit on his bed, he clenched his hands and took a deep breath. Suddenly he heard his door open and his head whipped around, thinking it was his dad. If it was his dad things would not be good. Instead, he saw it was Ashley and his face softened when he saw she was crying.

"Josh?" She sniffled. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, why are you crying?" He asked in a gentle voice, not answering her question.

"I'm just really sorry he's our dad," she stood in the doorway still. "I heard all of that and I'm sorry you feel like that. It's not fair."

"I'm okay, Ash," he held his arms out and she walked fully into the room, shutting the door behind herself. When she reached Josh, her old brother wrapped her into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded against his chest. "I want you to know that even if he's not proud of you, we are. I am and Abbie, Jordan, Mom, Tyler, and all your other friends. We love you."

"I love you guys too," he kissed her forehead.

They sat like that for a few minutes before Ashley began to pull away. "I'll leave you alone now," she stood up with a lighthearted laugh. "I really do love you," she looked at him one last time. "I'm glad you're staying here for a little bit. It means I get to keep one of my older brothers for awhile longer."

"I'm glad too," Josh smiled at her as he watched her walk out. He stood up and locked his door behind her and sat back done on his bed, pulling his phone out.

He opened the messaging app and began composing a text to Tyler, asking if he had gotten the key to his cabin.

Josh really did not want to stay at his house after all the shit that just went down.