emotional

three.

-tyler, february 4

im walking home with bailey and her sister stacy.

"i got another boyfriend at school," stacy says while she's skipping.

"what do you mean another?" bailey's laughing, her hair bouncing with each step.

"i mean i had tommy and now it's kingston, it's not hard!"

stacy had found a hopscotch board drawn on the sidewalk with chalk. she hopped on it even though she had no stone to throw.

"tyler, is that you," someone calls from behind. bailey and i turn to look for the voice, yet no one is there.

"maybe it's another tyler," i shrug my shoulders and turn back to where stacy is.

"stacy!!" bailey begins running to her. she's all the way at the end of the long block and seems to have fallen pretty hard. i run after her.
when we get there, there's a man there. he's in a white beanie, a long black coat, grey jeans, black boots, and a mask that you'd see a surgeon wear.

i pick stacy up and bailey assessed her. she's not crying but she looks flustered.

"are you hurt? how did you fall?!"

"it's- it's okay stacy- it was just the sidewalk," then stacy started crying, so i handed her to bailey.

"is she okay," the man asked. i turn to face him, his mask is now down beneath his chin.

"lucas?!"

"yeah, hey tyler," he smiled.

"uhh i think she's okay. probably scared herself more than anything. she's pretty dramatic, but at the same time i will cry if im alone when i stub my toe," we both laugh. me more than him cause i always laugh at my own jokes. im a sad person, aren't i? "oh, how'd your meeting thing with my brother go?"

"i think it went well. he still seems iffy about me. not my working ability, just me. do i seem... rude or anything?" his voice sounds upset but his face remained unchanged. it was hard to tell how i should reply.

"you don't seem rude to me. then again, people say i am rude so maybe i just don't notice it," i chuckle again. it's so damn awkward, kill me now.

"ty, we should get going," bailey calls me over to her and stacy who is now, once again, jumping and fooling around down the sidewalk.

"i should go now-"

"can i see you tonight? like- i don't know, to eat or something," lucas hands me his phone.

"for my number?" i raise the phone slightly as to make it the subject. he nods his head yes.

i type in my number and put my name in as "ty😈" because why the hell not. if there's any way to suggest anything with someone via emojis it's a heart emoji, a devil emoji, or an eggplant emoji. i seem like an in the middle guy, right?

"i really have to get going now, so," i smile and solute as a goodbye. lucas does the same. swiftly, i turn and run to bailey.

"who was that," her voice is suggestive.

"the guy from last night-"

"you're kidding?! omg i thought he was a predator not going to lie. like at first when he ran up to stacy like that but i guess not, y'know. he seems nice now, haha," she takes a nice long breath after that speech, then smiles at me.

"you're not gonna offend me if u don't like him. u already shared your thoughts on him and my readiness for "love" last night."

"he does seem nice though... he did seem off. maybe he was just tired. was he sick? he had a mask on," bailey is watching my facial expressions closely. i pretend to not notice her staring, though. "the strangest part about him to me was how he dressed. why did he seem like he was prepared for a blizzard? this is new york, not alaska. it's 35 degrees aka not exactly snowsuit kind of weather."

she's right. it is strange. i mean, im a little chilly but i could just put my hands in my pockets and be okay.

"he's probably not a new yorker," i try to come up with an excuse. "not everyone is that used to the cold. it's not like florida where there's barely any difference in seasons."

"i'll give you that-"

"hurryyyy uPPP!!!!" stacy is telling from the stairs of their home. it's a right row of houses behind three apartment buildings. there's just enough room for the four person family.

"i'll see you tomorrow, stay safe!"

i begin my short journey home. after living here all my life, i know all the shortcuts to get home quicker. it's not too complicated. i cut through two, not as shady as you'd imagine, alleyways, pop into a dunkin if i wished to on said day, then our building is one block down.

i prefer walking home on days like today. the weather has a crisp and shard coolness to it, yet the cold isn't unbearable. in the heat i feel disgusting with how i sweat and the odors that surround me. you know, the smell of garbage just collecting and baking in the air- ugh.

"good afternoon, tyler," mrs. francis calls from her window on the second floor,"could you bring my mail up for me?"

"of course! be right up."

she used to babysit me when i was younger. i wasn't like, a baby, but without mom and dad i couldn't function yet. ive been getting her mail like this for, well, since i can remember. she said this was a way of repaying her.

i open her mailbox and pull out three envelopes and a magazine. the heat in the building is pumping strong, so i remove my jacket before ascending to the second floor.

i knock on mrs. francis's door. "it's open," she shouts. i let myself in and am immediately attacked by her shorthair cat, richard, which is quite the name for a cat. it's hard to tell whether this cat likes me or not.

"well good afternoon to you as well, richard the fourth!" we both laugh as mrs. francis removes her feline from my shoulders.

"how have you been dear, come in, i have just boiled some water. do you want chamomile?"