"Tyler Robert!"

The mentioned had been laying in bed, watching a movie on his laptop, when his dad called his name. It was Thursday and the house was empty when Tyler arrived home so his dad must've just gotten back. "What?" Tyler sighed, annoyance evident. He hadn't been able to find his cigarettes all afternoon and it was bugging the shit out of him. He never brought his pack to school because Josh always let him smoke from the pack in the pink haired's truck on the way to and from school.

"Come here! Now!" He yelled.

Tyler let out an obnoxious groan and rolled out of bed before making his way to the living room. "Yeah?"

It was then that Tyler found where his cigarettes were.

In his dad's hands.

"What are these?" He asked, face bright red from anger. Tyler didn't respond. "Huh?"

"Cigarettes!" Tyler yelled back. His dad wasn't fucking stupid he knew what cigarettes were.

"And why the hell do ya have them?"

"To smoke...?" Tyler replied like it was the most obvious answer.

Chris opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, at a loss for words. He finally got something out a few seconds later. "And why the fuck are ya smokin'?"

"Because I can? Where did you even find them?"

Chris didn't answer his question, instead throwing them down into the coffee table and running a hand through his graying hair. "'M so god damn stupid," he mumbled. "I thought it was the house that smelled like smoke. It was my own damn son."

"Where did you find them?" Tyler repeated, getting angry.

"I looked through your room."

"You raided my shit?"

Chris stopped and looked at him. "Jenna told her parents about what happened at their house on Monday 'nd they told me," he explained. "She said she thought Josh was a bad influence on ya since ya skipped church 'nd lied ta me ta see 'im."

"Oh really?" Tyler scoffed. "She's pissed off because I left so she's attacking my boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend?" Chris's eyes almost popped out of his head. "You two are dating? Oh my God it all makes sense. The failin' classes, the cussin', the skippin' church, the nose piercin', the cigarettes. This is all because you've been hangin' aroun' Josh."

"No it's—" Tyler began but his father cut him off.

"Bullshit, Tyler!" Chris yelled. "Ya didn' act like this before ya met him! He's a bad influence on ya. Those other friends of yours are too."

"No they're—"

"Yes, they are!" Chris put his head in his hands and groaned. "'M such a dumbass," he took his hands off his face. "Your mother smoked, ya remember that? She was addicted as hell 'nd smoked a pack a day. I wanted better for ya than that."

Tyler didn't know what to say. He didn't feel bad. He just didn't know how to respond to that. "Okay, so?" He finally asked, boredom evident in his voice.

"So?" Chris raised his voice. "You're turnin' inta a delinquent and 'm not havin' that. 'M so disappointed in ya, Tyler."

"You're disappointed in me?" Tyler laughed. "You think you have the right to be disappointed in me? You're never fucking home! I've practically raised myself since I was seven years old! The only reason I went with you when you and Mom split was because I couldn't stand anyone else in that house! You're barely a dad to me and I see you two days a week— if lucky! You have no right to say you're disappointed in me when you're not even around enough to know the kind of person I am!"

Tyler was panting after his outburst and he looked up at his dad. His face was bright red and he had the scariest look on his face Tyler's ever seen.

"You're grounded."

"Like I care," Tyler mumbled and began walking off to his room.

"Stop fuckin' walkin' away from me," Chris grabbed his arm and pulled him back in the living room. "'M keepin' these," he gestured to the cigarettes on the coffee table. "I want your phone 'nd your laptop too."

"Whatever."

"You're not allowed aroun' Josh or your other friends either. If I find ya with them 'm pullin' ya out of school. I swear to God I will."

Tyler felt his world stop. "No. You can't."

"The hell I can't!" Chris replied. "That's final. Maybe if ya wouldn' have acted out ya wouldn' have gotten punished," he pushed past Tyler but the brunette was too shocked to move. His dad came back a few moments later with Tyler's phone and laptop. "'M goin' haveta change my whole damn schedule around ta make sure ya actually get on the bus before 'nd after school now 'cause I can' trust my own fuckin' son anymore."

Tyler clenched his hands as his he watched his dad pick up the cigarettes as well. "Yeah well you're a shitty excuse for a father," Tyler spat.

"Keep it goin' you're only hurtin' yaself," Chris replied.

"Fuck you for taking away the only thing that made me happy," Tyler glared at him before storming off to his room and slamming the door behind him angrily.

He crawled into bed and slammed his fist into his pillow. Feeling angry tears fill he vision, he muffled his head into his pillow and started crying. He fucking hated his dad. He was ruining his life and trying to take away the actually good things in it.

Suddenly an idea struck Tyler. If his dad why going to try to monitor his activity during the day, he'd just have to visit Josh at night.

He picked his face up off his pillow and looked at the time on the alarm clock on his nightstand. 7:26. He had eaten dinner before his dad got home and the man usually passed out around ten when he worked day shifts. He didn't have to wait long to sneak out.

Tyler smiled to himself. If his piece of shit dad was going to put obstacles in his way, Tyler was just going to have to get through them.