Tyler was at his locker, taking his math book out when he heard three people approach him. "Hey," a voice said, a smile in it. He looked over and saw Josh, Brendon, and Ashley, the first leaning against the locker next to him. However, after he noticed their presence, he then noticed the piece of metal in Josh's nose.

"You got your nose pierced?" Tyler gasped softly. "Is that why you two weren't at lunch and Josh wasn't in art yesterday?"

"Partially. I was also takin' a nap," Josh laughed ever so slightly.

"It looks good," Tyler said without thinking. He realized his words and looked down, a blush coating his cheeks. He didn't want to think about the fact that Josh was really really attractive— even before he pierced his nose.

"Thanks," Josh replied. Tyler looked back up and watched Josh send him a wink. His face flushed pink again and he turned back to look into his locker. "We came over ta tell ya we were skippin' and was wonderin' if ya wanted ta come with."

Tyler looked back, his eyes wide. He had never ever skipped class before. Maybe this really was the wrong crowd to be hanging around.

"You don' have ta," Brendon cut in. "We was jus' goin' invite you jus' in case."

"I have a test in math I can't miss. Thanks though," he lied. He didn't have a test. Hell, he was two sections ahead of his class because he taught them to himself out of the book. He had nothing else to do while he was home alone and his dad was out at work. The thought of his dad at work reminded him of something. "Hey did you hear about that woman who went missing?"

"No," Josh spoke, looking Tyler in the eye. "What happened?"

"This woman who was a prostitute went missing the other night. Her boyfriend reported her missing. He said she didn't come home from work that night. He also said she disappeared a lot so I don't think anyone is going to read too much into it," he shrugged.

"Man, that blows," Ashley cut in, looking sincere. "As a fellow whore, I felt that," she giggled making Tyler laugh as well.

"You're ridiculous," Brendon looked at her, laughing as well.

"Mhm," she replied with a smile. "Oh, by the way," she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out four Dum Dum suckers. "I have presents."

"This is the shittiest present I've ever received," Josh told her as he grabbed the grape one from her.

"Ditto," Brendon agreed, taking the bubblegum one.

"Want one?" Ashley held out a cotton candy and root beer to Tyler.

He smiled and took the cotton candy one. "Thanks, Ashley."

"You're welcome!" She grinned. "See? Why can't y'all be like Ty? He's nice ta me."

"It's cause he's a nice kid," Brendon cut in. "He doesn't realize how horrible ya are."

"Oh fuck off," Ashley laughed, opening her own sucker and popping the candy into her mouth.

Tyler just shook his head with a soft smile on his face.

The warning bell rang letting the students know they had five minutes before class started. Josh looked over at Tyler one last time. "Ya sure ya don' wanna tag along?"

"I'm sure. Thanks though."

"Of course," he nodded. "We'll probably be back by lunch so ya don' gotta be here alone for that or art. Bye, Ty."

Tyler couldn't help but think about the way his heart fluttered when Josh said 'Ty' in the slight accent he had.

"Bye, guys," he gave a small smile as they walked away.

Although these weren't the people he usually hung out with and although they were flawed, he was glad to have them. He had a feeling they would really impact his life.

---

Tyler sat in bed, reading the final chapter of Animal Farm. His class was only on chapter three but he had read ahead since he had nothing else better to do. His dad was at work and he already made himself some ramen noodles for dinner. It was only eight and he wasn't tired yet so he figured he'd kill some time.

He was on page 107 when he saw his phone light up, indicating he was receiving a call. His eyes caught the name 'Brendon' and he picked up his phone. He answered the call, confused. "Hello?"

"Ty-guy!"

Tyler laughed into the phone. "Hi, Brendon."

He heard distant laughing on the other side of the call. "Who are ya callin'?" A voice asked and Tyler recognized it as Josh's. He tried to ignore the way his heart sped up and his cheeks flushed. He couldn't develop a crush on Josh. No way.

"Who the hell do ya think? I just fuckin' said his name," Brendon scoffed. "Ty? Ya there?"

"Yeah," the mentioned replied, his eyes scanning the rest of the sentence he was on.

"Since ya bailed on us earlier we was wonderin' if ya wanted to come over 'nd hang with us at Dallon's house."

Tyler was about to ask who Brendon was talking about but quickly remembered that Brendon was currently dating his math teacher. His math teacher.

That let off so many red flags in Tyler's head and he took note that what Brendon was doing was illegal. And his own father was a cop. Did that mean he was in on it now too?

But then he also thought about seeing Josh again. He'd be able to look at his hot new nose stud again and have conversations with him and fantasize about—

Tyler blinked. No matter how much he wanted to see Josh, he took into account all the things that made this impractical. "Um. I'm gonna pass. It's a school night and I have to get up earlier than usual tomorrow," he explained.

He heard Brendon sigh ever so slightly. "Alright man, you're missin' out. We'll see ya in art tomorrow. Bye."

Tyler frowned. "Bye," he sighed as well and ended the call.

The brunette covered his face and let out a groan. He didn't want to be the goody two shoes that didn't ever do anything fun but he was always so used to being such a boring kid that he didn't know how to have fun. And so far all the things his new friends had proposed were things that would get him in trouble.

Tyler finished reading Animal Farm before putting all his things in his bag and setting it by his door. He quickly changed into pajamas before crawling into bed. He still wasn't too tired so he busied himself with watching Netflix on his phone until he felt his eyes start to drop.

Once he ended up trying to fall asleep, he attempted to keep his mind blank in hopes he'd pass out faster. However, he couldn't keep the thought of finally fitting in with a group of people and the idea made his heart swell up with happiness. Maybe he would have to change a few things up to be more like them. It didn't matter though. He had made some friends at last and keeping those friends was the boy's new top priority.