Tyler shook his hands splashing the murky water off his fingertips. He let out a sigh of relief and straightened his posture. Wow, that was really embarrassing. Only twenty minutes in and Tyler already managed to embarrass himself. Twice! That was a new record for Tyler. The boy was full of surprises, maybe he should try embarrassing himself even more? That would be so much fun, note the sarcasm.

Tyler let out a low groan and slid down the ceramic tiles. He gripped his hair with his wet fingers and held on to it to calm himself down. Breathe, breathe, he thought to himself, just breathe, Tyler, everything’s gonna be okay, it’s not like you’re sentenced to death every time you mess up. With logic like this, Tyler would’ve been executed the moment he was born. The brunet was surprised that his mother gave him a boring name like Tyler and not “Huge Family Disappointment”.

The boy threw his head back and tried to remember the last time he wasn’t completely useless. He squinted is eyes as he skimmed through his memories but there was nothing. The urge to throw himself out the window kicked in. Tyler stood up and got on his tippy toes to glance out the vertical slab in the wall. The street looked really high up but the boy doubted that he would die, more like fuck up his spine and head and become even bigger burden.

The boy sighed, what was with him and the obsession to throw himself out the window? Maybe because he always tried to find the easiest solution to his problems? Dying would’ve gotten rid of all of his problems, all the bullshit. Tyler shook those thoughts out of his head. He had a pet goldfish at home and no one would’ve looked after it.

“Fucking goldfish…” Tyler muttered under his breath and stood up

He winced at the sound of all his joints cracking at the same time. Tyler’s face said ‘youth’ but his joints screamed ‘sweet release of death’. Tyler grabbed onto his ass that was numb at the time and scrunched up his nose. He just sat on the bathroom floor full of bacteria and poop particles and-

“Hey, you okay?” Tyler saw a feminine figure in the doorway “Josh said to go check on you.”

The girl stood near the door, she stared at the boy with a curious glance. Tyler sighed and turned on the tap to wash his hands again.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Tyler nodded “Why did he sent you to check on me?”

“Well, he was was worried.” Charlie rocked back and forth on her heels

“Worried about what?” Tyler let out a small chuckle “I know how to use the bathroom.”

“No, he was just, um…” Charlie sighed and lifted her head up “You weren’t doing anything to yourself, were you?”

Tyler squinted his eyes oblivious of what Charlie wanted to say. She stared at the boy with concern in her eyes and only after ten awkward seconds of complete silence Tyler finally got it.

“Oh? What? No.” Tyler shook his head “I’m not one of those freaks.”

Charlie’s facial expression shifted in seconds, she looked… Offended?

“Excuse me?” the redhead almost squeaked, her thin eyebrows knitted into a frown “Freaks?”

“What?” Tyler scoffed “What else am I supposed to call them?”

“People.” Charlie’s eyes rapidly filled with tears “Just… People.”

The girls sniffled and quickly exited the bathroom. Tyler didn’t even have a chance to say something back, the girl slammed the door right in his face. Tyler cocked an eyebrow, what the hell did he say wrong? He pushed the door open and walked out of the bathroom completely unprepared for the disgusted and angry stares. Tyler felt his confidence deflate and fly out the window like a balloon. The kinds were glancing at him confused, Frank looked the angriest. He tried standing up but Gerard gently pushed him down and went after Charlie himself. Josh eyes Tyler down curiously as the boy made his way back to his seat.

“As I was saying…” Josh cleared his throat “We are going to begin the charity work on Tuesday, 4pm. Bring rubber gloves and don’t be late.”

With a soft dismissal sign the youngsters rose from their seats and headed for the door. Tyler flashed Frank a soft smile hoping that his expression would soften up but the boy juts shot him an even angrier glance and walked away with a light scoff. Jared walked up to Tyler clearly with something on his mind but then he walked away without even saying a word. Tyler just sighed and lightly shrug his shoulders. He was treated like he was an asshole and Tyler didn’t even know what he did wrong.

The boy rose from his seat band headed for the door but a light cough stopped him. Josh gestured for Tyler to sit back down. Tyler rolled his eyes and plopped on the seat where Frank was sitting earlier. Josh closed his book and stuffed it inti his bag. Tyler watched the man collect the food leftovers and put it into small plastic boxes. The boy swallowed his saliva and wrapped his hands around his growling stomach. My loss, Tyler thought, my own damn fault.

When Josh had collected all of his stuff he slowly approached Tyler and sat in the seat next to him. The man flashed him a friendly smile before loosening his top button on the shirt.

“Listen…” Josh began and Tyler knew that this is not gonna be pretty “Whatever you said to Charlie, make sure you don’t say that twice.”

Tyler stared Josh into his warm chocolate eyes, the man was scary so up close. Not that he was ugly and that made him scary. No, the opposite. Now that Tyler was so close to the man he noticed that Josh was a very handsome young man that Tyler would’ve dated if he wasn’t completely out of his league and a decade older. Actually, Tyler didn’t even know Josh’s age but he guessed he was between 25-30 because rich people tend to look way younger than they were.

“How old are you, Tyler?” Josh questioned

“Turning nineteen in December…” Tyler murmured while looking at the floor because Josh’s glance was just too intense for his liking

“I see.” Josh exhaled “Tyler, you’re an adult and you should know some things by now.”

“Like what?” Tyler muttered under his breath, still not sure if he should look Josh in the eyes or jump out the fucking window because damn, he had never felt so uncomfortable in his life

“First and foremost, you should know that this is a safe space for troubled teens and there are rules that you have to follow.” Josh smiled weakly and reached his hand into his bag, he handed Tyler a piece of paper

“Rules?” Tyler scoffed and snatched the paper out of Josh’s hands “What is this, like fight club or something?”

Josh let out a low chuckle and shook his head. His unruly curls bounced on his head playfully.

“No, Tyler. This is not Fight Club, we don’t condone violence here.”

“Well that sucks.” Tyler chuckled but Josh didn’t find it funny at all

“Listen,” Josh’s voice suddenly deepened making the man appear even more intimidating “You walked in here at your own free will. I know sometimes it is hard but you have to understand that you can’t just say or do whatever you please.”

“Why not?” Tyler cocked and eyebrow “Freedom of speech.”

“Yes, I know what freedom of speech is, Ty.” Josh rolled his eyes “I just want you to understand that words hurt, specific words hurt specific people. Whatever you said to Charlie really upset her, do you feel proud?”

Tyler bit his lip and tried to appear nonchalant. He failed, Josh was looking straight through him. Maybe that mask did hide his shame but it didn’t help Tyler at all. He just appeared like an even bigger asshole to Josh.

“Do you understand?” Josh leaned in, Tyler could feel the scent of the man’s expensive cologne

“Yeah, words hurt.” Tyler murmured and glanced at the piece of paper

Rules: no homophobia, no racism, no sexism, no transphobia, no body shaming.

This is a safe space open for everyone as long as you follow the rules.

“Tyler.” Josh said in a stern, demanding voice that almost made Tyler whimper out loud

The boy lifted his head up and stared at Josh with puppy-like eyes without even realizing. Josh let out another sigh and stood up. Tyler followed the man with his eyes, still making the puppy-stare unconsciously.

“Tyler, we don’t force anyone to do anything here.” Josh flung his backpack over his shoulder “But we do have some rules here. I know that you have some stuff going on but please understand, you’re not the only one going through stuff. We help each other, but in order to receive help you have to help others. “

“Right.” Tyler cleared his throat

“Goodnight, Tyler.” Josh flashed the boy a weak smile before exiting

The lights flickered for a few second before going out leaving Tyler alone, engulfed in total darkness. He guessed that it’s finally time to go home.