*Tyler's POV*

"I don't get why you can't just blow it off, this is the last party of the summer, Ty. Do you really think you can afford to miss it?" I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder awkwardly, trying to multi-task and straighten my hair as I talked to him. I cussed under my breath, feeling the hot metal come into contact with my skin. I was beginning to get really frustrated with it, but I couldn't just give up like I normally did. I had to look good today. I sighed aloud, realizing I still hadn't replied to my zany best friend.

"Afford to? Marcus, do you have any idea how irrelevant your little junior parties are? I've been to like thirteen college parties this summer. I've hooked up with sorority chicks! And you think missing that mess is going to affect something?" I snapped, vaguely aware that I may be being a bit too harsh on him. It's not like you could blame me though, he hadn't shut-up about this party since they planned it two weeks ago. Originally I had planned to go, before my 'family reunion' came up suddenly.

"Okay, fine, it's not that big of a deal, but it's still better than that family junk, isn't it?" I let out an exasperated huff, setting my straightener down so I could hold the phone properly.

"Family 'junk'? What if my grandmother dies before I get to see her next just because I ditched for some lame party? Do you think I could ever forgive myself for that?"

"Well, no, I guess-"

"You guess? Honestly, Marcus, you can be such a bonehead sometimes. Call me tomorrow, leave me in peace for the rest of the night, please." I snapped, ending the call immediately before he even got the chance to respond. Now that I had two free hands it was a lot easier to style my hair. I ran some gel through it, messing around until I was completely satisfied with my blonde quiff. I'd been thinking about dying it a lot lately, but I was also very nervous. The big bad quarterback is not taken nearly as serious when he has purple hair, or at least that was what Caspar had chastised me with when I mentioned it. 

I glanced in the mirror one last time, taking a deep breath before turning on my heel and walking out of the bathroom. I could hear the scratchy radio playing quietly in the other room, though the song wasn't familiar. Our house was a single story flat, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. It was small, in a bad neighborhood, and our landlord was a convicted felon. Strangely enough, it was an improvement from the last house we'd lived in.

I strolled into the kitchen, swinging my hips slightly as I located some breakfast/dinner. This whole getting up before noon thing wasn't what I'd grown accustomed to over the summer, but I wanted to be certain I got up on time today. Aside from trying to get back into the habit, I also had something important to do. 

My very first job interview. 

I was both overwhelmingly excited and nervous. I hadn't told a single soul, for multiple reasons. My mother, would either get extremely excited then be disappointed if I didn't get it, or she'd lecture me about enjoying my youth while I still had it and that she could take care of things on her own. My friends, were the very reason I hadn't gotten a job before now. They'd never let me live it down, calling me a momma's boy or whipped. Except they wouldn't find out even if I did get the job, that was the beauty of this place. It wasn't even in the town where everyone went to hangout. It was some convenience store that hardly anyone went to anymore, located in the middle of one of the better neighborhoods around. It'd be easy work, with no risk of any of my friends finding their way in. It was a dream come true. Granted I actually got the job, that is. 

I'd been wanting a job since my fifteenth birthday, actually probably even sooner than that. I'd been listening to my mother worry and stress over money my entire life, the thought that I might be able to help her with it was almost too perfect to handle. My dad had not shared my people-pleaser attitude though, considering he didn't think twice about walking out the second things got hard. And by things getting hard, I mean the second Mom found out she was pregnant with me. I didn't mind anymore though, I'd long ago gotten over any sour feelings toward him. From what I heard, he wasn't someone I wanted in my life anyway. 

I sat down at the table, never taking my eyes off the clock hanging above the fridge. I couldn't be even a second late for this. I was late for school nearly every day, but that was different. I wasn't sure how exactly, it just was. I tapped my nails against the table impatiently for a few minutes before I had a bright idea. I couldn't be late, but nobody said anything about being early! 

I ran to the door, downing the last of my coffee on the way. I was in a rush, not even bothering to make sure my shoes matched my outfit before shoving my feet into them and stomping outside. I hopped into my car as gracefully as I could manage, checking my hair yet again in the pull-down mirror. Let's just hope the old thing starts today. I turned the key, letting out a content sigh when the engine sputtered to life. I guess luck was on my side today! 

Fifteen minutes later I was standing outside of a mildly decrepit looking building with a huge grin on my face. I loved it already! There were no cars in the parking lot, despite it being the just-out-of-church rush hour, which could only mean one thing; this place wasn't very busy. Which was exactly what I wanted. Not just because I was lazy and it meant less work, but because it meant I could be myself more and not worry about anyone reporting back to my peers. I didn't have to worry about what people thought of me for once, I was just that kid no one knew that stood behind a counter. I could be whoever I wanted, though I already knew my choice. I was going to be Tyler Oakley. The real Tyler, the one that feels sick to his stomach when he watches his friends push kids in the hall and feels like vomiting every time they pressure him into drinking. The one that'd honestly rather sit at home watching America's Next Top Model re-runs than go out partying with 'hot girls'. Oh, yeah, also the one that didn't find 'hot girls' hot at all. 

"What are you staring at?" I jumped, spinning around to see a young girl standing behind me with a confused expression. I bit my lip, realizing I'd been staring at the building with a dazed expression for nearly five minutes now. Wow, way to act normal. Apparently the real Tyler is also socially awkward and can't go ten minutes without embarrassing himself. 

"The sign needs fixing." I mumbled awkwardly, heading into the store before her mother walked over and asked what I was doing talking to her daughter. That was the last thing I needed to happen outside of my possible future employer's building. I marched inside with a determined grin, heading straight to the cash register.

"Hello, I'm Tyler. I'm here about the job?" I said brightly, using my most professional tone. The older man raised a single critiquing eyebrow at me, before nodding to the left.

"Oh yeah, the mop's over there."

"The, uh, the mop?" I chuckled nervously, quickly becoming rather flustered. This wasn't how I thought it would go. Where was the serious man asking me job-related questions? I guess I should have expected something weird though, considering I was getting a job at the least popular store in town. 

"Yeah, that sponge-like thing attached to a rod? You use it to clean the floor?" I had to seriously resist the urge to sass him back for his annoying sarcasm, legitimately biting down on my tongue to keep from speaking. 

"What about my interview?" I said through clenched teeth, trying to keep my face as neutral as my tone.

"Do you want the job?"

"Well, obviously."

"Great, you're hired. Now get mopping." He demanded, making a sweeping movement with his hand. I stared at him incredulously for a moment, my jaw unhinging just slightly. Was he serious? Great, my boss is an asshole. But on the upside, I do have a boss, which means I have a job. I gave a huge smile of excitement, disregarding him as I listened and went to retrieve the mop bucket. I grabbed it happily, swabbing it across the floor immediately. 

"Tyler?"

"Yes?" I answered, turning around to face him with the mop still in my hands. He had a big jolly smile on, resembling a beardless Santa more than anyone I'd ever seen in my life. 

"I'm not actually that much of an asshole, it's my form of an interview. It's shorter, and says a lot more about a person's character than you would think... You passed, in case you were wondering." He was grinning from ear-to-ear now and it took my a while to realize it was due to my dumbstruck face. I closed my mouth, giving a weak nod.

"Oh."

"You might as well finish that though, unless you have any undying questions about the job." I just shook my head slowly, still a little phased by the strange exchange. Just then a customer approached the counter, an older woman with arms full of cat food, likely someone who couldn't be bothered to interact with the rest of society in town. It was fun guessing why people were choosing to come to this store in the middle of nowhere instead of the actual town. Was it really just a matter of saving a few minutes or would all the customers be anti-social weirdos? I wasn't sure yet, but I couldn't wait to find out. 

An hour later and I was sitting behind the counter with Bruce. As it turns out he was the polar opposite from the man he'd pretended to be when I first met him. He was the most chill and jolly person I'd ever met. As if his constant chortles of laughter wasn't enough, he was currently sitting here eating the produce with me and gossiping about people around town. Could I have asked for a better boss? I think not. I took another bite of my popsicle, nodding when he mentioned Caspar and referred to him as that 'bratty troublemaker'. Despite him being my friend, I had absolutely no trouble agreeing with him. 

"One time a couple years ago I caught the little shit trying to graffiti the store. Let's just say I haven't seen him in a 500ft radius since." I giggled happily, though deep down I couldn't even begin to explain how much his words reassured me. Caspar was probably the meanest person I'd met during my highschool experience, and he'd also be the first to tease me if he found out about my job. As it was I still had to worry, considering his past experiences with my boss. If there was one thing I knew about him it's that he always got his revenge. Maybe not now, and maybe not soon, but I was sure getting Bruce back was on his to-do list. 

"I've actually kind of missed running this old place, but I'm glad I'm leaving it in such a good kid's hands." He said cheerily, slapping me on the back. It wasn't often I got called a 'good kid' by anyone other than my mom, but I guess that was my own fault. It's a lot easier to survive highschool as a bad kid than a good one, so it was an easy decision to ditch that persona at school. Only at school though, as soon as I walked out of those gates and away from my 'friends' I could be me again. I'd had most the summer to myself, aside from a few mandatory parties to keep my name relevant. There was nothing I'd ever dreaded as much as the thought of walking back through those doors tomorrow, back into my fake life. 

"Thanks." I mumbled sheepishly, just now realizing I hadn't replied. I looked toward the clock, surprised to see my full eight-hour shift had passed. I guess time flies when you're having fun. Bruce noticed me staring, a wry smile spreading across his features.

"Think you're ready to run the shop on your own after school and on the weekends from now on? I'll see about getting you a fill-in as soon as possible, of course, but until then it's just you."

"Definitely, you can count me in! I love this place!" I said, beaming my one-thousand watt smile at him. He stood up, mumbling something about showing me how the till worked so I'd know how to close the store up properly. After his very short but very thorough tutorial I was free to go. I shimmied out of the slightly embarrassing apron, folding it and setting it on the chair.

"Try not to eat my entire stock though, limit yourself to a couple things a day." He teased, giving me a sly wink. I still couldn't believe he was just letting me eat anything I wanted and not take it off my paycheck. Basically my dream job. Why had I not forced my way into here sooner? I didn't plan on taking popsicle very often though, I'd probably lean toward other cheap stuff we could use around the house. I mean, if I was getting free stuff it might as well be useful free stuff.

I headed toward the doors with an added skip in my step, completely satisfied with my first day on the job. This was going to be nice, coming here instead of being forced to hang-out with the usual dweebs after school. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to explain it to them yet. I couldn't exactly lie about family reunions and possible grandmother deaths every day after school. I'd find a solution though, I'd gotten to be extremely good at keeping my two lives from getting entangled. I opened the door, propping it open with my back as I looked back at Bruce.

"Bye, Tyler! Have a good night!" He said, waving from behind the counter where he was counting the money. I smile broadly at him, laughing when he dropped some bills and let out a loud sigh. I chastised him a bit about being more careful with the money in a teasing manner, before deciding I had better get back. My mother would just be getting home now, and I was itching with the need to inform her of my new achievement. 

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Bruce!" I called, turning to leave in a rush. I froze in spot when I seen someone standing just a few feet from me. My eyes had fallen on his feet, though I quickly trailed them up to his face. I recognized him from school, but I couldn't put a name on that face for the life of me. I guess that meant he must have been unpopular, but he was really good looking to be a nerd. He had the biggest ocean blue eyes I'd ever seen, his messy dark brown hair laying flat against his forehead and making him look a lot younger than he likely was. 

He's fucking cute.

I inwardly cursed myself, glad no one could read my thoughts. That's all it would take to ruin every shred of a reputation I had. This was a small town, not one very open to anything different at all. Which really sucked, considering I was about as different as they came. There were two out-of-the-closet gay boys in the history of WBHS, both of which had been shunned to unmentionable measures. They were before my time, but of course I'd heard the stories. One had moved to the other side of the US, the other not being so lucky as he was tormented to the point of no return. It was heartbreaking that there were still places like this in modern age, and I knew damn well nothing had changed since those boy's time. If I came out I would be ruined. I'd managed to keep it under wraps my entire life, and I only had a year left. I would not let some cute boy get into my head and sabotage everything I'd built for myself. Even if his eyes shone as if I was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.

"Hi!" I said, trying to be as friendly as possible without being flirty. This was hard, considering I was a flirt by nature. I didn't exactly use my talents often though, for obvious reasons. I took a step back, holding the door open for him. His eyes went impossibly wider seeing what I was doing. I took a great amount of pride in seeing his cheeks redden. He opened his mouth, likely to thank me, but instead his voice cracked and he just snapped his jaw shut. At this point he was redder than a tomato, his hands shoved into his pockets gruffly. My eyes trailed slightly higher, this time noticing something I hadn't before. There were a pair of white hand prints adorning the front of his shirt, and my mind instantly began to wonder. Could he cook? Was it possible it was cocaine? No, no idiot would be stupid enough to leave that on their shirt. Or maybe he had a friend that could cook. My mind wandered some more, somehow ending up on an image of him having a cute baking session with a girl. His girlfriend. Of course he had a girlfriend, I was the only gay in town and he was too good looking not to. That had to be the case. Sadly.

I snapped back to reality, just now realizing he'd already walked past me. I felt the overwhelming need to stay talking to him for even just a second longer, so I turned to watch him enter the store. I bit down on my lip hard, noticing there was flour all over his butt as well. Yep, definitely a girlfriend. Damn it. Still, I couldn't shrug the need to keep talking to him, so I blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"I like the shirt, by the way. It's cute." I blurted, immediately slapping my hands over my mouth. Way to sound straight, Tyler, I'm sure jocks call random twink's shirts cute every day of the week. I turned to leave quickly, wanting to escape before I seen his incredulous reaction. Just as the door closed behind me I heard him groan out loud, but I wasn't sure what about. I tried not to read too much into it though, making a beeline for my car. He probably thinks I was making fun of him, fuck. Why don't I think before I say things? 

I slipped into the car, cracking my fingers nervously as my eyes examined the parking lot. The only other car was a nice black Corvette, assumably the boy's. Ah, so he's rich. Possibly a preppy? That would sort of explain why I hadn't heard of him, but at the same time it made no sense. Why would a preppy be caught dead outside of their house and not looking their absolute best? I realized I'd been sitting in my car for over two minutes, knowing in the back of my mind I'd been hoping to catch one final glimpse of him.

You're really reaching stalker status, Oakley.

I sunk my head down against the steering wheel, shaking it slowly. I am such a mess. I reached over to turn on the radio, hoping some generic pop would spur me from my crazy person thoughts. I nearly cursed the world when I heard the last few lines of 'Born This Way' play through the speakers. Leave it to me to miss my favorite song of all time while obsessing over some boy. I sat up abruptly, deciding it'd be pretty creepy if he came out and seen me still sitting here without a reasonable explanation. I started the engine, glad it worked first try yet again, and started to back out of the parking lot. I was only slightly disappointed when he didn't walk out of the store before it was out of sight. 

I reached my house not long after, grinning awkwardly at my mother's car that was now parked in the yard. I hopped out, scrambling to the front door and walking inside.

"Ty? Is that you?" I rolled my eyes at her. She knew very well I'd be the only person walking through this door. She didn't date, no time. I didn't date or have friends, those were another world for me. I scampered into the living room, excitedly falling onto the couch beside her. She looked exhausted. Her hair was still up in a messy bun, but she had switched into pajamas instead of work clothes.

"How was waiting tables tonight?"

"Horrible, Sue had the nerve to steal my tips! Then Barney was being a fool in the kitchen and spilled boiling grease all over Marie. Needless to say her hands are out of order for a week or two, leaving me to do all the baked goods. Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm ranting. How was your day, honey?" I smiled warmly, closing the distance between us and laying my head on her shoulder. She always tried to do this, make me feel more important even when it was obvious she was the one who needed attention.

"How about I go make you some tea?" I asked, sitting up to look her in the eyes. She looked like she was going to reject my offer at first, probably say something about how she could do it herself, but then her face fell and she just nodded. She was obviously too tired to argue with me tonight.

"You're such a prince, that'd be amazing." She beamed, sitting up from her slouched position only to hug me tightly. After she fell back against the couch she gave me a cheeky smile, nodding toward the rustic television. "On the upside, there's a twelve hour marathon of 'Say Yes to the Dress' on, you're welcome to join me."

"I couldn't think of a better way to spend my last night of freedom." I laughed, hopping up to head toward the kitchen. My mother was the only one that knew I was gay, she knew everything about me. This was home. This was where I got to be myself. I trusted her with absolutely anything. The only secrets I'd ever kept were for her sake only. How do you think she'd feel knowing her son is so scared of being himself he'd invented an entire fake lifestyle to keep from getting hurt? That's not exactly uplifting knowledge, and the last thing she needed right now was more stress. So to her, I was the straight A student, star of the football team though I hated the guys on it, and a proud member of the school's drama club. I had a few friends, though I preferred going to their houses when we hung-out because ours was so 'small'. I'd never drank anything alcoholic in my life, I would never even think about bullying another kid, and I was every teacher's favorite student. Truthfully, sometimes I liked to believe that lie too.

"Is that sarcasm?" She responded finally, likely getting too wrapped up in the show to reply sooner. I rolled my eyes at her, sashaying into the kitchen happily. I guess I could wait to tell her about my job, she obviously just needed a stress-free night. I did plan on telling her still though. Whether she was happy for me or sad I'd 'thrown my youth away' I was too selfish not to. I was excited and proud and there wasn't really anyone else I could brag to, so she was stuck with it. 

A/n: Eek, so there's the first ever Tyler POV. I know these chapters are a little slow-paced and overly monologue-y but stick with it, there's obviously going to be other junk in the future too. You guys left such nice comments on the last chapter, ughh. I love you all. COMMENT and VOTE :) (THIS IS POSTED WAY BEFORE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE BECAUSE OF PEER PRESSURE. STUPID CHLOE AND EMMY ARE SUCH BULLIES) 

Also, I have been ITCHING to find a place to dedicate a chapter to my new favorite person in the world, so here seems to be the place. I am just going to tell you all now, if you have a problem with becoming utterly addicted to a fanfic you probably shouldn't read this. Otherwise, GET READY FOR SOME GOOD FREAKING READING MATERIAL. TROYE IS HOMELESS AND TYLER MOVES INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND JUST WANTS TO HELP HIM BUT HE'S ALL JADED AND WON'T LET HIM AND FDUGFJGFUFGGF. IT'S MY FAVE. Okay, I will dedicate the chapter to the lovely author, SimplyTenacious. The story is also called "Breaking Down His Walls" in case you need to know that. Okay, ugh, it's so good, I am eating my own skin off waiting for the next chapter. Actually I'm not, that'd be psychotic. I swear I'm normal.