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"What are you doing walking around a cemetery this late at night,” he calls out, joint dangling from between his lips.
Tyler is walking past a group of four teenagers, flashlight in hand. The teens are spread out amongst the steps of a small mausoleum. There’s leaves sprouting through the cracks of the outer walls and moss completely covering the roof of it. It’s rather disrespectful in Tyler’s personal opinion, to be smoking pot on top of somebody’s final resting place.
Typically Tyler didn’t respond to other people that roamed the cemetery in the dead of night, but there’s something about the guy who’s holding a lighter up to his mouth that makes Tyler stop in his tracks and answer with a question of his own.
“What are you doing smoking pot in a cemetery this late at night?”
One of the teenagers reaches for the joint while making an ‘oooh’ noise. The others snicker. The guy that had spoken to Tyler in the first place goes red at that.
Through the shine of his flashlight, Tyler can see him pretty well. His hair is pink and messy, frayed at the ends from too much exposure to bleach. He’s wearing a pair of black leggings and combat boots that are clunky and look too big for his skinny legs. What really catches Tyler’s attention though is the oversized tank top (or dress) that he’s wearing. It’s black at the top, the bottom half zebra print. It’s lined in zebra print and has matching zebra print pockets in the front. Tyler decides it’s the tackiest thing he’s probably ever laid eyes on. He shouldn’t be judging though, because some of the clothes that he owned were pretty questionable. The guy can pull it off, anyways.
“Guess you have a point there,” he says. The joint is passed back to him and he hesitates before holding it out to Tyler. “You wanna hit?”
Tyler considers it for a moment, staring at the boy’s outstretched hand with narrowed eyes. “No,” he answers finally and starts to walk away again.
He hears hushed whispers and laughter behind him.
-
Tyler sees the teenagers again a week later.
They’re sitting in a different spot, on top of tombs now. Tyler wonders if the candles they have around them were brought from home or if they picked them up from different graves. He makes the assumption that these kids are a group of stoners because they’re smoking weed again.
One of the boys is using a grinder, talking away excitedly about some girl he had recently started dating while his hands twist the small, wooden grinder. The pink haired boy takes it from him, fishing through one of his pockets for rolling papers. He’s licking the side of it when Tyler walks by.
The group goes silent again and Tyler pretends like he doesn’t see them.
Part of the reason he enjoys grave yards in the first place is because of the quiet. He’d always preferred the company of the dead over the living. But the reasoning behind that was simple: Graveyards are quiet because people can’t do much talking when they’re dead.
“Hey,” the boy calls out when Tyler is passing by.
Tyler stops in his tracks once again and points at his chest. “Me?”
It’s a dumb question, he realizes, as the boy’s friends start to giggle. There’s nobody else in the fucking graveyard. Of course the boy was speaking to him.
“Yeah,” the boy keeps his eyes down as he rolls up the joint. He looks up again once it’s finished and he’s handed it to one of the kids. The kid has glasses and a rather large forehead. He’s looking between the pink haired boy and Tyler. Tyler feels annoyed.
“What? Do you need something?” He’s tapping the side of his flashlight gently, making the ray of light coming from it dance around.
“No,” the pink haired boy answers and Tyler almost feels bad for answering the way he did. Almost. “I guess you’re probably busy.”
“Yeah. I have things to do,” Tyler answers. The stoners look like they’re about to burst into laughter. Tyler’s face turns red.
“I’ll see you around then.”
“I guess.” Tyler starts to walk again when the boy yells to him.
“I’m Josh, by the way!”
And for some reason, Tyler turns his head and calls over his shoulder, “Tyler!”
-
The third night in a row that Tyler is bothered by Josh, he’s not smoking. His friends are, but the pink haired boy has his arms crossed over his chest and it looks like he’s waiting for something. Or someone, rather. Tyler realizes that it must be him.
As soon as he walks by, Josh decides to walk beside him.
“Hey,” he breathes out. Tyler can see his smile in the moonlight. It’s bright and pretty.
“Hi,” Tyler answers flatly.
“Tyler, right?”
“Mmm,” he hums in response. Josh is wearing leggings again this night. They’re black with white skulls and cross bones printed on them. He’s got a pair of black basketball shorts over them and a plain black tank top on. Tyler wonders if he ever gets cold.
“I couldn’t help but notice that we match,” Josh chuckles nervously, pointing at Tyler. Tyler looks at him, confused before he looks down at what he’s wearing.
Low and behold, Tyler’s black jacket is decked out in white skulls and cross bones as well.
“Oh, wow. What a coincidence.” Josh looks away from Tyler and it’s silent for a few minutes. Tyler becomes uncomfortable. “I.. I like your hair,” he finally breaks the awkward tension.
“Really? Thanks. I’ve had it lots of different colors. Blue, purple, green, red, orange.. I’ve kept pink the longest though. I like it.”
“It suits you,” Tyler smiles slightly.
The silence this time around is more comfortable, no sound apart from their soft footsteps.
-
It becomes a regular thing; the two of them roaming the cemetery together. Tyler would get to the grave yard, walk past Josh and his friends and Josh would get up and leave the group to walk with Tyler.
Josh is already stoned most of the time when Tyler arrives, eyes squinting and a dopey smile on his face as they walk in silence.
Tyler likes those nights.
He likes talking to Josh too. In fact, they had a lot more in common than he would have ever thought. They got along swimmingly. But on the nights that Josh won’t say much, he can enjoy the quiet and take in the beauty of the cemetery.
He’s always been a fan of the stones and statues with names carved into them. The mausoleums with stained glass windows that had depictions of one biblical scene or another. Tyler even found beauty in the plain slabs of granite that were crumbling away, names long since vanished. He can’t spend more than an hour or two in the grave yard though. It freaks him out too much, the thought that one day he’ll be six feet under just like the rest of them.
“You okay?” Josh looks at Tyler, face twisted in concern.
“Yeah. ‘m good.”
They take a seat on a white bench made of stone with a bible verse carved into the side of it. Josh kicks his feet lightly and Tyler notices one of his shoelaces is untied. He’s wearing the too big, clunky boots again.
Tyler’s rolling a joint for the two of them when Josh asks, “Would you mind if I kissed you?”
Tyler’s breath catches in his throat. He keeps a calm face though his cheeks go a light pink. He licks the edge of the rolling paper and smooths it down with his thumb.
“No,” he says softly. He puts the joint up to his mouth and holds out his hand for the lighter.
“No you wouldn’t mind or..?” Josh hands him the lighter, staring at his face and the way that the moonlight reflects in his dark, wide eyes.
Tyler inhales, taking a long drag. He blows the smoke out of his nose while he answers, “No, I don’t mind.”
Josh’s face is pink as well.
They pass the joint back and forth until it’s so small that they can’t hold it without burning their fingertips. Tyler crushes the roach into the dirt with his foot. Josh scoots closer to Tyler, knocking their knees together. He leans close, so close that Tyler can feel his warm breath on his face. Josh cups Tyler’s cheeks and presses their lips together.
It’s shy and soft.
They’re both nervous, lips hovering over each other before Tyler presses them together again. Tyler’s lips are chapped and bloody from him biting them. Josh’s lips are soft and taste like cherry Chapstick. His tongue is warm and his teeth are sharp when they pull at Tyler’s bottom lip and reopen one of the cuts there.
Lips pink and swollen, they pull away from each other. Tyler wipes at some of the spit on the corner of his mouth.
They don’t say anything for a few minutes, in fact they won’t even look at each other.
The edges of the sky start to turn pink and the sun starts to rise. Josh glances at his phone and stands up. Tyler kisses his cheek before they head their separate ways.
-
They make out the next time they see each other, on the same white bench made of stone.
Tyler finally gives Josh his phone number.
-
Weeks pass and then months. Tyler and Josh start to hang out at places other than the local cemetery in the late hours of the night. They start to spend every moment that they can together. Whether it’s sitting on the cool steps of a mausoleum in the grave yard or curled up together in the warmth of Josh’s bed, it feels like home to Tyler.
Tyler is watching Josh talk about some band he had started listening to. Josh’s eyes are lit up with excitement and his pretty, white teeth are shining in the moonlight. He’s wearing that same, tacky tank top dress with the zebra print that he had on the first time Tyler met him.
Tyler blurts out, “I love you.”
Josh blinks. Once. Twice. A grin spreads across his face.
“I love you too.”
Tyler kisses him and knows that everything will be okay.