Chapter 2: Tyler Vs Jayden: Universe’s Comedic Relief
Jayden walked the same cracked sidewalk he took every day, slower than usual, backpack half-zipped, hands shoved into his hoodie like they could hide him from the world. The streets were quiet, touched by orange dusk, but inside his chest? Chaos.
He was just... drifting. Hoodie still on. The glittery "Her Boy" lettering caught the dying sun like a curse stamped on his chest. He didn't care anymore. Let them laugh. Let them stare.
He kept replaying it. Her voice, her face, the crowd, that damn sentence.
"You believed them. That's on you."
His throat tightened again. He hadn't even taken the hoodie off. The glitter lettering was flaking at the edges. He looked like a walking meme. A punchline. A joke trying to be human.
So when the familiar voices echoed from the corner alley near the liquor store, he should've turned back. But he didn't. Maybe part of him was too numb to care.
When the voices started behind him—laughing, sharp, too familiar—he didn't even flinch. He knew it was coming. Maybe part of him wanted it. Tyler's laugh was the first thing he heard. Low, cocky, always like he was laughing at the world. And Jayden had walked right into it.
"Well, well..." Tyler grinned as he stepped into the streetlight. "If it isn't the Love Doctor himself. Where's your bear, Casanova?"
The other guys—Aiden, Marko, and Rashawn—snickered behind him. Like backup dancers from a music video no one asked for.
"Yo! Loverboy!" Marko's voice punched the air like a slap. "Didn't your mommy tell you not to walk through our block looking like a rejected prom poster?"
Jayden didn't speak. He just lowered his gaze and kept walking. Shoulders hunched.