i dreadfully walked into my school, trudging to my locker to put books and such in there. i accidentally hit my head on the top of my small ass locker, and groaned when i heard a familiar laugh.
"tyler! are you alright?" gina asked while still laughing.
"fuck off, g." i said, but ended up smiling with her.
"so, what's good?" gina asked, fixing her blonde hair underneath her black beanie.
"nothing much, how about yourself?"
"same, but except you're lying to me. i saw josh and you talking yesterday, you ain't slick, joseph. spill."
"he just asked me to be his friend. that's all." i shrugged.
"that's it?" she raised a pierced eyebrow, looking disappointed.
"what do you mean 'that's it?'" i squinted at her.
"nothing." she frowned, shaking her head.
"how come i've never seen josh before?"
"you have, but he's always hanging out with his friends. you've met him once, when we were hella young."
"what's he like again?"
"well, i'm his sister, so i'm supposed to say he's gross. but he's not. better than most brothers out there, i guess. we rarely fight, and he's pretty neat."
"talking about me again, gina?"
oh my god he was right behind me.
"get over yourself." gina rolled her eyes and playfully punched josh's shoulder. "well, i gotta run, see you."
i caught that wink she gave me. i watched her leave, her soft blonde hair bouncing behind her.
"hey, ty. i didn't know you went to school here." josh greeted, smiling softly.
"yeah, i didn't know you came here, either. how come i've never seen you around before?"
"probably because i always sit in the back of the class.'' he chuckled.
then the bell rung, signaling school was supposed to start now. as i got through the day, i mentally punched myself in the face for not realizing i had five out of six classes with josh, and in all of them he sat in the back. how could i not recognize him?
i was eating lunch now. my friends and i were in the cafeteria, which consisted of me, gina, will, rob, and max. we were a small group, but i learned that you don't need tons of friends to be happy.
"so, ty, tell me about this'josh'." rob asked, smirking and resting his head on his hand.
i looked at gina who looked away while drinking from her water bottle, raising her eyebrows. that hoe told people.
"well, there's not much to say." i shrugged, really not wanting this to be a big deal.
"only the fact that he's super hot and you like him a lot." rob wiggled his dark eyebrows.
"hey! that rhymed!" max said excitedly.
"does this guy have blue hair and a nose ring?" rob whispered to me, even though he was across the table.
"yeah, why?"
"because he's coming over here, josh to your 7 o'clock."
i looked over my shoulder slightly to see that josh was in fact on his way over to the table. he was wearing black converse and a band t-shirt, black skinny jeans to go along with it. upon seeing me turn around, he smiled.
"hi, ty." he greeted.
"hey, josh."
"um...do you mind if i sit with you guys?" he asked shyly, running a hand through his soft looking hair down to his neck, his other hand in his pocket.
"not at all! we've heard a lot about you." max looked at me and smiled, knowing that i was hating her by the second.
please don't embarrass me, maxine williams, i swear i will end you.
"really?"
"yup! little old tyler here told us loads about you."
where's my knife?
"is that so?" josh looked over at me with an amused smirk on his face.
"hey max, shut the fuck up." i barely heard gina whisper in her ear.
she rolled her eyes and continued to eat her sandwich, and i was here next to josh being a blushing mess and trying not to let him see that. gina, being the angel that she is, changed up the topic.
"guys, i have an announcement." gina, also being the extra girl that she is, put her arms out in front of her to silence everyone.
"what is it?" rob asked.
"i'm going to be on a field trip from tuesday to tuesday. so i won't be at the table."
"aw, we're gonna miss you, gigi." will pouted.
"i know, who wouldn't miss me?" she asked.
"okay, let's not get cocky."
max started laughing. "will said 'cocky'."
and that's our group of friends. we ended up having a really fun time with josh there. how come he hasn't hung out with us before?
we were now sitting in the most boring teacher's class, mr. romano. he taught biology, and it didn't help that we had an extra hour with him considering our breaks were cancelled and our lunch period ended early. josh was in his usual spot behind everyone in the back of the class. i sat in the middle, because i didn't want the teacher to pay too close attention to me, but i also couldn't see very well from the back.
"okay, class. our next project will be to construct a child using your basic knowledge on dominant and recessive genes, and you will make it out of household items. you'll take care of this child for a week, and at the end of the grading period you will do a research report. i'm going to assign you partners, and with your partner, you will complete this. you have until next week friday to have a basic idea of the child, and we will start the following monday."
i internally groaned, are we in seventh grade? and, he'd be giving us partners instead of us choosing. i'll probably get paired up with eliza or ender.
yes, ender like the book.
see, eliza and ender never did their work, and i always got the best of luck being paired up with them for the last few assignments.
i was busy holding my breath until the teacher called my name.
"tyler joseph, you will be paired with..."
my lungs are filling.
"joshua dun." mr. romano looked at the popsicle stick with disgust as he raised his bushy eyebrows for dramatic ass effect and continued to pull sticks from his ugly cup.
i rolled my eyes and looked over my shoulder at josh, who smirked and went back to paying attention to the teacher. he told us to start working, so i got out of my seat to go meet josh in the back of the classroom.
"so, we're going to be dads, huh?"
i blushed and rolled my eyes.
"did you see romano's face when he pulled your popsicle stick?" i asked, still not over how grossed out he looked.
"yes the fuck i did, homophobic shit." josh made a face at mr. romano while he was turned around, and i laughed my ass off when he got caught.
"mr. dun? i'll see you in detention." mr. romano glared at josh and turned back around.
i looked over and saw josh pouting, his eyebrows pulled together and his bottom lip sticking out.
"aw, don't be sad. here, so you're not lonely, i'll go with you."
"no, don't waste your time."
"it won't be wasted if it's with you." i said smoothly, slowly losing my shit because of how bold i was being.
and because of how it made him bite his lip, smile, and look at the floor. oh jesus.
i got through all my classes, the final bell ringing and everyone literally running out of class, excited to start the weekend. i put all my stuff that i didn't need in my locker, looking over to see a familiar head of blue hair pulling up his black jeans and walking in the opposite direction.
"josh!" i called, and he stopped, turning around.
"tyler!"
"are you ready?" i asked, honestly dreading going to detention with josh. why was i doing this again?
"i guess so. thank you so much for staying with me, ty." josh beamed at me.
oh yeah.
when josh and i got to the classroom where detention was being held, i was stopped. the teacher asked me for my pink card, in which i didn't have, so she told me to leave. but me, being the stubborn guy i am, didn't. i waited until she started detention to come back and wait by the door. there was a large strip of glass in the door, so i was able to see josh and the other few regulars in the room.
i waved my hand around the door until josh saw me, and then i shot him a silly face, causing him to silently laugh. his smile made me smile, and soon we were just smiling at each other through the glass in the door. it wasn't long before detention was over, which was basically just me and josh communicating with weird hand signs and faces.
he came out and sighed. we began walking to who-knows-where, just away from that classroom.
"worst detention ever." josh complained.
"you've had detention before?'
"yeah, man. i'm a rebel." he made a face and flexed his muscles, which, i'm not gonna lie, looked hot.
"and a fuckboy." i joked, lightly punching his arm.
"hey! i wouldn't ask for nudes. if i didn't know you." he smirked.
"was detention really that bad?"
"i mean, you were there with me, kinda. so it actually was a lot better. again, thanks for staying with me."
"hey, no problem." i said shyly, looking down at the floor.
then we just walked in silence. it was not a comfortable, chill silence either. he spoke up first when we reached the parking lot.
"hey, ty?" he asked, his hands clasped together behind his neck.
"yeah?" i looked up at him.
"tomorrow is saturday."
"yep, it is."
"are you busy?"
oh god, was he doing what i think he's doing? please don't embarrass yourself, tyler.
"uh, no. i'm free tomorrow, all day." i said, my voice shaking. why was i so nervous around josh?
"let's hang out?"
"okay."
"okay."
he spoke up again.
"maybe okay could be our always?"
"goodbye, josh." i smiled at him.
he chuckled and waved at me before turning in the opposite direction and walking to where i assumed his car was. i began walking to mine as well. it wasn't anything special, just a black bmw. how my mom trusted me with a moving automobile, i have no idea.
