Next Semester

10. twenty questions

2771 words

As the two chatted and sipped on their coffees, Tyler's phone rang.

"Oh shit," Tyler mumbled, "Sorry, one sec."

Josh waved him off and continued to drink his coffee. He pulled his phone out to scroll on as Tyler answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, are you alright?" Hayley's hushed voice asked him. He could tell that she had stepped outside the theater door to call him by the faint sound of the movie behind her. He sighed, "Yeah, I'm good."

"Jude went to the bathroom and said you weren't there...where are you?" she asked, her tone cautious. Tyler rolled his eyes at the thought of Jude going to check on him, "I'm not at the theater anymore. I ran into a friend and we walked to the diner down the street." Tyler's eyes met Josh's as the man gave him a small smile from across the table.

"No fucking way you're with Professor Dun right now." Hayley gasped, her excited tone worrying Tyler that Josh would somehow be able to hear her.

"I am," he said simply, "Anything else?"

"No, I'll let you get back to your little date," she giggled quietly, "I'll text you when the movie's over so that you can meet us back here."

"Alright, bye Hayls." Tyler hummed as he hung up. Josh pocketed his phone again, causing Tyler's heart to ache. The man was just being polite by giving him his undivided attention, but the gesture still seemed so sincere, "Did your friends think you got kidnapped?"

"Didn't I?" Tyler joked and Josh rolled his eyes, "Oh no! My plan has been foiled!"

"Dork," Tyler stated again, "No, Hayley just told me that she'd text me so that I could meet them back at the theater to go home."

"Who did you come with?" Josh asked curiously.

"Hayley, I've talked about her before, Jude...you know about him already, and Ashley, who is more Hayley's friend than mine, but I still like her." Tyler answered.

Josh hummed, "Can I ask you something?" Tyler nodded, a bit worried about what was going to come next. "Do your friends want you to be with Jude?"

"Uh, I don't really know," Tyler brought his hand to his hair and began twisting it nervously, "I think Ashley does. She's got some kind of weird soft spot for Jude and it's staring to piss me off. I think Hayley did at first, but, now that she knows that I don't feel the same way about him, I don't really know. I hope not."

"Why doesn't Ashley date Jude, then," Josh asked and Tyler laughed, "Because Ashley is a lesbian and Jude is gay."

"Ah, gotcha," Josh nodded, "So why is Ashley pushing for Jude so much?"

Tyler sighed, his fingers still working through his hair, "Honestly, I have no clue. It's not like they're even that close of friends. Me and Ashley don't really see eye-to-eye on most things, so I couldn't tell you why she does what she does."

Josh hummed as his eyes examined Tyler, a question clearly waiting on his tongue. Tyler sighed, "What?"

Josh let out a breathy laugh, "Nothing, nothing....I was just wondering why you don't just talk to them about it. It's been weeks, Tyler. It's clearly disrupting your day-to-day."

"I already told you...I don't want everything to change. I can't stand the thought of Jude moving out and never talking to us again." Tyler frowned, removing his hand from his hair to pick at his nails.

"Isn't it already different, though? You avoid Jude like the plague and you're not very happy with Ashley anymore. It would be more manageable to deal with if it would just get resolved." Josh spoke softly, clearly not trying to lecture the boy. Tyler knew he was right, as per usual.