𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙎 || 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿

1 - Hatred

Thursday, September 16th:

Josh Dun walked through the hallway with his head down and his hands in his pockets, feeling like the overwhelming weight of his backpack was dragging him down. It was nearly the end of the day, after all, and he was exhausted.

He was past ready to go home, but he still had to drag himself to one final class: natural science. It wasn't an awful class, all things considered, but he still disliked it. Mostly due to the people there.

As he walked in, he internally groaned, throwing his head back ever so slightly in silent exasperation. Sitting in a clump in the middle of the room, per usual, were the popular kids. And, in the center of them, was the one that Josh loathed the most: Tyler Joseph.

He could write whole novels on why he hated Tyler. It ranged from the way he walked to the way he spoke to the way he treated others. He acted like he was better than everyone else, going about the school like he ruled it. And, in a way, he did, being the star of the basketball team and all.

Josh was mostly resentful because of how Tyler treated him. In their few interactions, the other boy would barely look at him, seemingly not giving him the time of day. It was annoying to Josh. Beyond annoying; it was infuriating to be treated like you barely existed. He was convinced that Tyler thought that he was too good to talk to Josh, that a conversation just wasn't worth his time.

So, Josh decided to hate Tyler silently. He ignored the fact that he barely knew a thing about the other boy; he was going based upon observations alone.

He glared in the group's direction as he walked to the back of the classroom. Nobody seemed to notice, all too caught up in their conversation. A conversation that Josh simply didn't think was worth his time to eavesdrop on. It was probably something stupid anyways, or something about the upcoming basketball game. Either way, Josh didn't care.

He took a seat at an empty desk in the back, hanging his heavy bag on the back of the chair and sighing in relief as he did so. He hated his backpack. He hated everything to do with school. If it were up to him, he'd never go again, and instead spend his days listening to music and trying to memorize how to play his favorite songs on the drums. Because that's just what he did.

Once the teacher walked in, the class—specifically the annoying clump in the center of the room—didn't quiet down at all, piquing Josh's annoyance.

"Take your seats, please," the teacher, Ms. Hale, said in a monotone voice. It looked like she was ready to go home. Josh could see the bags under her eyes from where he was sitting, and seeing as he was in the back, that was saying something.

They only seemed to get darker as she gave death stares to the group in the center, who either didn't hear her or didn't care.

She cleared her throat, which seemed to get Tyler's attention. Josh watched as he told his friends to sit down, still laughing about something they'd said.

"At least he did something nice, for once," Josh thought bitterly, his eyes glued to the basketball star, who had a smile resting on his face. A stupid smile. Josh hated it.

He hated that—objectively, of course—it was cute.

"Alright, class," Ms. Hale spoke up as the noise finally quieted. "Today I'm introducing an exciting new project for you." Josh could see that there was a sparkle in her eye as she spoke, as she was clearly excited about the project. It made Josh feel a little less bitter. He liked her as a teacher, and it was good to see her excited instead of drained. "It will take place over the course of about three months—until the end of the semester. You and a partner will be planting a tree."

Josh could see the large group in the center of the room already shooting each other looks, silently selecting their partners. Josh watched Tyler look at Maxx.

"Figures."

If Josh thought Tyler was a jerk, Maxx was ten times worse. He was pompous and outright annoying, acting like he owned the school and everybody in it. If you weren't a part of his friend group, you were below him, and you needed to do his bidding. That's just how it went.

He creeped Josh out. He was intense and angry, known for his hot-headedness and tendency to get into fights, both verbal and physical, with even his own friends. But not Tyler. Never Tyler.

Tyler may have been the sole exception to Maxx's whole thing about acting better than everyone else. He basically followed Tyler around like a lovesick puppy, constantly trying to be like him, seemingly idolizing him and putting him on a pedestal that inflated his already oversized ego (in Josh's opinion).

What? Josh was good at observing.

"Now, I'm going to choose your partners for this," the whole class groaned, "because I want you to branch out. Make new friends. This class is very cliquey. We need to mix it up!"

Although Josh hated the idea of potentially being partnered with someone like Maxx or—god forbid—Tyler, he found his teacher's excitement refreshing, and he found himself smiling.

"I have the list of partners right here!" she called out, holding up a sheet and sticking it to the board with a magnet. "Come and see."

The whole class got up from their seats. Josh was now regretting his choice of sitting in the back, because he was last to see the partner list.

As he got up there, he noticed Tyler's face. His eyes were wide, and was his face abnormally pink, or was that just Josh's imagination?

Josh glanced at the list, finding his name, and he swore his luck couldn't get any worse.

The paper read: "Group Five: Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun."

Josh swore under his breath, turning to find Tyler looking at him. He was surprised Tyler even remembered who he was. The basketball star quickly looked away, and Josh rolled his eyes. He wasn't even good enough for Tyler to look at for longer than two seconds. Wasn't even good enough for the younger boy to talk to him about their newfound partnership.

Josh found his liking for the class going down quickly, as well as his liking for Ms. Hale. Anyone who partnered him up with Tyler fucking Joseph was one of the worst people alive, to him.

He sighed heavily, walking up to Tyler with reluctant steps. He really didn't want to talk to him. His mind was screaming at him to turn away, to just ignore this partnership and see if he could get it switched. But he found himself walking up to Tyler, forcing a small smile onto his face.

"Guess we're partners," he said, trying to act uninterested, but just seeming awkward.

Tyler wouldn't look at him. Josh felt his anger pulse.

"Guess so," the younger boy peeped out, eyes on his shoes.

Josh suppressed another sigh. This was going to be a long three months.