𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙎 || 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿

8 - Next to You

Wednesday, September 29th:

Tyler couldn't stop thinking about the day before. About Josh. About how much they had bonded, simply because he owned a ukulele and a Death Cab poster. How easy it was, after all these years, to actually connect with Josh. How many times he'd imagined it in his head, and it was still different—and even better—in reality.

"Hello? Tyler?" Maxx's voice called, pulling him out of his daze. He'd been staring at his food, not actually eating it, blankly and absentmindedly poking at it with his fork. "Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?"

"Nope," Tyler said, choosing to not say anything else as he actually began to eat his food.

"C'mon, Ty," Maxx whined, nudging his friend's shoulder. Tyler ignored the nickname. "You're not still mad at me about what happened yesterday, right?"

He considered his response for a moment. Of course he wasn't happy that Maxx had even thought about fighting Josh, especially when Josh really didn't do anything wrong except for making a snarky comment or two under his breath.

"I didn't like how you treated Josh," the brunette simply stated, not looking at his friend, though he could feel the blue haired boy's eyes burning into the side of his head.

"I don't get why you're defending him. What, are you in love with him or something?"

Tyler knew it was a joke, but it hit too close to home. His cheeks immediately flushed, and he was about to reply when Maxx laughed.

"Kidding. I know that you're not gay."

"And what if I was?" Tyler contested, finally looking at Maxx quizzically.

"Then that'd make being in the locker room with you weird as fuck, but whatever. I wouldn't care that much," Maxx shrugged, finally looking away. His response only irked Tyler.

"Just because someone's gay doesn't mean that they're in love with every guy," the brunette brought up. The blue haired boy just rolled his eyes.

"Jesus, you're getting so pressed about this, it's making me think that you are actually gay."

Tyler swallowed thickly, feeling a lump form in his throat. The last thing he wanted was for rumors to spread about his sexuality and for their coach to hear, getting him kicked off the team.

"I'm not," he lied. "I'm just saying."

It was then that he looked up, habitually looking towards where Josh sat, as he always did at least a few times per lunch period. He never found the other boy looking back, however. Until today.

Tyler's eyes quickly widened, but he forced himself to keep eye contact and smile, sending the other boy a little wave. Josh smiled back, making Tyler melt a little, even from a distance, and he waved too.

The younger boy then looked away, feeling his cheeks burn. Josh had been looking at him. Noticing him, unlike usual. And, yes, now they were friends, so it made sense that Josh would be interacting with him more. But why would he stare?

The bell that signaled the beginning of passing period rang, forcefully yanking Tyler out of his racing thoughts and back into reality. He tossed his half-eaten food into the trash, slightly disappointed that he didn't eat more, but having been too lost in his thoughts to do so.

Maxx waited for him as he slung his bag over his shoulder, and then fell in step beside him as they began walking towards their next classes. Although they only had seventh period together, many of their classes were in the same general area. Today, that was much to Tyler's dismay. He didn't want Maxx around him right then.

Cody walked next to Maxx on the other side, and the two talked about their tree project, cracking jokes about how the thing was already dead. Tyler only half-listened, his mind still on Josh and how he'd been looking at him. He felt a smile grow onto his face at the thought that Josh was finally starting to notice him. After all these years.

He silently thanked the powers that be for the tree project. Without it, he'd have never become friends with the other boy, and he was so very grateful.

"See you later, Tyler," Cody's voice called as he and Maxx disappeared into a classroom together, leaving Tyler to give an absentminded wave and walk a little further down the hall into his own classroom.

He found himself wishing he had more classes with Josh. Alas, they only had seventh period together, and even there they didn't speak. Tyler wanted to change that.

-

By the time seventh period rolled around, Tyler was exhausted and tired of his friends. He gave one-word replies and nods as they attempted to engage him in conversation before class started. The only time he perked up was when Josh walked in, his eyes following the older boy to the place he sat in the back. They exchanged small smiles that made Tyler's heart skip a beat.

Tyler felt a little guilty about ignoring his friends, but he was done with how they were acting better than everyone else. Especially Maxx. A part of him felt bad about not telling his friends about his feelings for Josh, too, but he knew that it wouldn't go over well. They didn't need to know that side of him.

"Alright class," Ms. Hale spoke, causing everyone to quiet down. "Today I'm assigning you new seats."

Everyone groaned. Even Tyler. He was tired of sitting near his friends, but he'd prefer them over sitting by someone he didn't know at all. He wasn't in the mood to socialize much today, either, so he just hoped whoever he was sat by didn't try to engage him in conversation.

Ms. Hale then put the new seating chart up, projecting it onto the white board. Tyler glanced over it, and he found his name on a seat in the very back. Sitting next to Josh.

Tyler grinned. This could not have gone better.

When he eagerly grabbed his stuff and looked at Josh, he found that the other boy was smiling at him too, and he felt a rush of joy. He could get used to this.

"You'll notice that I sat you at tables next to your partners for the tree lab. This will be your seat for the rest of the semester, so get comfortable," she informed them. Tyler felt even more excited at that. An entire semester, just sitting next to Josh. He could definitely get used to that.

He walked over and plopped down into the seat at the high table next to Josh, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

"Fancy seeing you here," Tyler joked, causing Josh to grin as well. However, he watched as his eyes averted away, towards the front of the room. Tyler followed his gaze to where Maxx was sitting, who was staring daggers at them. He quickly looked away when Tyler glanced over at him.

"I don't think your friend is very happy about his new seat," Josh observed. Tyler rolled his eyes.

"He can suck it up," the boy said, his tone slightly annoyed, causing Josh to raise his eyebrows. "Sorry," Tyler quickly apologized. "Haven't quite forgiven him for what he pulled yesterday."

"It's really not a big deal," Josh assured him again. "Like I said, I'm used to it."

"Yes, but you shouldn't have to be," Tyler argued. "You're my friend too, Josh. And that means I care about you and how you're treated, especially by my other so-called friends."

Josh gave him a little smile. "Thank you," he said quietly, eyes looking away from Tyler's gaze. Tyler thought he noticed Josh's cheeks tinge a little pink, but he was quickly ripped away from his wondering when Ms. Hale began to speak again.

"Okay, continuing our notes from yesterday..."

As Tyler pulled out his notes, he couldn't help but smile. He was excited for the rest of the semester. He was excited to spend it with Josh.