four walls (breathe out)

chapter thirteen: mocha

HOW MANY questions do you have left Mr. Dun?" Mrs. Andrews asks as Josh bubbles in more answers on his sheet.

"Two."

"Hurry it along please." It's after school and Josh is taking his second make up test.

He subconsciously decides to never skip again, having missed a room check (he did two the Sunday after the formal as a result) and his two exams.

It's Friday now and after he finishes he'll head straight to the cafe. Unlike the last couple of weeks he's visited, Josh is excited.

After the formal last Saturday he and Tyler have grown close in a more flirty way.

They're hands will brush and neither of them will make a move to stop it, when they find each other alone they'll give subtle compliments and secret grins.

It's almost as if they're dating, but Tyler's still not fully over the lose of Monica and Josh is still hesitant on using the boy as a fling after everything he's learned.

He's on cloud nine to say the least. The only downside is that now that Pete is less worried about Monica (Josh doesn't know if they're dating for sure or not) he's been watching the other prefixes like a hawk and being seen flirting with Tyler is the last thing he needs.

Josh gets up from his desk and gives Mrs. Andrews the test with a smile.

"Thank you!" He yells over his shoulder as he leaves and the woman laughs adoringly.

Things have been going pretty great, and that makes Josh a bit nervous. Something bad is bound to happen, he can feel it.

He just hopes its not between him and Tyler and their new (and confusing) attitudes towards each other.

Josh finds his way inside the cafe then to their normal booth. Jenna and Hayley are on their side, attached at the hip and now openly together. Brendon and Ryan are no where to be found and Josh makes a mental reminder to look into that again.

That whole situation is still very confusing to say the least.

Mikey has been avoiding the group entirely since confronting Hayley, much to everyone's dislike.

Josh sits on the opposite side of Jenna and Hayley before frowns.

"Where's Ty?" Jenna smirks.

"Bathroom. Why? Miss you're boyfriend?" Josh rolls his eyes but blushes nonetheless.

"Shut up. He's not my boyfriend." As if on cue Tyler exits the bathroom, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Josh.

"Joshua! How did your test go?"

"I find out tomorrow." He says with a grin and they high five as Tyler takes a seat next to him.

He looks good, his normal uniform, black coat and red scarf reminding Josh of a familiar lullaby that makes him feel warm and safe.

"Then you're all caught up?" Hayley asks and Josh nods.

"He only has one F now." Tyler says around his Mocha. This boy loves Mochas.

"That's good." Jenna speaks.

"Yeah, very." Josh replies.

It's silent, comfortable. Tyler's the one to break it as he clears his throat nervously.

"Joshua, I actually wanted to ask you something. Um-"

"Hi, sorry to interrupt but you're Josh aren't you?" Josh looks up from Tyler, his heart pounding at the sound of how his question could end and even more so when he takes in the boy standing in front of them.

"Jacob?" Tyler drops his mocha, screeching as is covers his lap with burning caffeine.

"Ty!" Jenna yells as the boy stands. Josh grabs some napkins and starts to dab his shirt for him.

"Oh my god." He says while grabbing more dry ones, looking up to see Tyler glaring at Jacob unnoticeably.

Once he's relatively clean they sit back down.

"Sorry." He mutters to which Jacob laughs nervously.

"It's alright. Anyways, I'm here because I have a friend who goes to your school, the all boys one? And he told me you'd be here so.." Josh smiles but before he can answer Tyler speaks.

"Why are you looking for Joshua?"

"Well uh, we met the other week and ever since I've been meaning to find you."

"Oh, really?" Josh questions and Tyler looks to him in shock, surprised by his shy tone of voice.

Jenna and Hayley exchange a nervous glance, picking up on Ty's jealousy and Josh's obliviousness.

"Yeah. I've been thinking a lot. Maybe we could go out sometime?"

"I-" Tyler suddenly scoffs.

"You know, Josh actually has a lot going on right now so you should probably-" The boy feels a kick from under the table, it undoubtedly coming from Hayley. "-leave your number for him to get back to you."

Josh looks at Tyler curiously. What's gotten into him? He's acting odd. When did he get so many freckles? Dang he's so cute.

"Oh, okay sure!" Jacob scribbles his number down, passing it to Josh who pockets it. "See ya around then!" And then he's off and Hayley and Jenna are staring at their two friends anxiously.

Tyler's glaring holes into the paper in Josh's jeans and Josh is drinking his drink, totally unaware.

"So," Jenna says. "What were you gonna say Ty?" Tyler just glares at the table instead.

"Forget about it."
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filler chap bc foreshadowing ahahhahaha ha I love death