Intimidation ♡ joshler

eight

Mr. Lassiter hands their quizzes back out a few minutes before class ends, and Tyler's so nervous about his score.  He's pretty sure he got the formula all mixed up, but Mr. Lassiter gave little bonus questions at the bottom of the quiz that were from a different lesson a while back, so he at least won't be getting a zero.

The teacher stops at Tyler's desk, handing the paper to him folded over, and Tyler already knows he fucked up on that quiz.  He takes it from him, unfolding it.

Sixty three.  

He fucking failed the quiz by one point.  

One fucking point.

He could've had a seventy three, a C, if he didn't use ink on his quiz.  That pen policy is so fucking dumb and it pisses Tyler off, but it's all Tyler's fault because he didn't have to give Josh that pencil.

And this is where it all gets better: right next to that big fat sixty three F is a signature line, meaning Zack has to sign his failure or Mr. Lassiter will call home.

Tyler's never hated Mr. Lassiter so much before.

Tyler slips his quiz into his bag before tilting his head up towards the ceiling to stop the tears that welled up from spilling over.  He won't cry.  He won't cry.

"Hey, did you fail the quiz or something?" Josh asks just before the bell rings, signaling the start of lunch.  The two stand, and Josh walks with Tyler out of the classroom, who wipes at his eyes to dry the tears.

"Uh- yeah," Tyler whispers, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

"I've never seen anyone cry over a failed quiz before," Josh muses, and that doesn't make Tyler feel better at all.  Josh must've seen this because he starts talking again, "If it makes you feel any better, I got a thirty-something."

Tyler forces a smile at Josh in response, and Josh laughs a little.

"Wanna sit outside with me?" Josh asks as they stop at the end of the hall, and Tyler looks up at him incredulously.

"You know that we're- we're not allowed to, right?"

"Quit stammering, there's no need to be nervous around me," Josh laughs a little, motioning toward the hallway that lead to the field.  Tyler hesitates for a moment before following Josh away from the way to the cafeteria.  This is trespassing and they could be put in ISS for that, but apparently lending pencils isn't the only thing he can't say no to when it comes to Josh.

Tyler follows Josh to the bleachers at the edge of the field, sitting next to Josh on them with about a foot's distance between them.  The two sit in silence for a moment, looking towards the empty football field.

"So, Tyler, do you like sports?" Josh tries to strike up a conversation.

"I used to play basketball," Tyler answers with a small shrug.

"Yeah? Why'd you stop?"

"Uh, just kinda lost interest over time," Tyler says.  He's lost a lot of interest in things he used to do when he was younger, and basketball just so happened to be one of them.

"Would you ever play it again?"

"Maybe if I got the opportunity."

"I have a goal at my house, maybe we can play together," Josh says, turning to the smaller boy with a smirk.  Tyler turns to look at Josh incredulously.  Did Josh just invite him over to his house?  To play basketball?  Josh doesn't really seem the type to play basketball... but honestly, Tyler probably doesn't either.

"Y-yeah, sounds sick," Tyler agrees, putting on a little smile.

"Sick," Josh says. "Do you have Kik, Tyler?"

Tyler's heart flutters and he blushes a little, because holy shit, a cute boy is actually asking for a way to communicate with him after school, and this excites Tyler a little, but he scolds himself for it; Josh doesn't want to date Tyler, he needs to stop getting his hopes up.

So Tyler nods shyly at the other boy, who pulls his phone out of his pocket, loading the social media before handing the phone to Tyler.  Tyler quickly enters his username, tylerrjoseph, before handing it back to Josh.

Josh takes the phone and stands from the bleachers, catching Tyler off guard for a moment.  Lunch can't be over already.

"I'm skipping," Josh answers the unasked question upon seeing the confused expression on Tyler's face. "I'll text you later, shybutt."

The nickname leaves Tyler flushing again, and Josh smirks at that before leaving Tyler alone on the bleachers.

What the fuck is shybutt? Tyler can't help but to wonder as he watches Josh's figure shrink as the distance between them increases.  

Was he teasing him?  Was it actually supposed to be a petname?  Tyler honestly can't tell anymore with this kid.