twelve

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As Tyler nears the bus stop the following morning, he sees Josh already standing where Tyler likes to stand, away from the rest of the teenagers, and that oddly makes Tyler a little happy.

"What lunch do you have today?" Josh asks as Tyler stands next to him.  Tyler looks to Josh's eyes for a quick second before staring at Josh's nose instead.  He'll admit that he feels more comfortable around Josh than he did before, but he's still not too keen on eye contact, apparently.  

"Uh, first," Tyler answers, and this seems to please Josh.

"Sick, me too. Wanna sit together again?" Josh asks, and Tyler nods. "I'll be on the bleachers again, alright?"

Tyler nods and even offers a little smile to the other, which he returns with one of his smirks.

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The bell rings hours later, signaling the end of second block and first lunch.  Tyler remains seated as his classmates quickly stand and file out of the room; he does this to avoid getting pushed and bumped into, because these kids are impatient as fuck.  Like, shit, lunch isn't going anywhere.

When the hallway seems to clear out a little, Tyler grabs his things and heads out, turning towards the backdoors instead of the cafeteria.

Tyler's a bit taken back when he finds Josh leaning against the wall by the doors, fucking with something on his phone; he said he'd be at the bleachers this morning.

Josh looks up as Tyler's close enough for his timid footsteps are close enough to be audible, offering another smirk, "There's been a change of plans; I've made another friend today who also has this lunch, so we're gonna sit with him in the cafeteria, if you're up for it."

Honestly, the idea of Tyler having to sit with another stranger during lunch makes him quite nervous, but he hates spending lunches alone more, so he nods to Josh with a small, forced smile.

"Alright, off to the cafeteria we go, then," Josh says, pushing himself off the wall to lead Tyler to the cafeteria.

The two boys step into the (sickeningly smelly) cafeteria, and Josh takes a moment to scan the room for his friend.

"Josh!" a familiar voice shouts from across the cafeteria.  Tyler's not able to follow the source, but Josh picks up on it just fine and leads Tyler deeper into the room.

Tyler feels his nerves begin to kick as he follows Josh; what if the friend doesn't like Tyler?  Does the friend even know Tyler's sitting with them?  What if the friend wants Tyler to go away?

The two approach a table that would've been completely vacant, if it weren't for the lonesome boy sitting at it—

Dude, it's fucking Bryan, the boy who tried to kick Tyler's ass for accidentally stepping on the back of his shoe... what was it, yesterday?

Oh, God, Tyler really hopes Bryan doesn't remember that—

"Sit, Tyler," Josh guides Tyler to the seat next to his, and Tyler complies, tense and hunched over where he sits, gazing anxiously at a dirty spot on the surface in front of him.

"Thank God we happen to have the same lunch today, none of my other friends have this lunch," Bryan sighs as he folds his arms over the table, leaning forward onto them. "So are you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"This is Tyler, which you already know," Josh says to Bryan.  Josh pokes Tyler's shoulder to get his attention, receives it, and continues, "Tyler, this," he motions to Bryan, "is Brendon."

Oh.

Tyler blushes sheepishly; he's been fucking this kid's name up this whole time.  At least he hasn't done so out loud...

Tyler shyly lifts his gaze to who he now knows as Brendon, briefly meeting his eyes before looking to his nose.

"Hi, Tyler," Brendon says as he holds his hand out, and is this kid seriously asking to shake his hand?

Tyler hesitantly reaches towards it, but Brendon pulls it away at the last moment, emitting an obnoxious guffaw as Tyler quickly withdraws his own hand, his entire face heating with mortification.  Tyler ducks his head as he starts to tremble a little, and he just wants to get out of here immediately.

"You're such an asshole, Brendon," Josh snaps at his friend, but that only adds fuel to the fire as Brendon laughs even harder, clutching at the table for support. Josh turns to Tyler, but Tyler refuses to look away from his hands as they fiddle with each other in his lap.

"I was only playing, holy shit," Brendon wheezes out as his laughter ceases, "I'm sorry I embarrassed you, Tyler. Don't take it personally."

Tyler only nods.  He still doesn't like Brendon.

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an: the next chapter should pick up where this chapter ended, letting you guys know in advance :^) thanks guys <3

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