if you look at him, he'll kill you!

4: don't sit there

tyler sat in world geography, in the very back corner away from every other student.

it was as if he was shunned, or something.

oh wait.

he fucking was.

tyler didn't know where this psychopath rumor started. he just knew that it wasn't fair.

oh no. that kid is way too quiet he must be a fucking axe murderer.

to put it nicely, tyler joseph fucking hated this school.

the teacher was saying something about the elevation of switzerland or some other shit he really didn't care to learn when the door opened.

and in walked a kid tyler didn't recognize.

he had dark curly hair and he looked almost as uninterested as tyler was.

"mr. dun, i presume?"

new kid? maybe... maybe he wouldn't believe the rumors.

tyler sighed, knowing that he shouldn't get his hopes up. everyone in this school hated tyler joseph.

he knew that someone would warn this dun kid.

the new kid nodded. "yeah, i'm josh."

"find a seat, mr. dun."

josh looked around the room, the only open seats being the ones surrounding tyler's desk.

josh pointed, looking up at the teacher. "here?"

"yeah, that's good."

the new kid began walking towards the desk, smiling slightly at tyler.

tyler was getting his hopes up again.

"don't sit there."

tyler watched as the kid's face contorted in confusion. he raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy who spoke to him.

tyler recognized the kid as jack barakat and he scowled as josh seemed to start questioning whether it was safe to sit next to tyler.

"why?" josh asked, his eyes widening as he looked at tyler.

"if you look at him, he'll kill you!"

tyler was done with this. he wasn't a fucking psychopath.

"oh my god, jack! give it a fucking rest!"

the whole class went dead silent. "i'm not gonna hurt you, josh."

"that's just what he wants you to believe. tyler joseph is bad news. grab that desk and pull it over here."

tyler looked up with tears in his eyes.

josh looked conflicted.

"what's going on over there, boys?" the man walked over, looking at jack.

"tyler yelled at me and josh for no reason, sir."

tyler opened his mouth, prepared to protest but then it hit him.

the teacher would side with jack no matter what tyler said. his opinion didn't matter. his perspective wasn't valid.

he wasn't valid.

not at home, not at school.

and he was utterly done.

"tyler, is this true?"

tyler didn't answer.

he threw a pleading glance in josh's direction.

stick up for me. you know what happened. don't make the wrong choice here.

"it's true, sir."

tyler whipped his head up, seeing that stupid new kid pulling the desk towards jack.

and that's when he got up and walked right out of the doors.

fuck this school and everyone in it.

-

500 words

published on june 21, 2019