josh stands at his locker with a red bull in hand, half-asleep as he sorts through his belongings. he realizes he left his calculus book at home and curses to himself, defeatedly resting his head against the frame of his locker. a tap on his shoulder causes him to jump.

"morning, joshie."

he smiles at the sight of his best friend, tyler, clutching an armful of books against his chest.

"jeez, you scared me."

tyler's lips curl into a half-smile. he points at the red bull in his hand. "can i have the rest?"

josh swishes the liquid inside the can in an attempt to determine how much is left. it's probably only half-empty and he could really use it, but he can't say no to tyler. he takes one last sip before handing the drink over.

"thanks."

"yeah," josh sighs, turning his attention back to his locker. his teacher is going to be so pissed that he forgot his book.

"something wrong?"

"forgot my calc book at home."

tyler scoffs. "who cares? that class makes me want to stab needles through both of my eyes."

josh rolls his eyes although tyler's comment does make him smile. "miss martinez is going to be so mad."

"well, let's skip then," tyler suggests, shrugging as if it's no big deal.

to him, it's not. tyler has never been the most motivated student. it's not that he's not smart, because he is, he just hates the education system as a whole. plus, it's easy for him to bat his pretty eyelashes and get anything he wants. teachers practically bend to his will—mostly due to the fact that tyler's parents have funded like half of the school, but also because tyler is outrageously gorgeous and a great manipulator.

he's the person in school that everybody either wants to fuck, has fucked, wants to befriend, or wants to be. think regina george only less bitchy and less attention-seeking. tyler doesn't have to seek attention, he just gets it. honestly, he pretty much keeps to himself. his only real friend is josh and if he's not hanging out with josh then he's probably just with whoever he's banging at the moment.

they've been friends since they were little kids, having met in first grade on the playground. even back then josh recognized how beautiful and how powerful tyler was. kids in their grade would beg to play with him, but josh never even had to ask to be his friend. for some reason, tyler just liked him. he was the one who approached lonely little josh in the sandbox and declared their friendship.

to josh, school is a big deal. his parents aren't rich like tyler's. he isn't able to wave his magical hand to receive things in the same way. josh has to work hard; tyler doesn't. both of them recognize this but neither judges the other for it. even still, josh can't help but be persuaded by those heavenly brown eyes.

"okay, fine."

throughout the years, josh has questioned his sexuality a lot. mainly because he sometimes gets these weird feelings in his stomach when tyler looks a certain way or says certain things. he's been with a few girls and definitely enjoyed it, so he's not gay. he hasn't been with guys in the same way, but he just doesn't feel inclined to.

he's kissed two boys in his life. one was at a party and was the result of a dare from tyler. josh didn't really like it. he didn't hate it either, but he definitely liked kissing girls a lot more.

the other boy is tyler. they'd actually kissed quite a few times between the ages of twelve and sixteen, but never for any reason other than curiosity. it only confused josh more because he liked kissing tyler more than he liked kissing anybody. he thinks it's just because tyler is his best friend and he really cares about him.

whatever the case, it's been two years since their last little innocent kiss. once they both became sexually active, josh felt it was too strange. since then, he's decided that he's definitely straight. sure, he still thinks tyler is beautiful and likes kissing him; those two things don't mean he's into boys. he's not—really! tyler doesn't count.

"sweet," tyler grins. "so i wanted to ask you something."

"mhm?"

"there's this band playing at riley's pub tonight and i really want to get with the lead singer. he's so gorgeous, joshie. can you come with me? i could use a ride."

josh frowns, shutting his locker to fully face his friend. the look in tyler's eyes is pitiful, practically pleading for josh to say yes. tyler doesn't have his own car so josh knows he wouldn't be able to go without him.

"well, i was supposed to hang with frank and mikey tonight."

"boo," tyler deadpans, rolling his eyes. "don't be lame, joshie, come on."

he doesn't even have to think twice. "what time?"

"pick me up at 8:30." tyler looks him up and down. josh notices the way he captures his lower lip between his teeth. his heart flutters. "wear something cute, okay?"

he nods, unable to find words. tyler breaks out into a smile, quickly leaning in and pressing a peck to josh's cheek. he feels the heat rush to his face.

"see ya after lunch, joshie. meet me by the back doors."

with that, he walks away. josh catches himself staring at his ass but quickly forces his gaze to the ground. he shakes his head in disbelief, unsure how tyler managed to both take his red bull and change his thursday night plans within just a few minutes.

at lunch, josh fiddles with a loose thread on his sweater, nervously anticipating telling his friends about his change of plans. frank and mikey sit opposite him just a few minutes after he arrives, talking about something that happened in their class. josh listens, laughing along, before the topic switches to what they'll be doing tonight.

"i was thinking we could watch this new scary movie that came out a few days ago," frank suggests.

"what's it called?"

"ah, i can't remember. the trailer looked good though."

"okay. well i can pick up snacks and stuff on my way if you guys want?"

"i actually can't tonight," josh chokes out. even with his eyes focused on the table, he can feel their stares.

"what? why not?"

"yeah, why?"

"tyler asked me to go with him to see some band play at riley's."

mikey groans, dropping his head into his hands.

frank just rolls his eyes. he says, "seriously? you always do what tyler tells you."

"no i don't," josh argues. "he's my best friend. we just like the same stuff."

"well, we like a lot of the same stuff too, but you'd never ditch him for us."

"it's different," is all josh says. he knows frank is right.

"whatever, man. it's fine," mikey shrugs. "frank and i will just have fun without you."

josh's lips curl into a smile. "i doubt that."

they spend the rest of lunch chatting and laughing. periodically, josh catches himself gazing across the cafeteria to where tyler sits with a boy from their chemistry class. the two are talking and laughing. he feels a strange tug at his heart.

he's asked tyler to sit with him and his friends many times before, but the boy always says no. he doesn't like frank and mikey; frank and mikey don't like him. well, more frank than mikey.

tyler and mikey had actually dated for a couple months back in 10th grade and mikey said it was great—he swoons over tyler just as much as everyone else. he's just salty that tyler inevitably broke up with him. that's how josh ended up meeting mikey in the first place, but he never understood what tyler saw in him.

when the prison bell rings to sound the end of lunch, josh is quick to say bye to his friends and exit the cafeteria. he starts heading for the back doors where tyler told them to meet, trying to ignore the racing of his heart and anxiety bubbling in his stomach. he doesn't skip class very often; he's too afraid of getting in trouble.

clutching the straps of his backpack, his eyes continuously scan the crowd of passing students until they land on tyler. the boy waves at him from afar, tiny grin planted on his face. he makes his way through the sea of students, his presence alone enough to start easing josh's worries.

"hey, joshie. let's go."

tyler leads them through the glass doors, chuckling as josh continually checks over his shoulder to make sure nobody was coming after them. he assures josh that nobody gives a fuck what they do.

"if you say so. how's your day been?"

tyler groans. "fucking boring. i'm excited for tonight, though. how was lunch with frank and mikey?"

"it was alright. they were a little mad that i'm ditching them."

"sucks to be them," tyler shrugs. "i get joshie tonight."

josh can't help but grin at that, following tyler into the wooded area behind the school. a small array of abandoned wooden picnic benches is housed there, long forgotten from previous years. there used to be some kind of student hangout spot back here, but kids stopped using it years ago. now, the rotting wood sits desolate amongst the shadows of the trees. they sit at the table that looks least likely to collapse under their weight.

"if you wanted to sit with me at lunch, you could've just asked by the way," tyler says, pulling airpods out of his backpack.

"what?"

"yeah. you must not have wanted to sit with them too badly if you spent the whole lunch just looking at me and andy."

josh's face grows hot. "i didn't- i just-"

"joshie," tyler laughs. he holds out an airpod. "it's fine. here, take this."

josh does as instructed, carefully slipping the airpod into place. "what are we gonna listen to?"

"the band that's playing tonight. their music is really good. like pop-punk-emo."

he grins. "what're they called?"

"panic at the disco," tyler says, showing josh their spotify profile.

the latter takes his phone, carefully examining the one album the band has released—a fever you can't sweat out. he looks at the band's profile picture.

"which one is the singer?"

"oh, here." tyler takes his phone back, searching for the band on instagram. he pulls up a better photo and holds it out for josh to see, pointing at a guy with a huge forehead. "this one. brendon. hot, right?"

"no," josh cringes. he points at a different member. "he's cute, though. i guess."

"what! you're such a liar. who's that?" he looks at where josh is pointing. "oh, that's ryan. he looks like a twink. not my type."

josh ignores the way heat rises to his cheeks, pretending like him saying the so-called "twink" is cute doesn't actually mean anything about him at all.

tyler starts shuffling through different songs, singing along to the few parts that he knows. josh listens carefully, finding himself enjoying their music quite a lot.

tonight should be fun.

(a/n: yay i am so excited for this fic!! i'm looking forward to what i have planned hehehe. hope you guys enjoy! <3)