complications | joshler (prequel to infatuated)

part one [7]

warning: homophobic comments in this chapter
may (year seven) - the next day

josh was greeted on a very lonely day (without tyler) by giggles and snickers. everyone's eyes were on him. josh was confused: what did he do now? he had no idea why basically the entire school was laughing at him. everywhere he went, a random kid would be watching his every move with a smirk on their face.

he ignored all the stares and grabbed his books from his locker. his back was only turned for a few seconds yet people still were watching him like hawks. josh shook his head and continued walking to class. hopefully the attention would subside soon.

but why were people looking at him? josh wracked his brain for any ideas why this was happening but he had no clue. somebody probably started some preposterous rumour about him since that's basically what all high schoolers do. they seriously need to do something else other than making others feel bad. josh was already annoyed with 95% of the other kids at school and it was only his first year. it was hard to get annoyed by people who are wannabe rappers and gangsters.

carrying his books, josh entered the geography classroom. it was covered in posters, maps of the world and other unnecessary decorations to make the classroom "more interesting". the usual wooden classroom desks were placed in rows in front of the whiteboard. only a few of josh's classmates occupied the seats: hayley, jordan, lynn and alex. they were mostly nice, but sometimes annoying. the group sat, chatting quietly about their weekends. josh's teacher, miss henderson was sat at her desk writing on a notepad.

as he had expected, the group's stared at josh. jordan shook his head and turned back into the conversation. soon, the group copied him, which josh felt thankful for. he was still so confused. on a normal day, nobody even took a second glance at josh. but now all of a sudden everyone was watching his every move.

ignoring his thoughts, josh placed his books in the middle row and sat down. he wasn't feeling his usual confident self since he felt uncomfortable and shy in a room full of people he didn't know very well. it made a difference that tyler wasn't there, also. tyler always encouraged josh to come out of his shell, which he was glad for. if tyler wasn't there, josh wouldn't have talked to anybody.

he put his earphones on, blasting fall out boy. (what did you expect??) the music was so loud josh almost felt it pumping through his veins. music was always more enjoyable when you could feel it, feel the bass, feel the drums, feel the singing. there's honestly nothing better than that.

josh's jam session was interrupted by a gang of three boys loudly and rudely entering the classroom. those three boys; alec, max and caleb all thought they owned the place, strutting around the school, thinking that all the girls loved them and being overall dickheads.

"oi miss, i'm sorry for being late." the leader max, shouted, throwing his books onto the table causing a loud thud. ethan and caleb followed closely behind, copying max's movements and sitting down all together in the back row. the group were clad in their uniforms. they liked to think they were "thugs" so they wore unconventional black belts at their waists and left their top buttons undone on their shirts. but it's not like any of that makes you a "thug", yet they still thought they were.

josh's eyes were still on the group. caleb's eyes met josh's and he smirked. he turned to max, elbowing him in the chest causing max to look straight at josh. max stood up, - for once ethan and caleb weren't following him - heading straight towards the scared looking boy. the same smirk that caleb was spread across max's face.

"fucken' fag. i heard you like tyler. wow, that's pathetic. get a fucking life you faggot," max scoffed, pushing josh's books off of the desk. the rest of the class and max's sidekicks all burst into laughter at him. josh felt embarrassed and sad and betrayed.

he scrambled to pick up his books that had been pushed to the floor. josh knew he was going to cry but he didn't want to do it in front of the whole entire class who were already laughing at him. josh felt his eyes well up and his heart start to race.

josh placed his books on the desk. "miss, can i please go to the bathroom?" he asked, trying not to cry. miss henderson nodded. josh basically sprinted out of the classroom. now, alone, he didn't have to hold back his tears.

how did the entire school know about his crush on tyler? he only told abbey. abbey. josh couldn't believe that she would do that. he thought he could trust her. but i guess he couldn't now. josh felt his heart slowly breaking. how could things get so bad, so quickly?