a water bottle or two chocolate chip cookies?
that was the current conflict going on in josh dun's mind. it was lunch time and he didn't know if he was hungry or thirsty. he only had a dollar with him and those items were really the only thing he could buy. he could buy some milk, but who the fuck would voluntarily drink only milk.
he decided to pick the cookies instead since he was already in line with his best friend and it was nearly their turn.
josh was a fairly popular student at his high school. he was a junior who moved during his freshman year and came back his sophomore year. he lived in a small-ish town in washington and almost everyone knew him. he was a kind kid. smart, talented, and beautiful.
pretty much everyone knew he was gay. and no one minded. no one important, anyways. there would always be that one person that brought him down for no particular reason. but josh learned not to be fazed by it. why would he care? he knows his worth for the most part. he knows he's amazing.
people looked up to him. metaphorically, anyways. josh was one of the shortest people in his class, standing at only 5'4 while every other boy was an inch or two taller than him.
"you comin' j?" his best friend, hayley williams, asked. she was one of josh's older friends, being a senior and all. she actually wasn't even much older. she managed to skip second grade and so she was the youngest in her class. she and josh were in first and kindergarten together. they didn't like each other much back then. but their parents were close and they eventually became pretty much sibling.
josh nodded and walked with her to the center of the campus where some tables were.
since hayley was a senior and josh was a junior, josh would be pretty much alone for the remainder of the year. he didn't have many friends he'd want to hang out with the entire day like hayley. second semester had started almost a month ago. she was free to go on the last day of may.
"its not fair," josh said, taking a bite from his cookie. "how come you guys get to leave a whole month earlier than the rest of us?"
"simple," she said, ripping a small piece of the cookie off. "we're cool, youre not." sarcasm was evident in her voice as she smiled and let out a small laugh.
josh shook his head, smiling. his best friend was stupid sometimes, but he loved her.
"did you get your grades for your finals yet?" she asked while taking another piece from the cookie.
josh nodded. "i got an A in everything. well, except for pre-calc. i got a B plus."
hayley smiled. josh wasn't much younger than her, but she treated him as if he were her kid. she had this sort of motherly love for josh. his parents aren't the best at giving their support for him. and it's not necessarily their fault. they spend most of their time working and have hardly any time to rest. they do love josh, very much. half of the time, they just aren't able to show it.
"when's your next choir concert?"
"some day in march," josh said, thinking for a bit. "the 6th?" he shrugged after.
maybe he should actually know when his performances were. he was in the top choir of the school after all and it was kind of expected from him.
the bell rang and the two got up from the table and walked towards the far left side of campus, where the student parking lot was. it was empty almost all the time and it was where they went to either smoke or to talk about random things to be late for their fourth class.
today, they we're just going to walk there and then walk back to the office to get a tardy slip. the two were well known by the office staff because they were late almost every day. the office didn't mind. they didn't really care if people were late or not. in fact, many of them made bonds with the students because of their tardies.
"hey you two," mrs carell smiled at them. she was extremely beautiful for being a 49 year old lady. her sandy hair was always groomed nicely, and her smile was always kind. you were insane if you thought she was in any way rude. "how are you guys?"
"tardy," josh joked. hayley giggled, typing in her student number.
mrs carrel chucked. "ha ha, you're funny." she sarcastically said.
the boy punched in his number and said goodbye to her. he and hayley walked out of the building and started to walk towards hayley's math class, which was in the hallway left of the gym.
"oh!" hayley chirped, "there's supposed to be a new kid in the pottery class!"
"really? when's he supposed to come?"
"dunno. mr turner said his first day was supposed to be yesterday but he was a no show. he asked me if you would be willing to help him during study hall."
josh thought about it for a bit. he could be up to helping some new kid with their project. but then again, he's been behind with his portfolio requirements and he needs to work on that.
"i think i'll pass on this one," he said.
"you sure?" she asked. "you're not usually one to turn down an offer to help people."
"i know. but i got stuff to do in order so that im on track graduate. unlike you," he joked, opening the hallway door for her.
hayley gasped dramatically, pressing the tips of her fingers against her chest. "just because i didn't get that stupid .25 credit that i needed in advisory does not mean i was 'off track to graduate.' it was one hundred percent the idiotic teachers fault for not giving me my spring conference form."
josh's laugh echoed in the hallway, bouncing off the walls.
"it's not funny! i had to pay thirty dollars for summer school just to get those .25 credits back!"
she tried holding back her laugh, but remembering what had happened allowed a giggle to escape her mouth. their laughter died down to giggles when they reached hayley's math class.
"alright, i gotta go. see you after school, idiot."
"bye loser, i love you."
"love you too. don't fuck around in math or else you'll fail again."
"i did it once, i can do it again."
