suburbia [joshler]>> j.d t.j

t h r e e

my favorite color is black.

every color on the rainbow feels too bright to me. black is nice. it helps me blend in, stay in the shadows. people don't notice me as much. it makes me comfortable, smaller, and it's just aesthetic.

so, tyler, if you're reading this, you don't like light blue at all. take it off and ask for a sweatshirt.

✦✦✦

i was walking down the hallway to algebra, jenna right beside me. she was looking at something on her phone, and periodically i had to grab her arm and pull her out of the way of a person or metal pole so she didn't bump into anything.

" look where you're going, oh my god, you're gonna hit your head and die."

jenna made a pff noise at me, typing something on her phone.

" chill, you dolt. i'm fine."

" you've almost ran into nine people. and i pulled your of the way of three."

" keyword 'almost'."

i sighed and looked away from her, pursing my lips. i looked around the hall, which was mildly crowded.

columbus ohio highschool was a public high school. it was a smallish school with about 200 students in attendance. pretty much everyone knew everyone, and anybody's business was anyone's. there were no secret relationships, quiet friendships, or other things that should be kept to yourself at school. like me and jenna we were friends, and neither of us were really friends with anyone besides each other. we were also just friends. i was sexually confused, and jenna was obviously dating pete wentz, the marching band king. yet, someone had spread the rumor me and jenna were dating, and she was cheating on pete with me. which was clearly not true. but here at columbus high, home of the wildcats, your business is our business.

before we passed the algebra room, i grabbed jenna's arm and yanked her sideways, dragging her into the room behind me.

" tyler, stop-let go of me, ow!"

i pulled her to the back of the room, in the corner farthest away from the teacher's desk before letting go of her. she glared at me as she put her phone in her pocket and pulled her backpack off her shoulder.

" you almost made me drop my phone, dick."

i shrugged and flopped down in the seat, pulling my macbook out of my bag and setting it on the desk in front of me.

" maybe you shouldn't have been on it in the first place."

" oh, sorry, mom. i didn't realize i wronged you. i'll go to my room now."

i cut my eyes at her as i typed in my password and unlocked my computer. i tried opening safari, but it didn't load. i checked the wifi connection, discovering that the school Internet was down.

" yo, bitch, turn your phone wifi on."

jenna paused in her task of drawing on the desk with a sharpie to look at me, raising her eyebrows.

" excuse me?"

" the internet's down. turn your phone wifi on."

" what do you need to do that's so important you can't use your own phone wifi?"

" look up your mom's sex tape."

" oh, ha ha. fine. give me a second."

as i waited for jenna to turn her phone's wifi on, i looked up at the white board at the front of the classroom. scrawled across the board in the teacher's sloppy handwriting were the words 'unit test 4'. suddenly, the bell rang.

the bell is less of a bell and more of a loud dial tone. and nobody gets to class before the bell unless you're a geek, smart kid, or a loser.

or me and jenna.

a few seconds after the bell ended, other people started filing into the classroom.

" okay, my wifi is on. password is 'tylerisadick666'."

" fuck you too."

" yes, please."

i entered the password and logged onto her wifi. i looked over at jenna. she was still drawing on the desk with a black sharpie.

" what is that? it looks like a moose wearing shorts."

" it is a moose wearing shorts."

" oh my god."

" what?"

before i could respond, mr. vasquez, our algebra teacher walked in, slamming the door behind him. beside him was a boy i'd never seen before. the teacher walked up and stood beside the whiteboard, looking out over the class, a scowl on his face.

" hey, look up here."

mr. vasquez was everyone's favorite teacher even though he taught algebra. he was a young teacher, only 25 years old. he was hispanic, really tall, really buff, and very down to earth. he didn't treat his kids like farm animals or tiny subjects that were beneath him. he treated us like equals, and was a pretty chill teacher. he'd only given out a detention slip once in his four years at columbus high.

everyone in the room stopped talking and looked at mr. vasquez. he looked around, taking a second before he started talking. i noticed the boy beside him looking very nervous and out of place.

the boy had shortish hair that was longer on the top and dyed a light sky blue color. he was wearing ripped black skinny jeans, red vans, and a black sweatshirt with the logo for green day american idiot on it. he had a red and white backpack slung over one shoulder, his arms were crossed and he was staring at the floor like it held the key to life.

" before we start the test, which i'm sure you're all looking forward to, we have a new student."

i shut my laptop and leaned over, starting to go through my bookbag. i wanted to find the cheat sheet before the test started.

" this is josh dun. he just moved here from... where did you move here from?"

" chicago."

josh's voice was really quiet, i thought as i found the sheet and straightened back up after subtly folding it slightly and setting it on the floor between jenna's and my desk.

" anyways, welcome josh to our school when you have time. we hope you like it here. now, about the test..."

jenna leaned over across the gap, resting her chin on my desk right in my way.

" he's cute."

i looked across the room. josh had walked to the back of the room, sitting in the desk in the opposite corner and pulling his hood over his head and slumping down in his seat.

i had to admit, he wasn't bad looking. he had nice eyes, and even though he looked kind of aisan, he was sort of cute in a teddy bear sort of way.

" says you."

jenna sat back up, reaching forward and taking two test papers that the girl two seats in front of her had set on the desk in front of jenna. she handed one to me, then wrote her name in sharpie on her paper.

" says both of us. i can see you looking at him."

" i'm not looking at him!"

" yes you are, you noot. you're bad at being subtle."

i blushed and looked down at my paper.

" i don't even know anything about this...what's his name?"

" josh dun. he literally just said it."

" right. i forgot. well, I don't know anything about him, and he doesn't look like my type anyways."

jenna smiled, her hair falling and hiding her face.

" sure. whatever you say."

i didn't say anything back. i just started working on my test. but every so often, i snuck a glance at the new boy. he was staring out the window, watching a flock of birds in a tree.

he was, indeed, cute.

even if i couldn't remember his name.