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Tyler has no idea what he did.
This guy- Jon, he thinks his name is- won't stop staring at him. Glaring at him. It's very unsettling. Tyler is pretty sure Jon hates him. Sometimes, actually, Tyler's caught Jon looking him up and down. Maybe Jon wants to eat him. Honestly, Tyler doesn't know anymore.
They're in the same martial arts class, and Jon always stares at Tyler through nearly the entire duration of the lesson, only looking away when Tyler looks over at him. It's very unnerving, and Tyler can't help but feel as though he's done something to make the guy hate him. He doesn't know what he could've done. He doesn't think they've exchanged more than two or three words. And he's never seen the guy smile at him once. Or at all.
"Josh!" their instructor calls, and Jon gets up. Josh. Josh gets up. Oops.
Class begins, and the students begin their warmups (stretching before practicing basic kicks and punches). Josh is right in front of him, and Tyler catches him twisting his neck around every so often to look at him.
What's this guy's problem?
They move to the mats and practice falling for a bit. Tyler's good at falling, but he doesn't like it much. He doesn't like having to stand up just to fall down again. Standing up. So much work.
They practice their rolls, too. Tyler likes rolling. He feels kind of like a ninja, rolling over from a standing position and popping back up again. It's probably his greatest achievement he's made in this class. Possibly ever.
Then it comes time to practice their throws. Tyler notices that every time Josh throws someone down onto the mat, he locks eyes with Tyler. Is he implying he wants to throw Tyler onto a mat? Tyler has no idea.
Tyler doesn't like falling much, as he's stated before. He likes throwing, though. It makes him feel very powerful, shoving someone down.
They finish off with more kick and punching combinations and then more stretching before they finish. Tyler is taking a drink of water when he feels someone tap his shoulder. He chokes on his water, whirling around.
"Sorry, sorry," Josh says awkwardly, reaching out as if to pat Tyler's shoulder, but he seems to decide against it and retracts his hand before it makes contact with Tyler.
"Can I help you?" Tyler asks once he'd stopped coughing.
"Yeah, um," Josh says, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you want to, um, see a movie? Sometime? With me?"
Tyler blinks. Josh shifts from foot to foot, looking anxious.
"...what?" Tyler finally says.
"Oh," Josh says, looking like a kicked puppy in a teenager-suit.
"No, no, wait," Tyler says. Josh immediately looks up, face brightening. "I... I thought you hated me."
Josh blinks. "What? Why?"
"You- you always stare at me," Tyler says. "Really intensely. And you look me up and down sometimes. I couldn't tell if you hated me or wanted to eat me or whatever."
"...eat you?"
"But now that I think about it," Tyler continues, "I realize that you were probably checking me out, not wondering just what to do with my flesh."
"...yeah," Josh says, looking like he's wondering just what he's gotten himself into.
"Sure," Tyler tells him.
"Huh?" Josh says.
"Sure, I'll go with out with you," Tyler says. "As long as you promise to smile at least once during our date."
"Huh?" Josh repeats.
"You never smile," Tyler points out.
Josh contorts his face into what's probably supposed to be a smile, but instead he looks mildly deranged.
Tyler stares at him. "...not quite." He shakes his head to clear it. "Anyways, yes, I will go to the movies with you."
"Awesome," Josh says, sounding genuinely pleased but looking like he's about to go kill a man. Tyler'll just have to get used to that, then.