Chapter Text
Of course on his first day of school he was put next to the worst kid in the entire building.
Tyler Joseph, captain of the basketball team, was a jock. He wasn't the dumb-witted stereotypical jock either, no, Tyler Joseph was a straight A, heavily involved student. He took a string of AP classes, sang in choir, was the vice president of student council and an avid church goer. Girls swooned over him, teachers praised him, and his parents trusted him to not do anything bad.
Josh Dun, however, was the exact opposite. Known for his signature look of ruffled dyed hair, silver piercings and gauges, Josh was the definition of a punk. He was known to ditch class, make sarcastic remarks, slack off, and once got caught and temporarily suspended for smoking weed in the school bathroom. He had a very select group of friends and everyone knew not to speak with them.
Which was the exact reason why Tyler wanted nothing to do with him. He had known Josh for a while, after all, they had been in school together since kindergarten. They never spoke with one another, always flocking to opposite social groups. Tyler knew he was a bad kid.
And to make it even worse, their English teacher seemed like the person to keep them in these seats all year. So Tyler was doomed to forever having to work with Josh Dun.
He swiveled around in his seat, trying to catch the attention of his best friend Dallon who seemed to be scowling himself as Brendon Urie sat down next to him. Oh, poor Dallon. If there was anyone worse than Josh Dun, it would be Brendon.
Dallon glanced at him with worried eyes and mouthed “Help me” to which Tyler could only shake his head sadly.
“Oh, don’t be too distraught,” Josh said, drawing Tyler’s attention from Dallon’s pleading look. “I won’t bite.”
“I don’t even know you,” Tyler replied, scooting his chair to the edge of the desk.
“Well, sure is a good thing we’ll have all year to chit chat, huh?” he raised an eyebrow, some of that blue fluff he called hair flopping into his eyes. Tyler scowled and looked back up towards the teacher.
“Welcome back to school everyone, I’m sure you are more than excited to finally be seniors!” she let out a small cheer, eyes scanning the dead crowd for any signs of enthusiasm. “Today we’re going to do some ice breakers and get to know the person you’re sitting with.” The whole class groaned. “Come on you guys, branch out of your comfort zones! It’s your last year of high school! I’ll pass out the worksheets and we can begin.”
The minute Tyler received his he pulled it to the far side of the desk and hid it from Josh’s view.
“Oh, don’t be that way Joseph. What on that paper can I really cheat with?”
“I don’t know,” Tyler muttered, “but you’ll find something.” Josh laughed mockingly as Tyler wrote his name, clean and crisp, at the top of the paper.
When Ms. O’Hara reached the front of the classroom, she smiled. “Alright class, go ahead and speak with your partners, and then at the end of class you’ll be in charge of introducing them!”
“I feel like she used to be a kindergarten teacher,” Josh said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. Tyler rolled his eyes and studied his paper.
“Let’s just get this over with. What’s your favourite movie?”
“Sorry Joseph, you don’t get to know that until the third date.” He winked, fingers fiddling with the cuffs of his leather jacket instead of focusing on the assignment. Typical.
“ High School Musical 3 it is.”
“The second one is so much better though.” Josh’s smirk filled Tyler’s entire body with fury. How the heck was he supposed to deal with this butthole all year long?
“Can you stop goofing off and ask me a dang question?”
A sigh. “I guess Troy Bolton, but you have to tone down the attitude.” He reached for his paper, eyes scanning over the questions. “Favourite sport? Oh that’s easy. It’s badminton, right?”
“Basketball,” Tyler spat through gritted teeth. Yep. He definitely couldn’t do this. So instead, Tyler pushed out of his chair and asked to go to the bathroom, ignoring Josh’s coos from behind him.
“Are you finished?” Ms. O’Hara asked, and Tyler shook his head.
“Can’t get much done.” And with that, he shuffled out of the classroom and into the bathroom at the end of the hall to splash some water on his face. It was only second hour and Tyler already wanted to give up. This year was supposed to be his. He was the definition of involved; student council was going to make the school the best in Ohio, the basketball team was going to win all their championships, and now that was about to be ruined by stupid Josh Dun.
When Tyler’s phone buzzed in his pocket, he yanked it out in surprise to see Dallon had messaged him.
Dal-Pal (8:22 am)
Hey, saw u leave. Everything ok?
Tyjo (8:23 am)
Josh Dun is making me want to slit my throat
Dal-Pal (8:23 am)
Try dealing w/ Brendon. We aren’t getting anything done.
Tyjo (8:24 am)
Us either. I’m giving up.
Okay. Back to class.
With a loud groan, Tyler walked back to the classroom as slow as possible, dragging the heels of his shoes into the linoleum floor. Josh was staring at him with that same stupid gross smirk as he made his way back to his chair.
“Welcome back to class basketball captain.”
“Do you have anything better to do with your life than waltz around with a sarcastic response on the tip of your tongue all the darn time?”
“Yikes. Didn’t realize pretty boy Joseph could get this salty. Come on Ty-Guy, can’t we be friends?”
“No, we can’t. Because I don’t like you. I don’t like what you do, or what you stand for, and I hate how you waste all your time. Unlike you, I care about school and my future, and I’m not going to let you get in the way of me having a fantastic senior year. Understand?”
Josh saluted him. “Yes general.”
Tyler groaned.
---
Luckily for Tyler, after English he had AP Biology and AP World History so he didn’t have to deal Josh Dun and his crazy antics. At lunch, he slid into his usual seat between Dallon and Alex with a sigh.
“Having a tough day?” Pete asked as he slid into his own seat across the table, smiling at Patrick as he joined them. Pete was a soccer player, one of the best too, and Patrick was his best friend and usually hung out with the jocks even though he wasn’t one. He was cool though.
“I think he’s still scarred from English class,” Alex joked, patting him on the back. “New teacher assigned seats and all of us are struggling.”
“I have to sit next to Brendon Urie,” Dallon added, pressing a palm to his forehead, “you know, the school’s number one stoner.”
“Heard he throws some sick parties though,” Patrick grinned as he pulled his lunch out of his bag. “Not that I’d ever go to any of them.”
“And I’m stuck next to Jack Barakat. God save us all.” Alex rolled his eyes as he started picking at his cafeteria pizza. “I’m pretty sure Tyler has it the worst.”
“Josh Dun,” Tyler stated blatantly, throwing his head into his hands. “Their god awful ring leader. I’m going to fail every partner project unless she lets us pick our own.”
“Aww man, that sounds really rough. Could you switch into a different English class? Or ask to move seats maybe?”
“Doubt it. I can’t afford to change up my whole schedule, and O’Hara seems very convinced we need to work with people we don’t know. I know Josh enough to know he’s a slacker and a stoner and a terrible person in general.”
“Eh, just ignore him when you can. You can get through it Tyler. Besides, you’re one of the most popular people in school. If he starts pestering you, literally everyone will step up to stop him, oh dearest point guard.” Pete grinned and Tyler rolled his eyes.
“Hardy har har.”
“I’ll take him down for you Ty.” Dallon nudged him, and everyone burst into laughter.
“No offense Dal, but you’re a stick.”
“But I’m tall! I play center! You guys have seen me take people down during games!”
“This is Josh Dun we’re talking about. This guy is pure muscle and sarcasm. Two things you don’t have.”
“You guys suck.”
The conversation slowed to a gentle babble as the rest of the table filled in. Rian and Zack were in the middle of their own conversation, too absorbed to pay attention to the roasting session of Dallon while Spencer and Andy hopped right in.
“Whatcha talking about?” Spencer asked as he pulled out his sandwich.
“Dallon thinks he can take Josh Dun,” Alex replied for him, smirking as Dallon pouted.
Spencer let out a laugh of his own. “Hah! Good luck.”
“You can’t say anything Spencer, you’re a wrestler. You could crush someone by shoving them into a locker,” Dallon said as he flicked a carrot stick at Spencer’s head, and promptly missed.
“I’ll take him on,” he said proudly, puffing up his chest. “Why are we taking on Josh Dun? Isn’t he that stoner kid?”
“Yep. Tyler’s stuck sitting next to him in English.”
“He’s a dip crap,” concluded Tyler. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
“Any other classes with him?” asked Patrick, and Tyler shrugged.
“At the moment, no. But who knows. I still have three more classes. For certain won’t have student council with him.”
“He’s too dumb for that,” Alex snickered.
“I don’t think the problem is that he’s too dumb. I think he just doesn’t try hard enough.” The group turned to look at quiet Andy who hardly ever contributed to the conversations. He raised his hands in defense when he noticed everyone staring at him. “Hey, I’m just being honest.”
“I’ve got music theory with him fourth hour. He sits with Brendon and Gerard. They seemed to sit quiet in that class.” Pete focused on peeling his banana, Tyler watching as he tucked his palm under his chin.
“Maybe he’s got a crush on you Ty. Wouldn’t be surprised. Everyone else in this school does.” Dallon wiggled his eyebrows as Alex fluttered his eyelashes and a warm blush spread across Tyler’s face.
“Shut up you guys.”
“But seriously though. I’m pretty sure he’s gay. You know Brendon Urie is gay. He got caught sucking Ryan Ross’s dick last year in the bathroom stall. You guys remember when he got suspended?”
“That doesn’t mean Dun’s gay.”
“Be honest with yourself. He even looks gay.”
“You can’t look gay.”
“Of course you can.”
“Alright, alright, cool it everyone,” Tyler stopped the conversation head on, not really wanting to think about his seatmate as something he might have not even have been.
“Hey, did you guys see that episode of The Walking Dead last week?” And the conversation slowly faded away from Josh Dun.
However, Tyler was still thinking about him and his stupid, somewhat pretty face.
---
After lunch came student council, a class that Tyler had been looking forward to all day what with him being the year’s VP and all. He quickly forgot all about Josh Dun as the president and his partner Jenna Black explained to the class their plan to up school spirit and increase turnout at sporting events like football and basketball games. They were ecstatic when the teacher and class agreed with their plan.
“Hey you wanna go out tonight and celebrate on a job well done?” She followed him after class as he walked to AP Calculus quickly. Jenna was one of Tyler’s best friends, that was for sure. She also made it very obvious that she had a huge stinkin’ crush on him.
And it wasn’t like Tyler didn’t think she was beautiful or anything, no, he certainly did, but he didn’t have feelings for her, or any girl for that matter. He assumed it was because he hadn’t found the right girl yet.
But, afraid he might hurt her feelings and figuring it would be good to get out of the house, Tyler agreed. “Yeah! That sounds like fun. Coffee, my treat?”
Jenna gasped jokingly, resting the heel of her palm over her heart. “Oh Tyler Joseph, you are quite the gentleman!”
“I aim to please.”
“I’ll drive. Be at your house at 4 pm sharp, okay? I’ll text you.”
“Sounds good!” Tyler waved goodbye as she pushed through the crowds, and he turned to go into Calculus.
There was no sign of Josh, which was great news. But it also brought up the fact of the matter that Tyler was avidly searching for him each class period. Was that his brain telling him that he wanted to have more classes with Josh Dun?
Tyler scoffed. That was ridiculous. Absolutely not.
But the minute he walked into his last hour of the day, Chamber Choir, and noticed that familiar blue fluff across the room, Tyler couldn’t lie that his heartbeat didn't speed up.
Patrick grabbed his shoulders as Tyler set his stuff down. “Do you see who I see?”
“Yeah, a guy I would least expect to have made it into the highest choir in school. I didn’t even know he liked singing.”
“He’s definitely a bass though, so you’re safe on that part. You have a higher voice than most girls.” Patrick busted up in laughter and took Tyler’s punch like a man. “Okay, okay, I deserved that.”
“Bump off,” mumbled Tyler as he took his usual spot in the back row. He caught Patrick’s eye before the dirty blonde reached for his phone.
Trick (1:30 pm)
Ty’s boyfriend is in choir with us
Dal-Pal (1:30 pm)
Omfg
Ur Boy Pete (1:31 pm)
U have 2 be kidding
Tyjo (1:31 pm)
Ok first off, not my boyfriend. Second, there’s no way he belongs in here??? Probably snuck in or was forced
Alexander the Great (1:32 pm)
Yikes someone is salty
Tyjo (1:32 pm)
Screw you Alex
With a grumble Tyler exited the group chat and slid his phone into his pocket right as Josh approached him with Brendon at his side. “Well, if it isn’t my good pal Troy Bolton!”
“It’s an honor to meet you wildcat,” Brendon snickered before he winked and offered Tyler a hand. Tyler only glared.
“What the heck do you guys want?”
“Hey, only trying to be friendly.” Josh jabbed a thumb Tyler’s way and spoke to Brendon as if Tyler wouldn’t be able to hear him. “He hates me for some reason. Weird, right?”
“Totally,” Brendon chuckled. Tyler’s fists curled by his sides.
“Anyway basketball boy,” he clasped Tyler’s shoulder, and with a nudge Tyler shoved it off, “I’m so glad we have another class together. Best news all day. Oh, and I dropped my first hour. It used to be Calculus, but I decided I didn’t hate myself. I took study hall.”
Awesome. Another class Tyler would have to suffer in.
“And I thought I’d try my hand at choir. Can’t be too hard, right? I mean, it’s practically a blow off class.”
“That’s it!” Tyler jumped up from his spot on the risers, his fists clenched by his sides. All he could see is red. “Stop it! I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t work!”
Josh played dumb. “I have no clue what you are talking about sweetheart.”
“You are the worst person in this entire freaking school!”
“Tyler!” the whole class slowly turned their heads at the presence of Mrs. Spencer, a sweet older lady in her late fifties. Tyler gulped. “I will not under any circumstances have you insulting another student!”
Josh snickered and Tyler contemplated punching him in the face. “I’m so sorry Mrs. Spencer, it won’t happen again.”
“Now because this is your first infraction in your four years of choir and it’s the first day of school, I’ll let you off with a warning. Please don’t let me hear that again. Choir is a place of peace, not anger.”
“Yes ma’am.” With a red face, Tyler sat down, and tried to ignore the eyes on him.
Trick (1:39 pm)
Tyler got busted by the teacher for being a dick
Ur Boy Pete (1:40 pm)
Fuk get reckt
Alexander the Great (1:40 pm)
Dayyyyuuuummm
Tyjo (1:40 pm)
I hate all of you
The rest of the class Tyler spent wallowing in his own embarrassment at the fact that he let a low life get to him. They did nothing more than ice breakers and syllabuses, but Tyler couldn’t wait to get home. The minute the bell rang he took off running down the hall and towards the parking lot, thankful the choir room was so close.
He was so close to freedom when there was a tap on neck and an arm tossed over his shoulders. “Hey Bolton.”
“I can’t do this right now Josh.”
“I’m sorry for riling you up in choir. Didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“Sure you didn’t.”
“I really didn’t mean to, I swear. I just like seeing your face get all red. It’s cute.”
That made Tyler do a doubletake and he stopped right before he got into his car. “What?”
“I said your face is cute. When you get frustrated.”
“Do you mean that, in like, a gay way?”
“Joseph, what the hell are you talking about?” Josh scoffed. “Basketball players.” He turned to go the other way when Tyler stopped him again.
“Do you walk home?”
“Yeah.”
“Get in. I’m taking you home.”
“Someone had a change of heart? I likey.” Josh grinned before he clambered into the passenger seat and pulled his seatbelt across his chest. Tyler tried to ignore the fact that Josh was staring at him as he slid on his favourite pair of sunglasses.
“Answer me honestly.”
“If you say so baby boy.”
“Are you gay?” Tyler refused to look Josh’s way as he focused on getting out of the parking lot. Josh let out a bark.
“Ha! Where’d you get that idea?”
“Heard a rumor.”
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“Brendon got caught blowing some dude.”
“Well yeah, Brendon’s gay. Have you seen the dude? He doesn’t give a single fuck.”
“So...”
“Why are you so concerned with me being gay or not? Are you gay?”
Tyler swallowed thickly. “I don’t know. I don’t think so at least.”
“Well would you look at that. Basketball Bolton is questioning his own sexuality. Now I’d pay to see that High School Musical.”
“Josh, please. I just want to know.”
“Fine. Yeah, I am. You happy?”
Tyler didn’t reply, just continued to focus on the douchebag that just cut him off.
“Can I use your aux cord?” No answer. “Sweet, thanks.”
The minute the first few notes of Get Your Head in the Game rang throughout Tyler’s beat up Taurus, he muted the volume.
“Jeez, sorry.”
“Where do you live?”
“Down this road. Make a left at that tree stump.”
Josh’s house was nicer than Tyler expected. Their goodbyes were almost nonexist as Josh slung his backpack over his shoulder and cleared his throat. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Don’t expect it to happen again.”
“Yeah.” A pause, and Josh looked behind him to make sure no one was listening as a huge smirk rose to his lips. “Can’t wait to eat out that sweet, sweet ass of yours.”
And with that he was gone, leaving Tyler red in the face as his front door slammed shut.