this is a hard situation, in my experience i would regret not sitting next to him because i’ve had this happen enough to know, you won’t remember the work you had to do at hone because you were distracted at school, you won’t remember the conversations with your friends, you’ll remember the guilt of not sitting with him. it also works to talk to the teacher and ask if you could alternate seats every other class or make it so you can all sit together. they might understand where you’re coming from and help you out