Guy Problems

Part 1, Chapter 6: Josh

It took me a while to get over Shane. There were questions that could never be answered, like why did he tell me he loved me? He obviously didn't mean it. If he would've meant it, he would have dumped Claire before telling me something like that. Had he planned on breaking up with Claire? Maybe he didn't want to break her heart. Still, he shouldn't have gotten into a relationship with me until he broke up with her.

The conversation I'd had with Will in the car after he picked me up from the party haunted for months. There was obviously something he wasn't telling me, but I had no idea what.

I managed to avoid boys for pretty much the rest of my sophomore year. Then, in April, that changed.

In fifth hour history, I was seated next to a guy named Josh. Josh was basically your average creepy loner. He never talked, he sat alone at lunch, he had messy red hair, a lot of freckles, and glasses. Also, he had two fake teeth because Britney's boyfriend, Joe, punched him in the face and knocked out the real ones.

"Hi, Krista," Josh said to me. In all of the years I'd known him, those were the first words I'd actually heard him speak. His voice was quiet and a little raspy, like he hadn't spoken in years.

"Hi, Josh," I replied, setting my books down.

After class, he slipped me a little piece of paper with his number on it.

"You can...text me, if you want," Josh said.

"I don't...text," I lied. Truthfully, I just didn't want to talk to him.

"Okay," Josh said.

"Re-jected!" Joe shouted at Josh. Joe sat in front of me. He shoved Josh into the wall and Joe and Nick started playing "Keep Away" with Josh's book.

"Give it back to him, you fucking assholes!" I shouted at Nick and Joe.

"Damn," Nick said. "Feisty!" He smirked.

"Shut the fuck up," I said. "Just give him his book back."

Joe handed the book back to Josh. "Sorry," he said, sarcastically.

"Thanks, Krista," Josh whispered.

That night, I was at my track meet with Will. Will looked like a total dork in his short running shorts and spandex underneath.

"I heard about you standing up for Josh in history," he said.

"Joe and Nick were being completes assholes to him," I replied.

"They are assholes," Will agreed. "What you did was a good thing. I wish I would have been there to see you call them out."

"Thanks," I said. "They didn't really care though; they were sarcastic and rude about the whole thing."

"At least you had the guts to cuss them out," Will said. "I'm sure they were offended deep down."

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe."

"Do you like Josh?" Will asked.

"Hells no," I said, making a face. "I'd rather eat pre-chewed Brussels sprouts everyday for three years."

"Gross," Will said. We shared a hatred of Brussels sprouts.

"Would it be bad if I liked Josh?" I asked.

Will hesitated for a moment. "Yeah. It would be very bad," he said. "Anyway, I have to go do my high jump." He walked away.

"Good luck!" I called after him.

"Thanks," he said.

Wait. Hadn't they done the guy's high jump earlier? I saw a girl hurl backward over the bar. Damn, I was so bad at high jump, but Will was so good at it. He almost always won first place.