Rejected At First Sight

Chapter Twenty Two

The rest of the week passed quickly. School was better. Ashton never returned from the forest, so I never saw him again that week. Katherine and I had been texting and I found out she had the flu, and that she blamed me for giving it to her. I had to laugh at that.

Saturday rolled around and I found myself excited to work with Josh. Neither of us mentioned what had happened and we both seemed to have moved on. However, it was always in the back of my mind.

Waking up half an hour before Josh was supposed to be here, I quickly get out a pair of leggings and a Doctor Who t-shirt. I change out of my pajamas quickly and, pausing to look at my now clear skin, I smile and get into my clothes that I'm wearing today. The bruises are finally gone.

I walk swiftly out of my room and walk past my parent's room. Glancing in their room, I see that the bed is already made so I know that they've already left. I jog down the stairs and go into the kitchen.

I decide to make a bagel and cream cheese. Getting out the bagels and cream cheese, I quickly pop one bagel into the toaster. Realizing that I left my shoes upstairs, I run back up the stairs to my room and grab my moccasins and head back downstairs.

Once I enter the kitchen, the toaster beeps and my bagels pop up. I grab a butter knife and quickly spread the cream cheese on my bagel. I start eating immediately once I notice that I have ten minutes until Josh gets here.

Suddenly, a honk sounds from outside. I look at the clock and realize that Josh is early. I quickly finish eating my bagel and slip on my moccasins. Another honk sounds and I smile at Josh's impatience. I walk to the garage and open the garage door. I wave at Josh when the door gets high enough. He responds by pointing at his non-existent watch. I roll my eyes at him and walk to the keypad to close the garage door. I type in the quick five number password and the garage door starts to close.

I turn around and still see Josh pointing to his non-existent watch. I open the door to his car and Josh lets out an annoyed sigh.

"Patient much?" I ask him sarcastically.

"I can be patient, if I don't have to wait forever." Josh responds just as sarcastic as I was. Josh playfully glares at me as he pulls out of my driveway. I return his glare until I notice that he's not looking at the road.

"Watch the road, you idiot!" I shout at Josh. He chuckles and slowly turns his head to watch the road.

"I know where I'm going." Josh says.

I scoff, "But you don't know if a car will come barreling down the road and crash into you."

Josh simply chuckles again, but he keeps his eyes on the road. Quiet music fills the space and I realize that the radio has been on this entire time. I start to listen to it as Josh drives on.

We enter the main part of the town. Josh continues to drive through the town until we are on the other side. We keep on driving for a couple minutes until, through the trees, I can see the outline of a house. A small gasp comes out of my mouth as I realize where were going.

"You live here?" I exclaim when the huge house comes into view. This was the same house that I saw the day we came here. It looked even bigger up close.

Josh laughs, "Yeah, quite a few of us do." His laughing stops abruptly and he glances at me. His eyes give away what his mouth doesn't, that he wasn't supposed to say that.

"What do you mean? Do you have a big family?" I ask him, catching on quickly.

Josh hesitates, "Yes, kind of. I mean, I consider them family, but they're not. It's kind of like a," Josh stops and it looks like he's having trouble finding the right word, "like a community home. Yeah, a community home."