Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to anxiety while they waited for Annette to crawl back through the window. Hey sly smile spread wide across her face and sweaty palms slipping on the window pane was what they craved to see. Nothing would make Joe happier than for this horrific night to be over and forgotten about. The scene was set with Beth sat crisscrossed on Annette's bed, her back towards Joe and her eyes set looking out the window only to see the stars. Joe lied on his back with his head rested on his pillow and his body buried in his sleeping bag. He assessed over all the mistakes he had made in such a short amount of time but his thoughts were interrupted when Beth started a conversation.
"It's 11:11, make a wish." She held on to her night time tradition, or as some people would call it, superstition. Joe has his wish already made, it has been the same since he was 12 and he wasn't planning on changing it anytime soon. "I wish to get out of here." He guessed this is what it felt like when your heart breaks because those seven words Beth mumbled made him want to cry. If her wish came true, his never would.
It was the night of silence, neither of them spoke even though they has plenty to say. Joe reached into the pocket of his jeans to find a pack of gum. "Want a piece?" He offered. "No thanks." Beth's voice cracked a little when she tried to speak louder than a whisper, it wasn't willing to speak any louder than that. Even though Beth denied his question, Joe took it as a chance to start a conversation, the silence was gnawing on him soon to swallow him whole. "It's not like you can mess up anymore." He thought to himself.
"You know, mint leaves taste like mint gum if you chew them for long enough." Joe felt silly for choosing such an odd topic to talk about but he was committed to it now. Beth nodded awkwardly but found it cute that he was trying to make things less uncomfortable. It made the feelings that she was pushing away shove back and it was as if Joe could sense this and kept making those little remarks, although he was regretting choosing such and obscure topic to talk about. "Some people swallow their mint leaves, I personally don't." He stated bluntly. A giggle escaped Beth's mouth and she rolled her eyes. "Do you swallow your mint leaves?" He made his move.
"As a matter of fact," she said simply. "I've never had the... opportunity to taste a mint leaf." She stuttered on the word "opportunity" trying to decide how to say it, it came out as a questioning sound. Even though she questioned his topic she didn't mind talking about it. There was something in Joe's voice that made all the tension between them fade away. He pretended to gasp at her obvious response. "Never had a mint leaf? Well we'll have to change that." Beth's giggles turned to real laughter. Not the kind she faked when Annette told a joke much too basic for her advanced brain or the nervous kind when Annette said she had to flirt her way out of another speeding ticket. This was a genuine laugh, the kind you give when you like someone so much that no matter what they say, you'll encourage them to say more. "But that can't be right, because I don't like him anymore than I do to the geeks in my algebra class." Beth convinced herself but she tried to not let her thoughts overtake this moment like they had everything else.
"Yes we will." Beth smiled, counting on him to keep the conversation going. There was no more than a ten second pause before Joe burst out into a fit of laughter causing Beth to laugh as well. It was a nervous, tensed up laugh but they both got so into it that Beth fell off the bed and Joe had tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Thinking back on it, she hadn't laughed this hard since she was seven and Annette shoved carrots up her nose and put them on Joe's plate because she didn't want them. Here she sat almost eleven years later laughing just as hard with her little brother. It took them from 11:13 to 11:15 to calm down, a full two minutes of pure laughter.
Joe had never felt more comfortable with a person than he did right now. The feeling engulfed him as he tried to think of something to say without pouring his heart out to her and admitting his somewhat obvious feelings. "If you don't like mint leaves, what do you like?" He showed interest in her, girls always like to talk about themselves right? "First of all, I never said I didn't like them, I said I had never tried them." Beth felt completely comfortable joking with him. "Second of all..." She paused trying to think of something she did outside of school. Joe was patient but Beth became frustrated with herself and the answer she was about to give. "I'm kind of boring, mainly school." She hadn't realized how school took over her life until now. He resisted the urge to ask about a boyfriend knowing it would sound desperate and rushed. "Really? You're friends seem to convince me otherwise." He gently touched the subject. "You do your homework don't you? They really are party whores, I'd much rather stay home and watch Friends all night. I try my hardest to avoid them outside of school." She admitted. "You can't tell them I said that." She quickly added, if someone found out Bethany Bates was rude to someone, especially her "friends," her reputation of most perfect girl in school would be quickly shattered. "As if they would believe anything I say." Joe made fun of himself a little which made Beth laugh, again. Joe couldn't help but smile at her.
That's how they spent their next three hours together, laughing and gossiping. Joe was falling head over heels and Beth? Well she was just falling.
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HEY!!! Long time without an update, I'm sorry. If you look back on a few of my past chapters you'll realize I changed it a little so see those if you want :)
I'll try and update more often but I still have to write, type and edit chapter 7 so I'm sorry if I make you wait again.
