Falling for You

Chapter 6

- Jennifer's P.O.V -

The rest of the week flew by quite quickly. I began to hang out with Josh and his friends more often, which included spending recess and lunch with them rather than in the library studying with Sam. Of course, I still felt awful about my argument Sam and I'd tried to talk to him, but I only received monosyllabic responses.

Finally, Saturday had arrived. My parents were fine with me going out to a party as I wasn't usually included in such social events, but they insisted I return home by 12pm. I was surprised at their leniency, but I didn't question it.

By 6:30pm I was almost ready to go. My parents were out and had left me to get organised on my own. I was dressed in a short, tight red dress that barely extended past my mid thigh and one side had a long sleeve whereas the other was strapless. My long blonde hair was curled softly and pulled to one side of my face. My eyes were smokey and my lips were painted bright red to match my dress. Accompanying my outfit was a pair of black platforms and black accessories.

When the doorbell rang at 6:45pm, I admired myself once more in the mirror before rushing downstairs to open the door. Josh's mouth dropped open at the sight of me, and I did the same at the sight of him. He donned a pair of dark jeans, a white V-neck shirt and a sexy leather jacket while his hair had that 'just woke up' look about it. He looked irresistable.

'Jenn...' he stuttered. 'You look gorgeous!'

I blushed beneath my makeup. 'Thanks,' I managed. 'You look so damn hot.' I barely had the words out of my mouth before I realised what I'd said. I covered my mouth with my hands in embarrassment. 'I'm so sorry... I, uh, didn't intend to verbalise my thoughts...'

Josh laughed. 'Don't be sorry, I'm incredibly flattered!'

He took my hand and led me to his car. As Josh had predicted, when we arrived at Liam's party most people were also just turning up. Josh held my hand as we approached the house and greeted others on our way.

'Have you met Liam before?' Josh asked.

I hadn't met Liam before, but I knew all about him from the gossip that filled the hallways of our school. Liam Hemsworth was tall and handsome, and he was the quarterback of our school's football team. However, he had a reputation that was not too dissimilar to Josh's. Liam enjoyed the company of girls, and would often invite them back to his house to bang them and never call them again. At least Josh had the decency to break up with the girls he briefly dated.

'No,' I answered Josh's question.

The front door to Liam's house was open and guests were coming and going as they pleased. I recognised most of the people attending but they didn't recognise me. Josh led me through the crowded house, to where a group of girls stood, surrounding something. I realised that 'something' happened to be Liam after the girls parted a little so Josh and Liam could see each other. I awkwardly stood back behind the group of girls while Josh approached Liam.

'Hey man,' Liam said to Josh, pulling him into some sort of 'bro' hug. 'I'm glad you came!'

'Yeah,' Josh said. 'How are you?'

'Great!' Liam smiled. 'Especially now that I'm surrounded by a group of gorgeous girls and my best friend.' Liam winked at the group of girls who giggled stupidly. I just rolled my eyes indignantly.

'Hey, Josh,' one of the surrounding girls piped up. I recognised her as Molly Smith from my English class. 'Do you want to come and dance with me?' She bit her lip seductively and played with her hair flirtatiously.

Josh laughed awkwardly. 'Well, I uh, was actually going to see if my date wanted to dance with me. Jenn?'

Did he just refer to me as his date? I stepped forward, revealing myself from behind the rest of the girls. Most of the girls eyed me in disgust while Liam raised his eyebrows and Josh smiled happily.

Josh grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the centre of the crowd. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close to him. My heart was racing.

'You might recognise Jennifer Lawrence from school,' he announced. 'She's in Robsey's English class as well as honours Calculus, honours Chemistry and some other subjects.'

The surrounding teenagers donned looks of surprise on their faces. Of course they didn't recognise me at first but after Josh had introduced me they couldn't believe that the girl standing before them was the messy, disorganised Jenn Lawrence that they might've seen in one of their classes or passing by in the hall at school.

'Dude... she's hot!' I heard Liam mutter under his breath to Josh.

Josh laughed and nodded, but unlike Liam, the surrounding girls were unimpressed and clearly jealous.

'Come on then,' Josh turned to me. 'Let's go and dance.'

---

It was 11:45pm when Josh pulled up next to my house. He ensured that he stayed sober all night so he could drive me home. I, on the other hand had drunk quite a bit and as a result, I was tipsy.

I had really enjoyed the party. Many guys had hit on me and ogled my body through my tight dress which made me feel very uncomfortable but Josh made sure that they backed off. He was quite protective of me, which I appreciated.

After Josh turned off the engine of his car, he turned to face me. 'Are you going to be alright getting inside and upstairs?'

'Yeah,' I smiled. 'Don't worry about it.' I slurred my words a bit.

'I'll walk you to your door though' Josh stated.

'You really don't have to' I laughed.

Josh lifted his hand and cupped the side of my face. 'I just want to make sure you're ok. I'd hate for something bad to happen to you.'

'Thanks, Josh' I giggled, and he smiled his sexy smile. I watched his lips, anticipating their touch and expertise, but he spoke again instead.

'Jenn, I was hoping that maybe you'd like to...' he breathed in shakily. I was surprised at how nervous he seemed. '... go out with me?'

'What do you mean?' I asked, stunned. Despite my slightly intoxicated state, I was suddenly very aware of what he was saying.

'I was hoping you'd be my girlfriend' he said quickly looked down shyly.

I breathed in sharply. I had dreamed of hearing these words ever since I first laid my eyes on Josh. I steadied myself and made sure my answer was casual and not desperate-sounding. 'Of course.'

He looked back up at me and beamed happily. He then cupped my face with his hands again and pulled me in for a deep, passionate kiss. Unlike last time, I was prepared for this kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back with mutual passion. After a few minutes, we broke apart to breathe. The only noise that filled my ears was our heavy breathing. Then Josh spoke.

'I should probably return you to your parents now' he said gesturing to the clock and reminding me of my curfew. It was 11:58pm.

'We still have 2 minutes' I said, pulling him towards me again, feeling his lips against mine.