I Dare You ➢ Joshaya [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 26

"Heads," he informs, meeting my eyes. Butterflies dance around in my stomach as he lowers his gaze to my lips and suddenly, I can't think straight anymore.

"I can see," I reply, looking down at the quarter again. I run my finger over the figure portrayed on the coin before turning it over. 

"Maya—" 

"Let's do it," I say without thinking. "But, we're not telling anyone. They'll probably expect this and for some reason, I don't want them to be right." I know what I'm saying makes no sense at all, but it's way too late for me to comprehend the words tumbling out my mouth.

He stares at me for a while longer, piecing together the information I had just given him. "Agreed," he nods, standing up to stretch. "Imagine Lucas' reaction." He lets out a laugh. 

I stand up too, crossing my arms, wishing I had worn a sweater. "I hate him being right all the time," I say, gritting my teeth. An image of Lucas smirking pops up in my mind and I roll my eyes. Why was he always right? Did he expect me to fall for Josh?

Josh laughs again, keeping his eyes on me. For the first time, I feel insecure around him. "I need to go home!" I exclaim, returning back to my senses. His eyes widen as he, too, comes back to reality.

"Can't you spend the night?"

"No," I say, remembering my mom sleeping on the living room couch, "my mom's home. If she wakes up and I'm gone..."

"I'll drop you off, then." With that said, Josh grabs a hoodie from his pile of clothes. "It's way too late."

I just nod, not wanting to protest. I feel myself sliding into a dreamlike state. "I'm cold," I say, stifling a yawn. In response, Josh turns around and pretty soon, he slings some piece of cloth over my shoulders. I open my eyes to realize I'm wearing his varsity jacket. "Thanks."

He takes my hand and I let him. We make our way downstairs and through the living room, where I met Justin the last time I was here. He opens the door and I prepare myself for the cold air. "Let's take my dad's car."

I watch him retrieve keys from his pocket and walk over to a gray car outside the house. "Do you have your driver's license?" I mumble, trudging over to him.

"Don't worry," is the last thing I hear him say before I'm sitting inside the car.

We make it in front of my building fairly quick. "I'll see you tomorrow," I murmur, slipping out of the car. Before I'm out, he grabs my hand.

I look over at him biting his lip. "Good night." I smile in response before leaving the car.

My mom is still sleeping in the position I had left her, I realize as soon as I walk inside the apartment. I walk slowly to the bedroom, careful not to make any noise. I push the door closed behind me and lean against, slowly sliding down. What if I wake up in the morning and realize I had been dreaming the events that took place in the past hour? Am I really dating Josh?

I remove the varsity jacket, which I realize I forgot to give back and place it on my chair before slipping into bed.

An annoying sound wakes me from my slumber and I turn over in bed. My hand reaches over and feels for my phone. As soon as my hand contacts it, I hit snooze. I had barely gotten any sleep last night because I consistently replayed my conversation with Josh.

I finally turn over in bed, staring at the ceiling. My eyes scan the room, taking in my messy surrounding. My summer homework assignment lies on my desk, untouched and incomplete. I should really start that; I only have a month left until school begins again. I groan at my thoughts about school and sit up in bed. I jump out, biting my lip as I touch the cold floor. Before I can make it to the bathroom, I come across Josh's varsity jacket and last night replays again. If I didn't have this in my possession, I would probably have thought whatever occurred last night was a dream. I run my hands over the cloth before proceeding to the bathroom.

I make it 21 Flavors by nine a.m. and scan the store for Josh. With no such luck, I walk over to counter, greeting Trevor. "How's it going, Maya?" he greets, cleaning the countertop, while watching the front door.

"Um, good," I say, distracted. Retrieving my phone from my back pocket, I check for any messages. Usually, there's a text from Riley, but I realize I haven't exactly talked to her since that day she took my phone. I sigh, contemplating sending her a message. I messed up, so I should be the one to fix this. After multiple erased messages, I finally send her a text saying, "Hey".

I put my phone away as a man with a girl makes his way to the counter. "Daddy, I want vanilla ice cream!" she begs, pulling him towards the various ice cream flavors. Her dad reaches for his wallet and squints to read the prices posted next to the ice cream.

"Two scoops of vanilla," he tells me, handing over a five dollar bill.

"Coming right up," I say, reaching for the vanilla and scooping it onto an ice cream cone. "Here you go." The little girl reaches for the ice cream, almost losing her balance.

Smiling sheepishly, she mumbles, "Thank you." I smile back at her. Once they leave, the door opens again, but I focus my attention on my phone, hoping Trevor can take next order. Seeing there is still no message from Riley, I check my Instagram feed. The latest picture she posted is from the night of Alex's party: a picture with Farkle. I smile at how happy they look, with her head on his shoulder and him smiling at her.

"Ahem."

I bring my eyes up and lock them with his. A smile tugs at the corner of my lips and he maintains a serious expression. "I'm gonna have to tell the manager you're not doing your job."

"Josh," I extend my hand to push him back slightly, "stop it." He ditches his act of appearing serious and cracks a smile.

We stare into each other's eyes a little longer, before Trevor says, "Woah, did you guys get enough sleep last night?" I turn to look at him and furrow my eyebrows. "I mean," he shakes his head, "last time, you guys looked like you wanted to kill each other and now..."

I don't notice as Josh walks around the counter and slings an arm over my shoulder. "We're dating," he replies, causally. Trevor's eyes goes wide, but he doesn't say anything and resumes cleaning the counter.

My skin burns where he's touching me and I look around the shop in an attempt to get rid of the butterflies. "Riley!" I scream as soon as I see her through the glass doors of the ice cream shop. Josh's arm falls down and he moves away as Riley walks inside.

"Maya!" she shouts, running over to me. I walk around the counter, jumping into her arms.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Me too!"

I pull away and everything comes out at once. "No, I'm really sorry. You're right. I was being stupid and I—"

"Maya, no, I shouldn't have taken your phone away," she says, tears in the rim of her eyes. "Sorry for interfering."

I take in her appearance, from the dark circles under her eyes to her purple flip-flops. "You can interfere in my life whenever you want," I state, pulling her in for another hug. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more," she whispers into my shoulder. "I was going to talk to you because you know how bad I am at holding grudges, but I'm trying this new thing where I stop trying to fix everything and give the other person a chance to do so."

"Good for you." She pulls away and I smile.

"How's it with Josh?" she asks, gesturing towards the guy I totally forgot was still here. I turn around slightly and Josh stands there with a blank expression.

"It's the same," I say casually, brushing off the question.

"We need to hang out today."

"After work."

"So the dare's over?" Riley asks, following me over to the counter. I nod, scooping some ice cream for her. "Josh, you should come over to Farkle's after work. We're all hanging out there." I hand her the cone and turn around to see Josh biting his lip.

"Um, okay." He looks at me briefly and I look away, not wanting Riley to think anything.