love notes // joshler a.u.

01

  Josh considered this day to be the day everything started to go his way. Before, the only good parts of his day were art class and finally being able to go home. It wasn't that he was good at art or anything (between you and me, he was good at quite a few things, just too self-loathing to admit it), he just enjoyed the feeling of having a blank canvas and a pencil in front of him; endless possibilities.

  Mornings for him were usually shitty. He gets made fun of, he drops his binders, he might even come close to crying. But this morning, none of those things happened. Sure, he got a dirty look or two as he was walking down the halls, but nothing truly bad actually happened. He considered that a rare win.

  But of course, his momentary good mood was just that- momentary. A pink slip of paper hung halfway out of the slits in his locker. Oh... he thought, disappointment dropping into his stomach like an anchor. It's a hate note. Heaving a slightly shaky sigh, he pulled the paper out and stuffed it in his pocket. He decided he probably shouldn't read it; what good would it do him to know how much people hated him?

  Josh slipped all of his unnecessary binders into his locker and trudged to homeroom, then to his first period. The entire class, he could practically feel the letter burning a hole in his pocket. The temptation to read it only seemed to grow as that red hand on the clock ticked away each second. He was unsure why he wanted to read it so badly. Maybe it was because he wanted to know why he was hated so much. He knew nobody liked him, but he never found out why. Maybe if he knew what was wrong with him, he could fix it, and then maybe people would like him!

  By lunch time, Josh had decided he had to read it. Instead of heading to the cafeteria, he went to the bathroom. There was no way he'd get through the letter without crying, and he'd rather not do that in public.

  So there he sat, all alone in a stall while all of his peers ate lunch and laughed with each other at their tables. This is an all time low, he thought to himself as he pulled the paper from his pocket. Sitting alone in a bathroom, reading off reasons of why people hate you. I bet Mom's proud. He sighed quietly to himself and opened it up.

In dark, pointed handwriting, read the words:

  Dear Josh,

  Don't listen to what they say. You're beautiful, I promise. I know they bully you. Trust me, you don't deserve it. You're the closest person to being perfect that I've ever seen; please don't let them take that away from you. I wish I could tell you this in person, but you'd run away from someone like me.

  Just in case you don't believe me, I'm making this a daily thing, and I'm going to add a reason why you're so sweet and pretty in each note.

  Reason #1: Your smile is probably the brightest, loveliest thing I've ever seen- and I never use the word 'lovely'. The way your eyes crinkle a little near the ends is adorable, and I hope they're doing just that as you read this.

  Love,

    Your Secret-Admirer-I-Guess

  Josh was glad he went to the bathroom, because by the time he was finished reading, tears were streaming down his face.

  Somebody actually liked him?

///

omg y'all josh is such a sweetheart

tbh idek how people can dislike him; in the book and in real life

votes and comments are appreciated as always ^.^