Winter Break

The drive up

Winter break.
"One more hour." you thought to yourself as you sat in your last class of the day, ready to go off.
Your really good friend Mackenzie asked you to go a little further north with her for winter break. Her family owned a log cabin in the mountains and it would be left to you and a whole van of friends for a week. There's no way you would pass that up so of course you said yes.
All the people going were your friends and you've known them for quite some time except for one, Josh. You two had never met which still made no sense to you since you knew his whole family and most of his close friends. He just wasn't around a whole lot, but that was going to change soon enough.
As soon as the last bell rang you went to go meet Mack in the school parking lot where she had her van packed with almost all the luggage everyone had dropped off before school. You saw everyone there adding to the collection of bags as you were the last to arrive. You saw all the familiar faces except one, one that took your breath away for a minute, it was Josh. You had seen pictures but he looked completely different, not in a a bad way at all. You finally walk over to the van and Mack basically accosts you to introduce you to Josh who is currently headfirst into the trunk packing away the last of the things.
As she finishes the introduction he looks back a little just to wave and say hi but as he catches a glimpse of you he quickly turns back again, this time fully orienting his body to face you completely.

"Hi!" he says again with a sound of shock.

"How have we never met before?" he seems genuinely concerned.

"I honestly have no clue." you say smiling.

"Just my terrible luck I guess!" he says as he walks over to the front of the van.

"Okay who's driving? Me? Okay yeah I'm driving!" Josh says as he opens the door and gets in. It makes you laugh a bit. His personality was not what you expected at all and it seemed amazing to say the least. You walk by before he even has time to close the door.

He poked his head out and said, "Come sit up in the front with me ." you were a little startled by his voice at first.

"I was planning on it!" you say smiling walking around the front of the car to get to the passenger side.

As you close the door he asks, "Is everyone ready?!" and gets a mixture of positive responses all ranging in tone and enthusiasm. "let's go!!!" he yells as everyone screams in excitement and he ads that weird noise he makes that sounds like a damn turkey call!

Apparently he does that all the time but you definitely weren't expecting it. "This is gonna be interesting." You whispered to yourself as Josh pulled out of the school.

After driving for a bit and making conversation Josh picks up his phone and asks, "what do you want to listen to?" to you and only you. "Anything, anything at all." you say unknowingly getting yourself into some weird jams.
With Josh still driving, you continue to listen to some of the best and some of the most odd music due to his very eclectic taste.

With about and hour and a half left of the trip, Josh pulled into a small corner store to get snacks. Everyone hops out one by one to stretch except you. You stay behind to keep warm.

"Josh get me something to drink." Jake says and all the others follow with the same request.

"Get your own. you got legs, use them." he said jokingly but serious about not doing anything for them.

Right after he said that he bent down and looked through the window at you.

"You want me to get you anything while I'm in there?" you were amused yet flattered by his question as he literally just said no to everyone else.

"Just a water please." you say not wanting to be a bother.

"Alright Roger that! Mack, come with me."

They both head in and the others follow behind. You watch them through the giant frosted windows. You watch as Josh scans the isles and can't help but notice how he walks. He carries himself as you've never seen anyone do before. With complete confidence and maturity, yet with a playful childlike spirit shown in the way he skips a little and touches things on the shelves. You watch them all place their things on the counter, with Josh paying separately at the counter closest to the door. Josh opens the door for everyone and as he steps out, you're snapped out of the trance he'd unknowingly put you in. Opening the car door he shouts,

"Heads up!" as he falsely throws the bag at you which made you flinch and made him laugh.

As he finally hands it to you, you look inside to find your water and take it out. He sits down and stops you from handing the bag back to him.

"That's all yours." he says with a smirk.

You look back down into a bag of your favorite things: Doritos, a giant SlimJim, and a Twix.

"You got this all for me?"

"Why do you think I took Mack in the Store?" he asked rhetorically, smiling.

"Well thank you. I'll pay you back." You say reaching into the one bag you brought up front with you.

"What, no! Keep your money." He says as he holds your hand which holds the ten dollar bill.

You smile at him and put everything back where it goes.

"Alright, well don't let me get use to this." You say with a laugh.

Looking at you with a grin he says, "Oh no, get use to it. It's fine by me."

Before everyone gets in McKenzie is at Josh's open window.

"Let me drive, go sit and relax." she insists. Josh flashes you a look.

"Come sit with me?" He asked in the sweetest voice.

You look up at Mackenzie as she mouths the word "go!"

"Yeah, I'm coming." you say with a chuckle.

He gets out and slides the van door open. "Get up!" He yells to Sam sitting in the very back all alone. You get up and climb back after he sits down and he taps the seat next to him.

With each passing minute you two sit together, the more you talk and in turn the closer you become. You notice how effortless his smile is as you make him laugh. You notice how his curly hair flops around as he talks with such enthusiasm, making you realize how soft it must be. He makes you laugh, genuinely, which was a rare occasion. It was refreshing. Touching a hand on his arm every once in a while when he made you laugh almost hysterically. A barrage of impressions and accents flooded your ears while music flooded everyone else's. You two were in your own little world and you were enjoying every second of it. You had only just met but there was an instant connection.

Your laughter came to a halt when Mackenzie screamed, "We're here!" at around 10 PM when you finally arrived at the cabin.

Josh let you out before him and you were punched with the cold December air. Looking all around you, you see snow piled high, untouched and glistening as the moonlight dances on the crystals below your feet.
Everyone is now inside except for you and Josh. You were both just standing there admiring the beauty of nature.

"It's so pretty." you say has your eyes meet with Josh's and a grin shows up on his face.

"Hey let's go in, we have a big day ahead of us!" he says while taking your hand, guiding you to the front door.