𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈 𝐀𝐌. ( clueless ; josh )

𝟎𝟔; dead meat

"So? Nobody will be in school." She says, with a light shrug.

"Yeah, but husband number fours home, and his acting like a family is to criticize me." Josh shrugs and takes a bite from the cheese fries he had made. She reaches forward and takes one. "So, what? You're gonna roam around campus by yourself?"

"I don't mind." Josh shrugs and looks at the television. Joan scoffs and repositions herself on her knees and she stares at him. "That's stupid. Come here and have your old room. I'm sure there will be some great parties," Joan shrugs.

"No." He says with a small smile.

"Why not? It'll be fun." Joan tilts her head and leans against the back of the couch. "You and Cher got your whole social gang going on. I'd get in the way." He says.

"Okay, one; I don't really have a social life and two, you won't get in the way." Joan tells him.

"How much fun would it be having a brother-type tagging along?" Josh asks and Joan frowns, scratching her forehead.  "Josh, you're not my brother." She whispers.

"Y-You know what I mean." He says and she shrugs. "Come on! You need some more excitement in your life." She says giving him a playful shove.

"Says the one talking." Josh says and she scoffs, shoving him again. He laughs. "Okay, fine. I can't believe I am taking advice from a teenager who watches cartoons and doesn't have a social life."

"Oh leave me alone," she says and drops down to her butt, focusing on the television. Josh chuckles and looks at her, "Come here." He pulls her closer and she breathes out a chuckle leaning her head onto his shoulder with a wide smile.
                             
About a week later; Cher told Joan about how Christian was gonna come over that weekend so they could watch videotapes and Joan was nothing but nervous for her younger sister. She sat on Cher's bed, watching her get dressed for the date.

"Why are you so quiet?" Cher looks at her sister through the mirror.

"Elton never told you we went out, did he?" Joan asks her.

"As if," Cher giggles and focuses back on her makeup. "We were in ninth, it was for a month."

Cher turns around in her chair and stares at the blonde. "Why?" She asks and tries to process this new information. Joan threw her hair over her shoulder, "Because he was like, such a babe." She giggles to herself.

"But you hate Elton." Cher says.

Joan nods and shrugs. "Now I do."

"So, what happened?" Cher moves from the seat in front of her mirror and to the bed, next to Joan.

Joan made multiple hand motions for the sophomore but it was clear that Cher was no getting the idea. Joan groaned dramatically. "We had sex!" She shouts in a hushed whisper.

"No! Please tell me you're joking." Cher says and Joan shakes her head, running fingers through her hair. "Just once. Everyone was doing it, so I did it. Afterwards, I told him that I didn't want to do it anymore because I wasn't ready, and he got pissed and dumped me. After that, I swore I'd never do anything just because everyone else was doing it," Joan explains and Cher stares at her with wide eyes.

"How is it possible that I did not know about this?" Cher asks.

"I warned him that if he told anyone, the cheerleading squad would find out how tiny his dick is." Joan says earning a laugh out of her sister. "The point of my story is, I don't want you to make my same mistake. If you want to do it, fine go ahead, but wait until it's the right one, please."
                            
When Christian had left that night, Cher rushed into Joans bedroom and immediately told her everything. Joan was not surprised when Cher told her that Christian was into guys. Christian was a good-looking guy and he had a lot toward fashion, so it was a little obvious.

The next day, Cher and her friends went to the mall, leaving Joan alone in their home, binging Back to the Future movies. At school, rumors were spread like wildfire about Tai and her incident at the mall that apparently, she was attacked by a gang and almost shot.

"Was it like a montage of your life flashing before your eyes?" One of the popular guys asked the victim as they he and others gathered at Tai's lunch table,

"Not exactly a montage." Tai tells him, with a 'sad' smile.

A girl approaches Joan. "Did Tai really almost get shot by a bunch of gang members?"

"No." Joan shakes her head, looking at the girl with a confused look and the girl sighs, looking back at Tai.

"Well, that's what everyone is saying happened." She turns and walks away  leaving Joan and Monica confused. Monica led her to the crowded table.

"So, right before you die, your mind just sort of gets very clear. It's a very intense, spiritual thing. It's spiritual. I can't pinpoint the spirituality. If you've never experienced anything—" Joan could tell that by the look on Cher's face, she wasn't liking how Tai was lying to everyone and so she cut in.

"Tai. We were planning on going to the tower and getting something for Christian. Like some kind of present or something. Do you wanna come?" Cher asks, with hopeful eyes.

"Sure. I mean, I owe him my life." Tai nods, looking around the table. "How about today?" Cher raises her eyebrows.

"Oh no. I can't. Not today. I'm going over to Melrose with Amber." Tai says looking over at Amber, who smiles. "We're going to Melrose," she smirks. Joan furrows her eyebrows, wondering how Amber and Tai became friends when she was just crying over how Elton and Amber were dancing at the party. "Oh, well. How about tomorrow?" Cher frowns.

"How about next Monday? My week is filling up pretty fast." Tai says and shrugs, looking at Dionne who smiles softly.

Travis walks up to them. "Hey, Tai. Look." Travis tilts his head up to the sky and spits, making Tai and Dionne gag in disgust and then he catches it. "Hey, can you move down a bit?" Travis asks Dionne who scoffs and shakes her head, "No."

Monica grits her teeth at how rude they treating her brother and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't the slackers prefer the grassy knoll over there?" Tai purses her lips and points over to where the stoners sit. Travis had the look of a heartbroken puppy as he turned to walk away.

Monica licked her lips. She did not like how the new girl was treating her brother when she was no better. She shrugged her backpack off. "I'm so gonna kick your ass," Monica says, lunging for her but Joan got in the middle, shoving her back.

"No, Monnie. Let's go." Joan says. Cher grabs Monica's bag and walks away with them.

"What has gotten into her, Cher?" Joan asks, looking at her sister with an unhappy look.

"I'll talk to her. I promise." Cher assures. Joan sighs softly and leads the redhead to her car. It wasn't the end of the day but she knew if Monica were stay on that campus any longer, the new girl would be dead meat.

authors note
edited, 12/12/20