❝And the sweet little angel couldn't keep her eyes off the devil.❞ -4am-reflections via tumblr
Josh's relentless flirting only increased after our dinner, despite me telling him I only think of him as a friend.
"People change their minds all the time," Josh says easily. "I think our dinner was a good step for us. It helped show that I actually have changed. For you."
That was the moment when Noah decided to walk up to us. "Hola, douche. Hola, love."
"Noah," Josh acknowledges, smiling nonchalantly. "That reminds me, while you're both here, I'm having a party Saturday night. I'm inviting a bunch of people from both schools, kind of as a way to start my Senior year here."
"You're throwing a party to welcome yourself to our school?" Noah asks in disbelief. "Isn't that a little...conceited?"
"Of course it is," Josh scoffs. "But if there's anything this school loves, it's a good party. I'm just helping out my new, fellow classmates."
"Unbelievable," Noah rolls his eyes and turns to me. "You dated a social climber."
I shake my head, but I couldn't help but laugh a little at them. They were so similar yet different in many ways.
"We'll be there," I assure Josh as Noah groans beside me. "And we'll make sure our friends come, too."
"Great," Josh exclaims. He smirks a little, "and Noah...bring your sister."
Josh sends me a wink as though we share an inside joke, but I'm just surprised he was bold enough to bring up what happened during Spring Break. Josh walks away, and I could feel the annoyance radiating off of Noah.
"Why is he talking about my sister?" Noah frowns. "I didn't even know they knew each other."
Oh Noah, if only you knew their past.
Instead of telling him the whole truth, I simply shrugged. "Josh says weird things. I wouldn't think too much about it." I was not in the mood to make sure Noah doesn't kill Josh.
Noah still looked bothered, but he didn't say anything else about the subject. "The grad trip is next week. Is Josh going?"
"I don't want to know," I groan. "It's a little late to sign up, but knowing Josh, he can charm his way through anything."
The grad trip is during the second week of December for four nights. Despite my initial reluctance to go, I'm actually pretty excited now. Four nights of just friends and snowboarding. Could it get better than that?
❀ ❀ ❀
Joshua knew how to throw a party. A bunch of Westside students were at his party, as well and Harley also ended up coming, despite me hinting that it may not be the best idea. Noah wasn't too happy, either, but the girl is sixteen; no one else makes decisions for her.
"I hate to admit it, but Joshua throws a good party," Alyce crosses her arms, analyzing the giant home. "I wonder if Superman is here?"
Hunter glares at her while she smirks, successfully making him jealous. Those two were too much for me. They really need to just start dating.
"He is," Josh appears beside me, and I feel his hand resting on my lower back. I give him a warning side glance but all he does is wink at me. "Glad you guys could make it."
"Paws off, douche," Noah says. He's holding a red solo cup in one hand and the other hand guides me out of Josh's hold. The motion almost made me drop my drink; he was so distracting. "Don't think just cause Diana's getting drunk tonight means you can take advantage of her."
Josh looks amused. "Relax, I'm not a monster. I respect girls."
"I sure hope you do." Damon grumbles.
He had brought Mackenzie with him. She looked a little uncomfortable, standing in our friend group, but she stayed close by Damon. I can see the uneasiness in her posture and face, but when she looks back up to Damon, he's already looking at her like she is the reason the earth rotates. She visibly relaxes when their eyes meet.
"Have a good time, guys," Josh says. "Beer pong in the back, drinks in the kitchen. Help yourselves."
Hunter, Alyce, Damon and Mackenzie decide to play beer pong. Thalia and Lauren are in the kitchen, drinking and talking. Tonight was Katia and Jasper's three year anniversary, so they were having a fancy dinner instead of at this party.
Josh left us to go greet more guests and a pretty girl in our grade, I think her name is Gracie, stole Noah away from me. Though it bothered me a little, I didn't want to stop Noah from having fun if he wanted to. Besides, all they're currently doing is talking. I hope that's all they do.
I find Harley sitting on the couch and I join her. She's holding a cup of what I can only assume is alcohol. She has her hair tied back into a low bun with strands of hair framing her pretty face.
"Joshua Williams is so hot," Harley says to me, taking a sip of her drink. "Too bad he doesn't date."
I grit my teeth in irritation. Knowing Harley was one the reasons we broke up didn't sit well with me. "Are you going to try to hook up with him?" I ask.
Harley sends me a mischievous grin. "Don't tell anyone, but we've actually hooked up before."
You don't say? "When?" I ask, pretending to be surprised.
"Back in Spring Break," Harley says. "For some reason, he wanted to keep it a huge secret. I found out later he had a girlfriend. He had ended up telling her himself and they broke up."
The fact that Harley didn't know Josh had been dating me during Spring Break made me feel a little better about the situation. At least Harley isn't a horrible person.
"I wonder how that girl is doing," Harley thinks aloud. "I mean, to lose a boy like Joshua Williams would be shitty."
"Trust me, it's not that bad," I scoff. "Sure, he's cute, but he's not that great."
"I heard he's been flirting with you a lot," Harley grins. "Why haven't you gotten with him yet?"
"Ah, not worth the trouble." I smile a little.
Realization crosses Harley's face. Did she figure out Josh and my past? "It's because of Noah!" Harley exclaims excitedly. Well, that's not what I expected. "You like him, don't you? I knew you guys were more than just friends!"
I feel myself blush. "What? No! Josh just isn't as perfect as everyone says he is. That's all."
Harley doesn't look convinced. "Well, my brother's coming this way. Have fun, my friend." Harley stands up and walks past Noah, not even glancing his way.
"Where's Gracie?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Noah shrugs. "I'm not sure. I told her I wanted to find you and she didn't really like that."
I almost groan aloud. Could boys be any more dense? "You're so dumb. Obviously she doesn't like the idea of you wanting to find another girl."
Noah smirks. "The only girl on my mind is you."
Even though he was joking, my heartbeat still raised. "Shut up. She was cute."
"True," Noah replies. "But I wasn't planning on doing anything with her. I was just being polite from the start. I don't really like hookups that much."
Curiosity took over me. "You don't like hookups? Noah Jackson, the hottest guy in school, doesn't like to hookup with random girls?" I throw my hand over my mouth as soon as the words left my lips.
Noah bursts into laughter, clearly finding my embarrassment hilarious. "You think I'm hot?"
"That's not the point."
"Fine, fine," Noah chuckles. "I've always been more of a relationship kind of person. I like having a connection, someone to hold and love...it's dumb, I know."
"It's not dumb," I reassure. "It's sweet. It's nice to know that there are guys who still want relationships and not just meaningless flings."
"You just haven't been with the right guys."
He's right. Maybe I've been looking at all the wrong guys. Could the right one be the boy sitting in front of me?
Noah and I talk for a bit on the couch, before I get up to go to the restroom. "I'll come with you, I have to go, too," Noah says. "Ladies first, even if you guys take forever to pee."
I roll my eyes. "Sorry we can't stand and piss wherever we want."
"Not with that attitude, you can't."
We walk upstairs and Noah reaches for one of the handles, and pushes open the door. It ends up being a bedroom, and not the bathroom.
What I didn't expect to see was Harley Jackson and Joshua Williams kissing.
A/N: dun dun dunnnnnn. How do you think Diana is going to react to this? Do you guys ship Harley and Josh?