JOSH
Finally, it's Friday.
I rolled over in my bed and smacked the alarm clock until it stopped ringing. Just one more day of hell until the weekend when I could let off some steam.
I found weekdays incessantly boring. I've never found high school drama to be entertaining in the slightest.
It had been a busy week in the bedroom department, I had hooked up a few times. What can I say, I had to do something to keep myself occupied.
Craig was still set on me actually participating in this bet of his. I wasn't sure my reputation could handle sleeping with some random dork. I mean yeah, if you really look at her then you can see she has this sort of hidden beauty that guys look for in a girl they want to marry.
But I wasn't getting married, was I? I was proving a point to Craig that I could get any girl I wanted and taking home fifty bucks in the process.
I grimaced at the thought of getting married. Why anyone would want that for their lives is beyond me. Why waste your life with one girl when you could have them all? I wasn't even interested in having a girlfriend never mind a wife. The thought of being stuck with some clingy girl made me want to gouge my eyes out.
Thankfully, my reputation for sleeping around exceeded me and the girls I slept with knew not to get attached. I hated when girls thought just because you slept with them you wanted to be their boyfriend. It was pathetic.
I sighed and climbed out of my too warm double bed, running a hand through my messy bed hair, and walking into the bathroom to get ready.
I stepped into the shower, letting the cool water splash down my back, and stayed there for at least fifteen minutes, just to wake myself up.
I had been out late last night with the guys. Not my best decision since school started at eight thirty.
I sighed and stepped out, drying off with a towel and shaking my long hair, causing droplets of water to fly across the room in all directions.
Pulling on some random black jeans and a shirt, I threw the towel into the wash basket and headed downstairs.
On my way I saw my baby sister, Sasha coming on of her room, a sleepy look on her little face, sucking her right thumb with a teddy under her left arm.
I grinned down at her, she was so cute.
"Hey Sash." I said, my mood instantly improving.
"Josh!" she smiled happily. I lent down and picked her up, balancing her on my hip as I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
She continued to suck her right thumb, her left arm going around my neck to hold on, and the teddy now sandwiched between us, so she didn't drop it.
I carried her into the kitchen and set her down on her highchair, quickly looking into the sitting room to see if I could find Mom.
There was no sign of her, so I sighed and looked around the kitchen.
"What you want for breakfast?" I asked her.
Her little blonde eyebrows furrowed together in concentration as she thought about her answer, her head tilting to the side thoughtfully.
After some consideration, she decided.
"Pop tarts." she told me.
I smiled and ruffled up her thin blonde hair, nodding my head and putting the pop tarts into the toaster, along with some toast for myself.
A few minutes later the toaster popped, and I grabbed our breakfast, handing Sasha her pop tart and telling her to be careful before buttering my toast and shovelling it down my throat hungrily.
Mom came down the stairs a few minutes later, glaring at me angrily and she huffed and made herself a bowl of some bran shit.
Mom didn't allow Sasha to have pop tarts, they made her too hyper.
I grinned guiltily as she rolled her eyes and kissed Sasha's head, smoothing down her hair from where I had messed it up, and digging into her own breakfast.
Mom was pretty for her age, she had golden blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Sasha looks just like her only littler, but I got my looks from my dad. He had dark brown hair with icy blue eyes, just like me, a strong jaw and large build.
He died just before Sasha's first birthday. She doesn't remember him, so we don't remind her. It's easier just to let her live her happy little life as though nothing is wrong. It's what she's used to.
I checked the time on my phone, noticing it was time to leave since I had to pick up the rest of the guys on the way.
I said bye to my Mom, kissed Sasha on her cheek and jogged out to the car.
It rained last night, a lot. There were huge puddles everywhere and the wet grass squelched under my feet when I walked.
I climbed in, deciding it would be okay to take the hood down since it had stopped raining and it looked like it was going to be sunny today.
I grabbed a pair of shades from the glove compartment and put them on, starting the car and pulling out of my drive.
Just as I was picking up speed, something caught my eye and I took my foot off the gas pedal, slowing the car down almost to a stop.
There was a house at the end of my street that had been for sale for some time, but recently the signs were taken down and there had been moving vans in the area.
Someone had moved in, but I hadn't realised who.
Walking out of the driveway, was Rosie.
Maybe that could work in my favour, I thought. I shook my head and carried on driving to Craigs house. I wasn't doing that bet.
I drove the short drive to Craig's house, pulling up on the curb outside and beeping the horn. He came running out, jumping in the passenger seat without opening the door. His blonde hair was messy as usual, sticking up in all directions and he had a pair of square shaped shades on too.
"Yo." he greeted, bobbing his head along with the music coming from my stereo and grinning as I rolled my eyes at him and drove away from his house, headed for the others.
"Any luck with her yet?" He asked me once we were on the road again.
"Who?" I asked.
"Her." he said pointedly, nodding his head to the right. I followed his gaze to see Rosie walking along the sidewalk, her bag on her back and her folder in her hands.
"Come on man," I groaned, "Are you really gonna make me do this?" I asked, hopeful he would laugh it off and forget about it.
"Yep." he answered grinning.
I sighed and rolled my eyes at him. He never let anything go.
The closer we got, I realised that where Rosie was walking there was a huge puddle in a dip in the road beside her.
I smirked and moved the car ever so slightly closer to the pavement. "You know, for a dork she ain't so smart." I stated.
"Why-oh..." he laughed, noticing the golden opportunity that I was seeing. "She's asking for it."
I grinned, pulling the car further to the side and driving straight through the puddle.
Water splashed up around us, getting us slightly wet in the process but I didn't care, I was too busy laughing.
Rosie stood stock still, her hair matted to her head and her clothes sticking to her tiny frame, her shirt becoming see through.
Craig threw his head back and his arms in the air, laughing hysterically as I chuckled to myself and straitened the car up again, continuing on my way to Zack and Liam's houses. They were neighbours and lived closer to the school, so I never had to go too far out of my way for them.
"That was fucking hilarious!" Craig laughed, slapping me a high five as he looked back at Rosie again.
I nodded in return, an evil smirk on my face as I pulled up at the curb and waited for the other two to jump in.
The guys and I had been friends for our entire lives. We'd grown up together and pretty much did everything together. We were far from popular, in fact all the popular kids hated us.
We were popular with the female population of our high school though, if you catch my drift.
We played in a band together and were part of an Ice hockey team together. I can't remember a time when we weren't in each other's lives. We all had the same rough style and appearance and people found us pretty intimidating.
I pulled up in our usual parking spot at school, turning off the engine and climbing out. We didn't have time to sit around today, we were all running late this morning.
In first period maths I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
Rosie was late, and her t-shirt was still damp and sticking to her small figure. She looked cold and her hair was frizzier than usual.
When she walked in she kept her head down and quietly apologised to the teacher for her lateness. When he saw her appearance, he didn't question her and allowed her to take her seat quietly. He could tell her day was off to a bad start.
She walked slowly to her desk and sat down beside me, taking a deep breath and opening her maths book.
I bit my lip.
I didn't think she'd get that wet.
Did she know it was me? We whizzed passed pretty fast but she could have recognised the car.
"Mr Davis? Could you please stare at Miss Harper some other time, and not during my maths lesson?" The teacher said rudely from the front. I scowled up at him, turning my attention back to the maths book in front of me as a few people laughed around us.
Did he have to make it that obvious? If she hadn't realised it was me, she knew then.
Rosie blushed and glanced in my direction before quickly averting her gaze and looking back down at her book.
Her wet, soggy, ruined book.
I ripped a piece of paper out of my book, quickly scribbling down a note.
Sorry, didn't mean to get you that wet.
I set it down in front of her and she stared at it with her eyebrows furrowed for a second, before she seemed to realise it was a note and opened it up.
She glared down at the page in her hands before crumpling it up in a ball and setting it back down in front of me, turning herself so that she was facing away and staring at her maths book angrily.
I sighed, getting another page and writing down yet another note.
I don't know why I cared so much, I would usually do shit like this all the time without batting an eyelid. So why did I feel guilty at making this new girl soggy and uncomfortable.
Seriously, I'm sorry. It was honestly a joke.
She stared at it for a second before glancing up at the teacher to make sure he wasn't looking. Then she wrote down her reply.
Whatever. Just stop talking to me.
I rolled my eyes when I read it, answering anyway.
I'm not talking to you; I'm passing you notes.
I smirked as she unfolded the paper. She read it, scowling at me before setting it back on my desk without answering.
She was even angrier than I thought.
I leant into her until I was close enough that only she could hear me. "How can I make it up to you?" I purred in her ear, watching with satisfaction as she shivered, and her body stiffened.
She didn't answer though, just kept looking down at her book, but I could tell she was struggling to concentrate.
I was just going to get harder and harder to ignore. I smirked, running my hand up her cold bare leg.
She jumped, making a small squeaking noise that thankfully nobody else heard.
Her eyes widened and she looked at me as if I'd just killed a puppy right in front of her.
I grinned a toothy grin, raising my eyebrows suggestively at her.
She looked so terrified that I instinctively retracted my hand and lowered my eyebrows back to their normal level.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, then opened it, and took a breath as if she were about to speak, but the bell rang abruptly interrupting her. She quickly gathered her things without saying a word and ran out of the room.
ROSIE
I sighed and shut the front door behind me, leaning my back against it and closing my eyes. Today was the worst day of all.
I was still really cold and my clothes were dirty and smelly from the water Josh sprayed on me this morning. Turns out being wet all day long takes its toll.
Why did he have to do that? It wasn't funny and I had to suffer for it all day long.
Of course I get stuck walking to school and the biggest jerk of the century and his jerk friend splash me and ruin my day.
Jerks.
I dropped my books and my bag on the floor and went straight up to my room, instantly hating the fact I was home alone in a big strange house. I went into my room and had a shower, getting the mud and dirt out of my hair and trying to warm up from the cold I felt in my bones.
Once I was dressed in my pyjamas, I lay on my bed for a while, listening to music and staring into space.
My phone buzzed from across the bed and I picked it up, seeing it was my Uncle calling. We spoke for a while, but I didn't feel all that enthusiastic. He asked me how school was going, and I lied to him, telling him everything was great.
I didn't want to worry anybody about the fact that I wasn't settling in.
I stood up when I heard the front door open, knowing it was Mom and walking down to greet her. She smiled at me, setting her design books down on the kitchen table and turning to me.
"Hey Rosie, how was school?" she asked me. I shrugged at her.
She looked at me understandingly and reached out her hand to hold mine.
"I know you're finding it difficult to adjust here. I wanted to find you something to take your mind off it." She said.
"Oh?" I asked, curiously.
"So I've organised something that might make you feel a bit more at home."
I slowly nodded, curious as to what she had organised. That was probably a good idea, doing something to take my mind off things, maybe that would help me settle in a bit better.
I didn't answer her though, just waited for her to finish what she was saying.
"I got you a job!" she grinned excitedly.
I smiled, wondering what the job could be. That meant extra money too, and maybe I could make some friends there!
"Really?" I asked, "Where?"
"Babysitting, the house is just down the road." she told me, "There's a little girl named Sasha. She's four. Her Mom's just gotten a promotion at work so she won't be home so much anymore to look after her."
I grinned. I loved kids, this sounded so much fun.
"When do I start?"
"Well she wants to meet you tomorrow before she makes any final decisions, but if she likes you I'm sure she'll arrange a time for you to start."
I nodded, smiling again. This was gonna be great, this would definitely take my mind off things.
Little kids were great and so much fun to look after, and if I feel like I have a purpose here, then I'll be sure to feel more at home.
I hoped the woman was nice, and I couldn't wait to meet her daughter. I really hoped that she did like me, as it was the first thing I'd been looking forward to since moving here.
Later that night I found myself tossing and turning in bed, still unable to sleep. This time though it wasn't because I was scared of the new house, or missing home.
This time it was because I couldn't stop thinking about what Josh had done today. I was furious that he had splashed me and caused me to spend the day uncomfortable. I was frustrated that he thought I would forgive him just because he was acting cute and sending me notes in class.
But when I thought of his hand on my thigh and the way his breath felt on my skin as he whispered in my ear so that only I could hear him... it sent tingles through my body like I had never felt before.
This was all a very new experience for me, I had no idea how to react. I told myself I would have to stay away from him in school from now on.
But in the back of my mind, I didn't want to.