"The amount of electrons and protons in an atom will always be the same and can be located in the top right hand side of your element's box, but in order to find the correct amount of neutrons for your given element, you must take the atomic number and..." blah, blah, blah...
I hate chemistry. I really don't know why I took it in the first place.
I was laying on my bed, attempting to do the study guide for our exam next week. But, this stuff is just so boring that I just can't concentrate.
I sighed and closed my book, giving up for the night. I looked at my clock. 5:07 PM. It was a Wednesday evening and it was May 5. I'm so stressed. Exams start on Monday and go until Friday. I've been staying up until past 11:00 every night just to study.
I have eleven days. Eleven days until freedom.
I don't mean it like all of the other kids below me are saying. They are three weeks away from freedom. They get to have a two and a half month break and come right back to school. Well, not me. I'm eighteen now. I'm a senior, and I certainly don't plan on coming back to high school.
Next week is exams. Next Friday is prom, and once again, I have no date.
Well, not exactly "once again." Last year I had a last minute date, thanks to my best friend, Louis.
But, this year, I'm lonely. Sure, I was asked by a few guys, but none of them interest me. Oh, well. I'm just not going to go to prom. I'll stay in my room and watch movies for the night, or something.
After next week...it's graduation. That's a scary thought. I graduate the Monday after prom. I'm pretty much freaking out. Am I nervous? No. I'm excited, because once I'm out of high school, I'm leaving LA. I'm so sick of it.
A lot of people wonder how someone can get sick of LA. Well, it's pretty easy for me. Sure, there are beaches with hot guys, celebrities...but I don't care. It gets tiring. I'm so sick of everything, and I just want to leave as soon as I possibly can.
What will I do after high school? I don't know. I may or may not go to college. I may just travel for a year...go see Louis.
After all of this thinking about Louis, I decided to call him. I picked up my phone and hit his contact name, "Lou."
Unfortunately, all I got was, "Hey, it's Louis's BEST FRIEND here, Joslynn! Louis is too busy probably hanging out with me or buying me wonderful gifts, so leave a message and he may just call you back!" I said. "HARRY, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON," Liam shouted in the background. "Well, anyway, leave him a message...if you really think it's the best thing to do...although I wouldn't advise it."
I laughed a bit at the memory. It was from about a year ago. I just decided that Louis's voice mail was too boring, so I sparked it up a bit.
I decided not to leave him a message. I just hung up and decided to call my mom. After a few rings, she finally picked up. "Hey, mom," I sighed into the phone.
"Hey, sweetie, how was school?" she asked in her normal, high-pitched, sweet tone.
"It was alright, I guess. Just doing lots of exam prep, so nothing too exciting is happening," I said into the phone while looking at my nails. I really needed to repaint them.
"Well, that's good that you're getting a lot of preparation in. You'll need all you can get. But, anyway, have you gotten a date for prom yet?" she asked. Typical question.
My mom wants me to go to prom really badly and have a picture perfect night. But, I doubt that's going to happen.
I sighed and said, "I don't think I'm going to go."
I heard my mom sigh and say, "Well, it's your decision. That's too bad that you're not going to go. But, listen, I'll be home in about an hour and a half to make dinner. How does chicken and steamed vegetables sound to you?"
I ignored her comment about prom and said, "Sounds good, mom. I'll see you later. I have some stuff I need to do. Love you."
My mom then simply replied, "Love you, too," and hung up the phone.
So, maybe you're wondering where my dad is. Well, he and my mom split when I was about seven. He now lives in Dallas, which is also where my aunt and uncle live. Maybe I'll go there after I graduate. I don't get to go there very often.
I got up off of my bed at went to my long, full length mirror and looked at myself. I was wearing black sweat pants, a loose, white v-neck t shirt, brown Uggs, and my hair was in a messy bun. I wasn't that attractive.
I had long blonde hair that ended at my chest, but I had it pulled up at the moment. I had pale blue eyes and my skin was pale. Apparently, I'm considered "pretty" at my school, but I never truly believed it.
I hate it when guys say that they want us to think of ourselves as beautiful. I don't want to be insecure about my looks and think of myself as ugly, but I don't want to appear self centered by saying that I know that I'm beautiful.
To be honest, there's only one person who has ever, truly, made me feel beautiful, and that would be Louis. He just has a way with words that makes me somehow believe it.
I sighed, and continued to look at myself when I heard something from downstairs. I heard a door quietly close and slight foot steps. Great. Let's go all Paranormal Activity on me, why don't we?
I decided to ignore it, thinking it was my imagination...until I heard more foot steps.
Well, shit.
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm scared. Being the paranoid person I am, I went and grabbed a baseball bat out of the hall closet.
After retrieving the old baseball bat, I turned to go to the staircase and slowly started descending it, my body shaking. When I'm scared, random thoughts start going through my mind. I started thinking about anything and everything, and my mind was racing. It was moving at the speed of lighting, and I couldn't gather my own thoughts.
I got to the bottom of the staircase and turned to the left, where the kitchen was, and where the noise was coming from while random thoughts kept going through my mind. It was dark in the house and I was honestly scared. I crept into the kitchen to see a figure at our refrigerator. That wasn't mom.
I'm insanely scared. What do I do now? I can't exactly go all Jackie Chan on them. I'm only five foot four. Before I could make any sort of movement, I heard the person groan really loudly. They then turned around to see me. I just said shakily, "Who are you? I have a bat!"
I'm scared.
The person leaned over and turned the lights on so that I could see them.
"LOUIS FREAKING TOMLINSON!" I screamed, dropping the bat.
He looked at me like he was disappointed and said, "You don't have any carrots!"
I rolled my eyes and ran towards him as fast as I could and jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. "I missed you so much," he whispered into my ear. That sent chills down my spine. Wait, what?
"I missed you, too! What are you doing here?" I asked.
"You think that I would miss seeing my little Josie graduate? I don't think so," he said with a smile, and then put me down.
I smiled, but I then slapped him really hard. "What the hell?!" he asked, grabbing his arm.
"You scared me to death! I thought that you were some kidnapper coming to take me away!" I said.
He smirked and said, "Don't worry, they'd bring you back."
I slapped him again and said, "Oh, shut it. They could tolerate me more than you."
"That...is a true statement," he said, making me laugh.
"So, carrot hunting, huh? I thought you hated that joke that the fans refuse to drop," I smirked.
"Oh, I do. But, I remember that you didn't let me live that one down and laughed about it for ages. I'm okay with the carrot joke around you, if that makes any sense," he said.
I was silent for a moment, just staring at him. "I'm going to pretend that made sense and say that's really sweet of you."
He then laughed and pulled me into a hug, protectively wrapping his arms around my waist. He whispered in my ear, "You have no idea how much I've missed your hugs."
I whispered back, "Me, too. You have no idea how--" I was cut off by a loud crash and someone whisper shouting, "ZAYN! YOU IDIOT!"
I groaned and said, "Are you kidding me?"
I pulled from Louis and headed to the front door. I went into the room to the right of it, only to find a broken vase and four idiotic teenage boys on the ground. But, I loved those teenage boys. Most of the time. I groaned and said, "You know, most eighteen year old girls would be screaming over the fact that One Direction was in their house. But, then there are the people who keep asking themselves, 'Why me?'"
The boys were silent before Zayn spoke up and said, "I'm assuming that's the question you're asking."
I smiled and nodded. "You've got that right, bud. Didn't know you were so smart. Guess a year can change ya," I said.
"And I guess a year can really give a person time to improve on their sarcasm," Liam said. I offered a big smile in response.
Harry got up, rubbing the back of his head and said, "I can't believe that Zayn made a vase break on my head."
I couldn't help it. I started to laugh and pulled them all into hugs. "How did you all get in, anyway?" I asked to all five of them.
"You don't hide your keys well enough," said Harry.
"That's reassuring for when I'm home alone in the dark," I said, making him laugh.
"I missed you all so much," I said honestly.
"We missed you, too," said Liam.
"Why are you all here?" I asked.
"Because Louis didn't want to fly alone," said Niall.
Louis punched him in the arm and Niall grabbed it and said, "Ow! Just kidding. We came to see you graduate."
I laughed and said, "Thanks, guys. This means the world to me. You have no idea."
"No problem for our favorite girl!" said Zayn.
"Well, nothing should be a problem for your favorite," I said.
"I see that the whole self-centered thing hasn't worn off yet," Niall said.
"I see the whole 'trying to be a smart ass' thing hasn't worn off yet, either," I shot back, making all of the other boys laugh.
He rolled his eyes but smiled, coming to give me a hug. "I missed your sass," he said.
"I missed your dyed-blonde hair," I said, ruffling his hair. He only laughed in response.
"Well, I'm supposing you guys are staying here?" I asked.
Harry said, "Yeah, we're imposing. Hope you enjoy our company. And if there's a problem with us staying here...we are stealing your sleeping bags and sleeping in the yard"
"I'm completely open to letting you guys sleep outside alone in the dark. It would be like a reality show. I can see it now, 'Celebrities who Never Had to Work a Day in their Life Face the Danger of the Back Yard.'"
"That's a bit of a long title, if you ask me," Liam said.
"I wasn't asking," I said, smiling.
"You know, I worked in a bakery," Harry said.
"Well, good for you, Harry," I said.
The boys all rolled their eyes at my sassiness and sarcasm and I said, "Just come here, you idiots." I opened my arms for them to come give me hugs.
"Alright, well, you guys can go have World War Three over what beds you sleep in...that is, after you clean up the vase," I said.
I then walked out of the room with Louis. We went back into the kitchen and I then turned back around to Louis with a smile and hugged him. I said, "Have I ever mentioned how much I love you?"
Louis laughed and squeezed me tight. "Do you want to do something tonight? Just the two of us?"
Yes.
"Yeah, of course. But what about the other boys?" I asked.
"They know that I want to spend time with you, so they're all going to the cinema or whatever," he said.
I giggled a bit.
"What?" he asked confused, but with a smile on his face.
"Cinema," I mocked in a British accent.
He just rolled his eyes and said, "Brits are the best. You know that, so don't deny it!"
"Whatever makes you sleep at night," I said. "After all, you are a kicker."
Louis playfully glared at me.
I just laughed and said, "So, what do you want to do tonight?"
"I think that we should do what we do at our normal sleepovers. I miss those," he said.
I smiled and said, "So, making videos of us acting deranged, dancing and singing to bad songs, talking for hours, and watching movies while eating ice cream?"
"Sounds perfect. Except...You ran out of carrots. I actually was in the mood to eat some," He said, pretending to act all sad.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Don't worry. Mom will will be home in an hour from the store. We're having chicken and steamed vegetables. I think she can spare you some carrots. But, I hope you know you're not the only one getting sick of that joke."
Louis rolled his eyes and said, "You know they probably didn't clean up the vase."
I sighed and said, "I know...we better get that cleaned up before my mom gets home."
Louis said, "You're right...Come on, I'll help you."
I went into the other room to see the shattered vase. I grabbed a broom and dust pan, handing the broom to Louis while I helped him sweep it in the dust pan. When I sat down to help him, I screeched as something went into my hand. It was a broken piece of the vase.
"Shit, Josie, what happened?" Louis said, dropping the broom and bending down.
"I got a piece of broken vase in my hand...and it really hurts," I said, holding in tears. I was such a baby. I always cry when I get hurt, even if it's something stupid.
But, the tears just poured down and Louis looked at my hand. There was some blood, so he helped me up and brought me into the kitchen. He sat me down at one of the bar stools, and squatted the tiniest bit so his eyes met mine.
His eyes were so blue. I felt like I could stare into them for forever. Wait...no. Joslynn, he's your best friend. Don't think of him like that.
As he was squatting and looking me in the eyes, he frowned a bit. He then lifted up his thumb and wiped away the few tears that I had let slip. The warm touch from his hand against my cold face made me shiver.
Louis stood up all of the way and headed over to one of the kitchen cabinets. He knew exactly where the first aid kit was, mainly because he's had to go find it for himself or for the other boys so many times.
He took out the tweezers, Neosporin, and a band aid. He closed the shelf and came back over to me, squatting down again. He lifted my hand in his and took the tweezers. He knows that I hate getting splinters pulled out, so he did it fast. I let out a sound of discomfort when he did so, but he got it out. He then put some Neosporin on it and covered it with a Buzz Lightyear Band Aid.
"Really, Louis?" I laughed.
"What? I think that Buzz Lightyear has some major swag," He said, making me laugh.
"Swag, Louis? Really? Don't turn into a Justin Bieber wannabee."
He just rolled his eyes and then said, "Stay here, and I'll finish cleaning it up so there aren't any more boo boos." He then kissed where my "boo boo" was and went to clean up the mess.
I laughed at him when he said this, mainly because we said "boo boos" in kindergarten, and it sounds even funnier in a British accent.
In just about five minutes, he had gotten all of the mess cleaned up. He came back in the kitchen and said, "Let's go upstairs and do something."
I nodded and we both ran up the stairs and into my bedroom. Louis then said, "Hasn't changed a bit--still messy with clothes on the floor."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Well, maybe it would be cleaner if you gave me warning you were coming."
"You know you wouldn't have cleaned it anyway," he said.
"That...is a true statement," I said, making him laugh.
We both then sat on my bed Indian style, facing each other. "So, how's the prom date coming along?" asked Louis.
I sighed and said, "I've decided that I'm not going...I was asked by three different guys...but none of them were the right guy to go with."
Louis said, "And why not?"
"Well, for starters, one of them just wanted sex afterwards, and the others are nice...but just not...right, ya know?" I said.
Louis nodded and said, "Well, that shouldn't keep you from going to prom."
I said, "I know, but all of my friends have dates. I don't want to be the odd one out."
"And not going to senior prom isn't being the odd one out?" asked Louis sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up! You know what I feel like," I said.
"Well, if someone else asked you, would you go?" he asked.
"Probably not. I'm not good friends or anything with the guys at school," I said.
"Well, good thing I don't go to school with you, because I am now officially taking you to prom," said Louis.
"Louis, you don't have to take me again," I said.
"I want to. Plus, the prom was fun. Nothing like having it for a fourth time," Louis said, jokingly.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
Louis looked at me in the eyes with his ocean blue eyes that made me want to swim in them. "Positive," he said.
"Fine. You can take me," I said.
"OMG! REALLY? WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!" Louis shouts very loudly and playfully.
I started to laugh when I heard a shout come from down the hall, "SOMETHING SEXY, BABE."
Harry.
I burst out laughing, as did Louis. I really missed these moments.
We spent the next hour talking about exams, all that's been going on in my life, and sharing laughs. We were in the middle of talking when I heard the front door slam and my mom shouted, "Joslynn, I'm home!"
"Does my mom know that you're staying here along with the boys?" I asked Louis.
"I guess she'll find out later," Louis said.
Oh, Louis.
About thirty minutes later we heard my mom call, "Dinner!"
As if on cue, Louis, Harry, Zayn, Niall, and Liam ran out the doors of their rooms and down to the kitchen, Niall being the fastest. What a shock.
I followed right afterwards and came downstairs. My mom wasn't in the kitchen. She walked in a minute later digging through her purse, still not looking up.
When she finally looked up she gasped and dropped her purse. "You boys just scared the hell out of me!" she said, laughing. "What are you all doing here?!" she asked, going around giving them all hugs.
"Imposing!" Harry said.
My mom laughed and said, "Oh, you boys are never imposing! I love it when you're all here! Luckily I made plenty of food, so there will be enough for us all."
"Do you have any carrots that haven't been steamed?" asked Louis eagerly.
My mom laughed and said, "You're in luck." and handed him what was left in the bag of carrots.
Louis grabbed them like an eager little child and started eating.
"Louis, you don't like carrots," said Liam. "And you hate the carrot joke."
Louis shrugged and said, "I had a craving for them. Sort of like how a girl does on her period."
"You are literally the most obnoxious human being on Earth," I said.
"Girls get cravings, though!" Louis argued.
"Yes, Louis, because every time I get my period, I have a strong desire for steamed carrots," I sarcastically said.
"See, I'm not crazy," he said, completely avoiding the fact I was being sarcastic.
I rolled my eyes, going to help my mom set the table.
My mom laughed and gave us all plates so that we could serve ourselves. Everyone got one chicken breast and a scoop of steamed vegetables...well, everyone except Niall. He got two chicken breasts and two scoops of vegetables. That boy is addicted to food, although the amount of food he got didn't surprise any of us; not even my mom.
We were all sitting around eating when my mom said, "So, how's the fame life treating you boys?"
"It's pretty good. Picking up the ladaysss," said Zayn.
"Whatta player. I'm sure the crazed twelve year olds throwing themselves at you are pretty fine looking," I joked, making everyone laugh.
The boys laughed and I just rolled my eyes. "Those girls are seriously insane. I really don't want their undergarments," said Liam.
"We don't?" asked Harry and Louis at the same time. They both turned to each other and burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes but smiled.
Oh, how I missed them.
"How's that girlfriend of yours, Louis?" asked my mom.
"Oh, Eleanor? We broke up about three months ago," he said.
"But I thought you started dating only a little over four or five months ago!" said my mom.
"Yeh, but with me travelling, we both never really made an effort to stay in touch, so we just called it off," he said.
I'm so relieved that he's made an effort to stay in touch with me.
"Well, that's his cover up story. Truth is...WE HAD SEX. Eleanor couldn't deal with his cheating," screamed Harry.
"Harold Edward Styles, I swear to GOD..." My mom said.
Everyone just burst out laughing and kept eating.
"That's too bad about Eleanor, Louis. What about you, Liam? How's Danielle?" my mom asked.
"She's great! Our two month anniversary is coming up." Liam said.
Harry giggled and said, "Someone's gonna get it on."
"Harry, if I hear one more sex comment from you, you are going to be excused from the dinner table," my mom said sternly.
"She speaks the truth," I said.
Harry just rolled his eyes and pretended to be all serious and said, "Fine."
We carried on with our dinner without anymore sex comments from Harry. My mom then pulled some of her home-made vanilla ice cream out of the fridge and served us all two scoops and a spoon in each bowl.
When she gave Liam his bowl, he just stared at it.
"Is there something wrong, Liam?" asked my mom.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sarah, but I'm afraid that I can't eat this." said Liam.
My mom looked at him confused and said, "Why?"
Liam just said, "I'm afraid," making everyone giggle a bit.
My mom looked even more puzzled than before and said, "Afraid of ice cream? Don't worry, dear, I washed my hands before making it."
Liam just said, "That's not it..."
Everyone continued to laugh and my mom said, "What's so funny?"
Niall eventually just burst out into hysterics, as he laughs at everything, which made everyone else laugh even harder.
"You put something in this ice cream that scares me," said Liam.
My mom looked at his ice cream and then she realized what it was. She gave him a look that said, "You are ridiculous."
"You have to get over this whole 'spoon' thing, Liam." she said, coming over and taking his spoon from him and giving him a fork.
"Li, you can just go wash your own spoon if the germs scare you that badly," I said. "But seriously, this is obnoxious."
Liam just laughed and said, "Actually, girls find it cute that I don't like spoons."
"And I find it cute, too," said Louis jokingly and pecking Liam on the cheek.
The rest of dinner carried on with us talking and eating our ice cream. Afterwards, the boys and I all cleaned up the dinner mess for my mom so that she could go rest.
Soon after that, Liam, Niall, Harry, and Zayn were all off to the "cinema" as Louis said, leaving Louis and I alone in my bedroom watching Shrek 3--Louis' choice, of course.
After we watched the movie, we decided to make a video to post on Louis' Twitter.
We went over and got my MacBook and opened up PhotoBooth so that we could record a video.
Louis had his carrots and was eating them when he started the video. "HELLO. I'M LOUIS THE TOMO TOMLINSON AND I'M EATING CARROTS."
Honestly, he's only asking for trouble by bringing the whole "carrot" thing back.
"Nothing says regret like the carrot joke you made on the X Factor. Hashtag 'shit no one says,'" I joked, making Louis roll his eyes.
I was visible in the shot and I said, "I'm Joslynn, his babysitter."
He then looked at me and slightly hit me on the face. We ended up hitting each other back and forth, laughing our heads off. Louis then grabbed my head under his arm in a head lock and he said, "This is my best friend, Joslynn. She's pretty amazing. But she's also really annoying. Say hi, Joslynn!"
"LOUIS WILLIAM TOMLINSON, LET GO OF ME!" I yelled while laughing.
"Nah, I'm good," he said as he continued to talk to his fans.
"Well, I'm chilling here with Joslynn. We just watched Shrek 3...and now I'm playing the 'How to Annoy the Hell Out of Joslynn' game. It's fun. You should try it sometime," he said.
Right after he said that, my mom walked in, froze in her tracks, and said, "Louis...why is my daughter in a headlock?"
"BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO ANNOY ME!" I yelled.
My mom said, "It seems to be working quite well."
Louis laughed and said, "Oh, it is."
"Anyway...do you know what happened to the vase downstairs? I was walking by and realized that it wasn't there," she said.
Louis let go of me and we both looked at each other. We both looked back to my mom and said, "Ask Zayn."
My mom covered her eyes with her hands and said, "Sometimes I wonder if I have missed you boys or not."
We both laughed and Louis turned my laptop towards her. "This is Joslynn's amazing mom! Say hi to Ms. Sarah, guys!"
My mom waved and said, "Hi, guys!"
Louis turned the camera back to us two, noticing my mom's slight shyness. "Miss Sarah is great. She makes amazing chicken. In fact, her chicken is so amazing, it makes the other chickens in the world feel rubbish."
I giggled at his British word, "rubbish." I loved it.
My mom rolled her eyes and said, "Time to get off the computer, kids."
I turned to the screen and said, "Bye, guys!"
Louis said, "We'll post another video soon! Love you all!," flashed a cheeky smile, and ended the video and posted it to Twitter.
The caption read, "@Joslynn_Marie and I have been REUNITED! Missed you, love! :)"
After Louis posted it, my mom said, "Don't forget that you have school tomorrow, Jos."
I slapped myself on the head and said, "Crap, I forgot."
"Yeah, well, it's 10:30. You have to get up at 6:00. How much studying did you get done, exactly?" my mom asked.
"I stopped studying at around 5:00..." I said.
My mom sighed and said, "Tomorrow, you need to study more. And what are the boys going to be doing while you're at school?" She turned to Louis.
Louis shrugged and said, "Break stuff."
"He's not lying," I said.
My mom rolled her eyes and asked, "How long are you all going to be here?"
Louis thought about it for a moment and said, "Until a week after Josie graduates."
I wasn't entirely disappointed. That's eighteen days.
My mom nodded her head and said, "Okay. Can I trust you boys to go to the store tomorrow for food for all of us?"
"No," I said before Louis could answer.
"Hey! We can handle it!" Louis protested.
My mom just sighed and said, "Jos, take them after school and get us groceries, okay?"
I laughed a bit and said, "Alright, mom. Will do."
"I feel as if I'm...untrustworthy," Louis said, wiping away a fake tear.
"Well, that's what we're saying, so your feelings are right, my friend," I said, patting his back.
At this point, my mom had walked out, and Louis grabbed me and started tickling my stomach. "Take it back!" he said.
"Never!" I laughed. "Stop tickling me! This is unfair!" I managed to choke out.
"Not until you take it back!" he said.
After about another minute, I couldn't take it and I said, "Okay! I take it back, I take it back!"
Louis stopped tickling me and I slapped him on the arm and said, "You're horrible!"
Louis just pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me from behind and said, "But you know you love me!"
"I KNOW YOU CARE, JUST SHOUT WHENEVER, AND I'LL BE THERE!" I belted out.
Louis just laughed and said, "I've missed you so much. We're not going a year without seeing each other EVER again."
"Agreed!" I said.
Louis laughed a bit and said, "Just so you know, you're not the only one who gets to make fun of accents here. Your American one is adorable."
"Why, thank you, sir," I joked.
A lot of people have asked if Louis and I are dating. They're always shocked to find that we aren't. His fans know who I am and I've gotten a lot of attention being his best friend. Everyone thinks that we should be together. We've both thought about it and talked about it, but we don't want to risk ruining our relationship, and we both never even thought about dating until fans brought it up. So, we don't think that we like each other in that way.
After a bit more talking about random things, Louis changed into his pajamas and I slipped off my Uggs. It was about 11:15 and we slipped in bed beside each other. This was entirely normal for us. We've been doing this for all of our lives, and it's never once felt awkward. I'm lucky to have a guy friend like Louis in my life.
When we layed down and turned the lights out, Louis said, "Good night, Josie, I love you."
I yawned and sleepily said, "Love you, too, Lou," and I drifted off into a deep sleep.