A/N: Ha! And you thought the story was over! Well, it is. Only it's not. ;)
What can I say? Your constant begging got to me. I'm still saying no to a sequel, but I figured to celebrate my one year anniversary here on wattpad, all you "Living High School to the Fullest" readers deserved a little something something. It's my anniversary and YOU get the gift. Crazy, huh? Yes, I'm nice like that.
I had mentioned that I was thinking about doing something like that on my Facebook page and people on there had the chance to vote from which character's point of view they would like to have this extra chapter written. And the winner is: Josh!!
I hope you guys like it. It was kind of weird writing from Josh's point of view at first, but in the end I really got into the groove. *dances along to her signature writing groove*
Well. Enough with the introductions. Enjoy.
(You guys holding me hostage can let me go now, okay? I did it. I wrote a chapter from Josh's point of view. But that's it. No sequel. Repeat after me: no sequel!)
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BONUS CHAPTER: Chapter 9 - Josh's POV
“So, when are you going to ask her out, Josh?” Nick asked me, nodding in the direction where Sarah and Emma were standing by their lockers and talking. I wondered when the girls would start laughing again. At some point they always did.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
That was total crap and he knew it. Nick might be my best friend, but the last thing I needed was him to bug me all the time about Sarah. Okay, I could see his point. When he started dating Summer, I had been the one to tease him. I had told him that I had to approve of her. Like the girls always did when one of their friends started dating. First I was just kidding around, but in a way the logic behind it made sense. Every guy knows that if you really wanna make headway with a girl, you have to play nice with her best friend. It was only fair that we guys should approve of each other’s serious girlfriends as well. Hey, they were going to hang out with the rest of us a lot, right?
It wasn’t all that difficult to approve of Summer because she’s nice and pretty, no need to deny it, although she is way into make-up and fashion and stuff and giggles a bit too much which gets kind of annoying after a while; but I had let Nick sweat it a bit. There was no need to tell him right away that I thought Summer was okay. Not that he would have dropped her or something. He wasn’t a dick. But it would have made some things more complicated between us if I had thought Summer was an airhead. Teasing him had been fun. By the looks of it, he hadn’t forgotten about that.
“Bull.” Nick grinned. “The second Sarah said that she’s not dating Aaron, when she had lunch at our table, you snapped into extra happy mode. And you’re staring at her all the time now.”
I tore my gaze away from Sarah. Damn, when did I start looking at her again? I was turning into a creepy stalker. “Extra happy mode? Summer really did a number on you. You talk like a cheerleader.” I put my right hand on his shoulders and lowered my voice. “You know I have your back, no matter what, right? Wanna quit football and switch teams? I bet their uniform would look good on you. You always had a thing for skirts.”
“You’re so full of it.” Nick pushed my hand off his shoulders and I chuckled.
At the same time, familiar laughter filled the air. Yep, Sarah and Emma. I liked that they never seemed to care what others think about them. Most girls are too self-conscious to really laugh out loud. And their laughter is infectious as hell.
“Man, stop smiling!” My friend shook his head. “And you’re staring at her again. You have it bad.”
I didn’t deny it. There wasn’t a point, really, because it was true. It all had started last year when we had to work together for an English project. Yeah, I know, lame way to meet a girl. Set up by a teacher. In school. And it wasn’t like I hadn’t known Sarah before. She had been in some of my other classes. But she had always been hanging out with her friends and our paths never really crossed before that project.
And although it was kind of a stupid project, I had tons of fun. I’ve never had so much fun on a school project before. Sarah really was something else. Never afraid to say whatever she has on her mind. I was surprised to find out that she is pretty sarcastic in a very laid back way. Easy to hang out and goof around with. Not to mention hot in that not too obvious girl-next-door thing she has going on. Too bad that she didn’t really live next door.
Whoa, retreat, Josh. Creepy stalker mode seems to get out of hand.
I had thought I really was over my little crush on her, but Nick was right. It must have been more self-protective thinking on my part because I had been convinced that she and Aaron were dating. And now that I knew that she was single, it was all BAM! Crush back, a thousand times bigger than before, and I couldn’t help but wonder: what if?
Hm. Time for a little reality check.
Symptoms: Creepy stalker and sappy fool all rolled into one.
Diagnosis: I did have it bad.
“C’mon, lover boy, let’s walk over there so you can have another little meaningful chat with her about which you can all gush in your diary tonight,” Nick said and slapped me on my shoulder. “Because that’s all you’re gonna get until you grow some balls and ask her out.”
I shoved him. “Nick, we both know you’re the only one here with a diary. I bet it’s pink and glitters. Oh, or maybe it matches your cheerleader uniform?”
Nick chuckled. “In your dreams, Josh. In your dreams. Now do you wanna keep on talking about glitter and shit or put your stealthy Ninja skills to use and spy on her?”
Sad to say, but I hardly ever needed Ninja skills when it came to Sarah. She was totally oblivious to me most of the time, all wrapped up in her clique of friends. Sometimes I was convinced that a bomb could go off right next to her and she wouldn’t even blink an eye. But then there were the times when all her focus was on me. Good times. Really good times. That’s when I keep thinking that maybe we could be more than the casual sort-of friends we were at the moment.
Truth? I was scared. I did ask her out once before and she blew me off, acting like it was no big deal. It had crushed my ego quite a bit, no lie, but I got over it. It’s just, ever since that happened I got to know her even better, and I wasn’t too sure how I would handle it a second time around. Rejection sucks.
Yeah, I was a wuss. And Nick was right. Time to man up. Winner takes it all, right?
We stopped a few feet away from the two girls. Close enough to hear every single word they said. And yes, they both didn’t pay any attention to us at all. As usual.
“Do you think all the cheerleaders will be there?” Sarah asked.
“I guess so. I bet they are all going to wear bikinis,” Emma said, rummaging through her bag. That girl was always in motion, like a wind-up toy that never unwinds.
“I can’t believe that everybody is talking about that party. I mean, it’s just a party, right? It’s not like Julie is going to have Lady Gaga perform or something,” Sarah said.
Ah, they were talking about Julie’s party.
Damn, I would make a hell of a private investigator. Nick raised both his eyebrows and jerked his head towards the girl.
I knew what his gesture meant: this was an excellent opportunity to make a move. As far as I knew, Sarah and Emma weren’t invited. I was, and Julie had told us that we could bring some friends if we wanted to. In fact, she insisted. I knew that she had meant guys, aka potential dates or hook-ups for her, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t invite the two girls who were obviously interested enough in Julie’s party to be talking about it.
Perfect opportunity indeed! Lucky stars, thank you. I owe you one.
Now I only had to figure out how to approach them. It was a shame that Sarah was hardly ever alone and always with at least one of her friends. First I had thought it was a girl thing, but having seen the way Summer and Julie and some of the other girls were, I figured it was more of a Sarah thing.
She was really close to her friends and fiercely loyal. Not playing any games, as far as I could tell. Honest to the bone. I wouldn’t mind being a permanent member of her inner circle. They always seemed to have a lot of fun. Although I really didn’t have a clue what they all did do together in their free time.
As I said before, our paths rarely cross, especially outside from school. Maybe I should figure out where they like to hang out so I could run into them one time or another?
Bad idea. Creepy stalker was doing the thinking again. I didn’t like that. Better switch back to eavesdropping guy.
Emma flipped her ponytail. “Wait, do you think she is going to have a band playing?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. That would be a little over the top. Even for Julie.”
It looked like Sarah knew exactly what kind of game Julie was playing. I wasn’t a fan of that cheerleader. Neither was Nick. But we had to tolerate Julie since she was Summer’s best friend.
See? It is important that you get along with friends of girlfriends.
Sarah twisted her lock and yanked her locker open. I wasn’t sure if it really was stuck or if she just had too much energy, but I had yet to see her open it in a normal way.
What kind of sappy fool does it make me that I like the way she opens her locker? Better not think about it.
“Oh, damn! I forgot that I promised Dinah to give her my calculator before school,” Emma announced. “I’m gonna run down to the office real quick. But Brian is on his way, you won’t be lonely for long. See ya!”
As if someone just had set off a starter gun, Emma turned around. I stepped to the side right away, knowing, thanks to my mad people-watching skills, that she was going to sprint. Nick wasn’t that clever and Emma almost ran him over. I swear, that girl must have a secret energy drink addiction.
I heard a light chuckle from Sarah who must have witnessed the scene, but once again paid no attention to me at all. It’s like I was wearing a freaking invisibility cloak or something.
Nick gave me a shove towards Sarah who was taking her books out of her locker. Then he grinned at me and walked off.
And there she was, all by herself. It was my lucky day indeed. I couldn’t have come up with a better scenario if I had planned it.
Time to roll.
“Hey,” I said as I stepped to stand right next to her.
Startled, Sarah slammed her locker shut and looked at me. “Hey.” And she gave me a smile.
So far, so good.
“So, Nick and I heard you and Emma talking about the party at Julie’s place tonight,” I told her. Best to be honest with her. Then my invitation wouldn’t jump out of nowhere.
“Yeah.”
Where was she looking at now? I’m right here!
Just keep going, Josh.
“Are you guys coming?” I asked, although I already knew the answer to that. She looked at me again. Finally.
“Um… we’re not invited,” Sarah said.
Her head tilted to the left and she stared at something behind me. Yes, I had lost her attention again. Damn.
“Oh, that’s cool. She told me I could invite my friends, so feel free to come,” I told her. Casual, yet straight to the point.
“Uh huh.”
Not exactly the reaction I had been hoping for. Was that a yes? It didn’t sound like it. I was beginning to feel frustrated. Why did it feel like I was the only one in this conversation?
Okay, maybe she wasn’t ready for a real date yet. Maybe she was a bit intimidated by Julie. I didn’t really think so, but who was I to know for sure?
That left me only one option: pull the friends card. If she knew that she could bring her friends, there was no way she would say no. She sounded too interested in Julie’s party before when she was talking Emma. And I could always try talking to Sarah alone at the party.
Hm, that might be even the better option! No pressure at all. Ah, the stars really were in my favor today.
“You can bring your friends, too,” I said.
And her focus was back on me. I knew it. The friends card had trumped it. I had this in the bag.
“What did you just say?” she asked me.
Huh. She seemed to be a bit confused. Did she really not get that I invited her friends as well?
“Um, I invited you and your friends to Julie’s party? Tonight? At Julie’s house?”
Yeah, end every sentence with a question mark, Josh. Great job. Way to sound confident.
“You can’t do that!” Sarah cried out. Shocked.
Oh, I get it. She thought it was too much to invite her and all of her friends. Well, maybe it was, I wasn’t sure what Julie would say about that, but I honestly couldn’t care less about what Julie thought. This was my in. I only had to make Sarah see that it was no big deal for her and her friends to come to the party. Easy.
“Wrong. I can. And I think I just did. I have Julie’s permission, remember?” I grinned at her as I saw that she finally understood what I was telling her. This was it. Now she had to say yes.
“Uh! No. No, no, no. No! Uninvite us!”
Hang on a sec. That didn’t sound like a yes. That didn’t sound like a yes at all. There had been an awful lot of nos – and not a single yes.
“Uninvite you?” I frowned, trying to make sense of all that. Maybe I had been wrong and Sarah really didn’t want to go to the party, but why would I have to uninvite her? “Why? I thought you wanted to go?”
“Well, we were going to come, but now we can’t, thanks to you,” she grumbled.
That girl… ugh.... that girl!
“But… I just invited you!”
“Exactly,” she said.
I’m not gonna lie: she confused the crap out of me at the very moment. I was at a loss of what to say.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I finally told her.
“It does, you just wouldn’t understand.”
Her gaze didn’t waver. At least her focus was fully on me now; her big brown eyes hadn’t left mine for a while. And she did seem to be sorry.
I still had no freaking clue what was going on, but I figured it was best to run with whatever she said. I didn’t have to understand whatever hang-up she had at the moment. All that mattered was that she would show up at the party and I would finally get more than only a minute or two of chatting with her.
“Fine then,” I said and let out a little sigh. “I hereby officially uninvite you. So are you guys going to be at Julie’s or what?”
“That’s not how it works. You can’t just uninvite us because you’re only doing it knowing that we wouldn’t come if we were invited. Hence, your uninviting us equals inviting us. Which means: we can’t go.”
What?
I repeat: what?
“But didn’t you just tell me to uninvite you?”
“Yeah, well, but that’s not the point,” Sarah said, rubbing her arm.
Unbelievable. This was unbelievable! I just didn’t get her. Didn’t I just do exactly what she told me to do? And yet she still refused to come?
“Wow. I think you just gave me a headache.” I rubbed my temples. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sorry, okay.”
Hold on. Did I just apologize for inviting her and a friends to a party she clearly wanted to go to? I did. I even had to repeat the invitation. And she had declined, telling me to uninvite her so she could come. Why, I had no clue. And when I had done exactly that, she still refused to come.
I clenched my jaw. “Actually, come to think of it, I’m not. I won’t apologize for inviting you. That was a nice thing to do,” I said a bit harshly which I regretted the very second the words had come out of my mouth.
Sarah’s eyes grew big and she tucked one strand of her hair behind her hair. “Yes, it was. It was a very nice thing to do. I’m the one who’s sorry, Josh. Really.” Her tone was sincere. She did sound sorry. Looked it, too. “Thank you very much for inviting us. And uninviting us. But… it’s complicated, okay? We won’t be at Julie’s tonight. It’s just… well… it’s complicated.” She sighed. “I really do appreciate you wanting us to be there tonight, though. Really.”
After just having been rejected by her, twice, Sarah’s rambling shouldn’t have had any impact on me at all. All the facts pretty much pointed to the one and only truth that she didn’t want to spend time with me. Hell, I had yet to see a sign that she might be interested in me at all apart from being the guy she has small talk with every now and then.
And yet. I did believe her that she was almost as sorry about having to decline my invitation as I was. Maybe I just didn’t want to give up hope. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.
But maybe it really was the truth.
“So you are not going to tell me what this is all about?” I asked her.
“No, sorry. I can’t,” Sarah said.
“Okay then.” Not much more I could do. The damage was done. Declined. That sucked. And the party was going to suck now as well, I just knew it.
Hey, I may have lost this round, but I was still in the game. At least that was something.
I shrugged. “See you around,” I told Sarah. As much as I enjoyed talking to her, I needed to take a breather. Shake it off and come up with a new game plan.
I had to be more subtle, I guess. Yeah, that was the way to go. Maybe get to know her friends a bit better, too. Starting with Emma.
I turned around and walked away.
“I’m sorry, Josh. Have fun at the party! And thank you,” I heard Sarah call out from behind and I had to suppress a smile. After all that she still managed to make me smile. Insane.
I might not have known what just had happened, but I would find out. Sooner or later. I was not giving up on my career as a private investigator just yet. Or on Sarah.
Definitely not on Sarah.
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So what do you think? Yahoo or boo? *bites fingernails*
Just in case you're not up to date with my current wattpad status: I'm in the middle of writing another humor/teen fiction story called "Mutiny of the Neeks". Feel free to check it out. It's about a bunch of nerds. You can find it either on my profile page or in the external link.
(EDIT: Well, that story is on hold at the moment. So you don't have to check it out since I don't know when I'll get back to continue writing it.)
I also caved in and got a twitter (@trueskydancer). Yes, I don't have any real friends anymore. Haha. Damn these addictive social online tools!
Also tumblr. Oh, tumblr. You beautiful place of horror! (thetrueskydancer.tumblr.com)
And Pinterest. Because I pin. Ha! (pinterest.com/trueskydancer)
For everyone who's been asking about Dan and Josh's deal: maybe one day in a future far, far away, I will tell you. I actually planned to have it done by now, but real life is being a party-pooper. :P Maybe I'll never get to it, who knows. *sighs*
Ah, the long author's notes are back. Well. I'm out. Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to vote and leave a comment or a message after the beep if you liked Josh's chappie.
SkyDancer <('')
*beep*