silly love songs made me so sick
couldn't stand them,
now they all c l i c k . . .
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"So I've been thinking," Blair suddenly turned to me.
I raised an eyebrow at her, but kept my focus on my history homework in front of me. I've got to get this done.
"Oh yeah?" I smirked a little.
"Yes," she insisted with a nod. When she didn't continue, I knew she wanted my full attention.
With a sigh, I put my pen down and leaned back in my seat. I rested my hands on my stomach and looked up at her. "Go on," I sang.
"Okay," she grinned, spinning more in her seat to completely face me. "You and Josh are together now, right?"
"Correct," I said flatly. Not because of Josh and I being together, but because of her enthusiastic attitude and how draining it can be in the morning while I'm trying to get my history homework done that I procrastinated until the last minute with.
"Mhm, so I was thinking about it and we should do a double date!" She squealed, bouncing in her chair.
"Who? You, Matt, Josh and I?" I asked, and she nodded for my clarification.
"We can just go to Fry It Up or something, it doesn't have to be fancy. But I thought it'd be cute if he came along with us for our Saturday night tradition of going there and getting half-priced apps, you know?" She explained, and now I nodded. "I figured since you guys have been together for-"
"Blair, it's barely been a week, okay? Chill out," I chuckled. I sat up and started working on my history again, but she just kept talking anyway.
It's Tuesday morning at school and like I said, it's been a little over a week since I got back from the cabin. Nothing has really changed between Josh and I, other than the fact that we can kiss more now. We act pretty much the same and we don't rub in everyone's faces that we're together. Even though our friends constantly teasing us doesn't help.
I haven't heard the end of it, especially from Rick because he said this would happen from the beginning. He told me that he was rooting for us to hook up ever since Josh took an interest in me, which is apparently for a longer time than I thought.
Even though it's embarrassing, I still can't help but find it adorable that his friends all wanted us together.
"So? It's not like you just met – you've known each other for awhile and we should go out together," she justified.
"Fine," I breathed. "I'll ask him and see what he says. But he's probably going to be really busy with wrestling since states are in a couple weeks."
"Great!" She chirped. I just chuckled at my obnoxious best friend.
For a little while, we sat quietly as I tried to finish my homework. I did what I could and when I reached for my bag to put my folder away, Blair started talking again. Our adviser sent us a few wary glances, but never said anything.
We're really the only ones that ever talk in this class, everyone else mainly keeps to themselves. Then again, there's only nine of us in this study hall anyway. We're supposed to be as quiet as we can, but with Blair as my best friend it's a little difficult.
"I'm curious about something," she said, twirling a piece of blonde hair in her fingers.
"What now?"
"I'm serious," she rolled her eyes. "Have you met his parents yet? Like, have you been to his house or anything?"
I paused for a moment, though it's not like I had to ponder over the answer, then shook my head. "Nope," I shrugged.
"Hm," she hummed, her shoulders falling. "I mean, he's been to your house plenty of times. And he even had dinner with your family way back when. You guys weren't even remotely together when that happened."
I just shrugged again, running my hand through my hair. I didn't know what to say.
She does have a point. I never really thought about it, and I guess this is why I have Blair for these things. Sometimes I need her more than I think.
"I wanna know what his house looks like," she sighed.
"Me too," I agreed with a light laugh.
"You should ask him about having dinner at his house! I'm sure he would say yes," she gasped when she came up with the idea, nudging my arm.
"I don't know," I shook my head. She just cocked her head and gave me a confused look. "It's not that easy with him. He's got more family issues than you would think."
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and sighed again. "Well, you could always ask him what he thinks of the idea. I feel like you have a right to meet his family now that you guys slept with each other," she said.
"Is that how it works?" I joked, my smirk coming back.
"Yes," she giggled, rolling her eyes again. "Now I can finally give you all the relationship tips that I've been saving up over the years for you."
"Blair?" I raised my eyebrows, and her eyes widened with curiosity.
"What?"
"Shut up."
She shoved my shoulder and we both tried containing ourselves from laughing too loud. Our adviser might have kicked us out if she saw we were having too much fun under her supervision.
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The end of the day approached me and I was still thinking about what Blair said in study hall about having dinner at Josh's house. Over and over, I rehearsed what I was going to say to him until I could recite it perfectly, forward and backward. I came up with a way for me to bring it up casually, hopefully without causing him to tense up.
I noticed that with certain things, his mood can change really quickly. He's a little temperamental and it can be quite scary. Maybe that's what stress and wrestling can do to you, though.
When the bell rang, I exited my last class – which was history – knowing my homework was done correctly. It brought a small relief over me, only momentarily though. I moved along with the hallway traffic until I got to my locker, popped opened it and put my coat on.
Josh, I want to ask you something. If it's okay with you, what do you think about me having dinner at your house?
I practiced my speech in my head a few more times as I got everything I needed and shut my locker. I got this.
All bets were off when I turned and saw him walking towards me with a typical, sexy smile.
I don't got this.
"Hey," he greeted me happily.
"Hi there," I smiled back, trying to seem as casual as possible. But my smile felt a tad too tight to pass as "casual".
He adjusted his bag on his shoulder as I wrung my hands together. A few seconds passed by with neither of us saying anything. I was staring down at my feet, trying to remember what I was going to say to him.
I finally just picked up my head, sucked in a deep breath and spat it out.
"I want to ask you something," I said, while Josh piped up at the same time with, "I need to talk to you."
We laughed together, lightening the mood as I briefly forgot what I was going to say. That's why his smile is so dangerous – it makes me act stupid.
"You go first," he nodded.
I nodded too, but couldn't find it in me to ask about the dinner plans. My mouth was open in a smile from when I was laughing, but no noises were coming out. I froze up.
So I settled for Plan B.
"I was talking to Blair earlier, and she mentioned us going on a double date with her and Matt. It's always been our little tradition to go out on Saturday's to Fry It Up and get half-priced appetizers, and we thought that'd be a good idea for the four of us," I explained, my voice calm and non-wavering like it would be if I asked him about Plan A. "I told her that you might be busy with wrestling though, so I wasn't sure when it would happen."
"Oh, okay," he smiled with another nod. "This actually works out perfectly because I have time this weekend. I pretty much have off except for some practice."
"Awesome," I grinned.
"Yeah, from last weekend I advance to districts next week, then hopefully regionals the next week, and then states the week after that. Besides this weekend, I'm booked for the next month," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes drifted away from mine but I could still see them screaming for something. A break.
This boy is on the brink of a breakdown and he can't be pushed around for much longer. All I could think was, I can't wait until wrestling season is over.
"Wow," I said, blowing out a low whistle. "Well, this will be perfect then."
"I'm excited. I love hanging out with Blair and Matt," he said, which made me smile.
It got quiet again as the bell rang for the last class of the day. I'm guessing Josh has practice or something, but I've got nothing to do. I could stand here and smile at him for the rest of the day.
I snapped out of it and it crossed my mind that he had something he wanted to talk to me about too. "So what did you wanna ask me?"
His posture straightened up and his face went hard, eyes locked on the ground. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
He cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his sweatshirt. I smiled a little at how shy he was being.
"I was uh, talking to my parents about you the other day. And my mom said it would be nice to have you over for dinner so we can all meet, and I just said this Friday because it works with my schedule. So if it's okay with you, we'd like to have you over for dinner on Friday," he said, still not making eye contact with me.
I took a step closer to him and put my hands on his cheeks, lifting his face. His timid gaze met my eyes and my smile grew.
"I would love to have dinner with you and your family," I spoke softly.
"Really?" His eyes widened in shock. "I-I mean, it's okay if you don't want to. You really don't have to. I'll just tell them-"
"Josh," I stopped him with a laugh. "It's fine. I was actually going to ask you about having dinner with your family before you came up to me."
"Oh, okay," he relaxed now, the corner of his mouth quirking up.
"Yeah, I'm glad you brought it up," I told him honestly.
"You're the best," he broke out into a wide grin. I smiled too and he pulled me into his chest, hugging me tightly as he kissed the top of my head. My cheeks flushed and my heart fluttered inside, making me feel warm and fuzzy.
He let me go seconds later and looked into my eyes. "I gotta get to practice, but I'll text you later, okay?" He said.
"Sure," I agreed to it.
The smile never left his face, then he leaned forward and gave me a long, sweet kiss before ruffling my hair and disappearing down the hallway.
I left school and walked to my car in the parking lot with a smile on my face the whole time. It didn't even fade a little bit on the drive home. Or even when I got in my house. And I think that's how I know this boy means a little more to me than anyone else I've ever been with.
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A/N - i know this chapter isn't too exciting, but it's definitely important! it shows a huge leap in vic and josh's relationship :) and i'm actually so excited for y'all to read the chapters on dinner at the hunt's house. it's gonna be lit.
i somehow did a 10 mile hike this weekend and i am dead. my legs are like "wtf did you do to us?!?" ugh. i also really need to start christmas shopping. 2 more weeks of school (5 actual days for me but still) left until winter break i'm so hype!!!! this note is so random but thanks for reading and i love ya lots!
dedicated to: Gracie3676 :)
song: tip toes by jayme dee
photo: josh comin' at me like that i'm shOOOOK
xoxo, sabbbycat