josh sighs heavily as he falls down onto the couch with his phone in his hands and a frown on his face. it's clearly obvious that he's not in his usual preppy mood but he doesn't feel like talking about it so he keeps quiet and refuses every game the boys offer him to play. he's just not in the mood.
eventually though, anthony grows concerned for his best friend and decides to question him about his gloomy mood.
"okay man, what's up?".
kio, bryce, and griff stop playing their current game out of interest - they too don't like seeing josh in this state.
josh meets the stare of each boy sitting on the couch with him and figures that he could just tell them he doesn't feel good or some other random bullshit but he also knows that they wouldn't believe him. these four boys are his brothers and they know him inside out.
"honestly? i don't know. it's just- i'm getting really jealous all the time and whenever nessa isn't here i'm sad? and i know it's probably because she's my best friend but i'm feeling something new".
his friends glance at each other- smirks on their faces like they know something he doesn't. this bothers josh.
"what?" he asks. "what are you smiling at?".
"josh my friend" bryce starts, leaning forward. "that feeling? it's there because you like nessa".
josh rolls his eyes.
"obviously i like nessa, shes my best friend".
the sway boys facepalm, grunting in frustration. how can he be so oblivious?
"what we mean is that you've developed feelings for nessa" griffin says.
"real feelings- like you might possibly even wanna date her sort of feelings" kio inputs, murmurs of agreement coming from the boys.
"cutting the bullshit? you've got feelings for nessa the same way i have for avani, griff has for dixie, and kio has for olivia. those feelings- if you chose to act on them could end up turning into love".
josh looks at anthony with displbelief glazing over his eyes. love? nessa? like like? what the fuck.
"nah" josh mutters.
he refuses to admit to himself that he's got serious feelings for nessa. he doesn't want to accept it. the consequences are too risky and he doesn't want to take them.
__________
"okay so what's your plan?".
nessa stares blankly at jaden as he rocks back and forth on his gaming chair- pondering on whether she herd him correctly or not.
she points to herself.
"my plan? isn't she you're ex girlfriend. how come you're not coming up with a plan?".
jaden scratches the back of his neck nervously. it reminds nessa of josh because it's something he does too when he's feeling anxious about something.
"but you're a girl!" jaden protests.
"what's your point? just because i'm a girl doesn't mean i should be doing all the work. you're the one who's known her longer and is in love with her".
jaden struggles to find an argument for their debate and he surrenders, knowing that she's won and right- he should have been the one to come up with a plan.
nessa takes a seat on the foot of josh's bed while jaden rocks himself, his mind working overdrive trying to conjure up the perfect plan to get his girl back.
"i've got it!" he cheers, leaping up from the chair.
nessa waits with wide eyes for him to explain.
"the notebook" he says simply. "i'll take mads on a boat trip down the lake near that hidden beach!".
nessa doesn't totally hate the idea and coming from jaden, it's a pretty good one. he's thought carefully about it and about what mads likes. in this moment she knows for a fact that they're both going to be okay.
"okay yeah love it, you should also pack a picnic with frozen banana peanut butter sticks and write down ideas about what you want to say to her and i'll help you with anything you need" nessa rambles- jaden nodding his head along to her suggestions.
jaden beams happily, scooping up nessa in his arms and squeezing her tight. she laughs- hugging him back. they've become really good friends in the past couple of weeks, he's like an older brother to her and she a sister to him.
in the doorway- josh stands with a clenched jaw and a heavy heart. he knew that there was something going on between them. his best friends. dating? messing around? whatever it was, it was sickening to see. having had enough of watching them be together, josh walks away silently and slams the front door on his way out. he has to calm down, being jealous makes him a douche and that's the last thing he wants to be. some air will help him cool down and the walk will clear his mind.
but after walking for a half hour josh finds himself in-front of familiar house.
aunt sarah's.
sheepishly he knocks on the door. he knows that one of nessa's friends will answer considering she's too busy sneaking around with his best friend to be here.
the door opens up and reveals a confused lea who's wearing a bathing suit and has her hair tied up in a messy bun, her eyes are covered my sunglasses so it's hard to tell if she's happy to see him or not.
"we need to talk".
josh walks past lea, making his way out back to the pool where he's guessing she was moments before he knocked on the door.
"uh okay come in i guess?" lea mumbles as she closes the door and follows behind josh.
they walk out to the back yard in silence and the only sound audible to them was the speaker that played leas spotify playlist beside the lounge chair.
josh takes a seat on the one beside lea's and stares at the pool, his leg bouncing nervously.
"josh? you okay?" she asks, concerned and confused.
deciding that ripping off the bandaid was the best way to handle this situation- josh takes a deep breath.
"i'm falling for nessa. quick and hard. i know it's soon and sudden and that we haven't even known each other that long but i've never clicked with someone so fast so intensely before you know? i think about her all the damn time and she makes me have butterflies lea! fucking butterflies- that's never happened with me before. but she likes jaden and they'll probably start dating and yeah so like what the fuck do i do?".
lea just stares at the out of breath boy with shock. her jaw is practically touching the floor and she's smiling bigger than the cheshire cat. lea can't believe what has just happened.
"feel better?" is all she asks.
josh nods his head, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts.
"you want my advice?" lea questions, sitting cross cross apple sauce.
again, josh nods.
"don't believe everything you see. josh i can guarantee you that nessa and jaden? aren't a thing and they never will be. she's helping him get back together with mads and that's all. she couldn't tell you because jaden asked her to keep it between the two of them. as for how she feels about you? well only she can tell you that but i'm certain that if you tell her how you feel, she won't hesitate to tell you about her own feelings".
a weight is lifted off of josh's shoulders now that he's admitting to himself how he feels about nessa and that he does in fact like her as more than best friends. his feelings for her are genuine and different from anything he's ever felt for anyone before.
"but don't you think it's too soon? we've only known each other a couple of months" he sighs.
lea shoves his shoulder playfully.
"no doofus it's not too soon. you've been on more facetime calls with her than i have and we've been best friends since the third grade! you've also spent almost every single day with each other in la
while we've been here which hasn't been fun for me by the way, i haven't had nessa for myself in a long time because of you".
josh laughs, knowing fine well that lea is right.
"thanks lea, i owe you one".
___________
hey <333
sorry for the late update!
i have a lot more free time rn so i can update more often if that's something yall want just let me know.
i'm also very curious as to know what you guys think about how everything is going so far so pls answer these questions.
- is there something / someone you'd like to see more of?
- any friendships / ships you want to read more about?
- do you think josh and nessa are happening too fast?
- shoud there be more social media / texts or do yall prefer to the irl?
(don't worry there's still going to be social media chapters too)