When the cast heard that Josh was going to take Josephine to her first high school party, they spilt amongst themselves to help each of them get ready. Liv, Sofia, Frankie, and Joe went to Joey's house to pick an outfit and help her with a makeup look; while Dara, Julia, Larry, and Matt chose to lend their expertise to Josh so he wouldn't wear any of his three shirt options.
"You know what? Fuck you Matt because I have 7 shirts; one for each day of the week," Josh retaliated.
Matt supported his claim, "Josh, you only wear the same three shirts. I don't think I've ever seen you wear this shirt at all." Josh kept protesting and insisted on wearing his striped red shirt to the party. Dara looked at him dumbfounded. "sis you wore that shirt yesterday."
"And I'm wearing it again today," he said cockily. Larry gave him a disgusted look, "don't look at me like that, Lare, I washed it yesterday, it's clean."
Finally, after much debacle, Julia raised her voice, "JUST LET HIM WEAR THE DAMN SHIRT! It's not like we're gonna change his mind, he's already wearing it."
Matt huffed as he crossed his arms. Josh smiled in victory and took his phone out to text Josephine.
jo☀️
hey are you almost ready?
how are you done already
are you wearing the same shirt you wore yesterday?
yes
okay
well that's cool
sofia's trying to do my hair rn
and frankie and joe are just flirting while liv finds a better skirt that doesn't make me look like a librarian
sounds like fun
glad i'm not there
we're actually having fun
we're listening to fonky music
i wanna listen to fonky music
you cant
you missed out
is everyone still at ur place
yeah but they're all leaving now
oh periodt
oh shit i think sofia just burned my head
she made a noise and i didn't like that noise
i think it means something bad
im sure you're fine
probably
hopefully
anyways
im gonna go but be here in 20 because i cant handle any more of their smothering
yeah i'm already in the car
want me to get you a coffee
JOSH ITS 8 PM WHY WOULD I WANT A COFFEE
idk so you can stay awake??
alcohol does that for me🥴
i cant wait to see you when you're drunk
same here bud
you're probably a clingy drunk
so just a more toned up version of me
you are very clingy aren't you
only with you ❤️🥰💕✨
yuck
never say that again
ick
love you too j😽
be there soon
Josephine clipped her earrings and smiled at the mirror. Sofia and Liv high-fived each other when Jo turned around to show them their finished product. Her dress flowed just above her knees, her socks slightly showing under her boots and her earrings dangling a shiny gold. "How do I look?"
The two girls erupted in coo's of admiration, Frankie and Joe joining when they caught sight of Joey. "You look so cute!"
"Those earrings are everything on you."
"Your butt looks so good right now I might actually be straight," Frankie compliments.
The short girl giggled, "yuck. Thanks, Frank, I appreciate it."
Soon after, Josh texted to let her know he's waiting outside. "Okay, Josh is here, so you guys are watching Manny Ruby and Fabi. Fabi's gonna be easy to deal with just involve her in things and leave her alone and she'll be fine. Manny and Ruby are gonna be significantly tougher than Fabi. Keep them entertained and feed them," Josephine ordered. "Thank you guys for watching them!" Her phone dinged again. When she saw the notification from Josh she wrapped up her speech, "K bye! Love you! Stay safe and feed my brothers!"
Josephine practically ran into Josh's car. Hopping in out of breath she released a smile, "hey."
He smiled back, his hand immediately going to hold hers, "hey." She glanced down at their hands, gently entwined, and subconsciously smiled at the gesture.
Josh found his way to the giant house the party would be held in. The road was packed with cars, so he had to park at the end of the block. When Joey took her seat belt off he stopped her, "before we go in, just a couple of rules. 1. Don't drink too much. You have school tomorrow and you do not want to be hungover at school. Trust me." Jo gave him a look that held both emotions of impressiveness and shock.
"2. Please for the love of God Josephine, don't accept drinks from people you don't know. I understand that you see the good in everyone but just for tonight assume everyone wants to kill you." Josh looked her in the eyes waiting for her to confirm. "Okay, cool. Everyone's a murderer; that's fine."
He continued, "Third, if we get separated text me where you are and I'll go look for you. Got it?" She nodded, a small smile on her face. It made her slightly happy that Josh cared so much about her, but it also felt like a backhanded compliment. Joey felt that Josh thinks that she can't handle a party scene and their various possible situations.
The large house was packed with teens. Josephine could recognize many of them, mostly because the party is exclusive to Seniors. Josh stayed close to Jo, not wanting to lose her in the crowd. Josephine was searching through the house for either drinks or Jack. Whichever they came across to first doesn't matter. Soon enough, the pair found Jack talking to a guy standing by the drinks. Convenient.
When Jack noticed the two approach him, he turned away from the guy he was talking to and greeted his friends, "Hey guys! Do you want a drink?" Jo nodded, while Josh gave her a skeptical look, "murderers, remember?"
She scoffed, "it's Jack! He's not smart enough to do that. Also, he's Jack." Joshua nodded, agreeing with her statement. He handed them both identical red solo cups with whatever alcohol he filled it with. Jack led them to the outside area where there was a beer pong table set up and a large pool. Many chairs and couches were aligned by the poolside, giving them a view of the entire back yard. The trio sat on a couch, sipping at the hard liquor in their drinks as they made small talk and watched their drunken peers throw ping pong balls back and forth.
"Do you think Pepper brought Anna?" Jack asked Josephine. She shrugged, "it's supposed to be seniors only, but I wouldn't be surprised. I mean I brought Joshua."
He asked again, "did Auggie mention to you that he's coming at all?" She shook her head no. "Oh. Cause I figured if Anna's here then Auggie's gotta be here too."
Josh joined in, "I have no doubts in my head that Pepper didn't bring Anna. They go everywhere together," Joey nodded, "it's kinda creepy."
"That's fan behavior," Jack added. After a short while, Jack ditched to play a round of beer pong with a few classmates he has. Joey stayed back with Josh, sipping from her cup. Josh nudged her side, "whatcha thinking about?"
She shrugged with a sigh, "I just don't want anything to go down when I inevitably encounter Pepper and Anna. I know it's gonna happen but I really hope it doesn't." He wrapped his arm around her small body. She leaned into his side and smiled at their closeness. Jo smiled as she breathed in his scent, "you smell really good today."
"I don't normally smell good?" He joked. Joey giggles, "you do, but you smell more good than normal. Are you wearing a new cologne?"
Joshua's grin reached his eyes, "how did you notice?" Looking up at his eyes she responded with a lightness in her expression, "I know how you smell. You smell like pinewood, and maybe sweat?" Josh laughs. "I don't know it's something salty. But right now you smell sweeter."
He chuckled lightly, "is that a bad thing?" She shakes her head, her flyaways waving across her face, "no, I really like it. To be honest, you could smell like a pig and I'd still want to cuddle." His eyes slowly looked away from her deep brown irises down to her lips. She visibly held her breath, feeling nervous. Is this it? Is it really going to happen? She thought. To answer the question blatantly: No.
As soon as Josh was going to lean in, the pair heard a high pitched voice from behind them catch their attention. They turned their heads to face Pepper sending them a sickly smile. "Aw! Aren't you two just so cute! Ugh," she rolled her eyes, "Josephine, what are you doing here with him? I thought this was supposed to be a seniors-only party?"
Jo glanced behind Pepper to see Anna and Auggie standing near the beer pong table, "I figured he'd keep me good company. I assume that's why you brought Anna?" The blonde scoffed, but quickly put on her 'nice' persona. "So, Josh, how are you liking Salt Lake City?"
He sarcastically grinned, "Fine, but J makes it bearable." The small raven haired girl smiled up at him with a slight pout, internally awing at his words.
Pepper grimaced, "Wow, cool. Do you wanna go get a drink or something? We could go inside and join the party." Her gaze completely ignored Joey and focused on Josh. He shook his head and answered shortly, "No." Jo giggled into her hand while she watches Pepper glitch. She was taken aback at his straight forward answer, almost like she was expecting him to say something else.
Josh turned to Josephine, "wanna go inside? We can see if they're playing any cliche party games." Josephine heard Pepper scoff from beside them, "I'd love to."
And so, the pair walked away, leaving Pepper to sit alone while she watched them reach out for each other's hand. She slightly smirked into her cup while her eyes trained on the small tan girl as she walks away.
"Stop being a bitch, and just play the goddamn game! What are the odds that the bottle actually lands on you?" Jack urges Joey. She looks at him skeptically and unsure, "I- Maybe when Josh comes back from the bathroom."
He shrugs, taking a large swing from his cup, "suit yourself. You can come and wait with me. We'll let them know you're not playing." The short Latina follows her messy haired best friend, grabbing the end of his sleeve to make sure she doesn't lose him. When they arrive at the living room she sees Josh sitting down next to Auggie. Jo sends him a worried look, confused as to why he stayed with Auggie instead of looking for her and Jack. She brushed it off and didn't let it bother her as she was now sitting down across from him, coincidentally also sitting next to Pepper.
Josh sent her a smile when he noticed her presence and mouthed, "I'm sorry!" to her. She shrugged and smiled softly to let him know that it didn't phase her too much.
While the game came into play, Josh kept sending Jo longing glares. Trying to catch her attention just to see her smile back at him. He always loved the way her dimples would show when she smiled. When it came to be Josh's turn to spin the bottle, he whispered a prayer to himself, hoping he could manifest for the bottle to land on Josephine.
Joey stares at the bottle as it slows down, the top aiming towards her. Suddenly, it stops right before it could hit her and faces Pepper. Josh's eyes widen in a panic as Pepper smirks and starts to crawl over to Josh. He starts to back up, alarms going off in his head. Josephine stares ahead of her with a look of utter shock. She was so sure that it was going to land on her. As soon as Josh is now leaning against the wall, Pepper reaches over to grab his shirt. The shirt that he knows Josephine loves on him. She tugs on it and captures him in a kiss, one he doesn't reciprocate. He just stares behind Pepper's blonde locks at Joey. After a quick second, Josh abruptly ends the most awkward kiss he's ever had by standing. The room is quiet, other than the soft rock music playing in the background. He shakes his head and covers his mouth as he walks out of the room. Pepper sends a cocky grin to Joey before she stands to follow Josh. Jack staying behind to watch the aftermath.
"J!" Josephine screamed. He doesn't turn around. He heads outside and grabs a drink off of the beer pong table and chugs it. He looks at the short girl with endless freckles on her nose, seemingly out of breath from drinking a whole bottle of Bud Light. "I- I was not expecting for that to happen," he admitted. Joey moves closer to him to take his hands in hers, "what did you think would happen?"
He sighed, "I'm. . . not sure. It definitely wasn't that, though." They stood there in silence for a moment until Josh spoke again. He looked into her deep brown eyes, "I didn't kiss her back. I would never do that. Not to you."
She nodded. stray hairs moving to cover her face, "I know, J. It's okay." Joey moves to embrace Josh and he immediately pulled her as close to him as possible. The chilly night air blows on them, sending shivers up their spines. After a while, Jack came outside to meet the two in a tight embrace.
"So," he cleared his throat, earning their attention, "Auggie kinda blew up at Anna and Pepper. They apparently like rigged that somehow? I think they did some kind of witchcraft on the bottle to make it land on Pepper. And they revealed that they know that Jo's supposed to be an extra on the show and they threatened to tell Administration." Josephine visibly tensed, causing Josh to wrap his arm around her.
Jack continued, "so then, Anna said that Pepper was trying to get with Josh so that she could get on the show instead of you. Then Auggie broke up with Anna. . . again. Now, the party's basically over." Joey nodded with a tight-lipped smile, "okay. Uhm. That's a lot. I guess I'll text you later?" He nodded, saying goodbye to Joey and Josh. He jogged back inside to grab whatever remained of the drinks.
Josh sat in the car with Joey. Both of them silently listening to the melodic tunes of Clairo playing in the car. "Wanna just go home?" She nodded. Although when she turned to look up at him, she had a bitter feeling in her stomach, knowing that he is home.
lmaooo hey i'm back from the dead. this really took me a while to write so like enjoy or wutever. i've started school so i'm like busy now, ew. anyways here's this and i'm planning on ending this book soon because like 65 parts....uh chile👁👄👁 that's so many words how did y'all read all of this bullshit?
edited