Chapter 70: Chapter 70

I really didn't know how to explain this to my parents.

After we exited onto the sidewalk, Josh glanced around the street.

"What do you feel like?" he asked. I could hear his stomach growling even though a car was just passing, and I had to laugh.

"Haven't you eaten today? You can decide." I wasn't picky. After all, I had already gobbled up the three-layer sandwich Mom had given me and a can of lemonade from Mr. Harrison's vending machine. And I would buy a piece of cake from the baker on the way to the bus. My secret addiction.

Josh seemed to agree with my suggestion, as he now crossed the street and hurried to the small queue of the Chip Barn opposite Harrison Sports. It was the chip stand that both Mr. Harrison and I suspected of dumping their garbage on us.

Instead of following Josh, I bit my lip and took a casual look into the glass front of my workplace. Mr. Harrison was at the window, a plastic box with tennis balls in his hand. He stared at me as if I had just betrayed my country. I formed a silent I'm sorry with my lips and shrugged helplessly, but his expression remained petrified. It made me turn around quickly and try to forget the unpleasantness as Josh came back with the food.

"Here." Before I could answer, he pressed a box of fries into my hand. "For you."

He was already letting the first fry of his own box disappear into his mouth. I could see it steaming, but Josh didn't seem to mind.

I turned bright red. "You don't have to pay for mine . . ."

Based on his shoes, he was probably as poor as I was.

"Never mind." Josh laughed. "You're welcome."

He passed over my embarrassment so naturally that I felt my shoulders relaxing. We didn't have to talk about it. I liked that, so I also put one of the fried potato strips between my teeth. I regretted it immediately. The thing was so blazing hot that I started to cough. Meanwhile Josh's box was already almost halfway empty.

"How do you eat them so fast?" I asked, flabbergasted. "Those things are pure magma!"

"I don't know," he answered, almost thoughtfully. "I don't seem to be really sensitive to it."

That was an understatement.

We walked along the sidewalk while we ate. I still had not overcome my embarrassment, mainly because it was the first time I did something date-like with a boy. Alone. On top of that, Josh was a guy I liked. There was no point in denying it. I wondered if the feeling was mutual. Every look I gave him was promptly reciprocated, and by now I was sure he didn't have a girlfriend. At least, I didn't know any girl who wouldn't have ripped her boyfriend's head off for such a meeting with another girl. I decided to enjoy the time with Josh and use it to find out more about him.

"Where do you live? Are you from Shatterlake?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "My house is on the edge of town, not far from the bus stop where I picked you up."

He crumpled up the fry box and tossed it skillfully into a nearby bin.

"Your house," I repeated.

Josh scratched his cheek. "It's a long story."

Well, I liked long stories and I had time. I'd work overtime if I had to. Before I could ask more about his house, though, a far more important question came to my mind.

"You going to the town fair?" I didn't mean to sound pushy, and I certainly didn't want it to seem like I was hitting on him. I just needed to know if maybe I would have the chance to meet him there. Only in theory.

He hesitated. My disappointment came so quickly that it surprised me.

"Not really." His voice was low and cautious.

"Don't you like carnivals?" I tried not to sound too sad.

"I do. But . . ."

"But?"

He avoided my gaze and watched the sidewalk as if there was something extraordinarily interesting to see.

"I don't know anyone I could go with," he admitted. "It's boring alone."

"We could go together."

My suggestion came without a second thought. I wanted to bite my tongue. I hope he didn't misunderstand, I did sound pretty forward, and he just had to take it the wrong way. I'd never felt so clumsy. I wished to sink into some hole in the ground, but as I grudgingly raised my head and met his gaze, I saw only light in Josh's eyes. The sight formed a burning lump in the pit of my stomach. He wasn't judging me. He was happy that I had asked him.

"Sure." Josh's smile filled me with a pleasant satisfaction. "Should we meet there? Or should I pick you up?"

The thought made me blush.

"No," I answered quickly. "I'll meet you there."

This time I wouldn't let Josh near the kitchen window again. Mom could hide behind the orchids far too well and peek out every time someone came for me.

Josh nodded. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to say next, then he thought of something. "Oh. Do you have a phone?"

I laughed. Who at our age didn't have one? "Of course."

"Then I'll give you my number in case we need to find each other."

When he pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans, the movement was jerky and nervous. I saw it clearly but still didn't allow myself to believe he could be so nervous about me.

"If you don't mind, that is," he added, his tone more restrained—probably because I was staring at him instead of bringing out my own phone.

"No, of course not."

We exchanged numbers. His name in my contact list gave me the strange feeling of having won a trophy. Audrey's eyes would pop out of her head if she saw this. I was not a girl who bragged about male acquaintances, but Audrey was simply too good a listener not to talk about this. Audrey loved wicked love stories, even if they weren't love stories at all.

Meanwhile, I hadn't noticed how far we'd wandered. Apparently Josh hadn't either, because when I gave him back his phone, he threw a glance around for orientation. It was time to end my unjustified break and go back. At least now I had Josh's number.

"Are you off of work today?" I asked him while we went back. I was still eating my fries. The excitement had upset my stomach and the fries were still hot enough that I thought I'd be blowing on them forever. Josh had to have a stomach of steel.

"No," he said. "I just got off work a little early today so I could make it to your store."

"Oh." He'd left work early just to come see me? It was odd how freely he admitted it. It didn't sound like he was bragging. It was just honesty.

"I'm glad you stopped by," I replied, a little too stiffly. "You work this late every day?"

Josh nodded. "Mostly. I get paid by the hour, so I try to work as many hours as possible each day."

"I see." I guess he didn't have a lot of free time. I'm sure Dad would be thrilled to meet such a hardworking young man.

Josh took a breath like he was just about to say something else when he suddenly craned his neck, as if he had discovered something and wanted to take a closer look. I saw the movement out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to him, his energy had changed completely. Now he seemed rigid, unemotional, and quiet, and his gaze was fixed on something. I looked too, but I didn't see anything but buildings and some meandering pedestrians. I turned back to him, a little frightened. What was the matter?

"Josh?"

After he had been standing still for a good ten seconds, his attention finally flitted back in my direction. The electricity between us had fizzed out. Josh's eyes were stony, as if he had built something up that felt like an icy wall, keeping me at a distance. The Josh from just a moment before and the one who stood in front of me seemed to be completely different people.

"S-sorry," he stammered, as if he had to choose his words well. "I've got to go. I forgot . . . something."

"What?" I replied out of confusion, but Josh was already hurrying away. Within a few seconds he had disappeared, as if he had never existed.

It was a while before I could move again. I was so irritated and upset that sorting out my thoughts proved impossible, so I finally moved my feet. It was pure instinct that led me to scan the street as I walked.

My instincts were right. At the other end of the sidewalk, about a dozen meters from me, a group of young men were walking. They were pushing each other roughly, though I could hear them laughing like they were having fun. They were the same ones who had been messing with Josh a couple of weeks ago.

The lump in my stomach turned into a ton of weight that made nausea rise inside me. I watched the guys' backs, then I stomped to the trash can and threw away the remaining fries.

He'd lied to me. My muffled guess at our first meeting had been correct. Josh did have problems with these guys. That's why he had just escaped when he recognized them.

I was angry, but I was also worried. What kind of trouble was he in? Gang wars? Drug dealing? Whatever I imagined, it didn't do anything to ease my disappointment. I rushed back to Harrison Sports and felt more bitter and uneasy the more I thought of Josh's phone number in my cell phone. I knew it was wrong to get involved with people like that, and it was even worse that it affected me so much. I liked him, but that didn't matter anymore.

"Who is that young man?" Mr. Harrison asked when I trudged into the store. I had never heard his voice so soft. He asked me like I was a daughter having trouble growing up.

"Nobody," I said. Thetone of my voice made him close his mouth before he could ask another question."Just a great big idiot."

***

a/n: this is just the excerpt of my book, it is still on going and will surely upload here. Up next is the Epilogue of Arsen Storm: Dominantly His