𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊; 𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭

chapter 8//someone knows

december 27, 2020

josh's pov:
"BRYNN! BRYNN KENNEDY!" i run up to her room and bust the door open. she immediately jumps back and covered herself with a blanket.

"josh are you trying to get covid?" she yells.

"your new results came back negative!!" i cheers and show her the paper.

i read it and sure enough, i tested negative. "OH MY SHIT JOSH I'M NEGATIVE! YAYYYYY!" she gives me a huge hug that i've missed.

"i'm so fucking happy," i say. "now come outside, you haven't been outside in so long."

she comes with me into the backyard. "ahhh fresh air."

"finally. hey lets scare bryce and go into his room on his live. he's gonna think you're gonna get him sick and it'll be the funniest thing ever," i suggest.

brynns pov:
"i can't be on live like this!" i point to my outfit of his old hockey jersey and my dads shorts. i look like actual garbage.

"the fuck you mean? the jersey is fire as shit," josh says defensively.

"eh it's okay," i joke. he playfully hits me but i agree so we go into bryces room. he's still live and jaden and mads are with him.

"woah!!!" they all jump back in efforts to get away from me. they look so scared and it's so hilarious.

"i'm negative now guys," i laugh at how dumb they look on the live.

"ohhh!" they laugh and i hug mads.

"y'all looked so stupid," josh was dying laughing.

"shut up, if someone who you thought had corona just casually walked into your room you would be scared too," bryce points out.

"true," he shrugs. "but it was still funny."

i couldn't help but notice that jaden was giving me a really weird look. he was kinda smirking i guess? not in a flirty way of course but definitely some kind of smirk, and it was concerning me.

after the live, he pulled me aside when everyone else was busy.

"okay tell me what's going on," i demand.

"i know something i shouldn't know and i don't know what to do with the information," he smiles and shrugs.

i give him a blank stare. "what do you know that you shouldn't know?"

"i was walking past your room this morning and happened to hear you on the phone with ness," he starts.

"where are you going with this..." i ask.

"you guys are dating aren't you?" he asks.

"no, why would you think that?" i say nervously. my heart starts beating faster.

"i heard some stuff on the phone that definitely was not something you say with 'just a friend,'" jaden says.

"nessa and i aren't dating," i say again.

"are you guys talking?" he asks.

ugh. now i gotta lie. "no, we're just good friends."

"there's no way 'just good friends' would say what i heard," jaden says. i look down at my shoes. "it's fine, i'm not gonna tell anyone i just want to know the truth. i swear, if you tell me it stays between us."

"what are you gonna do if i plead the 5th?" i ask.

"tell josh," he says casually.

"NO," i say louder than intended.

"well i have my answer based on what you've said so far, so i'll just take that and keep it," jaden shrugs.

"jay, please," i say, scared.

"please what?" he asks.

"don't start assuming shit that's probably not even true. nessa and i are not together," i tell him. i would have gotten more mad, but if i yelled then other people would hear.

"fine, but there's no way you guys are just friends," jaden shrugs. then mads walks outside so we're forced to stop the conversation on that note. great.

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"ness!" she walks into the house and i run up and hug her for the first time in weeks, and the first time since we started talking.

"i'm so happy i get you in my arms," she whispers into my ear. "can we be alone?"

most of the boys are in the kitchen right next to us, so they can't exactly hear but they definitely could if they tried. "yeah let's go in bryce's room, he's at addi's and i'm so sick of my room."

"bet," she says. the second we get in, she kisses me. i kiss back and our lips move in perfect sync until-

"definitely not dating i see," both of our heads immediately turn at the sound of jaden at the door.

"shit," i mutter. "he knows, he heard our phone call," i explain to nessa.

"brynn, that's not a bro move. nessa, you're homie hopping," jaden shrugs and walks out. nessa looks sadly down at the floor and i put my arms over her.

"wait," i yank his arm and pull him back into the room. "jaden keep your damn mouth shut."

"i will. i'm not gonna tell anybody i just want you guys to be honest with me. are you guys dating?" he asks.

"no we aren't, we're talking though," nessa admits.

jaden flashes a knowing smile. "well okay." he leaves the room.

"now where were we?" i turn to her and she grins.

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"pizza!" nessa and i cheer at the same time when we go upstairs and find griffin with pizza hut.

"look who it is," griffin says and hands us a box of cheese.

"damn it, i forgot i can't taste anything," i groan.

"still?" nessa asks.

"yeah," i sigh.

"why does your lipstick look like a 5 year old applied it? dude it's all over your face," griffin laughs at nessa.

"i was in a rush this morning," she lies.

"well i'm gonna be honest-"

"griff shut the fuck up," she cuts him off.

"damn okay," he laughs and leaves us in the kitchen.

"can the date be tomorrow?" nessa asks.

"of course! what should i wear? where is it?" i ask.

"wear a bikini, but clothes over it like a t shirt and sweats," she says.

"is there any particular reason why you said bikini and not just swimsuit?" i laugh.

"i wonder why," she smiles.

"okay, okay ness i see you," i giggle at the cute girl. "but where are we going?" i ask.

"shhh," she puts her index finger on my lips. "it's a surprise, i can't tell you."

"dang really gotta be like that huh," i pout.

"yeah, i do," she shrugs. "i promise you'll love it though."

a/n yes they hooked up