Radio Show Girl | Josh Kiszka

3

stella sat herself down in one of the chairs in the recording studio that was meant for her boss. she tucked some of the hair falling into her eyes behind her ear, and checked herself in her phone camera for what felt like the hundredth time. thankfully, the tears she had cried hadn't left her face red or puffy. she applied some chapstick and ran her fingers through her hair. she faked a smile, trying to practice for when the boys arrived. it looked more like a grimace.

she took a deep breath in, adjusted the microphone in the front of her, and looked down at the list of questions in front of her to ask the boys.

are you happy to have moved to nashville?

they had what? how long had they been here? she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and bit her lip. suddenly, she heard the door to the studio open and her heart fluttered as she whipped her head around. but it was just her boss.

"they're here! i'll send them in!" rebecca winked at her and closed the door back shut. should she stand? or sit and wait for them to walk in? stella's chest tightened as she heard the door open again. she stood up, and watched expectantly, waiting for the first person to walk through the door to be josh. but it wasn't him.

"no. way." sam kiszka stepped into the room, his face lit up. he opened his arms wide and stella couldn't help but return his large grin.

"stella!!!!!" he yelled with glee, grabbing her into his arms and giving her a suffocating hug. in that small second, she forgot all about her anxiety. but it was soon replaced by guilt.

"im so sorry i never said anything sam-"

"holy shit it's stella." stella looked behind to see jake and danny, both of them in complete shock. jake turned around and stepped out of the way for the last person to come through the door. josh.

he had changed a lot. instead of his long, shoulder length fluffy hair, it was cut into a shaggy mullet, and curly. he had grown a mustache and goatee. he wore a plain, white long sleeved shirt and light khaki pants. he looked much older. which wasn't surprising of course. stella knew that she had changed a lot in the last 7 years, but his glow up hit her like a bunch of bricks. unlike the other boys, josh stayed silent, just staring at her curiously, his arms behind his back. stella tried to act normal.

"hey boys. well- i should probably say guys now." she laughed hesitantly and all of them joined in except for josh. she cleared her throat and motioned for all of them to sit down. "shall we?" she asked.

they all nodded and took a seat on the opposite side of the table. stella sat down too, trying not to look at josh. instead, she caught jake staring intently at her. when there eyes met, he beamed at her and she returned the smile tentatively. she took a deep breath.

"well, it's been a while-"

"forever, stella". danny butted in, raising an eyebrow slowly but clearly joking around. stella giggled lightly, thankful for all of the boys- except for josh- for trying to lighten the mood. she stole a quick glance at him, and saw that he was acting as if no one was in the room, and he stared over at the corner of the room in his own world.

"we've missed you." sam said, adding to danny. "you blocked us all out after that one night". at the sound of "that one night", josh's head swiveled to sam. he was clearly upset he had brought it up.

"yeah i- i didn't handle it well, that's for sure. i hope ive grown since then." stella chose her words carefully, pulling down on her shirt as a nervous tik. "im sorry. i cared about all of you very much." she emphasized the last words, sneaking another peak at josh. he didn't meet her eyes. so that's how it was going to be then.