Twin Lakes

S1, Ep. 9: In Sight and In Mind

Josie POV

It was opening week night for the play as Steve finally gave James the part back, though he was bitter about it, he was still happy since I had a date with him after the play. "Okay, let's take it from 'Wherefore art..'" Claire and Jim nodded and started doing their lines as next to me was Steve. "After weeks of missing practice, he sure knows how to remember lines quickly..", "Tell me about it.." I said, "Hey..look..I know it seems like I'm the bad guy but trust me when I say this..I only bully because well look at me."

I looked at him, "What's there to look at other then looking at yourself..", "What I mean is that my life is hard..my mom is remarrying to our P.E. Teacher.." I looked in his eyes, "Where's' your dad.." I asked, "Abandonment issues.." I frown, "Same here..the last time me and James saw our dad was our fifth birthday..", "Woah..thats' long ago.." I nodded. "I gotta go ask Mr. Strickler a question for a test..catch up later?" He nodded, "Later.." I smiled and headed towards Mr. Strickler classroom. "I did the sketch.." I said as he looked up from his grading paper, "Took you four weeks.."

"Well four weeks of details and coloring it.." I handed it to him, "Oh..this is the amulet of daylight..it kills the innocent..", "That doesn't sound good.." He looked at me, "where did you learn about the amulet.." I bit my lip not knowing to say it was from James. Yet we were being distance and lying 24/7 to each other, "I learned it from a letter Jim gave me along with this.." I gave him the sketch of the creatures, "How fascinating..how long have you been able to sketch..", "Since I was 6..I had to find something to fill a void in my heart.." 

He looked at me, "A Void? Talk to me..I am a very good listener..and I have time on my hands." I looked at him, "Well where do I start exsactly..", "From the beginning..that's where everyone's story begins even if it means they have a troubled start.." I took a seat and began to tell him the story about how our father walked out at age 5 and when we moved to Arcadia. It felt reliving to tell a teacher and not just Eli or Steve or even Tobes. He looked at me and told me a bit about the amulet but before he finished, there was a knock at his door. It was James. "What are you doing.."

"Talking with Mr. Strickler..shouldn't you be at play practice.." he nodded, "Yeah but that ended an hour ago and plus mom wants us to meet her at the diner to go out for dinner..", "Right..Well thanks for the history lesson Mr. Strickler.." he smiled, "My pleasure Josie..your welcome back anytime."  I followed James out as he didn't seem to talk to me. As we walked to our bikes, he looked at me. "So how was play practice with Claire.." I said as he glared. "Went okay..I may or may not have finally had courage to tell her that I like her.."

I looked at him, "So you did the kissing scene then..", "Not exactly.." I raised a brow, "You improved it didn't you due to your nerves..", "if that means not going by the script..yeah..but I did say 'hey I like you'..yes I did." I laughed, "what's so funny..", "Just little things that bring me joy..seeing you be quirky is one of them.." he smiled, "Race you to the. Diner!" He hopped on his bike and rode off, "Not fair! You got a head start!" I tried catching up to him but he eventually beat me by just a second. "The one time I win in a Race and Tobes wasn't here to see it.."

"There's always tomorrow.." as he laughed as we walked into the diner to meet up with mom, she wasn't there yet and James' phone rang and he walked off. I sighed as I sat in booth, James later came back and looked at me. "So..guess who has a date with Claire tomorrow night.." I smiled slightly as I also had a date with Steve. "Umm..is his name Blake James.." he hits my shoulder slightly, "Nope this guy.." I looked at him, "Congrats James..", "Aww both my honeybees are having their first date.." he looked at me as mom sat down, "Mom. I thought we said it would be between us..", "Wait..who's your date? Is it Eli?" I sighed, "No.." he looked at me confused, "The only boy left would be...Steve..", "Bingo.."

I said as he looked at me. "Why Steve though..he bullies us..", "Remember when you walked out with Claire that one practice.." he nodded, "Me and Steve practiced lines up until the kissing one..", "Wait, you kissed him?!" I groaned, "Yeah. It wasn't a big deal..plus he said I wasn't a bad kisser..",

"But..what!?" I looked at him as he seemed more frazzled like the envelope letter, "Would you rather him kiss Claire or me..", "is there an option for I don't know none of the above.." I looked down, "I know what can fix this.." Mom said, "what if you two go on a Double date tomorrow night.."