All I Wanted Was You

Twenty

Josh's POV 

Hayley had once vaguely pointed the direction toward her house to me.  

That was pretty much the only lead I had. I actually wasn't even sure if she'd been right. 

But I was in a state of utter and unconditional confidence. I didn't care that I had no idea where Hayley lived or how to get there. All I knew is that I would get there. One way or another. 

First, I went to my mom's teachers' room and rummaged through her purse until I found her wallet. I ignored the guilt building up inside me and stole a twenty-dollar bill, stuffing it in my pocket. I promised myself I'd pay her back later and headed out.  

I took off in the precise direction Hayley's finger had pointed at a quick pace, ready to face storms and dragons, anything to reach her. I walked that way for about ten minutes, ignoring the big gray worn out buildings that surrounded me and looked about ready to collapse or the depressing lack of traffic.  

And then, out of nowhere, a drop of lucidity managed to pass through my thick wall of blind hope and recklessness and I halted despite myself in between two steps.  

What the fuck was I doing? 

"You look lost kid," a deep voice suddenly declared. I searched for the speaker, but all I saw was a poor old homeless guy lying on the sidewalk next to a big shiny Labrador. Typical.  

"Excuse me?" Despite the snobby-ass tone of my voice, I was kind of scared all of a sudden.  

The man laughed, displaying a lovely set of old yellow teeth. Well, the ones that were still there. He was wearing round little black glasses, the kind blind people wear, but something told me he wasn't blind. I could almost feel his piercing gaze on me, and I had to fight the urge to run away screaming. 

"You heard me," he said, still chuckling. "Where were ya goin' like that, all brave like some kind of hero? And why'd ya stop if you're so confident?" 

Well, this was none of his fucking business. I considered telling him just that, but then I wasn't planning on being mugged just yet. "I, uh... I'm visiting someone," I finally stated. 

He laughed again. Sheesh, wasn't I funny. "Why ya stammering like that? C'mon, don't be scared, kid. I ain't gonna eat ya." I wasn't so sure about that. "How 'bout I help ya find that girl of yours?" 

What? Well now, I was definitely freaked out. "I never said it was a girl." 

"But it is, ain't it? And ya can't remember where she lives..." He guessed like a fucking psychic. He went into an exaggerated fit of laughter then, and my fear was slowly replaced by annoyance. Who the hell did this guy think he was? "I tell you what," he said in between two laughs. "Imma help you find her." 

I shook my head quickly. "I don't need your help." 

He raised his eyebrows. They came up from behind his little round glasses in an almost comical way. But of course, I wasn't about to start laughing like an idiot for no reason-like him. "Oh yeah, ya do," he insisted. "I'm not asking for anythin'. Just wanna help." 

I clenched my fists in thought. Well, I had nothing to lose, so why not? Besides, it wasn't like I was making any progress on my own. "Fine. But how could you possibly help?" 

"Where does she live? I can give ya some directions."  

Even if I'd known, I wouldn't have told him. "Well, that's the problem. I don't know." Ugh. How embarrassing. I was even embarrassed to admit it in front of some homeless dude.  

He smiled at first, and then the laughter took over again and he nodded, pointing me meaningfully. "Now THAT's a problem ya got there!" You don't say. "Ever heard of the Yellow Pages?"