Desember 3rd
It's Saturday, and Cooper is driving me to work.
"Has he tried to seduce you yet?" Cooper asks and I roll my eyes.
"You're such a dork," I answer. "And ew by the way."
"What do you guys even do in there all day anyways? Like, why buys DVDs anymore?"
I shrug. "Yesterday someone delivered some porn."
He looks discusted out at the road. "And you're allowed to handle those."
"The porn?"
He stutters a bit. "Well yeah, you're not even sixteen yet."
"They don't make me watch the porn, you know. I just put it back in its place." Which I learned very well how to, thanks to Joshua's good guidance yesterday. So weird of him by the way.
Cooper stops the car right next to the shop, and I get out. "Pick me up at six?" I ask.
"Sure, if the lady says so." He puts on a forced smile.
"You're such a good brother," I say with my sweetest voice.
He rolls his eyes and drive away.
I turn around and look up at the "Victor's Video Shop" sign again. Here we go again, I guess.
***
Once I get inside the shop, I see Joshua and Victor talking at the counter. Joshua is dressed in a winter coat and looks like he is ready to leave. I thought we worked the same shift today.
"Hey," I say, and they turn to me. Victor smiles big while Joshua looks at me. That kind of body sweeping look from top to toe. But he does it so fast and casual that I refuse to think about it.
"Natalie!" Victor burst out. "Good timing. I was just about to send of Joshua to go get some stuff for me. Maybe you should join him."
Joshua looks sort of surprised at Victor, then back at me. "Where?" I ask.
"I had to pick up some new boxes of DVDs just a couple hours out of town, but Joshua here offered to do it for me." He looks proudly at Joshua who puts on a small smile. "How about you join him. You'll get to know each other better. That's good for the work environment and stuff, right?" He looks at us both then answers himself. "Perfect, let's say so."
"Oh, okay," I stutter, beginning to sweat at the thought of being trapped in a car with Joshua for a couple of hours. I can already feel the awkward tension beginning to form in the air.
"Ready?" Joshua asks walking slightly past me. He is like a head taller than me, and those shoulders feel like a wall when he's standing this close to me.
I take a step back and force a smile. "Yup."
Once we get into the car - a dark brown pickup truck - I open my jacket and steal a glance in his direction. He has a tiny smile on his lips, and although I - and the whole school, if not town - knows that Joshua Barret is super confident, he actually looks a bit uncomfortable.
Great, only I can make the most confident guy awkward.
But he doesn't stay awkward for long. Or maybe he wasn't even that awkward in the first place either. "You wanna be the DJ?" he asks and looks at me with those eyes that flirts with you even though they aren't doing anything at all.
My cheeks heat up, but I try to act cool. "Definitely," I answer, confidently. I grab my phone and connect the Bluetooth. After some overthinking about what type of music to play, I decide just to press something.
