me & tomfoolery

Overnight pt. 5 | Josh Hart Short Story

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Josh asked once he sat in his car. Sonja did not want to talk about it.

The ride back to campus was 45 minutes due to traffic. He didn't mind it, especially because she called him and the few words she did say, let him know he needed to drop everything to get to her. All Josh knew was she went home to visit her family and assumed it didn't go well.

It was fall break and at the moment she rather not go home for thanksgiving. She had a showcase on Sunday and would only be home for that one day anyways.

Once the two walked into his room, she stripped out of her clothes to put on what he laid out for her. She didn't care that he could see her half naked at the moment. She just wanted to get in bed. He changed before climbing in after her.

"We can have hibachi for dinner if you want." He offered. "Okay."

Over the last few months, Josh learned a lot about her family dynamic. Her father was supportive of anything she did, but he wasn't the best conversationalist. Her mother, she picked at her for everything but was a large advocate for her nephew Mikal, wanting all of her children to have a guaranteed pipeline to success.

Her mother wanted her to be an entertainment lawyer at least. Not a crime fighter, not a dancer because she didn't think her daughter was that good, but a lawyer to protect her nephew's future fortune.

"You know you can tell me anything right?" He caressed the arm that laid across his chest. "Like I hope you trust me for that."

Sonja did trust Josh. A little too much. In the three months that they spent most days together, she hated how comfortable she was. Just the other week she realized they never actually got Rubi and Jalen together. The two were doing well on their own. Rubi laughed at her delayed realization, and said she had been distracted with Josh and also added it wasn't a bad thing.

••••

"Are we not gonna go out again? I feel like you've been pulling away from me." Josh went on a walk while Sonja slept, one of his previous dates, Keira had been trying to reacquire his attention. They went on two dates in the last two months and he couldn't keep up with her if he wanted to.

"Honestly we aren't." He admitted. He didn't want to sound mean but he had to tell her the truth.

"I really thought the third date would've made it work though." Keira knew there wasn't much there, but with Josh being so easy going, she started to wonder about more. Their schedules didn't work and neither would text as much, the thought didn't leave her mind, "Is there someone else?"

Josh paused, truly thinking about that question. Truth was, there was someone else. "Yeah, there is. I should've seen it sooner honestly but I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, even though most men are. You probably always knew she was special, just didn't wanna cross a line. I say don't waste anymore time, just go for it."

"Thank you Kei. You have a good one, take care of yourself." That was his way of saying goodbye. The situation wasn't serious but, he couldn't leave a lane open for her to think it could be anything in the future if he was going to act on his feelings.

"You too Josh."

Sonja tossed and turned trying to find comfortable spacing but couldn't. It was time for her to get up and rehearse her final dance. She had a solo and this would mark one of her last as a senior.

This wasn't how she expected her last year to go, but here she was truly reconsidering things in life that weren't a factor to her before.

The dance studio was empty which she was happy about. Rubi was in New York, Jalen was home in Jersey, Donte just left for Delaware an hour ago. Mikal wouldn't be coming back home until tomorrow simply because Philly was around the corner.