Just Another Friend // Joshifer

Chapter 9

Josh's POV

"Did you guys do anything that night?" Sam asked, throwing the basketball to me.

"No. Well, I don't remember. Crap." I groaned, getting a goal.

"Jen didn't seem right afterwards." Sam collected the rebound, dribbling until he got to the 3-pointer line.

"What do you mean?" I stood beside the ring as Sam shot, missing.

"I think she saw you and Claudia." Sam shrugged.

I got the ball and sighed.

"I don't know what I did wrong." I admitted.

"You probably didn't do anything wrong. At least not in your eyes. I'm not sure what's wrong with Jen but there's no doubt she won't tell anyone. She'll wait it out, not contact you for a while and then act okay the next gathering we have." Sam took the ball from my hands, taking another shot.

"I want to talk to her, I want to apologize." I said.

"No, no, no. No. No. No, no. Do not talk to her, at least not yet. It will just make things worse. Whatever she's upset about will only fade away." He put a hand on my shoulder.

"I hope so." I shrugged.

*

Jen's POV

"And then we went out to another disco, but Josh was being all charismatic to the bartender and we got free drinks the rest of the night- how cool is that?!" Claudia exclaimed as I drove, barely looking anywhere but in front.

"Pretty cool." I fake smiled. She then began to go on about their lovely, lovely night together.

"I'm thrilled for you Claudia, thrilled." I sighed.

"It was magical, really. He's so nice and charming." She sighed too, but in a way that princesses do whilst thinking of their beloved prince.

"Totally." I stepped on the brake, making the car pull to a halt. Claudia was snapped out of her daze.

"Jen!" She yelled, and I let out a laugh, getting out.

I made my way inside the bar. We usually hung out here when we had nothing to do.

Claudia walked alongside me.

"Jen, there's just one thing I need to ask you." She said as we got inside. The place itself was not all that great, but after years of knowing it and loving the calm vibe, it was all we needed.

We took a seat at the bar, and I took a deep breath.

"Ask away."

"Look, I know Josh can't handle liquor well. He was pretty hilarious, though, and-"

"Claudia, I know you had a great night with Josh but I'm not in the mood right now." I cut in.

"You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that even if he didn't really know what was happening, I did. I know you left. Why?" She looked at me, and I looked back.

I usually knew what to say, but in this case I would be lying. I guess I didn't really know why I left, but if there was a true answer it would be because of the song and them...and maybe just the feeling of betrayal. It wasn't just any song. The very thought of me thinking of those stupid things makes me cringe, but I guess I expected Josh to tell me of the song. Not Claudia.

"I just got bored of the place is all." I looked away, hoping she wouldn't pick up my lie.

She gave me a small smile and called for the bartender.