I don't want to feel

Chapter 15

[Dedicated to my two dedicated readers: GuitarGirl249 and JesseMac7... Thanks a lot girls!]

It took me less than fifteen minutes to ride there and back, and as soon as I got to Josh’s, we left to Danny’s place.  

As we reached her house, I made my way to the front door and was about to ring the bell when Josh stopped me.

“W-wait, Sam!” He stuttered. “How are you planning to do this?”

He was biting his bottom lip nervously and looked so vulnerable at that moment, that I was tempted to go and hug him.

What the heck? Why am I thinking of hugging Josh?? I don’t do hugs!

But… But… Wait a minute! What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I…

While my brain was questioning my mental well-being, my body had taken upon itself to hug Josh, and my hands were tapping his back awkwardly. I looked around, hoping that this was all some sort of dream, another flashback or something, but when I saw Kane’s dumbfounded expression and Adam’s amused smirk, I realized that it was indeed happening.

Flipping heck! Do I have brain damage or something?! What is wrong with me?! What do I do, now???

I decided to pretend that nothing was unusual.

“Calm down, Josh.” One small tap on his back. “It’s going to be fine.” Tap “Just follow my lead.” Tap. “Okay?” Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap – TAP – TAP - TAP

“Ouch, Sam! Okay, okay!”

Bewildered, I let him go. I turned around and saw that Adam and Kane were laughing like mad men while Josh was looking at me as if I was some sort of alien.

What has just happened?! Did I really hurt him?! No, I was tapping his back very gently as they do to comfort people in films, wasn’t I? - Wasn’t I?!

There’s something really wrong with me…

My mini panic attack was stopped short by Adam’s hand squeezing my shoulder gently.

Okay Sam, just pretend nothing happened… Breathe in… Breathe out…

“Have you got asthma or something???” Adam asked me, his face full of worry.

What now?!

“What are you all about?!” I snapped. “Ok, let’s go!”

Yeah girl! Just play it cool…

Well I did try to play it cool but, of course, I tripped on the step leading to the front door...

Once more, I kept my head up and pretended nothing was wrong. I simply rang the bell while the three boys behind me were now laughing like hyenas. They did stop, though, when the door opened to reveal the tall body of Danny’s Mom.

“Hi Mrs. May!” I greeted her cheerfully. “We’re here to see Danny. Is she in?”

“Hi, Sam. It’s so good to see you!” She hugged me quickly as she always did. “Danny is not feeling very well, I’m afraid. She even refused to come down for lunch earlier on.”

She was looking accusingly at Josh, who was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second.

“Can we go upstairs to try and talk to her?” I asked her with my best puppy dog impression.

What?! Where does this expression come from?! Grrrr… I’ll be barking in a minute, with my luck…

“Well, you could try, I suppose, but…” She paused to turn toward Josh with a stern look. “Make sure you don’t end up upsetting my daughter any more than you already have, young man!”