Joshifer; Better Together

Chapter Three; Brown Hair

I stroll through a convenience store that's down the street from my house. It feels like I throw everything in the store in my cart, but my parents' house consists of nothing but carrots and chicken. Literally.

I stare down at it, snickering at my load. I have five bags of chips, three frozen pizzas, (which I don't know why I'm getting, because I can easily order one) chocolate bars, cookies, ice cream, and... tampons.

I'm enjoying being care and stress free. Laura is making this trip home one of the best ever. It's nice to not worry about guys or acting. I keep thinking that maybe this is what I want, but I can't afford to think like that. I love acting. It's what I've always wanted to do, and I can't give up now... It's just.. Something is missing.

The boy that checks my items out stares at me as he pushes them through the scanner. His gaze goes from me to the magazine behind me; stating that I am now pregnant with Nick's baby, and that is why he left me.

"It's not true." I say with an eye roll.

"What?"

"The magazine. I know you're looking at it."

"I'm sorry, I've just never met a celebrity." He says with a small blush. He looks to be about 15, maybe 16. He has brown hair, and a very small build. He almost reminds me of someone.

"No, it's okay." I say with a chuckle. "I know magazines can seem real sometimes, but it's not, and I hate them. I don't think any magazine has ever put something true about me in them."

He nods, handing me my bags.

"Bye." I say with a smile. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too." He says, waving to me as I walk out the door.

The cool breeze hits me as the door opens. I walk to my car, the wind blowing as I try to get the hair out of my face. I trip on the curb, falling flat on my face and dropping all of my bags.

"Shit!" I say as I struggle to pick everything up. The bags start to fly away. I scramble around, throwing everything in my car individually. It's then I hear someone approach me.

"Excuse me, Miss, would you like some help?"

"Yes. Sure. Thanks." I yell, my back still turned from the stranger as I bend over to pick up a few boxes of cookies and place them in my car.

"Here you-" he starts as I turn around, our eyes locking and I finally realize who the boy with the brown hair in the store reminded me of. "Jen!"

"Josh!" I say, embracing him in a hug, squeezing him tight. "Oh my god, how? Why? What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting family for a while!" He says, pulling away from our hug. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story." I say with a sigh. "Very long... But I've missed you! You don't know how happy I am to see you."

"I've missed you... So, so much." He says, hugging me again. "How have you been?"

"I'm not exactly sure about that." I say with a chuckle. "I'm just trying to find something to do while I'm here for a few weeks. I have to get back into reality soon, because I have Oscar shit going on."

"Oh yeah!" He says with a smile. "Congrats on your Oscar nomination! I saw Joy. It was so great, Jen."

"Thank you." I say, hugging him once again. "It definitely wasn't as fun filming that than the hunger games." I sigh.

"Are you okay?" He asks, pulling away from our embrace. "You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm just stressed out." I say. "I thought I was going to get my life started soon, but Nick and I broke up, then my mom forced me to come back here to take some time off.. It's just now hitting me, though. I'm getting older, and I just want to settle down."

"I know what you mean.." He says. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go out for pizza.. or whatever you want tonight? You can talk to me, and rant like you used to do."

"That'd be great. I definitely need it." I say with a smile.

"I'll pick you up at 7:30."