Confessions

Chapter Nineteen

     How'd it happen? I don't know. But Joseph and I were official. Girlfriend. Boyfriend. A couple. This was a world of insanity. Me and Mr. Popular. No, no, no. I was narrowly avoiding the hundreds of double dates Cayla would have forced me on by now. Okay, I might have over exaggerated a bit...
     "-yeah. Oh, by the way, Hen and I were wondering if you wanted to go on ano-"
     "Sorry! I gotta go...bye!" I hastily hung up. Hen? If it was me dating Henry I would never put him through that terrible nickname. If it was me... It would never be me. I needed to face the facts.
     We hadn't met in the oak tree since the dance. He had tried to call me a couple times, but I just let it ring. To tell you the truth, it was still hard to think of him without that image popping up. The image of him lip locked with my best friend was imprinted into my mind. Best friend? Was she? After everything I'm going through... Was she? Yes! Of course Cayla was my friend. The best I could ask for. After all, she did ask my permission to date Henry. Why did I give it to her?
     My phone buzzed just as I set it down. It was a message from Joe.

Meet me in the field behind the houses.

     I knew what field he was referring to. Behind the row of buildings on our street was a big, empty field. The grass was tall and mixed with numerous weeds. I couldn't remember the last time it had been mowed. On the edge of the field, was the tall, twisting oak tree. Henry and I used to play in the field and climb the tree as kids. Sometimes Joe would let us use his kickball, so we would play a game we made up for hours. Occasionally Joseph would come out and play with us. We would play tag, baseball, and climb the tree as tall as it went before the branches became twigs. Like I said, we had more of a history than you'd think...
     Five minutes later I was trudging through the tall grass. I didn't see Joe anywhere, so I figured he was still inside. I made my way towards the inviting shade of the oak tree. It was only when I was feet away did I notice Joseph sitting on a low branch.
     Come on up." He smiled. What was it with this family and making me climb trees? I began to shake my head, but realized it was no use. He would find a way to get me to come up there eventually. He was like Cayla, no matter what, I always lost. I traced the familiar path and found myself sitting inches away from my boyfriend on the low branch.
     "So... What did I come up here for?" I questioned.
     "This." He said simply before pecking me on the lips. I said nothing for a short time. I hated this. I hated that Joe was so... perfect... Yet I felt nothing when he kissed me... Absolutely nothing...
     "So..."
     "Remember when we were kids. We used to play out here every day..." Joseph brought up.
     "I remember you inside or at a friends house while Henry and I played out here every day..." Crap. I really shouldn't have said that, it was just plain rude. I mean, it was the truth, but still rude. I remember him riding his skate board up and down the street. I remember him refusing to give us a try, then going to the gas station with his friends to bye a pop and refusing that we could come. I forced a laugh to ease the tension. It might have sounded a little too forced...
     Once we had gone minutes without speaking, I realized I had fucked up and I needed to fix things. I leaned against Joe and once he looked over at me, surprise attacked him with a kiss. His lips caressed mine as we sat comfortably on the branch. One of Joe's hands held onto the branch for balance while the other relaxed on my upper thigh. I did the same, one hand for balance and one on his shoulder. The kiss didn't intensify like it usually dose with Henry. Just stayed the same, normal. There we sat, knees pointed forward, chests turned towards each other. After we broke apart, I leaned against his side, my head on my boyfriends shoulder. I guess in the end, we were a pretty good couple.
     Everyone at school had been amazed when they found out who Joe was dating. A few asked "Is she new?" when told my name. I guess so should be offended, but I wasn't really. This was expected. At first glance I may just be the nobody dating Mr. Popular. But I was much more. I was the nobody dating my ex's brother, Mr. Popular, while still in love with her ex, who is dating her best friend. I was the girl that kissed her ex while dating her ex's brother. And I was the girl that would do it a million times again. Yes, I loved Henry. Would I ever admit it to him? No, but I could at least tell myself the truth.

I love Henry

Hiiiii...
I wasn't really sure how to end this chapter, so I hope this is okay. So, if you haven't at least checked out Where We Left Of yet, then shame on you because it is amazing. So, I'd love to hear feedback! Specifically, I'd love to see comments on who you'd ship...!
Hayla... Harah... Soe... Other ideas???