Every Little Thing

Chapter 16

Out of all the damn people on this planet it just had to be him.

With a smile aimed in my direction his silvery words broke the silence between us."Hey nerd." Although I hated it, his confident smile flustered the butterflies in my stomach. My eyes settled on his face soon the confident smile he wore was replaced by a terrified expression from hours earlier

A flick of light in my peripheral vision grounded my thoughts back into the present. Once again my eyes trailed his face and stopped at the small bandage decorating his forehead. On his right cheek a fresh scrape was present. He must have gotten it after the incident.

"Hey Josh..." I awkwardly started. We walked to a bench, where I sat while he leaned against the side of a boardwalk lamp post. "Listen, I appreciate you paying for my ice cream, so please don't take what I'm about to say in the wrong way. Did you follow me here?" My eyes lingered on the floor, hoping he wouldn't be upset with my question. Knowing Josh my question will either piss him off or he'll shrug it off.

He let out an amused laugh; a split second later his face became became painted with seriousness, his eyes challenged my gaze and I found myself dismissing it. Instead I observed my beat up shoes. Josh roamed closer until he was inches from me. Glancing up at him, he crouched down to my height. A smile played at his lips and in a silky tone he said, "of course."

My blood ran cold and my eyes went wide. Soon his laughter filled the air and my held breath was released. "Jesus Carter I was kidding. I'm here with some girl. Unfortunately I lost her so now I need someone new to follow me around. And lucky for me, I'm starring at thereplacement."

I punched his chest and crossed my arms. "Josh I'm serious."

"Okay, okay. I was supposed to meet up with someone, but something came up, so they couldn't make it. I didn't feel like going home, so I didn't." He plopped down next to me then turned to face me. "Soo, what are you doing here...alone?" Josh dragged out the end of his first word and scooted closer. Of course I scooted further away earning myself another laugh.

I glanced up at Whiplash and goosebumps crept up my skin. "Oh, uh they're on a ride."

Taking a couple licks of his ice cream he leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you with them?" Of course he wouldn't understand what I meant.

Sitting up I sighed, not wanting to embarrassingly admit my fear to Josh."Unlike my insane friends, I enjoy living and don't feel like tempting death."Confusion swept Josh's face making me mentally face palm myself. Clearing my throat I continued, "they're on Whiplash and I left them to get ice cream."

Josh still seemed lost but said nothing else. We stayed silent as the last rays of the sun faded into the night. The noise of the boardwalk seemed to grow as more people piled in. My eyes followed where the crowds of people gathered to. They settled on a stage, where a couple people were setting up drums and other musical instruments.

A light breeze swept my hair to the left, causing my fingers to annoyingly pull the lose strands behind my ear. My phone buzzed and the thought of my friends returning filled me with hope. When I glanced at my screen the hope died, it was only a notification from Wattpad. 

Josh tugging at my shirt brought me back to the reality of my situation. Rising from the bench, he signaled for me to follow him.

My mind was storming with different thoughts of where he was leading. Fear crept at my mind at the idea of walking right into a trap. As we walked I tried to ask where we were going, but that resulted in Josh stuffing his hands in his black jacket and picking up his paste. Unlike Josh, I had short legs that didn't enjoy having to run to keep up with his rushed steps. This little stroll alone felt like running a mile.

About ten minutes later we ended up at the entrance of a small harbor. Trailing my gaze down to the screen of my phone, I plead for a message but nothing popped up. My heart sunk at the thought of my friends having fun without me. I knew they were already close to the front when I was with them, so they would have already have been on the ride by now. What hurt more was Dylan not texting me above the rest.

 There was probably a delay on the ride. I'm sure they're still in line waiting. Dylan's battery probably died.  I thought to myself.

Unlocking my phone I sent our group chat a text asking if they were off the ride. I starred intensely at my phone for minutes hopping for someone to reply.

In all the time I was looking at my phone I hadn't realized Josh had stopped us in front of a boat. 

I saw him jump in and face palmed myself again for not realizing what was going on. "Listen Josh...I'm not sure what this is," I said gesturing to the scenery around us."But I should get back to my friends they're probably looking for me."

He stood up and jumped back on to the dock, landing about two feet away from me. Josh frowned at me and crossed his arms over his well built chest. "You think I don't see the way you're looking at your phone? It's obvious they haven't texted you, they're probably having fun with out you right now. Meanwhile...I'm here wanting to give you a small surprise." He lectured as he mockingly shook his phone in my face.

My chest felt heavy at the reality of the hard truth. Josh was right. And I hated that he was. I wanted him to be wrong, to let myself be in denial. But even I knew the truth was going to settle in eventually.

"You're right..." I whispered. My head lowered,avoiding the sight of Josh gloating over his obvious conclusion.

The well known athlete put his hand on my shoulder and guided me to the edge of the dock, where the boat awaited. We both stood silently watching the boat be rocked by the ocean's pleasuring waves. Eventually he hopped back inside and held out his hand. "So are you coming?"

"You're going to be driving?"My eyes widened and I took a step back."Hmm...as I said before I do value my life."

Josh laughed amusingly, as if what I said was actually funny. He playfully rolled his eyes as he added,"don't worry I've been driving boats since I can remember." His arms reached over pulling me into the boat. I tried to settle my feet firmly but ended up getting pulled in anyways. My foot got caught at the edge of the boat resulting in us collapsing on the floor. Josh laid across from me, his chest rising and falling as his laughter echoed around the empty harbor.

"Nice going Captain." I mocked. He turned his head and smiled at me.

"Ready to set sail first mate?"

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