When Anna Met Josh

Chapter 6 - Only The Beginning

It was Sunday; 9 days after I'd met Josh. My hair was freshly washed, dried and straightened. I'd left it down on Josh's request. He'd mentioned that he wanted to run his hands through it and play with it. I was happy to oblige - I just wanted to feel his touch.

I'd spent longer than normal doing my make up. I wore more than I had worn at the party last week where I'd first met him, but I wasn't totally caked in it either. It was just enough to highlight my features that I hated least, drawing attention away from those I hated most. I wore a light pink, off the shoulder top, my tightest pair of jeans and a pair of grey vans. I didn't own any cute jackets; my purple SuperDry hoody had to suffice and an old tan bag that was a hand-me-down from my Aunty finished off my outfit.

We had arranged to meet today. The week had dragged on slowly; I had school and he had work stuff to do with his Dad so we hadn't had a chance to meet between times, but we had continued talking on snapchat. He snuck his phone out in meetings and I sat up the back of classes studying Josh rather than what I was supposed to be doing in class.

My stomach churned in a ball on excitement and nerves at the thought of seeing him in the first time for what felt like months; even though it has been just over a week. I wanted to see him. I wanted to see the clothes that he wore and the way he did his hair and the way that he stood, in person; not over Snapchat. I wanted to feel his hands against my skin and hear his voice and smell his scent and take in every other little detail about him that I couldn't take in properly at the party. There, my head was still caught up with him.

Despite my excitement and desire to see him; a bit of the maze was spreading its dark paths throughout my mind. What if he was winding me up? And I'd be the laughing stock of school again? What if he was a murderer? Or a rapist? What if he had no good intentions with me whatsoever? What if his only intention with me was to hurt me?

But the excitement fought the darkness, so much so that instead of it overtaking my mind, it was just a tiny flicker at the back of it. I was aware that it was a possibility, so I wasn't being totally naive and thinking that a boy that I had met only a week ago was totally innocent and wouldn't hurt me. But I wasn't panicking so much that the fear talked me out of meeting him.

Only Erin, Poppy and Mhairi knew where I was going. They weren't coming with me, but they knew enough to know that if I wasn't back by a sensible hour, then they'd know where to find me. I couldn't tell my parents where I was going; they had a habit of being overprotective of me and mollycoddling. They hadn't even known that I had gone to Johanna's party; they just thought that I was at Milly's and had come home late. Thankfully, they hadn't picked up on the scent of alcohol and cigarettes that lingered over me. There was no way that they'd let me go off with a strange boy that I had only met once before at a party that I wasn't supposed to be at. I'd have to lie to them again.

It was 12:15 when I left my house. We were meeting at 1. I had told my Dad that I was going to Erins house, before I left the house; walking to the end of my street and then running the rest of the way. We'd agreed to meet at the trainstation; a twenty minute walk from my house, if you were a fast walker, like I wasn't. I didn't want to be late for him.

I arrived at the train station, breathless and shaking. This was it. I was about to see him.

I searched among the commuters; looking for him. We clocked each other at the same time, our eyes meeting for the first time in a week. He smiled as he came striding towards me. I mimicked his pace, eager to get to him. To see him properly, to smell him, to touch him, to hear him.

We raced towards each other until our bodies met. He reached out for me and held me in a tight embrace. This was more than a friend hug. This was an I'm never letting go of you hug. This was an I love you hug. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in my chest and taking a deep breath in. Freshly sprayed aftershave and soap. Clean boy smell.