Painting Flowers {Marianas Trench}

Chapter II: Hello Again

Chapter II: Hello Again

Josh’s POV

"Joshie!" Matt started jumping on my bed while Mike and Ian laughed their asses off in the background. "Wake up!"

I groaned and threw one of the pillows at him, taking the other one and putting it over my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my best to cancel out the guys’ laughter.

"Get up! Get up!" the boys chanted.

"Shut up...." I grumbled.

They continued to chant and Matt continued to jump on my bed. They were really close to getting thrown off the balcony. "Okay!" I yelled. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "I’m up. Now what the fuck do you want?"

Matt smiled. "Coffee! Let’s go to Starbucks! It’s a nice day and we’re not wasting it on staying inside all day," he yanked me off my bed and onto my feet. "Now get dressed! If you’re not ready in ten minutes, we’re kicking your ass."

I smirked. "You couldn’t hurt me if you tried. Not even in high school."

"I could so!"

"You got your ass kicked by a girl!" I laughed. A girl. Her name was difficult to even think about without something pulling at my heart.

Mike doubled over and laughed. "Really Matt? Really?"

"In my defense, she was violent towards her brother and she went out with Josh. So that gave her more than a reason to toughen up." Matt crossed his arms.

"What was her name?" Ian asked. "I want to find her so I can laugh about this."

I frowned. It’s been ten years and I still couldn’t even think about her, much less talk about Valentina, without wanting to crawl into bed and sleep the whole day. "Her name was Valentina Patel. She was nice, pretty, kind. Everything you could ever want in a woman." Matt grinned. He looked at me and his smile faded. "Er, I’ll tell you about her in a bit. When Josh is getting ready."

"Thanks man." I said.

The guys left my room and I did what they requested. I got dressed, combed my hair and brushed my teeth. I took longer than ten minutes, but I assumed that they were either giving me space or Matt was talking about Valentina. I sighed. Valentina Geniveive Patel.

I flopped down on my bed and I could remember the day I told her how much I liked her, along with other secrets. It was like it was yesterday.

Ten years ago

"Juniors and seniors report to the auditorium for the Spring Talent Show," the secretary anounced over the P.A system. Talent shows? Really? They still had those? Ugh. I was in thrid period, science. Even though I couldn’t stand watching people up on stage, but it was better than science any day.

My class made our way down to the first floor and into the auditorium. It was so damn crowded! My class was making our way towards the back, there, sitting at the end of the row talking to a girl named Emily, was Valentina. Her hair almost seemed white in the light and it was cool.

She turned her head and caught me staring. We did that from time to time. Just stare at each other, almost like a joke now or to get information out of each other. Val smiled at me and waved. I waved back and then bit my lip. There was something I had to tell her and I was nervous. I really really liked Valentina, more than a friend. Usually, I never really cared for girls like I did for Val. But it was this girl who always made me smile.

She wasn’t like every single girl in this damn school. She was innocent, pure (literally, she was a virgin) funny, and genuinly always happy. She was smart, sarcastic, violent. She wasn’t afraid to roll around in the mud or take some chances. Even though I knew that much about her, she was still a huge mystery to me. We had known each other for a few months and I still had no clue what her big secret was.