Because I'm a Girl

Chapter 8

Josh was walking to his car and I ran towards him. I wondered if I was borderline stalking him, but ignored those thoughts as I knew I had to work as hard as I could to get Josh to join my club. The sooner the better, so I didn't mind him thinking I was a freak.

"Josh," I said, causing him to pause.

Josh slowly turned around, a blank expression on his face when he looked at me. I smiled, pushing my hair back as the wind kept blowing it around my face.

"Yes?" Josh said.

"Let's hang out," I said. "Right now."

Josh blinked. "Why?"

"You told me to show you the issues girls face, so I'm going to."

Josh stared at me, his eyes studying me. I stared back, unfazed, and watched as he shook his head. He looked up at the sky, seeming to ask the world what he had done to get stuck with me.

"I was planning on going to the gym," Josh said. "We'll hang out another day."

"We can go to the gym together," I said. "I have gym clothes from class already. I'm ready to go."

"What can you show me at the gym? There's barely any girls there."

I smirked. "You'll see when I get there."

Josh stared at me for a moment once again, his eyes full of questions. When I didn't say anything or turn to leave, he then shook his head. With a sigh, he turned around.

"Okay, we'll go to the gym now," Josh said. "I'll drive us there."

"Sounds good," I said, growing excited.

*****

Surprisingly, I was waiting for Josh to finish getting dressed. I was standing by a treadmill, wearing leggings and a red v-neck, wondering what was taking Josh so long. With his carefree attitude, I thought he would throw on his clothes and meet me in a second.

After a few minutes, Josh finally appeared. He was walking towards me, weights in his hands. He was wearing a black tank top and gray sweatpants, and my eyes couldn't help but go to his arms. They lingered there for a minute, stunned by the bulge of his biceps, and then I blushed when I realized I had been staring. Moving my eyes to the ground, I hoped my cheeks wouldn't be red when he reached me.

"Hey," Josh said, putting the weights down in front of me.

"Hey," I said, my eyes still on the ground.

Josh didn't say anything for a moment and I looked up at him, wondering what he was waiting for. When my eyes met his, I watched as he raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be wondering why I was so quiet, which made me blush once again.

"What are you going to be doing?" I asked.

"Weights," Josh said. "Today is arm day."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. Aria and I went to the gym once every blue moon, so I knew next to nothing about working out.

"What are you planning on doing?" Josh asked.

"I'm just going to run around on the treadmill," I answered.

"Why do girls only use the treadmill?" Josh shook his head. "Might as well just buy a treadmill and not go to the gym."

Defensive, I shot back, "Why don't you just buy weights then and work out at home."

"I don't just use weights at the gym. Girls seem to only use the treadmill."

I opened my mouth to argue back, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Annoyed, I then simply huffed and stalked off to the treadmill. Turning it on, I forced myself to pretend Josh didn't exist as I began to jog on it.

The walls of the gym were covered with mirrors, leaving me staring at myself as I ran on the treadmill. I stared at what was behind me and noticed there weren't many people at the gym. Glancing to my left, I saw Josh sitting on a bench.

He was dripping in sweat as he curled the dumbbells he held in both hands towards his chest, and then away from his chest. My eyes remained on him as I watched him flex from the repetitive movement, his muscles bulging. I never knew Josh was so muscular and I hadn't expected it.

Suddenly, Josh's eyes flew to me, leaving me almost tripping over my own feet. I grabbed onto the bars of the treadmill and blushed, forcing myself to look at the mirror in front of me. Scolding myself, I told myself to stop staring. Josh didn't deserve my attention.

When I looked at my reflection, I then became surprised when I saw a guy around my age standing behind me. He wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there, a smirk on his face as his eyes stared at my body. Without a second thought, I turned around and shot him a dirty look.

The boy didn't react to my look. He only looked more smug, which left me rolling my eyes. Knowing some boys just wanted attention, I brought my attention away and focused on working out in hopes he'd leave me alone. I would give him five minutes before I would snap at him.

A few minutes passed by and I had been staring at the ground, so when I looked up to see if the boy was still there, I became surprised when I saw Josh standing behind me, an annoyed look on his face. Surprised by the sight of him, I turned off the treadmill and got off it, moving to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "What are you doing here? Do you want to go home?"

"Some guy was staring at you," Josh mumbled, his jaw clenched. "I got a bad vibe from him. I... I just came here to block his view."

His words left my eyes widening and I stared at him for a moment, unable to believe he would try to help me. Josh seemed uneasy from my reaction and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't say anything and I peered over his shoulder, growing relieved when I saw the guy was gone.

"Thanks," I said. "He's gone."

Josh nodded, stepping away from me. Only then did I realize we had been close and I flushed, unable to help it.

"Some guys are creeps," Josh muttered, shaking his head. "Why would anyone think it's okay to stand behind a girl and watch her."

"See," I said, raising an eyebrow. "This is one of the issues girls face."

Josh's eyebrows rose and even though I knew he knew what I meant, I decided to explain. That was going to be my job from now on.

"Girls can't go anywhere without creeps bothering them," I said. "We can be covered up and we can be with our family or friends, but that won't stop guys from leering at us. That won't even stop guys from catcalling us. This is one of the issues girls face in the twenty-first century."

Josh stared at me, his expression blank. I wished he'd react. I wished he'd show me my words at least reached him, but he didn't. Josh always seemed to hide his expressions, which always left me frustrated.

"That's not a big deal," Josh finally muttered, leaving my jaw dropping.

I opened my mouth to shout, to scream about how annoying it was to have guys constantly bother you when all you wanted was to be alone, but I shut my mouth. Staring at Josh and remembering the way he reacted when the guy had watched me, I smirked. Josh's eyebrow rose at that.

"Your reaction to the guy staring at me says otherwise," I said, smug. "You do think it's a problem."

To my utter surprise, Josh blushed. He looked away quickly and mumbled something incoherent, and then walked off. Although I wasn't sure if Josh understood where I was coming from, I was glad I got a reaction out of him. To me, it was progress.