Chances of That

Success Can Sometimes Be Failure

The next morning at 7am on a Sunday morning, there was a loud, consistent, unrelenting knocking that seemed to be coming from my bedroom door.

"MUM! Shut up with your knocking!" I threw a pillow in the direction of the door and turned to lay on my back. I then found the pillow I'd just thrown, hitting me in the face.

I threw it onto the floor and turned to my door to see Josh, in actual clothes.

Not a tracksuit.

Not a basketball jersey and shorts.

Not his football kit.

He was in jeans and a light blue polo shirt.

Phwoooaaaaar. He looked good.

Maybe I shouldn't have discarded him so quickly earlier this summer.

"When you're done mentally undressing me .. We have some work to getting on with!"

He marched over to my wardrobe and threw onto my bed, the shortest pair of shorts I own and a bra.

"Josh, I need more clothes than this!" I said in disbelief that he'd think I'd actually wear just this.

"Puh-lease Sophie. I've seen you naked a bunch of times, you don't have to be shy around me!"

Automatically my face heated up. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks; i looked down on the bed.

"Now COME ON! I'm really excited to get Phase Two in motion!" He said whilst plonking himself at the bottom of my bed.

"Wait! Are we doing the whole thing today?" I sat up straight in my bed just in time to see Josh's grin and him nodding his head in agreement. "Like, the kissing and everything?" He nodded again.

Last night, after Josh had gone home. I ran upstairs and frantically searched my bedroom floor for my dad's coin. But unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere. I'm not too panicked though as it's been lost before and it always finds a way to get back to me.

But right now. In this moment. I wish I had my coin to flip. I wish I could make myself utterly blameless in this situation. I wish I could flip it in the air and ask it; 'Should I go through with this plan? Should I ruin Peter's relationship? Am I really so heartless as to destroy the only real thing he's got in his life? But of course, I know the answer already. It's neccessary. I should go through with the plan. I should definitely ruin Peter's relationship. But more importantly, the thing I had to keep reminding myself of, repeatedly ... I need to be heartless because the relationship isn't real. Or is it? I don't really know if she loves him or not, to be honest. All I really know is that she's really rude and has a very, very short temper.

As if Josh can read my thoughts he says, "Look Sophie. I know that it seems wrong what we're doing, but I'll let you in on the thing that keeps me from backing out of this." But all of a sudden, he stopped. As if he knew I'd already decided what I was going to do. "You know what? I'll share it with you when I feel you're really really doubting yourself."

I accepted this and walked to my wardrobe and threw on a green maxi skirt and a white vest top without showing Josh any aspect of my body, whatsoever.

Phase Two; Lights, Camera, Action.

Josh apparently started prepping for today by taking Pepper upstairs with him last night at telling her that he had feelings that he just couldn't hide any more and that he wanted to express them to her today. So she's going to meet him at the park at the end of our street at 1:30pm.

That gave us plenty of time to drive to Olive's house, steal her ludicrously expensive video camera and set it up behind an average shaped bush in the park.

Josh waited on a bench from 1pm until Pepper arrived at 1:45pm.

She's just so aggravating! She can't even get to our plan on time!

When she arrived, Josh handed her some flowers that he'd picked out of MY garden, and she sniffed them and laughed adorably at him.

He took her hand and they walked down the path toward the camera more, until I could hear them perfectly.

Josh took both her hands in his and looked towards the ground in a very shy manner. He laughed awkwardly and said "I can't believe I'm about to confess my feelings to my brothers girl."

She laughed along with him and I saw for a split second the same half-hearted smile that she gave Peter the other day when I went round. And all my doubts that I was having flew out the window.

"I feel as though these past few months we've had apart have only intensified my feelings for you. I see you in my house, walking around with Peter and it makes me so mad. It makes me feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest and torn apart over and over again. The pain is so unbearable, especially when you smile at him in that cute little way that you do." With this he smiled at her, and she returned it with a seemingly shy bow of her head, "And I know that this is sudden, and that you probably didn't know that I liked you at all because I'd been too shy to show it because of my brother and the rest of my family. But I need you to know now, I can't get you out of my mind. I think about you all the time and I know, that I love you." And with that he reached his hand up slowly to the back of her neck and leaned in steadily.

Their lips just touching, when Pepper pulled away, "Josh, why are you telling me this now? We were alone in the house the other day and you didn't even want to be in the same room as me!"

Josh acted offended, "Because it's so painful to be around you when I know I can't touch you and show you how much I love you all the time! You can't honestly understand how crazy you make me!" He laughs in such a cute way that I have to contain myself so that I don't jump out of the bush and kiss him myself.

But I don't have to wait long, because sure enough she leans in all the way and initiates the kiss. It's a sloppy lookinbg kiss, but they both look like they're getting into it.

I feel that nagging sensation inside me gradually getting bigger and bigger. I feel it oozing up from the pit of my stomach, up my chest, through my neck and I could swear that my ears are steaming at the moment.

I slam my hands on the ground, and start getting up when the kiss finally ends and Josh leads Pepper off away from the camera.

So I clear up our stuff, with a face like thunder, and walk the street until I get home.