It was finally the day of the concert.
Josh had been waiting for this since he and his chorus class learned the songs.
He took a deep breath.
He felt a wave of anxiety after seeing the large amount of people in the audience.
At least nobody he knew was there!
He scanned the crowd for his parents. Suddenly, someone waving in the crowd caught his eye. He nearly jumped in surprise.
Oh no. Oh no no no. It was Fred. The Fred. As in, Fred, his best friend, and his crush. He felt his cheeks getting hot, so he waved to Fred and looked down at his feet.
He saw two of his friends, Landon and Eryn looking at him strangely.
"What's wrong?" they asked him in a hushed tone, so their teacher wouldn't hear them.
"N-nothing" Josh whispered back.
He took another deep breath to regain his composure. Fred came because he wanted to watch him sing. He would do his best. What else could he do?
Finally, it was over. He did a lot better than he thought he would, but it still was bad.
He hung his head and walked into the crowd.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Josh! You did great!" said Fred.
"Th-thanks..." Josh said, sure that Fred was just saying that to make him feel better. Fred saw his sad expression.
"Really," Fred said "You did amazing."
"Y-you think so?" asked Josh. Just being around him was cheering him up.
"Yes." said Fred. "Hey Josh, um I was wondering if maybe we cou-" he was cut off by Josh's mom coming up behind him.
"Come on Josh," his mom said. "We're going out to Red Robins for dinner to celebrate!"
"Oh, okay, let me just say goodbye to my friend first." he turned around, but Fred was already gone.
Josh ordered a burger and scarfed it down. He needed to call Fred.
Once everyone was done, he and his family went home. As soon as he got in the door, he ran up to his room to call Fred.
He dialed the number. He knew it by memory.
"Hey, Fred" Josh said when he picked up. "Um, w-what was it you wanted to ask me at the concert?"
"What?"
"You know, at the concert... you were asking me something," Josh reminded him.
"O-oh that..." Fred said.
"What is it?" Josh asked again.
"Um, I was just wondering..."
"Yeah?" Josh said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. If this was what he though it was, he would be SO happy.
"If you wanted to... be in my group for the science project?" Fred said quickly.
Josh's heart sank. There was a rumor going around school that Fred liked Josh.
"Um, yeah" Josh said in a dejected tone. "S-sure." he hung up.
"I will ask him today." Josh thought.
He knew that he would chicken out, just like every other day he tried.
He was daydreaming about Fred in Science when Mrs.Adams gave instructions.
He only caught the last few words: "Get into groups of three," she instructed.
Wait.
Three?
"Oh no" Josh thought.
"This was supposed to be where I asked Fred out!" he thought sadly.
"I can't ask him out if someone else in the group is listening!" Aiden joined their group, and Josh had a frown on his face for the rest of class.
At the end, Fred came over to him.
"What's wrong, Josh?" he asked.
"N-nothing" Josh said and forced a smile.
"Good," Fred said. "I would hate to see you unhappy."
Josh was shocked. He had never spoken to him like that before. Could he...?
No.
Impossible.
"Fred would never like me back," Josh thought sadly.
The bell rang. He went to his 4th block class. He doodled pictures of Fred on his desk.
The rest of the day went by in a blur, and in what seemed like no time, he was on the bus going back home.
Bzz! That was Josh's phone. He must've gotten a text.
He checked his messages. It was Fred!
"Hey," the message read.
"Can I come over to your house to work on the project?"
Josh's immediate though was "YES!!!," but he didn't want to seem too excited.
"Sure," he replied. "Will Aiden be mad that we did it without him?"
"I checked with him. He said it was okay."
Josh was ecstatic. "Yeah, come on over!" Josh said, then sent him his address.
When he got home, he saw Fred coming down the street.
"Bet I can beat you there!" Fred said.
"No chance!" replied Josh, and they raced down the sidewalk to his house.
Fred won.
They got settled in Josh's room.
"So, where's the projec-" he got cut off by Fred.
"Josh, I've been meaning to ask you something." Fred said.
"What is it?" asked Josh. He tried not to jump to conclusions, but he found himself imagining the next words Fred would say.
"I have liked you for a while, and I was wondering... will you... go out with me?" Fred questioned.
Josh was speechless.
"Or um, if you don't want to..."
"Yes!" Josh interrupted once he got a hold of himself.
"Um, I mean yes, I will go out with you. Not yes, as in I don't wan-" he got cut off again, but this time by a kiss.
Josh was so shocked that it took him a few seconds to realize what was going on.
He quickly kissed back.
They stayed that way for a bit, until Fred finally pulled away.
"That was... nice." Fred said.
"Yes," Josh agreed
THE END
(I'm sorry)
