Vanished

Chapter 2

It's been two weeks since I started at Buckley's. Everything's going smoothly and its Friday meaning my day off from work. Thank God! I mean don't get me wrong, I love Jan and Marco, I am a teenager though and I still get tired of working like everyone else. Oh! I almost forgot, Friday is also Friday Fun Day with me and Josh. Considering neither one of us has many friends, we always have one day of the week (Friday) where we do something fun. Usually we just watch movies in Josh's house because I-

"What are you doing" Josh whispers, interrupting my writing.

"What does it look like I'm doing Josh? Obviously writing in my journal" I chuckle quietly because of the obviousness

He smiles "Yeah I know, but I saw my name in there. Are you talking about how handsome your best friend is again?" Josh asks jokingly

"Oh yeah totally." I say sarcastically making Josh roll his eyes and sit next to me on the floor of the Library. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought your free period was in 4th?" I ask confused

"Well, I was supposed to be going to the bathroom but on my way, I saw you through the glass and had to ask you a very important question." He says acting serious.

With a slightly worried expression I ask, "What's wrong Josh?"

With a smile he responds, "What movie do you want to watch tonight for Friday Fun Day?"

I slap him on the leg "Josh! You had me worried for a second. Your dumb. We'll talk about that later. Go before you get in trouble." I say trying to suppress a laugh, feigning that I'm mad at him

"Fine, but I vote for Love, Simon" He says while beginning to stand up.

"Of course, you do." I say with laughter in my voice.

With that Josh leaves and I'm left to finish writing in my journal like I have done since the age of 9.

Later that day

"So, you know the deal, we meet up at my house and whoever gets there quicker gets to pick the movie." Josh says with a smirk as we step out of the school doors and begin walking to our cars.

"Yup. And I'm gonna win. I really want to watch Avengers Infinity War, and I know you hate marvel movies so that's just a bonus. "I say with a laugh

Josh runs past me a quick gets in his car "Yeah well that's not gonna happen." Josh says from his car window "Bye suckaaaaa" Josh starts his car and quickly drives off.

Oh, there's no way I'm going to lose this" I say to myself.

I jump in my car and try to catch up to him (while simultaneously staying the speed limit of course). At one point we were both at the same red light. Josh in front and me behind, but me being the amazing driver I am, and also having lived in this city my whole life, I took a short cut. Causing me to be victorious!

When we both arrive at josh's house he gets out of his old beaten up ford truck with a surprised look on his face.

"How the hell did you beat me?! I was in front of you the whole time."

I smirk and walk up to his front door "I don't know, I guess I'm just a better driver than you."

Josh laughs "Yeah okay. That's why you almost crashed your car last summer right?"

I laugh "I meant to do that actually so that's how much you know."

"Mhm yeah whatever" Josh says sarcastically as we enter his one-story house.

As we enter I could immediately smell the aroma of a delicious home cooked meal and the sound of arguing in the distance. It seemed as though Josh's mom, Susan Martinez, didn't want Josh's father, Pablo Martinez, to go out considering he just worked all morning and hasn't spent any time with the family.

"You haven't spent time with your son in weeks! Why do you have to go out? Wouldn't you rather spend time with your family that loves you?" I hear screamed from the kitchen as we slowly make our way inside

"My son?! My son is a fucking-"

"DAD!" Josh interrupts loudly, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence or just not wanting the argument to continue.

Stopping in his tracks, Mr. Martinez turned with a hard glare and said, "What is it Josh?"

Josh seems nervous but confidently says, "Me and Bailee are going to have movie night in my room. If you would, please keep it down. Thanks." With that Josh begins to pull me into his room.

Before we can leave this awkward encounter however, Mr. Martinez stops Josh with a hand on his shoulder and says "You can keep your door shut. We won't be disturbing you if anything were to happen behind it between you two."

With a confused and angry look Josh responds "Dad, you know Bailee and I are just friends. Plus, I don't even like girls remember..." Josh says carefully.

Mr. Martinez takes his hand off Josh's shoulder in disgust and says "You will not talk like that in my house! I pay the bills, I keep you alive, and if you ever-"

"Honey." Mrs. Martinez interrupts with a calming hand on her husband's muscular back "I think we should let these two get to their movie night."

With that, Josh pulls me into his room before Mr. Martinez can get another word out and sits on the end of his bed.

He sighs "So, I guess were watching Avengers huh?" He says with a smile, anyone with eyes would know is fake.

I can see he doesn't want to talk about it, but I ask the obvious question anyway "Are you okay?"

He looks at me straight in the eyes and says, "I'm trying to be."

I gave him a hug and even though I could tell that conversation he just had with his dad was weighing on him, I knew him well enough to know he would talk to me when he was ready.

"Alright," I say with a smile "Time for Avengers Infinity War! Then, Love Simon of course."

That made Josh have a genuine smile, even if it was a small one.

We ended up cuddled in the blankets together and watching both movies until about 8 O-clock. I loved both movies and surprisingly so did Josh. Also, since it was pretty late and a Friday night we decided to have a sleepover and make Friday Fun Day last even longer. It was a great night, aside from the conversation with Josh's dad, but I tried to distract Josh from that as much as possible.

What I didn't know was that at that sleepover I would have to face a conversation with Josh I dreaded having. Something that I've been hiding from him since the day we met. Hopefully it wouldn't change our friendship...