𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑊𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑡 • • •𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ 𝑅𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠

🌷𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑂𝑛𝑒: 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡🌷

    María Lopez was in her best friends', Alexandria James, Eva Taylor, Lavender Adams, and Chelsea Sanchez, car on her way to a meet-and-greet hosted by some TikTok boys. She had no interest in going but her friends were dragging her all the way from a small town in Tennessee all the way to Salt Lake City, Utah. They couldn't catch a flight in time as they had to make a long, tedious drive to Utah. They were about 2/3 of the way there already. María was looking out the car window, taking in the view while one of her friends, Lavender, slept next to her. She was thinking about how she dreaded going and how in the world her boy-obsessed friends talked her into this. She thought of the boys as "bad news" and "self absorbed" also about how silly it is to pay lots of money just to take pictures with boys. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her old, used sketchbook and was finishing a drawing of Josh Richards her other friend, Eva, wanted her to make. She thought she was a mediocre artist, but in reality, she was great.

After about 30 minutes, María finished the drawing. Lavender woke up suddenly and grabbed it out of her hands to show Eva; who was immediately amazed.

———————————————————————

A few more hours later the 5 girls arrived in Utah. They checked into their hotel and started to get ready for the meet-and-greet later that day. María was first to shower. She took a long, hot shower to clear her thoughts and put her into a better mood.

She got out and put on some light-wash jeans with holes just at the knee caps and a mustard yellow sweater that complimented her olive skin tone perfectly. She didn't feel the need to put on much makeup even though she was extremely self conscious. She put on some mascara, a little bit of a neutral eyeshadow, and some lip gloss. She styled her long, chocolatly hair into beach waves that framed her round but slim face gracefully. She topped her outfit off with some casual, matching yellow and white checkered vans. While all her friends were putting on as much makeup as they can, María was quietly reading her favorite book, The Shining, by Stephen King. She was immersed into the world of Jack and Danny Torrance. By the time she finished 3 chapters, her friends walked out of their hotel bathroom looking like their ready for a red carpet event. María just rolled her eyes and sighed at the sight. She thought how it was really funny how they got this ready just to take pictures with some mildly attractive boys.

The meet was in 30 minutes and María's friends wanted to get there early, so they were squeezed into a small Uber and drove about 5 minutes to the event. Eva wanted to make sure that María had the amazing drawing, and checked at least 10 times she had it before they left.

They arrived at the event and Eva, Lavender, Alexandria, and Chelsea were giggling with excitement and couldn't contain themselves. María made sure to bring her book because she new they would need to wait in lines all day. There were so many people here! María couldn't help to notice the booths up that had Chase Hudson, Payton Moormeier, Anthony Reeves, Jayden Hossler, Noen Eubanks, and Josh Richards standing at them already starting to take pictures with fans. The girls went to Chase Hudson first. María refused to be in the picture because she thought she looked bad and didn't feel the need to be in the picture. They waited a little bit more to see Anthony Reeves, Noen Eubanks, and Jayden Hossler. María wasn't in any of those photos either. The girls wanted to save the best for last, Josh Richards. They had to wait in line for at least an hour before their turn. María pulled out her book and read seven chapters in that time. When their turn finally came, Eva handed the beautiful drawing to Josh. "Did you draw this!? It's incredible!" Which Eva replied, "no my friend María did." María was dragged out of the huddle by Eva. When Josh first saw her, he was awe struck. There was an immediate connection between them, like a magnetic force. He asked for a hug and she gladly accepted. When they hugged there was very present spark that felt like a jolt of electricity flowing through their veins.

Before hand, Josh wrote a letter that contained his number. He wanted to find the one at this event. He wrote:
     I've found you my love, the one.
(His number)
     xoxo, Josh Richards

Josh slipped the note in the back pocket of María's jeans without her noticing. They broke apart and then the photographer said it was time for the picture. María refused once again, but Josh insisted she be in the picture and stand right next to him. He slumped an arm around her thin shoulders that clearly displayed a sign of affection from Josh in the picture; which by the way, turned out great. They parted and the event finished off with a group thank you from the boys. María was in almost the middle of the crowd and Josh picked her out immediately. Her long, chocolaty brown locks, her round but slim face, the way her eyes sparked in the light, it all drew him in. From the moment he saw her, he knew he wanted to spend his life with her. Their eyes met and a dark red blush coated Josh's face; María turned a delicate shade of pink. She was attracted to him also. She thought of him as a nice, empathetic person and not like the other boys at the event.
———————————————————————
The girls got back into another Uber and drove to their hotel. Once they got back into their room, María went to freshen up. She wanted to put on some more comfortable clothes, she noticed that a piece of paper was sticking out of her back pocket. She pulled it out, unraveled it, and read it in her head ~
I've found you my love, the one.
(His number)
xoxo, Josh Richards

She read it over and over again and couldn't believe what she was reading. The Josh Richards, chose her? She finally collected herself, typed in the number on her phone, and called it. . .
———————————————————————
A/n Hello my beautiful broskis, I'm so happy that you read this chapter!!! It's my first book so I hope you like it! Also, the word count (if you are interested) is 1,120 Thank you my lovies! 💖🌷