𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐁𝐎𝐑

18

nessa unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the car door. her parking has gotten relatively better since she's had to use aunt sarah's car to get around los angeles whenever josh couldn't drive her. she locks the car with her key before walking up the driveway and into the sway house.

already she's greeted with loud roars of victory which of course are from bryce who's standing on the couch jumping up and down like an excited child. he does some very questionable dance moves while kio and griffin roll their eyes, the wii controls in their hands with looks of defeat of their faces. it's a rather interesting sight to see.

"nessa!" bryce calls mid cheer.

the boys turn their heads to see the small girl standing outside of the glass double doors. jaden shifts in his seat so he can see her better considering his back is facing her.

"hey ness" he grins, getting up to greet her.

nessa meets jaden halfway, opening up one of the doors and entering the boy infested living room. they share a hug, jaden lifting her up and the both of them rocking from side to side while nessa struggles to breathe.

at this moment josh walks into the room, surprised to see nessa and even more surprised to see her in jadens arms. he swears there's something going on.

"hey i didn't know you were here yet" josh says, putting his arm around nessa when jaden eventually let's go.

she puts her own arm around josh's waist and smiles, glancing up at him. butterflies making an appearance in the bottom pit of her stomach. she tries to push them away.

"just got here in time to see bryce's victory dance" she says in a matter of fact tone.

"wanna see"

josh shakes his head when bryce goes to do the dance again. the boys and nessa laugh at the pouty look he wears.

josh claps his hands together, rubbing them. he has an excited look on his face when he turns to nessa once again.

"so? nap time?" he asks, grabbing her hand in preparation to drag her upstairs with him.

nessa nods her head with a smile, letting the taller boy take her out of the room. before they can exit though, jaden clears his throat.

"we have to do that thing ness" he says in a low voice but everyone hears him.

a daunting look washes over nessa's face when she remembers that she promised jaden she'd help get mads back. she looks up at josh's confused face and then to jaden who looks like a lost puppy dog who is desperate for her help. she sighs.

"you're right, let's go" she murmurs, stepping back into the room.

josh doesn't understand what just happened. he looks at his two best friends with utter confusion.

"what thing? why can't i come with?".

nessa looks at jaden asking if josh can tag along with only a subtle look. jaden shakes his head no.

"sorry josh it's private" jaden tells him, putting his hand on nessa's upper back.

josh sees red but doesn't know why. his jaw clenches when he looks at jadens hand on her. he wants nothing more but to break it.

nessa notices josh's sudden mood change and knows that if she doesn't do something he'll lash out at his best friend. she doesn't know why he's so mad- probably because she bailed on him for his best friend.

she grabs josh's hand and pulls him outside the room with her. she holds up two fingers to jaden letting him know that she needs a sec. the boys stare through the glass, wanting to know what's happening but nessa takes josh outside so he can cool down.

"what's wrong with you? i promised i'd help jaden with something and i'll only be gone for an hour or so" she explains, sitting him down on the wall.

josh doesn't look at her, his eyes focused on his shoes. he notices a mark he never did before.

nessa sighs, using her hands to lift his head. her hands rest on either side of his face and he has no choice but to look at her.

"joshua, speak to me please. what's wrong?".

giving up, josh licks his lips.

"i just want to spend as much time with you as possible is that so bad? you're going home in a few days and i fee like i'm having to share you with everyone".

josh kicks at the ground while the silence lingers between the two friends. nessa's mind goes into over drive. the more josh shows that he cares for her and their friendship the more she can feel herself developing feelings for him and she's scared of that more than anything because of the consequences they can have.

"i didn't know you felt that way, i'm sorry if it feels like i'm blowing you off" nessa responds, tugging at his arm.

josh smiles half heartedly- hugging nessa as he sighs.

he's been trying to ignore the jealousy that seems to come out whenever he sees nessa with another guy- even if it is one of his own friends. josh gets that he can't behave like that because he and nessa are strictly friends and she doesn't like him like that. he's not even sure if he likes her as more than a friend yet. there's definitely an attraction and josh only ever seems to think about her but their friendship and the fact that they haven't known each other for long makes him question everything.

"after i help out jaden, i promise i'll hang with you okay?" nessa compromises.

after a second of thinking josh nods his head, agreeing to her proposal. he wants to ask why and what she's helping jaden with but that'd be crossing boundaries.

if nessa has feelings for jaden then there's nothing he can do about it.

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the chapters after 20 >>>
stream still softish ✨