"I'm so sorry again that I didn't mention that this was a horror movie.", Jade apologized once again, taking her seat next to Josie. "It slipped my mind that you might be scared of them." "It's okay, I'll survive", Josie consoled Jade, taking the popcorn from her date's hands. "You'll be here to protect me, right?" "Of course.", Jade whispered, slipping her hand into Josie's and squeezing it reassuringly. "I'm right here if you get scared." The lights in the theater dimmed down, and Josie could feel her heartbeat speed up in the eerie ambiance of the room. Jade must have also picked up on Josie's nerves because she didn't move her hand from Josie's when the beginning scenes of the movie played on the large screen in front of them. In the beginning, Josie felt silly for being scared at all. The movie was pretty slow-paced, and the scary parts were simply jumpscares that were more predictable than they were scary. Unfortunately, Josie was only being led into a false sense of security. As the movie climaxed, Josie had a hard time even keeping her eyes on the screen. For most of the second half of the movie, she spent the duration of it hiding her face in Jade's shoulder, shakily asking her when it was safe to look again. Jade, true to her word, was there every time Josie became frightened, shielding Josie from the scariest scenes of the movie by enduring them so Josie didn't have to.
When the lights lit up around them and the movie's patrons began to exit the theater, Josie reluctantly looked up at Jade with teary eyes. "T-that wasn't so bad.", Josie whispered, her voice shaky and unconvincing. Jade stood up, and Josie followed her out of the theater, throwing the half-empty popcorn bucket into the trash. "Are you okay?", Jade asked with worry in her voice. "I'm sorry, next time you can pick the movie." "It's okay, honest.", Josie assured her, wrapping her arms around herself as they exited the building. "Besides the parts where I was screaming, It was a good movie." "Hey, let me make it up to you- maybe with a milkshake?", Jade offered, her soft smile illuminated by the outdoor lights. "It's the least I can do after making you suffer through a 90-minute movie." Josie nodded with excitement, her earlier anxieties forgotten. "That", she stated, grabbing Jade's hand and linking it with her's once again. "Sounds like a great idea."
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Josie had only just entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her when she noticed the second presence in the room- one disheveled Penelope Park leaning against her bed, her short hair ruffled and unkempt, and a drained bottle of vodka lying at her feet. At first, Josie is confused about how she had gotten into the locked room, but cursed herself when she soon realized that she had been in such a hurry when she left, that she had forgotten to lock her bedroom door behind her. Penelope didn't even acknowledge Josie's entrance, her focus on the pictures hanging on Josie's walls: some with her friends, some with Lizzie, and some with her parents. Tears filled Penelope's eyes, her cheeks wet with the ones Penelope had been too tired and drunk to fight back. The floorboards creaked under Josie's feet as she approached, startling Penelope and causing the smaller girl to bang her head against the bed frame as she scrambled to get up. Penelope hissed, tumbling back to the ground as she clutched her forehead in pain. Josie shook her head, crouching down to Penelope's level. "We need to work on your drinking habits", Josie mumbled, gently prying Penelope's hands away from her forehead so she could inspect the small gash on it. "Don't move.", Josie ordered, eyeing the drunken girl. "I'll be right back."
When Josie returned she found Penelope sprawled across her bed, staring up at the ceiling as if she was looking for the anwers to her unasked questions in the beige paint. Josie placed the ice pack down next to Penelope, watching the girl with curious eyes. "I thought I told you not to move", she teased, her voice low and calm in the otherwise silent room. Penelope chuckled under her breath. "Don't you know by now, Saltzman, that I don't follow orders well?", she retorted, turning toward Josie and placing the ice pack against her forehead with a slight wince. "How was your date? The second date is usually the one where you get laid right?" "Penelope!", Josie hissed, smacking the laughing girl's arm. "We had a nice night, I suppose. I don't think I'll be seeing her again though." "What?", Penelope asked in surprise, her expression growing serious and her eyebrows quirked in curiosity. "I don't get it- I thought you liked Jade. You already said she's not a bad kisser, and it's not like you're hung up on someone else, so what's the problem?"
Josie swallowed hard, averting her eyes away from Penelope. Her mind flickered back to the ice cream parlor, where she and Jade had been only an hour earlier. The place where Josie had her strange epiphany, the same one that wouldn't allow her to look Penelope in the eyes. The feeling was sudden, hitting her like a face full of ice water and shocking her to her very core. As Jade spoke about her post-college plans, her medical internship, and other things that Josie was too zoned out to listen to, she found her thoughts drifting to Penelope. She wondered what she was up to, if she was missing Josie just as Josie missed her. That's when the realization hit her. The whole night she had spent with Jade had felt off, awkward and uncomfortable, and Josie had realized why- it wasn't Jade's hand that she wanted to hold as they walked around town, or that she wanted to suffer through horror movies with, or kiss as they parted goodnight. Sure, Jade was an amazing girl, and Josie was aware that she was lucky to even have the blonde's attention. Still, every concious thought in Josie's mind led her back to Penelope. The space in Josie's mind that should have belonged to Jade was already preoccupied. Josie had dropped her spoon in surprise, her eyes widening- Josie had feelings for Penelope. The signs we're always: the aching feeling in her chest when she caught Penelope's eyes, the fluttery feeling in her stomach when Penelope smiled or brushed her hand against Josie's, and the sinking feeling she had gotten when she had found out Penelope had been with another girl. With all the evidence staring her right in the face, Josie had no choice but to face the truth she had been subconciously oppressing- Josie Saltzman was impossibly, utterly, and terrifyingly infatuated with Penelope Park.
"I just don't think we're compatible.", Josie lied, shrugging her shoulders. "We went on a few dates, and it didnt work out; It happens." "Oh.", Penelope stated, scraping at the nail polish on her nails. "Well, does Jade know that? As much as I don't care for her, it would be wrong for you to lead her on, y'know." Josie crawled under the covers, causing Penelope to shift over to the right side of the bed. "I'll talk to her in the morning." Josie said, silently making a promise to both herself and Penelope. "Right now, you need to sleep off the alcohol in your system, and i'm exhausted." "Do you want me to sleep in Lizzie's bed again, or should I just leave?", Penelope asked, swallowing hard. Josie let out a breathy sigh, relaxing deeper into the mattress. "You can stay here, if you want." Josie offered, holding her breath at her statement. "As long as you let me go to sleep." Josie reached over and turned off the lights, blanketing the room in darkness. Josie didn't know what to expect, if Penelope would leave or stay, and she fought sleep for a few moments to get her answer. After a few seconds, she felt Penelope's weight shift as she turned over in the bed. "Goodnight, Josie.", Penelope mumbled, sleep already overpowering her. "Sweet dreams." Josie smiled in the darkness, ignoring the familiar fluttering in her stomach.
"Goodnight, Penelope; Sweet dreams."
YOU ARE READING
This Love (Calling My Name)
Fanfiction"My, my, my Josie; Don't you know that it is rude not to acknowledge someone when they are talking to you?", Penelope scolded in a brash tone that succeeded in capturing Josie's full attention. "There- that's much better. Wouldn't want anyone thinki...
