All It Takes

(13) story of a lonely guy

Sitting at a bench outside, Alex took a large bite out of his cheeseburger. Andrew and another one of his mates, Ryan, were also with him.

"So, Alex, when is your wedding, anyway?" Andrew raised an eyebrow, looking over at Ryan as he began to laugh.

"You picked out your dress yet?" Ryan asked, stealing some of Alex's hot chips.

"Shit" Alex cursed before letting out a loud burp. "You two best be ready when it comes prom night... It'll be the Alex Gaskarth nail and bail!"

Josh walked up to the table, folding his arms as he heard what the guys were talking about. "Made that rhyme up all by yourself?"

Ryan and Andrew raised their eyebrows, laughing at Josh and looking over at Alex. The guy's comment was pretty funny, after all.

"I'll catch you guys at footy practise" Alex gave his friends a look that made them get up and move off. Looking up at Josh, Alex nodded. "So...?"

"How does this work, anyway?" Josh asked, sitting across from Alex. "The good ol' nail and bail?"

"As if you don't know!" Alex scoffed, not feeling like he had to explain himself. Josh want so different, anyway. "I saw Taylor this morning blubbering her god damn eyes out."

"So what?!" Josh exclaimed, waiting for Alex to make a point.

"So you didn't even try to sleep with her?" Alex asked, furrowing his eyebrows. What was Josh's mission, then?

"It's not like that" Josh shook his head, looking to the side as he saw Taylor with her friends huddled around her holding boxes of tissues at another bench.

"You don't get it, do you?" Alex laughed quietly. Josh was still so new to all of this, he hadn't learnt anything. "It is like that."

"No, it isn't!" Josh yelled, starting to get angry. "You never even cared about Jenna, did you?"

"And what? You did?" Alex asked Josh, eating more of his burger. "If you did, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"I did care about her. She's my... She was my best friend" Josh sighed, looking down to the guys sitting under a close tree, knowing they could hear everything. "You changed that."

"Well fuck, don't look so surprised" Alex laughed once again, as did the few of his friends sitting down. "Nail and bail's crushed far greater girls than Jen."

"Now listen up, Alex" Josh began, pointing a finger at him. "There is not a chance in all hell that Jenna would ever sleep with you. She's better than that... She can do a lot better than you."

"She was like that, once upon a time" Alex nodded. "But you see, you came along to me and changed all of that,  didn't you?"

- - -

Walking over to Jack, Josh got ready to practice baseball. His coach hated him, seeing as Josh purposely avoided to hit the ball almost all of the time.

"Get in that box now, Josh!" Mr Crust called out. "Hurry it up!"

"Hey, Jack, have you seen Jenna?" Josh asked, ignoring his coach. He didn't expect to be the only one being ignored, through.

"I'm not talking to you, jackass" Jack sighed, looking over at their coach who had just thrown a ball that hit Josh's leg.

"What on Earth do we have here?" Mr Crust looked at Josh, who had been looking down at a crouching Jack as they spoke. "Having a mother's meeting, are you?"

Ignoring his coach, Josh looked back down at Jack. "Just... Listen up. You can be pissed at me all you want. That's more than fine. I deserve it, I'm an ass-"

Mr Crust had threw a ball again, that was a few centimetres from hitting Josh again. Looking up and then back down, Josh bit his lip.

"Just let me know if you've seen her, yeah?" Josh begged, wanting Jack to give in.

"Not since you scared her off!" Jack yelled, getting up as the coach called out at the pair.

"What the heck is this, some sort of afternoon tea?" Mr Crust called out, feeling irritated.

By now, Josh had had enough of his coach and when he threw the next ball, Josh hit it - which ended up hitting his coach in the crotch.

Mr Crust's eyes bulged out of his head as he groaned in pain. Although the gut hit was an accident, Josh figured the male deserved it.

"Walk it off" Josh yelled, throwing the baseball bat onto the ground in front of him.

- - -

Walking back home after school, Josh stopped at the front of his door as he saw two girls waiting for him.

"What're you doing here?" Josh asked the girls, raising an eyebrow. "This is my house..."

"Yeah, uh, don't you think we know that?" Sally asked, rolling her eyes. Was Josh being for real?

"What happened between you and Taylor?" The other girl, who Josh recognised as Andrew's girlfriend, asked.

"Is there someone else?" Sally guessed, raising an eyebrow.

Shaking his head, Josh folded his arms and waited for the pair to interrogate him more.

Taylor had obviously sent the two minions to his house, doing what she clearly didn't have the guts to do herself.

"Was it the hair on her back?" The other girl asked, placing a hand on her hip."'Cause like, she is totally getting that all removed."

"That hair" Sally shook her head, looking down. "Isn't there anything that she can... Do? Say?"

"Other than getting her friends to camp on my lawn and begging for my forgiveness, which I won't give, no" Josh answered, closing the front door behind him after he had walked into his house.

Going straight up to his bedroom, Josh wasted no time before jumping onto his bed and spreading across it with his eyes shut.

Josh just felt horrible about everything that he'd done. For humiliating Jack and Zack, for changing into someone he wasn't, for listening to Alex, for thinking Taylor was so great when she isn't.

Most importantly, Josh was sorry for putting Jenna with Alex. That was what he regretted most.

Sitting up after lying around for a couple hours, Josh looked across to his balcony window and saw Jenna wearing a rather fancy dress, that looked new.

Standing up and walking outside, Josh leaned against the railing of his balcony and watched Jenna tie her hair up, fussing with herself over what hairstlye looked best.

Just a few seconds later, Jenna turned and smiled. Opening her door as she stepped out into the cold night air, she stood and looked across at Josh. The guy was frowning, which puzzled her.

"I forked out a bit and got it this afternoon" Jenna smiled, looking down at the dress. "For the prom... What do you think?

"I think it's great" Josh answered flatly, confusing Jenna. He had no energy to express himself anymore.

"Yeah?" Jenna asked, walking closer to where she then leaned across her own balcony railing.

"I mean, it's..." Josh trailed off, before figuring he should be honest. What did he have to lose? "You look perfect."

Looking down and hoping her hair covered her cheeks as she started to blush, Jenna shrugged. "Do you reckon Alex'll like it?"

"Are... Are you sure about him?" Josh asked, taking a step back. "I mean, are you really sure?"

"What are you talking about?" Jenna laughed quietly, looking up with a smile.

"Alex!" Josh exclaimed before frowning when Jenna didn't reply or show any response.

Josh knew he would have to be completely truthful someday, so he was going to have to tell his best friend everything and hope for a positive result.

Who was he kidding, though? As if this was going to go down easily.