Unexpected

14

A/N: Sorry for the huge delay, I just hated what I'd written so it went through a massive overhaul. Enjoy!

"Alright class that's a wrap! Enjoy your Friday nights!" Josh bellowed smiling at all the women shuffling past him. I lingered towards the back, wanting to be the last person so I could actually talk to him without a bunch of extra eyes on us. "Don't you have a party to get to?" Josh asked, going over to stack up the mats.

   

    "The cool people don't get there until at least ten," I retorted, and Josh let out a loud guffaw.

    "I must've not been very cool then," Josh joked, and it made me pause. Up until now I had never thought to imagine who Josh would've been in High School, which group he would've been a part of, and how he would've behaved. If I was being honest, I'd kinda just pictured Josh to be exactly who he was now but that wasn't fair, that was robbing him of three years of growth and change. "You look a little lost there Betzing."

    "Sorry, sorry," I said, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. "I was just trying to picture you in High School. To be honest I kinda picture you exactly the same way you are now."

    "Nope! I was scrawny, and I straightened my hair," Josh added with a laugh and I couldn't help but join him. "You would've thought I was a total dweeb,"

    "I'm gonna need a picture to believe that," I joked, and Josh shook his head at that.

    "You're not seeing a single one of them," Josh retorted, and I threw him a mock glare. I would give my right arm to see a picture of dweeby looking Josh, maybe then I'd be able to get over my feelings for him.

    "It's going to be weird after this class is over, I won't see you very often," I remarked, and Josh paused in stacking the mats.

    "We'll still see each other," He disagreed, and I couldn't help but frown at him.

    "When?" I asked before I could stop myself.

    "We can go on jogs or I can see you around the gym," Josh offered, but I knew things were going to change. Maybe seeing Josh less would diminish my feelings. At this point I was willing to try anything; I couldn't imagine being burdened with these unreturned feelings for years and years.

    "I don't know that I'm going to join the gym," I admitted honestly, it was expensive and with school and sports who knew how much time I'd actually be spending here.

    "You're not?" Josh asked sounding a mixture of shocked and dismayed.

   

    "Well I don't know," I murmured truthfully.

    "I want you to," Josh said, staring me deeply. A big part of me wanted to immediately agree, just to see his trademark grin light-up his face. A part of me would do anything to make Josh happy and I knew I had to work on curbing that impulse.

    "We'll see," I settled on and Josh gave me a nod and a half grin which I chalked up as a win in my book.

    "So—" Josh began, but was interrupted by a female voice.

    "—Josh you almost ready to go?" Denise asked from the doorway, and I felt my jaw visibly drop. Denise was Josh's date? Looking at Josh's guilty expression I knew it was true. I guess it made sense if he didn't want to date a 'child' Denise was the polar opposite of that. She was at least twenty-five and was pretty in a dangerous sort of way, I could understand why most guys would give her a second look. Her ample cleavage, sleeve of tattoos and her dyed hair made her sexy while I would probably only ever be considered cute. We were ying and yang, and that was probably why Josh chose her.