"Hey Joy, Whatcha drawing?" Patricia asks me, walking in with Eddie. I jump and hide my notebook.
"What, nothing!" I say and blush. 'Really Joy?' I think. Eddie raises his eyebrows and snatches my notebook from under my pillow. "No, Eddie don't!" I grab for it. He pulls it away from my hand, smirking. I groan and lay back on my bed. He flips through it and smirks again. Patricia looks over his shoulder and laughs.
"Hm, what's this Joy? Does someone have a crush?" Eddie smiles. I roll my eyes and reach for it again. And again he pulls it away. Curse my shortness!
"Eddie, can we not talk about this? He doesn't like me like that." I sigh and hide my face under the pillow. He starts poking me so I look up.
"Hmm, Joy Clarke does have a good ring to it, I think." He teases. I blush and go to hide under the pillow, but Eddie steals it.
"Eddieeee." I whine. I give Patricia a look but she laughs. I think they enjoy torturing me.
"Yes Clarke? Oh, sorry, I meant Joy. You guys would make such a cute couple. Don't you agree guys?" There's more people!? I look behind Eddie and see KT, Bry, Nina, and Fabian standing there, smiling. Is this Torture Joy Day or something?
"Oh yea, definitely." KT says, laughing. Nina walks up next to the bed and sits on the edge of it. "Guess what? I'm pretty sure Jerome likes you Joy. Bryan said he saw some drawings of you in Jerome's sketchbook. Right Bry?" He nods, making me sit up and smile. The four of them leave to get ready for school, so now its just Patricia, Eddie, and me. I lay back down on the bed and blush even harder, Nina and Bry's words setting in.
I can hear Eddie walk away and Patricia sit on the bed next to me. "Why do you care so much about what Jerome thinks? Joy, I'm not gonna say things like this often, but you're awesome, even though you're incredibly stubborn, you're beautiful, funny, feisty, adorable, sweet, and my best friend. Who cares what a weasel thinks?" She says and rubs my back. I look up at her and smile slightly. "There's the Joy I know." She smiles back.
"Joy? Patricia? Are you up there?" Trudy calls us.
"Yeah, we're in Joy's room. But we'll be right down." Patricia yells back. "We have to get back to school." She tells me.
"Joy Mercer. What do you have there?" Miss Valentine asks. I look up from my careful drawing to see her looking over my shoulder. I quickly cover it with my arm and look away. "Nothing Miss."
"Joy, why don't you show the rest of the class your beautiful notes." I sigh and hold my paper up, which is filled with little doodles of Jerome and our names in hearts. The class bursts into laughter. But he looks at me and raises one eyebrow at me. I blush and put my head down.
"Okay, class dismissed." Miss Valentine says and lets us go a little early. I rush out and head straight to my locker. I open it and suddenly feel two hands on my waist. I spin and nearly fall, but am help up by the hands on my waist. Looking up, I see whose hands they are. Jerome Clarke.
"Hey Joy. Who knew that you were such a good artist." He smirks. I blush and look down again, but he lifts my head. "Hey hey, no need to be looking down, I'm up here." I look into his blue eyes, and I can even feel my face getting red. I almost look down again, but he does something I didn't expect. He kisses me. And I kiss back. I can feel so much, love, passion, and question. He breaks the kiss and trails down my neck lightly. I moan softly, and he stops.
"Did the Joy Mercer just moan?" He smirks.
"Psh, no. Why would I do that?" I smile back.
"Cause you like me?"
"Where'd you get that idea?"
"Hmm, maybe from the hearts. And a little blonde birdie told me. He goes by the name of Eddie."
"Excuse me, I have to go hurt that little birdie."
"Joyless, he's harmless. Don't you wanna stay with me?"
"Nah, I'd rather be beating Mr. Miller."
"Lies!"
"Would I lie to you?"
"Maybe."
"I would never!"
"So you did moan?"
"Yes. I mean no. Maybe?" He smiles and kisses me again. I smile into the kiss, living in a dream until Patricia walks over and ends it.
"Well, it seems that Jerome does, in fact, like you. You're welcome." She smiles and hugs Eddie. I kiss Jerome again, hoping not to be interrupted. But that hope was short-lived.
"OMG, Jeroy is official!" Amber squeals. I break the kiss again and see the entire house crowding around us. Even Eddie and Patricia. But everyone was standing in couples. Fabian and Nina, Eddie and Patricia, Alfie and Willow, Mara and Mick, Amber and Asher (Ross Lynch), KT and Bryan (Callan McAuliffe), (my oc's) Natalya (Ellona Santiago), Juliette (Willow Shields) and William (Dakota Goyo). The girls are about three years younger than us, because all the other houses were full. So they stuck them here. But they're sweet, so we don't mind. Ash, Will, and Bry are new too. Bryan shares with Jerome and Alfie, and Will and Ash are in the basement. And Jules, Willow, and Nat are in the attic. So we still have room for another boy to stay.
"Congrats Joy!" Nina says and hugs me. I hug her back and smile to Jerome, who still has his arms around my waist.
"Awww, Jeroy scrapbook time!" Amber squeals yet again and starts snapping some pictures. I just roll my eyes while Jerome bends down to my ear and whispers "Do you wanna show her something?" I shiver but nod anyway. He cups my face and kisses me hard. I melt into him and he, yet again, trails down my neck. He stops and looks at me. I smile at him.
"Joy, I have one thing to ask. Would you like to go on an official date with me?" I nod and give the biggest smile ever. "Meet me in the hall at 8." He smiles back and leans to kiss me until Amber interrupts him. "Sorry lover boy, but we need to get Joy ready." They whisk me back to the house and into Amber's room. In less that five minutes, they have an outfit. A black tank top that's tied in front, light wash jean shorts with a tribal print on one leg, black sandals, a black strapless bikini top, and a black and white striped bikini bottom.