Mrs. Matthews has her arms crossed. Riley has her hands clasped together and she is shaking them vigorously, "PLEASE!"
Cory is laughing with Auggie from the table. Grandma and Grandpa Matthews were already set up in the guest bedroom. Maya was hovering at the door with her hands pushed deep into her pockets. What Riley was asking was not going to happen.
"No." Mrs. Matthews says coolly. Cory already told her that he didn't care, but he knew that his opinions wasn't going to matter on this particular topic. Riley stamped her foot and then threw her left arm out towards Maya. She walks over and fakes happiness at Mrs. Matthews.
She raises her hand and shakes it, "I understand. This is a family holiday and I should be with mine when they wake up." Maya then turns to Riley and jiggles her elbow, "I'll be here in time for lunch, kiddo. Open mine first, though."
Riley knows the reason that her friend makes this request. Maya cannot spare much, and what she is able to spend she usually has to spend it on essentials like school lunch, extra groceries, or school supplies. This time of year, though, Riley knows that she uses every free penny towards a present for her, and of course for her mother. Riley turns and hugs her friend, "Promise."
As Maya strolls out of the Matthews' apartment, back in her original outfit, she tucks her hair back into a side ponytail so she can pull her hat on and easily navigate her scarf. Just before she gets to the door she feels a hand grab her arm. Maya jerks away instinctively and crouches with her hands balled into fists. When she sees who it is, she places her hand delicately around his wrist.
"Never scare a girl who lives in the dark part of the city. You'll get yourself punched in someplace that's not your face." Maya's eyes widen and then glance downward, hinting exactly where she would've attacked him were they someplace less safe. Joshua chuckles at her.
"My past is darker than any alley you've been stuck in, but I think I get your point." The pair of them are suddenly be laughing about shared miseries. As their cheer dies down slowly, Joshua pulls out a piece of paper that's folded in half. Maya takes it cautiously before peaking inside in a dramatically coyly-uncoy fashion.
She smirks before taking out her phone and tapping the number into a "new message" box; "Is this how they do it in Philly? Everyone stuck in the Stone Age where flirting with a pretty girl means writing your phone number on notebook paper?"
"If we're going to play the lame game – your 'heart' joke…" Joshua starts but Maya quickly stomps on his foot. Its both a ploy to shut him up before he starts making fun of her with his handsome face, and also so she can get close enough to him…
Joshua sees in Maya's features what she's going to do, and even though he's seen a girl look this way at him before – it has never been quite as captivating as it is on her. Instead of waiting for her to make the move he pressed a kiss bravely at the edge her jawline, just below her ear.
As they are pulling away surprise takes over Maya's expression. She nods her head curtly before abandoning him in the hallway. Joshua was glad to have given his number to her, which he just knows she won't throw away, because he didn't even get to say 'thanks' to her for letting him tag along as her date.
Riley is sitting with Auggie on the couch, reading to him from a book that plays on the "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" theme. Only this book is about Santa's Claus' grandson actually finding 'Grandma Claus' after being knocked over by Rudolph. Joshua is able to slip and sneak to the kitchen without anyone asking him why he's left.
It doesn't last for long, though, because soon his phone goes off. He glances over his shoulder back at his father whose phone is also buzzing. Joshua lifts his phone up so as to announce that he's taking care of it. When his screen lights up he answers a phone call and excuses himself to the guest room where his parents are staying.
"Joshua Matthews." He answers his phone dully, just another routine call.
The expected voice on the other end coughs before forming an actual thought, "Routine call, Mr. Matthews. Your father just replied via text that you were back before curfew."
His free hand covers his eyes, feeling as though the nightmare was replaying itself. Every time he heard his officer speaking to him… It was just another reminder of all the wrong turns he's taken; "Correct. Activities included family gift exchange, boring dinner party with my cousin and her friends, back home for bed. No plans for tomorrow at this time."
"You're on probation, Joshua, not in hell. You can have fun! You just can't have the same kind of fun you was having before, buddy." Nobody wants Joshua's success more than Office Blake. OB, as Josh calls him, always tells him that probation tells him when he can go somewhere, and when he can go, and punishes him more quickly if he breaks the law; suggests all the time that he just think of probation as a 'play pen' so that good kids making bad decisions can be protected from their own curiosity.
Like babies.
A text nearly makes Josh pee his pants, seeing as he wasn't expecting it, but when he pulls it away and sees an unfamiliar number his heart races; "It's not that I didn't have fun. I did. I actually went on a date with a girl who is definitely on the right path. The drive was just long and I'm pretty tired… Hear back from you in approximately ten hours?"
OB sniffles, "Make it twenty-four. Think I've got the flu. Besides, my babies gotta open they presents before daddy gets back to work." His hearty laugh warns Joshua that his officer is feeling all right about him being out-of-state. There was hesitation, according to his parents, because New York obviously has all kinds of nightlife that could get Josh back into trouble. "You enjoy your evening."
Before Joshua is able to wish the same to his officer, "And keep this good girl by your side. Maybe she'll show you a thing or two worth picking up."
As soon as he hears the click he whips his phone away from his head and grins.
A/N: Some of you may noticed I increased the rating from K+ to T just because the themes might be more mature than what I think is suitable for 9 years old. Particularly with the background I'm developing for Joshua Matthews - definitely geared towards teen audiences and older. Just so you know why I made that change.
12/5/14; I recently deleted the chapter titled "texting on the holidays" because I was personally not as pleased with the product. As you can see below a couple of reviews suggested the same. I will be rewriting that chapter to make it fit in more appropriately with the story, also so that the texting betweene characters makes more sense.
