Josh and I spent the rest of the day winning and losing equally. It was actually really, really fun. I had forgotten what a great time we used to have together. I was, in a way, happy that he knew; there were no secrets, and no lies. We could just be real with each other; we could just be friends.
"It's getting kinda late" he smiled, as I shut off the television. "I should probably go"
"Yeah, you probably should…" I agreed.
"You wanna hang out tomorrow? I'll pick you up around noon." He smiled, walking backwards towards the door.
I hesitated but smiled and said, "Yeah that would be cool….and Josh?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I'm really glad you remembered." I admitted.
He smiled, "Me too"
After he was gone, I sauntered up the stairs for a shower. During my nightly routine of showering, the putting on of pajamas, brushing of teeth, and washing of face; I made a pact. I promised myself that whatever happened this summer, would be between me and Josh, and me and Josh only. I seem to be the only one who believes that a spy can genuinely be friends with a civilian, so it's better if no one knows. Yeah, I swore under oath that I wouldn't see him anymore, but what's the worst that could happen? I mean, we are just friends. No one will find out. Josh won't tell anyone, and neither will I. I'm not doing anything wrong…right?
The next morning, I was awoken by a rather loud noise. It sounded like a crash, or Liz falling down the stairs. I tossed on some black sweatpants over my boy shorts and dashed out the doorway to see what was going on. I walked down a couple hallways until I found Josh, lying on the floor under a portrait of Gillian Gallagher.
"Ummm...A little help here?" he asked when he noticed me staring at him.
"Do I want to know?" I asked, pulling him up.
"Probably not" he admitted.
I was taking note of Josh's dark wash jeans and t shirt when I realized he had been walking around the school when I was asleep and I hadn't noticed. That's when I began to doubt his intentions. What if Josh had remembered and talked to someone about it? What if that someone was a government official? What if he was now a honey pot?
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked angrily.
"Whoa....What did I do? I was just here to pick you up, it's 12:30" he said, confused.
Okay, so I slept in, that doesn't mean he's off the hook.
"Why didn't you just ring the bell?" I asked, slightly less angry.
"I figured I don't know...I was welcome here?" he asked.
"Yes, you are welcome here, when supervised by me." I informed him.
"What, you don't trust me?"
"God, I cannot believe this!" I yelled. "You don't give a damn about hanging out! You just want to know about all the secrets!" I began to storm away.
"No! Cam, it's not like that!" he tried as he grabbed my arm to keep me from getting away. I used an advanced P&E move to pin him to the wall.
"What is it like?" I asked, desperately hoping he had a good answer.
"I swear to god, I only came here to pick you up. I couldn't find you, so I was looking for your room and I got lost. It's a pretty big school. You have to believe me." I knew he was telling the truth, but I stayed quiet.
"Don't you trust me?" he asked.
"..." I let him go.
"Oh...that's how it is, huh? You know what, forget it. This whole thing was obviously a mistake. I thought you knew me better than that! I can't believe my intentions are being questioned, after what happened last year! Why is it that you get to question whether I'm trustworthy after all that's happened? And I forgave you! You know what, never mind....I'm out. Have a nice life." he finished walking away.
"Josh, wait!" I called after him. He took a wrong turn.
"You're going the wrong way!" I finally caught up with him. "Don't go, C'mon." I begged. "Just show me out. No talking." he spoke.
I could tell he didn't want to do this right now, so I respected his feelings and led him to the door which he proceeded to slam in my face. I headed to the kitchen for some cereal. He was right, and I was wrong. God I hate it when I'm wrong. I overreacted. I should've known that Josh would never do anything behind my back. I decided to go find Josh and apologize. I fixed my hair and makeup, and made myself presentable in jeans and a t-shirt before I headed to his house. During the walk, I thought a lot about last year, when Josh and I were together, and I thought about Zach. Maybe, hanging out with Josh again would be a good thing. It would keep my mind off Zach and his mission. Maybe Josh showing up right after Zach left is a sign or something.
When I knocked on the door, Josh's mother answered.
"Cammie?!" she asked. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she pulled me into a hug. Talk about awkward.
"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Abrams, is Josh around?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's just upstairs, I'll get him."
A few moments later, she returned with an annoyed and angry Josh in tow. I was beginning to get the feeling that Josh asked his mother to cover for him, and she said no.
"Can we talk?" I asked, once his mother walked away.
"Josh! I'm taking your sister to tumbling! I'll be back in a few hours! No snacking or you won't eat your dinner. Bye, Cammie!" she called, before going out the back door.
Josh continued to stare at me, emotionless.
"Can we talk?" I asked. He moved aside and let me in. After he slammed the door, he walked to the kitchen, grabbed a glass of water and ignored me.
"I'm sorry."
"…"
"Josh, C'mon. Don't be like that. Just here me out." I pleaded.
"Fine. You wanna talk? Let's talk." He snapped, turning to face me.
"I'm sorry-"he cut me off
"Yeah, you said that" he turned to go up the stairs.
"Would you just let me finish!" I yelled, following him to his room.
"What are you doing here, Cam?" he asked.
"I'm trying to apologize. Look, you were right. I have no reason to question your motives. It's completely unjustified especially after what happened. I'm sorry. It's just, this is new to me, I've never done this before. I'm trusting you with the most important thing in my life. It's just hard for me, but I'll get used to it. I DO trust you. I promise." I finished.
He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was no longer angry. I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He hesitated, but hugged me back.
"Can you forgive me?" I whispered into his ear.
"I don't know can you forgive me?" he asked, I could tell he was smiling.
"For what?" I asked confused.
"For this!" he laughed before picking me up and tossing me over his shoulder.
"No, no, no! Put me down!" I laughed.
He laughed, but tossed me on his bed.
"So we're cool?" I asked.
"Absolutely" he smiled, jumping on top of me.
"Good" I smiled back.
Josh wrapped my arms around his neck and tossed a blanket over us.
I'm not exactly proud of what happened next…
