Chapter 7

When I got home after school I was surprised to see Josh standing on the porch waiting for me. "Hey Amanda" He said helping me with my school books.

"Umm...Hey. What are you doing here?" I said looking around for one of Joshes gang members. He was alone; again.

"What, cant I come to say hi to my favorite girl?" He said with a huge smile on his face. I don't know why but this made me laugh. I showed him around the house and made him a cup of tea. We talked and talked. We talked about parties, school, gymnastics (that's why he looks so familiar) and all sorts of other stuff.

When Jackie got home from the beach, where she had chosen to spend the day, I introduced him to her. At first she was like "What the hell are you doing here? Weren't you the one who tried to kill Amanda?" but after I explained to her that he was good now and had apologized she loosened up a little.

Eventually Josh had to leave because he had a meeting to attend to. "Amanda, if it's alright with you, I'd like to take you to dinner this Saturday" Josh said. I looked around thinking that maybe this was a joke or something. We were out on the porch and it was dark.

"You mean like a date?" I asked.

"Yeah, exactly" he replied. I wasn't sure if I was ready for a new boyfriend but Jackie kept saying that I need to find someone new. Now I was.

"I'd like that" I said trying to keep a smile on my face even though I wasn't so sure if what I'd said was the right thing to say.

"Cool. I'll pick you up at 7. See ya!" and he was gone. I slowly made my way back into the house. I couldn't believe what had just happened.

I sat down with Jackie at the dining table and we ate dinner. "So, do you really think that Josh has changed?" She asked seriously.

"Totally." I answered.

"But he tried to kill you! How can you believe that he has changed and wants to be your friend? Maybe he is still trying to get back at you by hurting you while you're an easy target. You're still off the rebound." She said almost shouting.

"I believe everyone should get a second chance and he cares about me now." I said hurt that she would think that I'm an easy target for boys. "Besides, you told me to find a new guy, now I have" I said finishing my dinner and going to my room.

I closed my bedroom door trying my hardest not to slam it. I sat on my bed and started my homework. I started with the hardest, Algebra. I worked on it for about half an hour. Then I got bored. I got onto the computer and logged in on facebook. No one was on that I wanted to talk to. I finally ran out of things to do on facebook and went to sleep.

In the morning I woke up and jumped out of bed with a smile. I couldn't wait till lunch, to talk to Josh (if he was there). I was so happy even Jackie dressing me up didn't annoy me. She made me wear a red skirt with black leggings accompanied by an "I kissed a vampire and I liked it" top. I had blood red lipstick and deep black eyeliner on. I looked pretty damn sexy if I say so myself.

I drove my M3 to school listening to Kiss Me by New Found Glory. I looked around the school for Josh but I couldn't find him. I went to first period, English with Mr. Dinkin without a word. Even with all the make-up and the good clothes, none of the popular people will talk to me. Vonnie and Bec are nowhere to be seen. In English we started reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I have read that book a million times and absolutely love it. It was a good start to the day.

Drama with Ms. Heftie was next. I saw Bec in this class but she didn't even look at me. Something was definitely going on. But I let it skip my mind and went on with the acting. In PDV, Ms. Leila let me take notes which I reluctantly wrote. It was so boring but I tried my best to stay focus. I think we were learning about hormones but I can't be sure.

At lunch I rushed to the hill. Half way up the hill I see Josh lying on the grass looking up at the sky. I found my self with a huge smile spread across my face. "Hey Josh" I greeted him. He sat up and I sat down next to him.

"Hey babe! I was waiting for you" he said taking my hand. It didn't feel warm and controlling like the way it did when Nate took my hand. It felt more...hard and overpowering.

"Really?" I was, once again, surprised that Josh would do that even though I wanted him to be here.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you some thing" he said.

"What?" I really wanted this to be over so that I could ask my questions.

"Instead of dinner this Saturday would you mind going to a party with me and a few friends. It's just that I got invited and being the leader of the gang I have to go" he said biting his bottom lip. I thought about it. A party would be so much fun. But then again I did like to drink at parties and if I get drunk, Josh could take advantage of me. I looked at him. He has been nice to me lately.

"Sure, that would be fun" I said unsurely. I'd just have to try not to drink too much.

We talked about the party for a while. What we were going to wear, who's going to be there and how fun it was going to be. I didn't know any of the guys that were going to be there but Josh said that he would introduce me. We lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky. There were only a few clouds and there were no birds flying around. It was quiet. It was only Josh and me. "Why did you want to kill me so much?" I asked turning over to face him. He slowly turned over to face me too.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" he said with a sigh. His eyes sparkled in the light.

"Ok, later" I said smiling.

I sat up and looked around. It seemed like whenever I was with Josh no one was around. He sat up too, his eyes deeply gazing into mine. For that one minute the world was on pause. It was only me and Josh. His hand softly brushed my hair away from my face and held my face. Our faces were getting closer and closer. His lips reached mine and we began to kiss. It was soft and slow. Nothing like the way Nate kissed me. Nate kissed me passionately and willingly, hot and fiery. I started to imagine Nate kissing me. No. This isn't right, thinking of someone else kissing me when a guy just as sweet is kissing me.

After a minute he pulled my face away. But he kept the space between us to a minimum. "Amanda, I really like you, you know" he whispered. I did like Josh but not in that way. I wanted to see him again so that I could ask all those questions but I didn't want to lie to him. "I know" I said. The bell went and he kissed me goodbye. I went to class with a smile on my face and was happy for the rest of school.

At the end of the day I walked out of school and walked to my car. It was sunny still and the heat on my face made me smile once again. As I turned the corner to the parking lot I was once again I was surprised. Josh leaning against my car smiling at me. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" I asked when I was in ear shot of him.

"Well, I just can't resist ya" he said grabbing my hips and giving me a kiss.

"Do you want a ride home?" I asked pulling away. I went around the car and got in.

"I thought you'd never ask, but I was wondering if I could hang out at your house today?" he said putting his arm around the back of my seat and facing me.

"Why?" I asked confused. What would Josh have to do at my place?

"I just thought we could hang out a little. Just you and me." He said holding my hand.

"It's always just you and me" I pointed out. We both laughed.

"Please, please, please" he begged. He put on this really sad puppy dog face. How could I resist?

"Ok" I said giving up. What could happen?