Chapter 9
The two friends arrived at Patrick's house and knocked on the door. Their friend's mother let them in.
"I'm so glad you're here. Maybe you can get Pat to come out of his room. How are things by the way?" She asked. Joshua looked over at Samantha and smiled.
"A lot better now Mrs. McCarthy." He said. Samantha wasn't sure what was on Joshua's mind but his spirits had risen considerably during their walk.
"Good. Well I'll leave you alone then." Mrs. McCarthy smiled. Joshua and Samantha made their way upstairs and to Patrick's room. Joshua knocked on the door.
"I said I wanted to be left alone!" His friend shouted.
"But its us!" Samantha protested.
"Sam? Josh?" Came the questions.
"Yes. Its us." Joshua answered. Slowly the bedroom door opened and the friends entered.
"Dude, you have to get yourself out of here." Joshua remarked.
"I feel horrible. I can't go anywhere." Patrick said.
"Why do you feel horrible? You and Joshua saved a lot of people yesterday." Samantha wondered.
"I didn't help enough. There had to be more I could've done." Patrick told them.
"No. You did what I told you to do. You saved a lot of our classmates. Besides if I thought you didn't do enough would I be here?" Joshua asked. This thought made Patrick smile for the first time in a while.
"You guys are the greatest. I'm so lucky to have you as friends." Patrick said.
"I think your mother would love to see you." Samantha told him. Pat hugged her and shook Joshua's hand. Then he went downstairs to talk to his mother.
Samantha and Joshua were walking back toward his family's apartment. They were both glad that Patrick had been cheered up. Their family had been through a rough patch only a year ago when Mr. McCarthy was killed in a hunting accident. That had been part of the reason Joshua didn't want him out in the hall if a gun was involved.
"Samantha, can I ask you something?" Joshua wondered.
"Sure. What's on your mind?" She asked.
"When you brought my bike back the other day and you were talking to me, what did you mean when you said that we shared more than I thought?" He inquired. This made her stop in her tracks. Joshua stopped and turned to her.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"I uh…" Samantha's cheeks went red.
"Maybe you had better sit down." Joshua helped her over to a park bench. Unbeknownst to them it was the very same park bench that Sportacus had had his sugar meltdown all those years ago. When Joshua sat down on the bench the strangest feeling came over him. He looked at Samantha, who noticed the look on his face.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
"I'll be fine." He said abruptly. Samantha reached over and took his face ion her hands. Joshua was burning up.
"We should get you home." She said. She helped him off the bench but he collapsed to the ground. Suddenly, Sportacus arrived on the scene.
"What's going on? My crystal went off." He asked.
"I wasn't feeling well and he helped me over to the bench and then he wasn't feeling well…" Samantha didn't get a chance to finish. Joshua sprung up and stood facing his father. There was a funny look on his face. Then fifteen year old moved away from Samantha and his father.
"I need to speak to Samantha." He said flatly.
"Son, I…" Sportacus started.
"We'll talk later." Joshua said almost ordering. Normally, Sportacus would have pulled Joshua aside and told him to watch his mouth but he didn't. Instead he did something else.
"Joshua. You'll have to talk to Samantha later. We need to talk now. I can't be chasing you all over LazyTown. We will finish our conversation that we started earlier." Samantha was surprised by the tone that Sportacus had used. Usually he never said anything stern to anyone unless it was warranted.
"We can talk later." She told Joshua.
"Samantha go to the apartment. Your parents are waiting there." Sportacus continued his stern tone. She nodded and ran.
To Be Continued…