AN: Yay! This is up early! I can't wait to see what you all think of this. And remember, I'm open to the negatives too. I want to know what to improve on. Anyway… here it is:
Chapter 8
Meeting up with Josh was becoming an almost daily occurrence. Josh still seemed to be hiding something, he was almost, apprehensive about it, but he refused to talk to me about it.
Josh and I were alone in the library studying. I tried again to get him to open up. For once, it worked. "I have to take a ton of mood regulators, okay? I never tell anyone. It makes them nervous."
"Oh." It was all I could think to say. Oops. I suddenly felt the urge to tell Josh something I had never told ANYONE. I felt like I could trust him. I opened my mouth to speak, but Josh cut me off.
"I knew it was a bad idea to tell you. Go ahead. Leave." Josh said, turning away from me.
"Fine Josh. I'll leave. I was going to tell you something, but if you really want me to leave, I'll leave." I started gathering my things, biting back tears.
"Reed, no. I'm just scared. The only person outside my family who knows is Thomas, and he gives me shit for it. I was scared it would happen with you."
"You should be able to trust me. I was going to tell you my deepest, darkest secret." The tears stared flowing and the last few words came out only as a whisper.
Josh strode over to me and pulled me into a tight embrace. Whispering over and over "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Reed." I knew now I could trust him. He was just so sincere, but I couldn't get my emotions in check.
I don't know how long Josh and I stood there for. Eventually my sobs just became tears, and those soon faded away. "Reed, I'll understand if you don't want to tell me anymore, but I want you to know, I'll be here for you if you need me, for anything."
I looked up at Josh. I wanted to tell him, I really did. I took out a deep breath and said "My mom's a drug addict. She's horrible, she treats me the worst. She hates me for coming here. But it's not like she cared in the first place really." It felt so good to get it off my chest finally.
"Oh Reed." Josh said, pulling me into another embrace. I knew Josh would understand.
We were just standing there, when I felt Josh tense up. My head whipped around to see what had made him so mad. Noelle was standing there. "Boy Scout, leave. I want to talk to Reed." Noelle said. She was really different than the day I met her that day at lunch
I turned to Josh and asked "Boy Scout?"
He just said "I'll explain later."
"Hollis, I'm waiting. I need to talk to your little 'Girlfriend'"
I opened my mouth to correct Noelle, but Josh shook his head. Apparently I should just ignore the 'Girlfriend' comment. I don't think I'll ever get the way things work here.
Josh looked at me, silently asking if I was alright if he left. I nodded. Josh shot Noelle a final death glare before he left.
"Listen, I know you're new here, so you don't know how important this is. I'd like to invite you to join Billings." Noelle told me.
Wow. That was unexpected. I thought. Constance had told me about Billings. I knew what she would say, but I was torn.
There was a bang behind me. Noelle and I both jumped. I walked to the other side of the bookcase and saw Josh standing there looking very guilty. He was red in the face with anger. I told Noelle I'd get back to her, and she left.
I said to Josh, "You sure you're not stalking me?" I had to lighten the mood otherwise our next conversation would be way too stressful.
AN: So I had more time than I thought this week, so it's up early. What did you guys think? I honestly want to know EXACTLY what you liked and hated. I really want to make this the best it can be. Next update will be within a week!