Josh was walking down the street, his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans, as he sauntered along the sidewalks. A faraway expression resided on his face while he casually strolled along. His thoughts were whizzing through his head as busy as a printer, when all of a sudden his thoughts were interrupted by someone calling his name.
"Josh!"
Josh turned around slightly, glancing behind him to see Luke running up the sidewalk, trying to catch up to him. He turned around completely, rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels, as he waited for Luke to reach him.
"Hey Luke," Josh greeted casually as Luke stopped in front of him, panting a little from his sprint to catch up to him.
Luke put his right hand on Josh's left shoulder, hunching down slightly as he continued to breathe hard. He shook his head as he continued to pant.
"Hey....man....you have got....to slow....down," Luke said breathlessly. "At the rate you walk, other people have to run to keep up. Geez."
Josh grinned. "Sorry about that, Luke." He patted Luke's left arm with his right hand. "I guess all those track practices must have paid off, huh."
Luke nodded knowingly. "Tell me about it. Man, you're too fast."
"Well, on the bright side, you've caught up, finally. It was about time," Josh teased. "I was wondering when you'd finally catch up."
Luke made a face at Josh. "Ha ha. Very funny, speedy gonzalez. Anyway, where'd you go after we all went to the coffee shop? We were wondering where you wandered off to. Get lost?"
"Oh, well, I, uh....had to go take care of, um, something," Josh said vaguely. He shrugged his right shoulder and glanced down at the ground, keeping his hands deep in his pockets.
Luke raised an eyebrow, looking at Josh curiously. "Really? Take care of what?"
Josh shrugged again, shaking his head slightly as he looked away from Luke. "Just....something." He turned and started to continue making his way past Luke, but Luke quickly stepped in front of him, halting him to a stop.
"Okay, quit beating around the bush. Something is definitely up with you, so you'd better spill the beans right here, right now," Luke ordered.
Josh looked at Luke in surprise, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Come on, don't play innocent here. I know something is up with you. Just now, you've been moseying along like you're on cloud nine. You're hiding something; I can feel it. All of us knew something was going on with you earlier today, the way you were acting all strange before," Luke told him.
"I wasn't acting strange before," Josh protested, defending himself. "Nothing strange about the way I was acting."
Luke raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no? So then I guess you have a good explanation as to why you were so particularly defensive when Matt was bugging Kristyn Cambridge before, huh?" He gave Josh a pointed look.
Josh froze at the sound of Kristyn's name. He had been hiding his feelings and was able to pretend that he didn't know what Luke was talking about. But after hearing Kristyn's name, he suddenly felt as though he could no longer prevent his true feelings any longer. They were beginning to seep out into the open, whether he wanted them to or not.
Josh looked away from Luke, lowering his gaze to the ground. He slowly turned away from Luke, still averting his eyes downward, avoiding Luke's intent inquiring stare.
"Ah ha! I knew it," Luke declared. "You're hiding something; it was so obvious. You may be good at running, but you don't have much skill in hiding your real feelings, you know."
When Josh still didn't answer, not even raising his eyes to meet Luke's, Luke decided to continue taunting Josh about his conscience.
"I knew it all along, I knew it all along. You're hiding something, you're hiding something," Luke sang in an annoying tone. "You're hiding something, you're hi-- "
"Okay, okay, okay!" Josh exclaimed exasperatedly. "All right already! You're right, all right? You're right! Now will you please quit it and stop singing that already??!"
Luke grinned mischievously. He gave Josh a sly sideways glance. "Fair enough. I got you to admit it. It was about time. Now, how about telling your old pal what is it exactly that you're hiding, hmm?"
Josh made a face. "What, you really expect me to tell you what's on my mind, after all that annoying badgering you gave me? You've got to be kidding me; forget about it." He started to walk away.
"Hey, nonono noooo....wait up, Josh," Luke said quickly, as he hurried after Josh, grabbing Josh's left arm and pulling him to a stop.
"Come on, man. I was just kidding," Luke said truthfully. "Just messing with you. You know that, don't you?"
Josh rolled his eyes. "Well in case you haven't caught on yet, this isn't really the time, much less the circumstances for you to be 'messing around.'"
Luke's eyes widened a little. "Whoa....this is serious, isn't it?" His expression that was just scrunched up in a mischievous grin suddenly underwent a transfiguration into a concerned look that was completely serious. "Hey, Josh, sorry -- you know, I was just messing with you....just joking around. No harm meant."
Josh sighed. "Yeah, all right. It's okay, I guess."
"So....umm, are you willing to tell me what you got on your mind?" Luke asked timidly.
Josh looked over at Luke, giving him a stern look. Luke quickly held up his hands.
"Hey hey hey....all right, all right. I get the message. I'm not going to force you to tell me anything you don't feel right about saying. It's okay," Luke said. "No big deal."
Josh glanced down at the ground again. "Actually, there has been something on my mind, that I kind of need to get out and off my chest now...."
Luke's head perked up immediately. "Okay, well, you know you can tell me anything you have on your mind, Josh. You know that." He gave Josh a serious look. "Come on, man -- we've been friends since forever. Whatever you have on your mind, you can say to me."
Josh hesitated a little. "I know, but...."
"Really, you can confide in me," Luke said seriously. "You can count on me."
"Well...." Josh sighed again. "Okay, fine -- I'll tell you. But first, you have to swear not to tell anyone else yet, especially none of the other guys. I mean it -- not a single person. And no more pestering. You got it?" He gave Luke a serious look.
Luke nodded quickly. "Yeah, sure. Of course. I promise, I won't tell a soul."
"All right then." Josh nodded. "Okay, well....you know how you said that I was acting strange before about stopping Matt from getting on Kristyn's case?"
"Yeah...." Luke said slowly.
"Well....I did it, because I....well, I think that she's a really nice girl, and that....well, you know....she didn't deserve to have to deal with the hard time that Matt was giving her," Josh explained.
"Right...." Luke said, hanging onto every word Josh spoke.
Josh kept his eyes on the ground, as he began to scuff the bottom sole of his sneaker against the concrete ground. "But anyway, it's kind of more than that, though...."
With that, Josh proceeded to recall the entire scenario of him following Kristyn to the library, walking her home, their encounter with Matt and Robin, his apology at her house, including all the details and without leaving out a single thing. Luke's eyes kept widening after every sentence Josh said, and he kept nodding slowly as he registered each situation Josh confessed to him.
After Josh was finished, Luke shook his head in disbelief, pushing back his hair with his right hand. He couldn't quite believe the whole situation his friend just told him about.
"Wow," Luke said finally, not being able to say any other word.
"Wow....what?" Josh asked, giving Luke a curious look.
"I mean, well, that story....that whole situation....I mean, gee, that was so....so....so....I don't even know. It was just kind of surreal, I guess," Luke said slowly.
Josh gave Luke a queer look. "Okaaaaay....well, that's one way of looking at it, I guess," he said uncertainly.
Luke cocked his head to one side, and looked at Josh questioningly. "So...."
"So....?" Josh looked back at Luke inquisitively, not following where his friend was getting at.
Luke took a deep breath. "So....how do you feel about her.....Kristyn, I mean," he said finally.
Josh's head shot up immediately. Hearing Kristyn's name seemed to have that effect on him, catching his full attention every time he heard her name spoken. "How do I feel about her?" he repeated. He looked down at his feet. "Well, I, um...."
"Hey, Josh, did you know that the other day I asked Kristyn to go out with me?" Luke spoke up suddenly.
Josh turned around sharply, glaring at Luke. His brown eyes darkened as they pierced into Luke's eyes in a fierce stare.
"What??!" Josh echoed loudly. "No, you can't! You couldn't! You didn't! You don't even feel anything for her!"
Luke folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow at Josh. "You're right....I didn't." He paused. "But it looks as though I know who does feel something for her." He gave Josh a knowing glance.
Josh sighed, as he ran the fingers of his left hand through his dark blond fair hair. "Luke....aw, man. Don't do that, okay? Sheesh." He shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I can't believe you just did that. Not funny."
"Hey, sorry about giving you a jump out of your skin there. But it was the only way I could get you to fess up to your true feelings toward her...." Luke said simply.
Josh sighed again. "Well, you got me, I guess," he admitted finally.
Luke shifted from one foot to the other. "So, then," he began. "You like her, don't you?"
"Well, I...." Josh stalled.
"Last time I checked, she doesn't have a significant other, does she? In that case, maybe I could give her a call sometime...." Luke started.
"You'd better not!" Josh snapped abruptly, glowering at Luke. "Don't you even dare!"
Luke stopped talking, and looked at Josh, raising his eyebrows while giving him a knowing look. It was a, 'Did-you-really-think-I-was-serious?' type of look. Josh looked down at the ground sheepishly.
"I said not to do that," Josh muttered.
"And I asked you to tell me how you feel about her," Luke retorted matter-of-factly.
Before Josh could say anything, Luke held up his right hand to stop him before a single word escaped from his mouth.
"You know what? You don't even have to say anything. It's as clear as day," Luke proclaimed.
"What's as clear as day?" Josh wanted to know, giving Luke an anxious glance.
Luke raised his eyebrows at his friend. "Come on, man. What do you take me for. I'm no oblivious fool. I can see things coming when they come. Don't be in denial with yourself. Just admit it."
Josh rubbed his forehead with his left hand. "Admit what?" he asked tentatively.
Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head. Josh is one oblivious dude, he thought. He looked back up at Josh, who was looking at him; his expression was a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Luke demanded. "I think you know, but you just don't want to admit it to my face."
Josh shrugged. "Then I guess you'll have to spell it out for me. Tell me what is 'as clear as day.' Go on, I'm listening." He gave Luke an urging look. "Go ahead....just tell me."
Luke stared at Josh for a long time, giving him a blank look, not believing how much Josh was avoiding the obvious. He also couldn't believe how Josh managed to turn the tables around, making him be the one to tell Josh what he had been hiding, and not the other way around like it was supposed to be. It was just simply that Josh couldn't say the words to him; the way the circumstances stood, it seemed as though Luke would be the one to have to put the words in Josh's mouth for him, since he couldn't seem to get the words out on his own. Josh knew perfectly well how he was feeling and what was really on his mind; he just couldn't say the exact words out loud by himself, for whatever reason.
I know it, and he knows it too, Luke thought. Somehow, he just can't admit it out in the open quite yet; the guy is in complete denial. Well, we'll just have to see about that. He turned back to Josh, giving him a pointed look.
"That you're in love with her," Luke stated flatly.
..:o:. Chapter 24 .:o:..
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