Author's Note
: I was beginning to wonder if I'd submitted the right chapter 8 – so many people were alluding to a Dawn/Jacquie scene. Hopefully these next few chapters will prove to most people that I am
not
about to trivialize this story. Yes, Dawn is a complete minx, but that doesn't mean the rest of the characters are going to start behaving that way. Just stick with it and you'll see what I mean.
* * *
Chapter 10
Sunday was, relatively speaking, one of the dullest days Josh had lived through in recent times. Having engaged in all manner of unsanitary acts with two of his sisters, he found that the amount of homework he had waiting to be completed was astounding. So, he locked himself in the study and set to it
The time seemed to go by both quickly and slowly at the same time. When Josh was
in
the study, working through yet another maths problem or English essay, he found that the minutes crept by at a snails pace. When he left the study for a break, however, he found that two or three hours had slipped by and that the sky outside was an entirely different color from when he had last seen it.
He didn't see much of anyone during the day, except for one brief visit from Jacquie who crept in silently and wrapped her arms around Josh's neck from behind.
"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.
"Homework," Josh replied simply.
"Need help?"
"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."
"Can I bring you anything? Are you hungry?"
"Not really."
"How 'bout a massage?" Jacquie asked, and without waiting for an answer, began kneading Josh's shoulders with her hands. Josh, not having experienced a massage before – that he could remember – found this extremely comforting and shut his eyes to revel in the feeling of Jacquie's tender soft, tender hands.
"That feels nice," Josh complimented.
"Do you have a lot of homework?" Jacquie asked.
"Heaps."
Jacquie ceased rubbing Josh's shoulders and leant her face down close to his. "Better let you get to it then," she said, kissing the side of his face and then leaving the room as quietly as she had come in.
Barring this incident, Josh didn't have any contact with any of the other members of the house all day. He even forwent dinner so that he could finish up his last essay with no interruptions. When finally, at around nine-thirty, he had completed enough of his homework to see him through the next week, he made his way into the kitchen for a glass of milk. After he had drained it, he stuck his head into the living room where all four women were sitting watching TV, mumbled a hasty goodnight and retreated upstairs for a welcome night's sleep.
* * *
The next morning, a Monday, Josh found staring at his face in the mirror with mingled delight and boredom. So it was gone, finally. But did it really matter now? The main reason he had wished away the accursed pox was so that he could talk to Valerie. And
that
hadn't turned out well. Still, it was better than the alternative.
After showering, dressing and pillaging the entire house for a clean pair of socks, Josh lumbered downstairs and greeted Jacquie as civilly as he could. Monday mornings were always terrible, regardless of how he felt.
"Morning sunshine," Jacquie replied. "You feel like breakfast?"
"I'll eat it on the way," said Josh, grabbing a slice of buttered toast off what was presumably Jacquie's own stack. He stuck it into his mouth and tore off a corner.
"Bye," he mumbled through his mouthful as he opened the door.
"Have a good day!" Jacquie called out just before Josh shut the door.
The weather outside, like Josh's mood, was somewhat neutral; there were cloud covering most of the sky, but none of them were grey or heavy with rain. The sun was making a feeble attempt to warm the streets and there was a slight breeze, but at least it wasn't wet.
Josh took his time getting to school, neither anxious nor reluctant to get there. When he did finally arrive, he found his friends at the gates, who greeted him pleasantly enough before they all started towards the locker bay.
Dean, one of his friends, a blonde, outspoken kid, fell in step beside Josh. "How you holding up?" he asked.
"Huh?" Josh replied.
"Valerie. You're OK now?"
"Oh...yeah. Fine."
Dean nodded and they continued to their lockers in silence. Once Josh had deposited his bag and collected his books for morning classes, he joined his friends once more as they headed off for roll call. A voice, however, stopped him before he could leave the locker bay.
"Josh," it said, obviously female. Josh turned around and saw Valerie standing behind him. He swallowed instinctively and felt his face begin to burn.
God, I thought I was over this
, Josh thought. She was still a vision, however, and still the subject of many of his dreams. She was, to use a relevant comparison, something of a mix between his three sisters. She had light brown hair that she almost always wore in a simple, yet elegant ponytail; skin that looked coated in ivory; and a smile that set Josh's world on fire. And then there was her sense of humor, her kindness, her intelligence, all of which Josh had discovered through mere observation, and all of which he had apparently been wrong about.
"Can I talk to you?"
Feeling both insecure and slightly annoyed, Josh stuck his hands inside his pockets and tried his best to sound nonchalant. "I have to get roll call," he said, hoping she would just leave him to his tortured thoughts.
"I won't take long," Valerie replied.
Josh looked into her eyes to try to discern the vein of this 'talk' she wanted to have, but found that he couldn't. He just hadn't looked her in the eyes often enough – or indeed, at all – to be able to tell what she was thinking. All this time spent obsessed with her and he had rarely even seen her this close. He found himself staring at her feet, which were clad in the regulation brown school shoes for the girls (the boys' were black). Above that she wore the usual knee-high white socks, plaid skirt and maroon woolen jumper. She never wore the uniform in the lewd way that some of the girls did, but she never failed to look astonishing in it.
"Fine," Josh replied at length, nodding his lowered head. He followed Valerie in the opposite direction to which most of the students were walking in, out into one of the courtyards. At lunchtime, it would undoubtedly be overrun by hormonal teenagers all vying for their places amongst the social landscape of the school. Now though, it afforded them a few minutes of privacy.
Valerie stopped as they neared a small group of benches and turned to face Josh, once again reminding him how elegantly beautiful she was. Her beauty was a lot like Alice's, not showy or gaudy or crotch-stirringly erotic; he beauty was in her simplicity, in the simple clothes she wore and the simple ponytail she drew her hair into. She was the kind of girl Josh fell head over heels for, which he was sure he had done on at least one occasion.
Usually confident, but never conceited, Valerie was now alternating between looking at Josh's face and down at the ground while she twisted her hands together inside the joined sleeves of her jumper. Josh decided to start, as he would be late for roll call if this took too long.
"So...you wanted to talk to me?"
"Yeah, I did." Valerie swept a stray tendril of hair behind her ears using her fingers, which were protruding adorably from the end of her sleeve. "I was wondering if...maybe...you wanted to go out sometime."
Josh resisted the urge to clean his ears out, which he would have done if he had been speaking to Dawn. Valerie was...asking him out? He didn't get it.
"I thought you said I wasn't the type of guy you went out with?"
"I know," Valerie replied. "But I was being a real bitch. I was worrying too much about what other people were thinking and not about what you were thinking, or...what I was thinking."
"What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that...it might be nice to get to know you better."
Josh was dumbfounded, shocked, a little giddy and very, very confused. "You're serious?" he said.
"Yeah, unless you still hate me for what I said...which, I wouldn't blame you for."
