I wasn’t late enough to risk a slip, but I was late enough to turn heads. My sneakers slapped the floor with purpose as I pushed through the front doors of Westside High. The hallway buzzed with its usual morning chaos—lockers slamming, distant gossip, backpacks half-unzipped and spilling papers everywhere. None of it slowed me down. I had one goal: find Josh and smother him. I rounded the corner, and there he was, propped up by my locker like he’d been waiting all morning just for me. For once, he didn’t look like a popsicle. His shoulders didn’t hunch, and his eyes didn’t dart. He just stood there, calm. I didn’t bother hiding my grin as I closed the distance between us. Everyone watching should understand by now. This boy is mine.
I stopped in front of him, close enough for the space between us to sizzle. For a half second I thought about teasing him, saying something cute, stretching it out. But nah. Enough waiting. I threw my arms around him, squeezing tight. He hugged me back without hesitation, and I felt him loosen up, like the weight he carried around finally slid off for a second. And just like that, the morning was exactly how I wanted it.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Dustin Jacobsen watching, eyebrows raised like he’d just put two and two together. Too late, Dusty. You blinked, you missed it. Out of range. That only made me hug Josh tighter.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and tilted it toward me. “Look at this.”
On the screen, Jacqueline and their dad were side by side in the living room, trying the latest Social Bunny dance. Jacqueline nailed every move with her usual confidence, but her dad—oh, Watcher. He was a whole beat behind, arms flailing like he was fighting off invisible bees.
I burst out laughing so hard I doubled over, grabbing Josh’s arm for balance. “For someone who loves dancing so much, he sure is terrible!”
Josh was grinning from ear to ear. “Right? He made us practice it like five times last night, and that was the best take.”
“Oh my Watcher,” I wheezed, still laughing. “Please tell me you’re posting this.”
“Already did,” he said with a smug little nod.
The bell shrieked overhead, jolting me back into school mode. I straightened up, still giggling, and started down the hall. When I glanced back, though, Josh was still standing there.
“You’re not coming?” I asked.
He pointed at his locker a few steps away. “Gotta grab my stuff. I’ll meet you there.”
My heart did a little dance again. How sweet is it that he’d waited for me so long he didn’t even have himself together yet? I would have preferred walking to class with him, but my heart was still dancing. I slipped into the classroom and sat in the back. First one there—ugh. I dug out my textbook, flipping to the unfinished homework from last night. My pencil hovered over the page, but my brain was still buzzing, too tangled up in him to focus on supply and demand curves. The door creaked open. Josh walked in with a little extra lean in his step. He had rizz now, no question. That half-smirk sealed it—new, different, and aimed straight at me.
Then Breanna strolled in, eyes darting from him to me like she’d just cracked a code. Her smirk stretched wide as she slid onto the floor beside his desk, all casual, like she belonged there. She flicked one glance back at me that said everything without a word. I rolled my eyes, heat creeping into my cheeks. Cousins—always ready to make your business theirs. Before I could recover, Mr. Hanks strode in and clapped his hands at the front.
“Alright, everyone, settle in. Business waits for no one.”
He droned on about market trends with a voice so flat he could put a llama to sleep. My pencil tapped against the desk. The words on the board blurred into static. Across the room, Breanna kept tossing me sly looks over her shoulder, her smirk growing every time my eyes flicked back to Josh. I couldn’t help it. Every few minutes I found myself staring at the back of his head, waiting for him to turn, to glance at me again, to give me something. He never did. Breanna caught me mid-stare and mouthed something dramatically—busted. I shook my head and tried not to laugh, sinking lower in my seat. Thankfully, the torture didn’t last long.
Mr. Hanks finally closed his book and put the cap on the marker. “Alright, in case you forgot, today’s schedule is different. There’s no second period today. After lunch, head to the gym for the career fair. Have a great day.”
The room erupted. Books slammed shut, chairs scraped the floor, voices murmured, and I exhaled in relief. Career day had never sounded so good. I bolted out of class the second Mr. Hanks dismissed us, tossing my books in the locker like they weighed nothing. No way was I wasting time—I wanted to catch Josh as soon as he entered the gym. Rows of empty chairs waited, and Mr. Hanks sat in the front row like he was guarding the place. Great. First one here again.
Then the doors swung behind me, and Josh walked in. I spun around and spread my arms out as if to welcome him. “You ready for a big day of boring careers?”
The sarcasm caught him off guard, but he still gave me a delicious grin. “Guess we’ll see. What about you? Already know what you wanna do with your life?”
We walked together toward the front row, as far from the exhibit as possible. “I don’t have to figure it out right now. My family has money. I can do whatever I want.”
“Must be nice.”
I shrugged, though my chest felt heavy all of a sudden. The guest speaker behind us had already started booming into the mic, going on about hard work, passion, and building a future you could be proud of. All the things grown-ups say when they want you to believe everything’s fine. Except I knew better. At home, smiles covered cracks. And if that’s what the future looked like, I wanted no part of it.
A soft nudge at my arm pulled me back. Josh leaned closer, his voice carrying just enough to cut through the noise of the gym. “If I end up broke, you’ll toss me a couple of juice boxes, right?”
I laughed so hard heads turned. “Juice boxes? That’s your survival plan?”
He shrugged, dead serious. “Hey, can’t be picky if you’ve got no simoleons.”
I shook my head, still grinning. “Wow. Dream big, Josh.”
“Already am,” he shot back, eyes lingering on me a second too long.
I am most definitely in trouble.
