Chapter 17 – Josh's POV

Start Me Up

https://youtu.be/SGyOaCXr8Lw

"What does it mean when a girl tells you she'll never touch your penis again but then tells you she'll see you next week right after?"

Todd doesn't answer me. He hasn't answered any of my questions so far. He's just staring at his computer screen, working on our app.

I'm on my second bag of dried shredded squid, lying on Todd's couch staring at his ceiling. There's nothing particularly interesting on his ceiling. There's nothing interesting on any ceiling, really.

I just don't feel like being home and alone right now, and Blake has school.

I munch on a piece of dried squid, kinda contemplative.

"Of all the things that could have been wrong with her, she had to be a Beatles fan," I mumbled to myself.

This is the time Todd decides to give me attention.

"I can't keep ignoring this. Seriously? Seriously? You went out with a horse girl that admitted to doing peanut butter on the cooch shit with her dog, you went out that kept telling you to spit on his face, but you draw the fucking line at liking the Beatles?"

I grin, looking his way. "She was very vocal about her love for them. And she said she didn't like the Rolling Stones."

Todd sighs, leaning back in his chair. "What's wrong with liking the Beatles? You know sometimes you're such a fucking hipster."

I snort at his outburst. "What?"

"You don't like them just because they're mainstream, and everyone knows the Beatles. People know the name Rolling Stones, but in general can't even tell you one song title. You like that."

Well, now I'm a little annoyed. "Excuse me. Sir Michael Philip Jagger is my confusing sexuality icon."

"So, you don't like his music? You just like the fact that he fucked David Bowie."

I grin sheepishly. "I also love his music."

Todd shakes his head and turns around, staring at his screen again. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you right now. I'm just encouraging your stupid behavior."

"She said I was hot. Well, she called me a tone-deaf hottie, it's the same thing, really," I say, kinda to myself again.

I've dated a lot of people in my young life. I'm weird, really weird, so not that many people have been able to really surprise me. This girl managed to do it though. Every week, I have no fucking clue what she's going to do. And I love it.

I like being surprise. I like it when people do things I hadn't expected. Well, nice things, not mean things.

Also, she's got soft skin, a nice voice and apparently a problem with wearing underwear, so like, what's not to like?

"Josh, you can stare at my ceiling all you want it's not going to give you any answers. You know what will? Actually asking the girl," Todd tells me.

"I can't. I don't have her number. I have no way of contacting her. I can only meet her at the flea market."

"Seriously?" Todd sounds done with my shit.

"It could actually be a romantic premise," I start saying contemplatively, and then start narrating, "We could only meet at one place. We were never meant to be, but we could, for just a moment, meet at the flea market and be together, before we both had to return to our own world."

Todd throws a pen at me. "You need goddamn help."

"Nooooo. I need her hand in my paaaaants," I tell him, kicking my legs around.

"Fucking deviant. You better not try to make out with my brother the second he steps in because you want a distraction again. I'll tell him you're thinking about a girl if you try to kiss him," Todd warns me, glaring.

I wiggle my eyebrows at my friend. "I never think about girls when I kiss your brother, only dolphins."

"I walked right into that one. I only have myself to blame," Todd says, looking emotionless, like I've scarred him for life.

I enjoy this.

"Smooth skin, squeaky scream when I touch him at—" I start to say but Todd throws another pen at me.

"My brother Josh, my goddamn brother. Shut your whore mouth."

I blow him kisses. "Whaaaaaat shooooould I dooooooooooo?" I whine, throwing my head back.

"Go to the flea market this weekend and ask the girl her fucking name and her phone number," Todd answers.

It's the logical thing to do.

So, like, I'm obviously not going to do it.

"But, like part of the appeal is not having any of these," I explain.

"Josh, I swear to god, I'll be coming with you and I'll bribe her into giving you her info."

"I don't think she'd take bribes. She looks like she'd rather burn the institution rather than be bought by it."

Todd looks at me strangely, before saying, "You're making her out to be something a little too extraordinary Josh. You don't know her. You've made to with her but you don't actually know her. Don't fall for a version of this girl that only exists in your head."

"Deep. But it's okay, I could never actually fall in love with her since she likes the Beatles. Can you imagine? She'd probably want our first dance at our wedding to be on And I Love Her."

I shudder at the thought. I have no problem with getting married, I'm not the broken boy in a romance novel that needs to be against marriage to drive the plot and create conflict once the main characters do get together. I only have a problem with a bad first dance song.

And like the blood diamonds. I have a lot of problem with blood diamonds.

"I really don't get people who have absolutes when it comes to music," Todd says, "Like, how can you completely hate something. Bad music is still music and any music is good music."

I roll my eyes at him. Who's being an idiot now? "Bad music is bad music Todd. Even my stupid ass knows this."

"Look, it's like even ugly dogs are cute. Even bad music is fun music. I like a bad song. It amuses me."

I snort, and munch on more dried squid. "Yeah, but that's only because you're a well-balanced human being and I'm not."

"When's the last time you went to see your therapist?" Todd suddenly asks.

I do have a therapist, like any person who went through any kind of trauma should have. I just don't see him that often. I think I can manage fairly well on my own.

I've got the tools I need to not break down when I argue with my father or when things don't go my way, or when I miss my mother, even though I never really knew her.

"I'm seeing him right now," I tell Todd and blow him a kiss.

Todd flips me off and says, "Go talk to your therapist."

I sigh heavily. "I would, but I can't trust him anymore. He snitched on me to the people at Sea World."

"I'm not going to ask. I'm not going to ask," Todd repeats.

"I only snuck in once at night after closing hours in a dolphin wet suit."

Todd shakes his head. "I did not ask. I did not want to know."

"You kinda looked like you did though. I'm pretty sure the reason why you're friends with me is because you secretly love all my deviant comment. You too, dream about the soft skin of dolphins." I wink at him for effect at the end.

"It's their pointy beaks he thinks about. Honestly, you talk about dolphins all the time, but you never mention their dick beaks?" Maddox says, coming into the room.

I hadn't heard him come in. I wave at him frantically with a big ass grin.

Maddox is good looking. I don't know why I always forget this fact every time he's not standing in front of me.

When I think about Maddox, I really just think about his soft skin.

"It's too easy of an option. I have a better imagination than that. Also, nice voice and soft skin is my sexuality," I answer him, and offer him some of my snacks.

"Are you kicking him out, or am I kicking him out?" Maddox asks his brother, chuckling.

"Hey, hey, hey, so it's really bros before hoes, huh?" I tell him, feigning hurt.

"Josh, just eat your snacks and stop being a little bitch. And go see your weird girl this weekend."

"Wait? Josh found himself a girl as weird as him?" Maddox asks, surprised.

"Weirder I'm assuming if she's that attractive to him," his brother replies.

"I'm right here," I remind them.

"Oh yes you are," Maddox croons and throws himself on top of me. I lose my breath over the sudden weight and it makes it hard for me to laugh and also whine.

I grab his face and try to push him off of me, put he puts more of his weight and I yelp in surprise.

We kinda fight on the couch like that until he sits at the other end, my feet on his lap. He puts on a show on TV and we sit there, chatting while Todd yells at us anytime we flirt too much, working on his computer.

As I look at my friends, I think it'll be okay if I never actually see flea market girl again. I'm already lucky to have great friends. And they actually like the Rolling Stones.

I will not expect anything. That way I won't be disappointed.

I repeat this many times in my head.

I will not expect anything. That way I won't be disappointed. 

_____________

Hello, hello! Sorry it took so long to upload this story again.

But I do have good news. If you didn't know this, I will be uploading this story on Thursday every other week. 

Yay! :P

Thanks for your patience! Gotta go sleep now. See you all in two weeks! :D