content warning: this chapter slightly contains sexual related topics


HAYLEY'S POV:
School finally ended. I needed an answer from Josh before I am even caught dead at that party. I would definitely not go alone. Jaelyn seems very nice right now. It's a shame Josh won't give her a chance, but first off I need to find out what he was hiding from me. Could it be that bad?

I approached him steadily when we got out of school. We were supposed to walk together, as always. "Okay, Josh. Confess," I said too quickly. I hoped he didn't feel pressured in any way.
"We need to get out of here first. Starbucks, Hayles?"

Oh my God. He called me Hayles...where did that come from?

"Hayles?" I asked, probably wide eyed. "Yeah. Don't you like nicknames?" he replied. "Y-yeah, sure." I agreed. Of course I liked it. I had a nickname. From him. "So anyways, stop changing the subject. Are you nervous to tell me? Is it...embarrassing? Scary? Sad? Does it hurt to..."
He cut me off and pressed a finger to my lips. "I'll tell you when we get there, okay?"
I pulled his finger off. "But Josh..." I began, with a whiney voice I didn't expect to come out of me, "You said right after school. You're avoiding the subject. I mean once we go on walking I'll start thinking about other things and forget what you're supposed to tell me, I'm sure. I'm not that good at remembering, that's why I'm so nostalgic. I like to remember. I'm just bad at it."
He laughed at me. "Hayley it is..a bit hard to say. I don't know how you will take it." Josh looked at me with a scared expression.

"You know you can tell me anything, right? We're on the brink of being...best friends." I blushed. He chuckled. "Yeah, I know, and I can trust you. But it's super personal. I haven't even told my parents, or my brother."
"Woah, woah, woah," I said, stopping him, "You have a brother and you didn't tell me? I don't remember you telling me."
"Well so-rry." he replied obnoxiously. It was joking, though. "He's younger than me," he continued, "and he's awesome at drums. He's pretty cool. Maybe you can meet him. We don't interact much at school."
"You guys are brothers and you don't interact? Or even walk home together? What is wrong with you?" I said. Then I hit my head. "Oh my God he's at the same school and I don't even know him. This is just plain crazy."
"Again..sooooo-ry." His extended 'O's stretched out the word for a good four seconds.
"I don't understand this. Why didn't you tell me? It's like you don't tell me anything."
"Hayley we aren't dating. You don't need to know everything." Josh told me. That one hurt a bit, but I didn't show my feelings. I was hiding behind this mask. I looked up at him real quickly, but looked away. I couldn't tell him now. Maybe when he tells me this 'hard to tell' news of his then I might tell him I like him. Could I, though? How would he take news like that?

When we entered Starbucks, Josh breathed in deeply, smiling contently. "Don't you love the feeling you get when you walk into this place? It's just so coffee house."

"That's kind of because it is a coffee house." I told him, laughing a bit. Josh nodded and looked at me. "So do you want anything? I'll pay for it."

"I've got money," I countered.

"Come on, I'm trying to be a gentleman here, Hayley," he told me. I smiled back. "What happened to Hayles?"

"Oh I'm sorry, Hayles," he said, correcting himself and giving me a joking eye-roll.

"Just get me a blueberry muffin and vanilla bean frap. Never tried it but I want it," I said with a laugh.

"Okay, coming right up," he said with a waiter's voice.

Once Josh came back with the food, I took a quick sip and stared right into his eyes. "I'm serious this time, tell me. Don't think I've forgotten."

"I was hoping you did," Josh began, on-edge. He took a sip of his coffee and then gazed into my eyes. "But here goes..."

I listened intently.

"So I've been invited to more than one of Jaelyn's parties. Of course, I used to date the girl. But the party that changed my entire life was her summer party. It was blazing hot, but her house was air conditioned. Duh, she's rich. Anyhow, everyone wanted to hang out there, it was the hot-spot of the summer. Or, cool-spot, since it was air conditioned...er, irrelevant. Anyways, so she called me, inviting me over. The party started around ten o' clock, like her usual parties do, super late..."

I interrupted. "So I'm going to have to go around ten? Crap! My parents would never let me. Unless I..."

"Can I continue? I could gladly stop and listen to you. I don't like this story," Josh asked, with a partly irritated, partly happy expression.

"No, continue," I apologized, staring into his eyes again.

"Okay, so moving on, Jaelyn's party was around ten, and yeah, I was stoked. She was seriously the best looking girl on campus and I didn't see past her... evil ways. She was just so...hot. I felt lucky enough I was dating the girl. Then again, I was a young, horny teenager," he chuckled and then continued. "Man, was I wrong about her. She just used me and made me do something I seriously regretted."

"And what was that?" I asked.

"Well, around eleven thirty or so I was totally wiped out. I mean I took a couple drinks and a few shots, not sober anymore. It amazes me I remember this experience. Jaelyn grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and began to make out with me next to the bar."

"She has a bar at her house?" I asked again.

"Yeah, she does. I mean her parties are wild, Hayley. So anyways, the next thing I knew we were sneaking into her bedroom and she was pulling out a box of condoms."

I gasped. This story was starting to cause some impact. My chest ached slightly.

Josh paused and look down at his drink, shaking his head. "She told me to use them and next thing I knew we were in bed and she...well, you know. Any other guy would probably like it, I mean Jaelyn's a nice catch, but I didn't. I hated what she made me do. She's a bit of a phsyco. At least now you know why I avoid her."

"But what about the campfire? You invited her."

"Only because I thought you two were friends," Josh replied.

"We are so not friends and I think you would have figured that out. And why think about me, anyways? About what I want?" I asked him softly. The story was still processing through my brain, it was hard to comprehend due to the pain I felt.

"Well...Jaelyn invited herself in a way. Like I explained before. I honestly would settle for her friends, without her, but wherever her friends go she goes. Oh, trust me Hayley her friends are a lot nicer than her overall."

"Alright then. I understand this is hard for you. I get why. We might as well not go to that party, right?" I meant it this time. Who knows what she wanted to do to Josh there. Hell, Jaelyn could just be using me

"Hang on..." Josh began, his expression different, like he just had an epiphany, "what if I could get some sort of revenge on her? We'd have some of my friends pitch in on it. You could even meet my brother."

"Oh finally!" I said sarcastically. "Because you never told me about him."

"No, but seriously Hayley. I want my revenge against that girl. Haven't you heard that revenge feels sweet?"

"I hate her too. And though my goodie-two-shoes insticts are coming in, I still feel like after what she did...she deserves her punishment. Okay. Let's do it."

"But we need a plan first. Hey, after school tomorrow want to come over? My parent's aren't home until six-ish. You could hang out at my place for a while," he offered.

"Uh...yeah. Done deal." The only thing wrong with that plan is I don't know what my parents will say after I ask permission to hang out over at a guy's house. Oh dear Lord help me.