Chapter 8

  Josh sat panting in the back seat of Alan’s mother’s car. He was freaking out, he had to be home before midnight. “Mrs. Alan’s Mom, can we please go a little faster?” he asked nervously.

     “Sure Honey,” she answered.

     Josh felt the car speed up a little. Jenny twists in her seat and looks expectantly at Josh. “So, tell me all about your dance with Patricia,” she smiles and moves here eyebrows up and down.

     “Not now Jenny, I’m trying to concentrate on getting home,” Josh said.

     “Well that’s not going to make the car go faster and Alan’s mom is already going 10 miles over the speed limit,” Jenny inquired. “Now tell us.”

     Josh sighs. “It was just any other dance. She was sad because her date stood her up and I just wanted to make her feel better,” he explains.

     “Awww! That’s so sweet!” Jenny and Alan’s mom exclaimed.

     Josh couldn’t help but blush. “I was just being nice, I don’t understand what the big deal is,” he says defensively.

     “It’s Patricia!” Alan argued.

     “I don’t understand what the big deal is about her. She’s just a girl,” Josh argued.

     “A girl who’s going to be completely in to you after tonight,” Jenny added.

     Just then the car stopped into front of Josh’s house. He jumped out and quickly thanked everybody for the nice night. He rushed into the house, not noticing that the door was unlocked.

     “Did you have fun at the dance?” came James’s irritated voice.

     Josh stops dead in his tracks. “James,” he breathes in shock.

    “You have an interesting way of showing respect for your father’s wishes,” he continues.

     “What ‘wishes’? He never said that I had to stay home,” Josh argued.

    “He never said he could go either,” James snapped back. “Now because of you my girlfriend broke up with me.”

     “Uh I’m not the one who went behind her back and kissed every other girl in sight!” Josh hollered.

     James crossed his arms over his chest, “Who were you dancing with at the dance?” he asked.

     Josh walked past him and headed towards his room. “That’s none of your business now if you don’t mind, I have to work tomorrow,” Josh told him.

     “Dad will hear about this,” James called after him.

     Josh ignored him and got himself ready for bed. The next day Josh woke up earlier than usual. The only thing he had dreamt and thought about all night was the dance. ‘I wonder if she is still thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about her,’ he wondered and rolled over onto his back. ‘She probably wouldn’t want me if she saw who I really was though.’ He laid there for almost an hour before his alarm clock finally did go off. After shutting it off he rolled out of bed and got ready for work.

     Josh worked as a waiter at the local Big Boy. He’d be there on Saturdays and Sundays for six hours and on Fridays for four hours.  Since he wasn’t there on Friday, he had to make up the hours; two hours today and two hours on Sunday. After showering and dressing in his uniform, Josh headed towards the kitchen to make breakfast. Vincent stood in front of the doorway with his hands crossed over his chest and a scowl was painted clearly on his face. Josh looked over his shoulder into the living room and spotted James sitting on the couch watching TV.

     “James here says that you snuck off and went to the dance, without doing your chores,” Vincent accused.

     Josh faced him and folded his arms over his chest. “I didn’t sneak to the dance, I went to the dance. Also I did do those chores that you left me. Believe it or not I’m such a skilled cleaner that it only took me about an hour to finish them,” Josh stated plainly.

     “I never said you could go to the dance,” Vincent growled.

     “You never said I couldn’t either,” Josh countered.

     Unable to think of a comeback, Vincent stepped aside and let Josh into the kitchen. After quickly getting breakfast ready and calling the local bus for transportation, he called Joan.

     “Hello?” Joan’s voice sounded on the other end.

     “Hey Mrs. Acker-er-Joan. I was just calling to see how Mary was doing,” Josh told her.

     Joan’s voice was cheerful. “She’s great! She had so much fun trick-or-treating. She stayed up until ten sorting all her candy. Do you want to talk to her?”

     “Sure.”

     “Alright, hang on a minute,” Josh heard Joan call Mary’s name.

     “Hi Josh!” Mary squeaked into the phone.

     Josh couldn’t help but smile. “Hey there squirt. Mrs. Acker tells me that you scored a bunch of candy last night,” Josh says in a playful voice.

     “I sure did! I even saved a pile for you,” Mary told him excitedly.

     “That was very sweet of you Mary,” Josh tells her. “Hey I have to go to work now will you put Mrs. Acker back on the phone?”

     “Okay, I love you Josh!” Mary squeaked.

     “I love you too Mary, I’ll see you later,” Josh listened as Mary handed the phone back to Mrs. Acker.

     “Hello?”

     “Thanks again for watching Mary for me Mrs.�"er�"Joan,” Josh told her and shook his head when he messed up on her name again.

     “Oh it’s no problem. You best be getting off to work now. I’ll see you at three.”

     Before Josh could say anything she hung up. None too soon to since the public bus beeped it’s horn outside. Josh grabbed his work hat and headed off to work…..

     Josh carried a large platter with three plates of hamburgers and fries. He set the plates down in front of two eager little bays and their father.

     “What do you say boys?” the father inquired to his boys.

     “Thank you Waiter,” they chanted together.

     “You are very welcome. If there’s anything else I can get you guys then call me over,” Josh tells them and leaves them to eat.

     After dropping the large platter off in the kitchen, he grabbed his rag and wiped down a table and pocketed his $3 tip. He watched as a group of his peers sat down at a table. He rushed over to them, grabbing 4 menus as he did so.

     He recited his proper lines and placed the menus down in front of them. “Hello, welcome to Big Boy. My name is Josh and I will be you waiter tonight. Can I interest you in something to drink?” He pulled his order pad and looked at them. His body froze as he realized that it was Patricia and a group of her friends.

     “I would like a Mountain Dew,” a boy named Richard Sparks told him.

     Josh stared at Patricia for another minute before shaking himself from it, he quickly scribbled down Richard’s request. One by one the group told him what they wanted to drink and watched as he quickly scribbled it down and scuttled away.

     “What a freak,” Ashley said after Josh left.

     Patricia kept her gray gaze on him until he disappeared into the kitchen. “Something seems oddly familiar about him,” she stated her mind still lost in thought.

     “You’re not saying he’s the one from the dance are you?” Ashley asked with a gasp.

     Patricia met her gaze. “I’m not sure,” she said before casting a quick glance at her purse. In it was the poem book that her mysterious Prince Charming had left behind.

     “Oh enough with this Prince Charming character!” another boy named Thomas snapped. “Let’s just talk about something worth talking about!”

     Ricky nodded in agreement. “Yeah I’m sick of hearing about your special night too.”

     Patricia sighed, ‘They just don’t understand,’ she thought to herself. She let the boys change the topic to sports. But she paid no mind to them; her thoughts kept drifting to the boy to whom she danced the night away with.

     Josh hurried back to Patricia’s table and handed them their drinks. After giving them their straws he pulled out his notepad and pen. “Are we ready to order?” he asked politely.

     “Yeah I’d like a burger and fries,” Thomas told him.

     “I’ll have the same thing,” Ricky added.

     “I’ll have some chicken tenders,” Ashley said.

     Josh quickly wrote down their orders before he turned to Patricia. “And-erm- What would you like?” he asked shyly, his face blushing slightly.

     Patricia gave him one of her dazzling white smiles making him weak in the knees. “I would just like a salad,” she says simply.

     Josh smiled weakly and wrote down her order. “Okay, I’ll get your orders out to you as soon as possible and I’ll take your menus,” he said and took the menus from Ashley’s hands and turned away.

     When he reached the kitchen he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Patricia’s table. He sighed as he handed the cook their orders. ‘I wonder if she’ll ever recognize me,’ he thought. Josh shook his head, ‘That’s highly unlikely, I wore a stupid mask.’ After spending the next 20 minutes attending to other orders and busting tables, the order for Patricia’s table was finally ready.

     “Here I go,” he breathed as he carried the large platter of food to their table. “Burgers and fries for the men. One order to tenders for the lady and one salad for the other lady.” He set their plates down on the table. Tucking the large platter on the tale he continued, “If there is anything else I could get you then�"“

     “�"I would like more Mountain Dew,” Richard interrupted and handed the glass.

     Josh took it politely, biting back a retort. “Enjoy your meal,” he said coolly and rushed off to re-fill Richard’s drink.

 

     Patricia stared after him, she couldn’t help but feel this nagging feeling in her gut. There was something familiar about him but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. ‘This is going to bug me I can already tell,’ she thought. When Josh returned, she took the short time to study his face closely. Her eyes narrowed.

     “Were you at the dance last night?” she asked him.

     Her friends stopped talking and stared at her. Josh was also giving her a bewildered look.

     He turned away, his face turning red. “Uh, no. My brother was though. We are identical twins you know,” Josh said quickly before turning and walking away.

     “What was that about?” Ashley asked when Josh was out of ear shot.

     Patricia sat back and sipped her drink. “No reason,” she stated.

     Ashley shrugged and continued her conversation with Thomas and Richard. Patricia watched her friend silently. Her thoughts drifting back to what Josh had told her. ‘If Josh wasn’t at the dance, then his brother must have been my Prince Charming,’ she reasoned. When she went back to school on Monday, she made a mental note to go and talk to James Armstrong.

Reviews

[char]

Ha! Josh just killed himself with an "Uh, no." Some guys, huh? Your story is good so far. Josh is awesome. But it seems like he doesn't lack for confidence when he was wearing the mask. Be cool if he was actually like that. And he basically handed Patricia away. Fun stuff.