that was then*
chapter 02
Josh walked down the main corridor of the school, making the appropriate turns in order to get to his homeroom. He knew the school like the back of his hand. Probably because he had been attending it since the ninth grade.
He walked slowly up the back staircase, moving in and out of people who were blocking his way. He reached room 303 within a few minutes, and walked inside.
He was greeted by a sea of familiar faces, and a view he always loved. Out of the window you could see forever. There were trees everywhere, and everything still held onto its summertime vibe. The sky was as blue as it could be, without a cloud to be seen. He took a seat in the back, setting some overdue library books he had forgotten to return the year before on his desk. He allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts, many of which were about that girl he saw earlier.
The bell signaling homeroom's commencement sounded, and Mr.Bell, a full-figured chemistry teacher, walked out from behind his desk, and stood in the dead center of the room.
"Well, back again I see," he said in a deep, yet comforting voice. He was always everyone's favorite teacher. "Before we begin, how did everyone pass their vacation?"
"I went to Spain with my aunt! She's an artist and needed some inspiration. We spent an entire month in Madrid, just painting and writing poetry," Becky Clark, the bohemian member of the class, blurted out.
Josh shook his head with a smile. Some things that girl did were just plain strange.
"Very nice," Mr.Bell complemented. "Anyone else? Miss Cohen! What did you do these past two months?"
Nicole Cohen looked up, removing her headphones from her head. Nirvana blasted out through the earpieces. "I got my tongue pierced...twice," she answered flatly. She never really liked to talk. And come to think of it, nobody seemed so interested in what she had to say anyway.
"Well, that's...painful," he stuttered.
A small amount of laughter erupted as Nicole rolled her blue eyes, which were ringed in charcoal eye make up.
"Well, I can see that nobody's really in the mood for talking this morning, so let's get into attendance, shall we?" He walked back to his desk, and lifted a seating chart from the wood surface. He glanced over it, moving his thin glasses to the tip of his nose. He read over the list, seeing if anyone sounded familiar. After a moment, he began to call out names.
Josh raised his hand when his last name was finally called, and went back to daydreaming.
"Christensen?" Mr.Bell called out. He looked up to see if anyone was raising her hand. "Dora Christensen?"
"Who's that?" Lance Conway asked loudly.
"A transfer student from California," he answered. "OK, one last time, Dora Christensen?"
"Here!"
Everyone looked to the door to find the infamous Dora Christensen panting as she walked into the room.
"Sorry I'm late. This school is way too big," she said politely.
Josh looked up to find the object of his thoughts right in front of him. She was the girl from across the street.
"That's quite all right, Miss Christensen." Mr.Bell always had this thing with calling students Miss or Mister. "Let's see...Why don't you take a seat behind Josh. Josh raise your hand so she can see you."
He obliged and raised his hand timidly. For some reason his heart was pounding.
She walked to the row of seats next to the windows, and sat behind him. She recognized him from the parking lot, but chose not to acknowledge it. He probably didn't even remember her anyway.
After attendance was taken, all of the students began to talk amongst themselves. Josh wanted to turn around and strike up a conversation with Dora, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He felt so nervous around her, and he didn't even know her.
Dora pulled a book from her bag, flipping through the pages until she came across a blank one. She grabbed a pen, and started to write, but it ran out of ink mid-sentence. "Shit," she said lightly to herself. She was tempted to ask the guy sitting in front of her for a pen, but she debated on whether or not she should. Finally, she swallowed her pride, and tapped him on the shoulder. She kind of wished she hadn't after she did.
Josh shifted in his seat, and turned around to face her. She wasn't wearing her sunglasses anymore, and her pale blue eyes seemed to go right through him. "Yeah?"
"Do you have a pen I could use for a few minutes?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure." He dug in the pocket of his loose-fitting jeans, and pulled out a black pen.
"Thank you," she said kindly as she took it from him.
"No problem." He smiled and turned back around. He had a beautiful smile.
She uncapped the pen, and picked up writing where she had left off.
The bell for first period rang, and she quickly went to hand Josh back his pen. "Thanks," Dora stated as she held it out to him.
"Keep it." He stood up, and gave her one last smile before walking out of the room. Sure it was his only pen, but he didn't mind. He'd steal one from Bryce later.
**********
"Lunch!" Bryce yelled as he darted out of his fourth period history class. He met up with Josh who was exiting his English class across the hall. "Hey, Chasez," he greeted his friend as he slapped his awaiting hand.
"What's up?" Josh replied, picking up his pace to keep up with his jittery friend.
"Nothin' much. When does summer vacation start again?" he asked, darting to his locker.
Josh's eyes flew around the hall as he answered, "I have no idea...I suck at math."
For some reason, all of Josh's thoughts seemed to be haunted by Dora. He could hardly pay any attention to what was going on in his classes. He had to constantly push the image of her smile out of his head.
Bryce slammed the red door to his locker closed, and turned his head to Josh. "You need to go to your locker before we head out to lunch?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," he answered.
"Do you mind if we take your car? I would love not to drive for once," he joked, ruffling Josh's short black hair.
They began walking down the hallway, the numbers on the classroom doors getting smaller and smaller.
Josh stopped outside of his homeroom, and counted three lockers to the right of the door. As he began to twist the combination, he felt someone tap his shoulder. "What?" he snapped, figuring it was Bryce trying to piss him off, as usual.
"Bad time?"
He closed his eyes tight, and let out an annoyed sigh. "What do you want, Tiffany?" He glanced over at his ex-girlfriend.
"I don't want anything in particular really." Tiffany (Editor of the school newspaper, president of the drama club, and Junior Prom Queen) noted. Her brown eyes fell down to the floor, and she nervously tugged at the bottom of her short blue skirt.
"Hey, Amber, wait up!" Bryce yelled as he dashed down the hall after his girl, leaving Josh and Tiffany to their own uncomfortable situation.
"What did you come over here for if you 'don't want anything'?" he asked, making sure his eyes never landed on her. She was sort of like the sun...if you looked at it for too long, you'd get a head ache.
"I just wanted to say hi, that's all." She twisted a strand of her blonde hair in her fingers.
"Well, hi," he closed his locker, and faced her, "now would you please leave me alone?"
She looked hurt by his words, but those who new her best saw right through her act (she wasn't the president of the drama club for nothing). "What happened to us, Josh? We were the perfect couple--"
"First of all, 'were' is the keyword in that sentence, and second, does the name James Spencer mean anything to you? Oh, wait! I remember now! You and James never DID have sex at Bryce's Fourth of July party...now where would I get an idea like that?" he shot at her facetiously.
"Your sarcasm kills me."
"Yeah, I wish it would."
Just then, Dora approached Josh slowly. "Hey, um, sorry if Im interrupting anything, but I just wanted to return your pen. Thanks for letting me borrow it." She smiled and gently laid the object in his palm.
Josh looked at Tiffany to see a look of pure jealously painted on her perfect skin. "Oh, it's no problem." He stuffed the pen in his pocket, and went on talking like his heart really wasn't about to stop. "You could've kept it."
"Yeah, but then the whole guilt thing would've gotten to me," she joked, a smile pulling at her lips. "I'll leave you two alone now." She looked at Tiffany quickly, raising her eyebrows at her aggressive _expression. "Bye."
"See ya later," Josh called out to her as she walked down the hall.
"And that would be?" Tiffany asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"THAT would be none of your damn business." He turned and went to go find Bryce.