This Is Not an After School Special

As the next few days passed, my mother's mood seemed to improve. She saw that I was still going to stay with Josh, no matter what she said about it. Somehow, it made her accept the fact that he was here to stay. I had completely given up on convincing her to see my side, and my new lack of effort on the subject seemed to have made it easier for her to take.

I was spending a lot more time with Josh now that we didn't have to hide from our parents. Much to my mother's distaste, that also meant that my time with Matt was dwindling. Matt and I didn't mind; it was giving him a chance to catch up with his other friends. We still hung out at school and occasionally on evenings or weekends, but we no longer had our time together on the way to and from school. Josh had officially taken over that task.

"Are you almost ready?" Josh asked, frowning at me from where he sat on my mattress.

I applied a thick layer of liquid eyeliner, cursing under my breath when my finger twitched and caused the smooth line to smear. "Just give me a minute, Josh. You're really impatient sometimes, aren't you?"

He chuckled as I fixed my ruined make up. "I'd be less imaptient if you hadn't insisted on painting your nails earlier. They looked fine before."

"You told me that I needed to look good, yet you refuse to tell me where you're taking me. To me, that meant that I should do anything I can to better my appearance. Besides, you got a new look out of the deal."

He paused to hold out his hands and admire the jet black laquer that now adorned them. "It does look pretty kickass, doesn't it?"

I held up a hand and wiggled my fingers. "Yeah, we match." I quickly finished my make up and presented myself to Josh. "Good enough?"

"I would have said that you were good enough when I got here."

"I looked like trash," I argued. "I slept in again this morning, so I had no make up or anything on all day at school."

"And you looked perfectly fine."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his sweet demeanor. I took a final look in the mirror and then faced him again. "Alright, let's go."

We were quickly developing an after-school routine. Josh would drop me off at home, then disappear for an hour or two to take care of other things, and then we would hang out in the evenings. Sometimes we went to the studio to work on my singing, and other times we would just hang out at either his house or my own. Tonight, however, was a Friday. Josh wouldn't tell me where he was taking me, but he seemed really excited about it.

We left my bedroom through my already-open door. Normally, my door was always closed, but my parents had come up with a new rule now that Josh was over here so much. Josh drove us down some streets that were unfamiliar to me, and soon I was lost. He knew where we were, though, and I trusted him completely.

The car stopped in front of an old, nearly run-down cinema. I had been by here a few times, and I'd only noticed the theatre because it played only old movies that everyone had long-since forgotten about. I glanced up at the board that advertised what was playing, and felt a smirk tug at my lips.

"Footloose?" I asked as I got out of the car.

"You agreed to sit through the whole thing," he reminded me.

"You're right, I did. But tomorrow night, you're coming over to watch The Breakfast Club."

"That's fair," he laughed, taking my hand and pulling me inside the dark building.

I had to admit, he'd been right about the movie. It was quite entertaining, now that I'd given it a chance. Plus, it didn't hurt that I got to sit next to Josh in a dark and secluded theatre. There were only three other people there to see the movie. No wonder the theatre looked so delapidated; they were probably only making enough money to keep their heads above water.

"So, what did you think?" Josh questioned as soon as the credits began to roll.

"I actually kind of liked it," I admitted. "But I don't see why I had to look good if we were just going to be sitting in a dark room with three strangers."

"Do you honestly think that I would have sat through your extensive preparation process if this was all I had planned? I haven't run out of good ideas yet, Becky. You shouldn't underestimate me."

"It's kind of hard to underestimate you. I never know what you're going to throw at me next. First, you surprise me by being an amazing musician and songwriter. Then, you teach me things in a way that I can actually understand. Then, you stick with me even when I'm drunk-"

"That was entertaining for me," he cut me off. "Don't go making me sound like your knight in shining armour just yet."

"Fairy tales aren't real," I pointed out. "There are no knights in shining armour just waiting around to sweep the girl off of her feet. But that's okay, because I've got a rockstar in black nail polish instead."

Josh scoffed, but didn't argue with me. We left the cinema, and the cool evening air hit us as we reached the sidewalk. It was October, so the sun was beginning to set at an earlier time each night. The sky was dark grey and blue in the twilight, and a brisk breeze had picked up while we were inside. I felt a bit chilled through my long sleeved tee, and Josh seemed to somehow sense it. His arms, which were protected by a thick hoodie, wound themselves around me and held me close to him as we walked.

"So where are we going now?"

"We're almost there, don't worry."

I frowned a bit. He liked to be secretive around me, even when it was about something that involved me. He turned suddenly and led me through a small park. When we reached the other side, my breath caught.

A small stage was set up amongst the few scattered trees in the park. Patio lanterns hung from branches, bathing the clearing in a muted glow. An orchestra was playing softly on the raised platform, and multiple couples were slow-dancing on the makeshift dancefloor. The entire scene looked like it was straight out of a movie. I gave Josh an awed look.

"I figured that you might be in the mood to dance after watching the movie," he explained, keeping his arms around me in an almost protective manner.

"I can't dance," I murmured. "I'm really terrible."

"That's alright, I can't either. We'll just stay off to the side a bit and do our own thing."

He let one of his arms drop to my waist, and he took my right hand in his other. It seemed that he lied to me, since he began to move us around to the music. At this point, I was completely thrown off. It seemed that I really couldn't ever know what to expect from Josh.

"This is really beautiful," I said.

"I thought so, too. I thought you might like it."

Time seemed to stand still as he whirled me around, and I felt like a princess. Maybe I would have to rethink my 'fairy tales don't exist' outlook on life.

The orchestra struck their final note, but Josh still held me close as the rest of the crowd began to disperse.

"I've always been a sucker for big theatre productions," he told me. "I love musicals and plays and things like that."

"Someday I'll find an amazing musical and we'll go to see it," I offered.

He smiled. "Someday I want to write an amazing musical. Then you can be in it, if you want."

"I would ruin it for sure," I laughed. "But I would be there opening night to cheer you on."

"Speaking of being there with me," he paused. "My sister Sara is getting married in December. Will you be my date?"

I grinned. "Absolutely. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Perfect," he smiled at me. "It'll be so much better with you there. You can bust a move with me at the reception."

I giggled. "I'm always up for that. As long as you're okay with being seen as the guy who brought the crazy girl to the wedding."

"You'll go well with the crazy brother of the bride."

His arms finally fell from my waist, but I wished that he wouldn't have released me. I could have stayed with him in this park forever, but real life seemed to be waiting on the sidelines.

"So I've actually heard about a play that's on this weekend," I said suddenly, remembering a review that I'd read online. "Want to go and see it with me?"

"Are we catching a matinee or something? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this your night out?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay with the idea of sneaking out. It's really not that hard. Just ask Matt, I used to bust out and go party with him all the time."

"And your mom thinks he's a good influence?" Josh chuckled.

"Yeah, figure that one out."

"Well, if you really want to, I won't stop you from sneaking out. It's not like we're doing anything stupid or reckless. It's just a play, right?"

I nodded in agreement. "Exactly. There are much worse things that I could be sneaking out for."

Josh began to lead me back to his car, pulling me into his arms again. I felt so safe in his arms, even though I was in a strange part of Vancouver after dark. It felt like I got home much too quickly. I glared darkly at the illuminated porch light. Mom was, no doubt, waiting up for me to arrive home safely. One good thing about the earlier dusk was that, even if she was watching from the front window, she couldn't see the interior of the car.

"So, how late does this play start tomorrow night? I mean, if you're going to sneak out, it's got to be believable that you're going to bed, right?" Josh asked.

"Good point. Maybe we'll have to just wait and see the Sunday matinee. I doubt that it starts late enough tomorrow."

"So, you're not breaking out?"

"I'll look up the listings in the morning and call you. We'll figure it out from there, okay?"

"Sounds good to me. I guess I'll talk to you in the morning, then."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Josh leaned in and caught me in a heated kiss. We might have been taking things slow, but things were definitely starting to pick up. I never totally got used to it, though, and everytime our lips would part, my heart would race. I closed my eyes and sunk deeper into the kiss. After a few minutes, Josh pulled away. That was the part that I hated the most.

"I'll call you," I repeated, grinning like an idiot as I opened the car door.

As I stood up, I thought I heard Josh's voice mutter something incomprehensible. I leaned back down.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." In the light from the car's interior light, I could see that his cheeks were suddenly flushed. "Goodnight, Becky."

"Night, Josh."