This Is Not an After School Special

I spent the majority of my spare time continuing my search for a girl for Matt. Nobody seemed to measure up to my ridiculously high standards. Even though Mom had been more accepting of Josh as of late, she still hinted that I was the only one good enough for Matt. I had to admit that she had a point. Not that I thought that I was good enough for him, just that I didn't think any other girl ever would be, either.

I was starting to believe that my search was hopeless.

"Relax, Becky," Josh said once I'd confessed this epiphany to him. "You'll find someone. And if you don't, then Matt will. He'll be happy someday."

I smiled at his reassurance. "Thanks, Josh. You make me feel so much better."

"It's what I'm here for," he squeezed me tightly with one arm as we walked.

I had snuck out again. In fact, it seemed to be a regular occurrence now. This time, however, Josh hadn't been involved in the decision. I'd thrown pebbles at his window until he'd noticed that I was outside. He didn't get grumpy the way Matt did; he seemed pleasantly surprised by my visit. It was nearly midnight, and we'd only just started walking.

"Are you always going to be there to help me like this?" I wondered aloud. His secrecy had been frustrating me more and more lately. I was determined to get to the bottom of it before it drove me insane.

"As long as you want me to be."

"You have no idea how long that will be. You're now officially stuck forever."

"Forever?" He made a face. "That hardly seems like enough to get worked up over."

"Hardly," I agreed, laughing lightly.

"Seriously, though," he sounded suddenly sincere. "I plan on being around for awhile. I don't know where life will take me once I'm done high school, but there's tons of time before I graduate. Even after that, who knows? I might wind up living in my parents' basement until I'm thirty."

"And you expect me to still be waiting around if that's the case?"

"Probably not. I'll try to make it out of there by age twenty-five. Better?"

I nodded. "Much."

We walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. I hadn't noticed it before, but we'd somehow turned around and were now headed back toward Josh's house. We hadn't been outside very long, and I wasn't ready to go home yet. Josh seemed to feel the same way, because he stopped me when we were a few houses down from his.

"It's still kind of early," he said conversationally.

I grinned. "It's not, actually. But it feels that way, doesn't it?"

He glanced at the darkened windows of his house. "Want to come inside?"

I hesitated. "Won't anyone wake up? I don't want to get you in trouble or anything."

He scoffed. "If they didn't wake up when I left, they won't wake up when I come home. Just be quiet, follow me, and you'll be fine."

I pursed my lips, thinking quickly. "Okay. Let's go."

He led the way inside. I was impressed at how silently he was able to move, especially in the pitch-black interior of the house. His warm hand found mine and he wordlessly directed me around the various furniture and obstacles until we reached the stairs.

"Careful on the way down. I don't want you to fall," he barely breathed the words.

I didn't reply, knowing that my voice couldn't be as quiet as his. I was feeling a sudden thrill by the whole situation. The danger of being caught was somehow exciting. I had never felt like this when I snuck out of my house. Why was it any different sneaking into someone else's? I was pretty sure that I knew the answer already: I was anticipating what was coming next. Josh and I had been alone in his room before, but we'd always had to leave the door open so that his parents could check in if necessary. This time we were going to be totally and completely by ourselves.

I continued to clutch Josh's hand on the way down the stairs, hoping that it would help me to know when I reached the bottom. I didn't want to try and descend further and wind up falling. Josh hurried me into his bedroom and quietly shut the door. I could hear the slight click as the latch slid into place.

I was expecting some kind of hesitation from one or both of us, but we never seemed to have any awkward moments. We both stretched out on our backs on his bed and stared at the ceiling as the conversation flowed effortlessly between us.

"So, do you feel dangerous?" I asked him, a teasing note in my voice.

"I always feel dangerous. Do you?"

"Actually, yeah. I kind of do. I've never done anything like this before."

"You just haven't spent enough time with me yet, I guess. I do this stuff all the time."

"You sneak other girls into your room?" Sometimes, it was just too easy to twist his words around on him.

"No, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, I'm just kidding. I'd like to think that I'm the only girl you've ever had in your bed."

Josh muttered something under his breath, and it sounded like, "Then you would be delusional." I knew he was only kidding, but I elbowed him regardless. He laughed at my pitiful attempt at injury, then rolled onto his side to look at me. "Did you ever think that you'd wind up in my bed with me tonight?"

I looked into his bright green eyes, which seemed to light up the darkness that surrounded us. I smiled softly. "The thought crossed my mind, yes."

A wide grin pulled at his mouth. "Becky, you're secretly a bad girl, aren't you?"

"Only when I have the motivation to be."

"And what motivates you?"

I was glad that he couldn't see how red my cheeks were getting. "You."

His lips touched mine gently, then he pulled away. "I guess we have that in common."

"You're your own motivation?" I snorted at my own joke.

Josh didn't laugh with me, he just continued smiling. "Not exactly. I was thinking more along the lines of the girl who's in my bed."

"You make it sound so dirty," I leaned up and pressed my lips to his.

"You're saying it's not?" Josh mumbled against my mouth.

I started to giggle at the way his voice sent tremors through my lips.

"What's so funny?" Josh asked, pulling away.

"Nothing. Sorry. I'm kind of ruining the moment, aren't I?"

He shook his head a bit, and the tips of his shaggy hair brushed smoothly across my forehead. "No, you're making it better. I'd be worried if you didn't seem like yourself right now."

"At least I'm not standing on a chair and singing to you."

"You couldn't," he pointed out. "You would wake up my parents."

I tangled my hand in his hair. "I guess you're going to have to come up with a way to shut me up, then, aren't you?"

Josh fell back onto the mattress and pretended to get lost in thought. "Let's see... How can I possibly find a way to shut you up?"

"Get thinking, because I'm just itching to start belting out some Foo Fighters," I played along.

"Oh, shit, I'd better hurry. Any ideas?"

"I got nothing."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm so cunning," he rolled back over and faced me again.

This time, when his lips met mine, it wasn't so gentle. There was that need that I'd felt before in Josh's car. This time, he wasn't pulling away. And neither was I.