The Little Things Give You Away

When I was about to go to my car after a day filled with anguish and thought-torture, I was met by Joshua.
"I'm really sorry about what Andrew said about you in your Latin class, Desirae. I told him you must have had more important thoughts." He looked at me hopefully. "I am right?"
I smiled at the thought of James. "Yeah," I said, not intending for it to sound like I was thinking of him.
But he smiled back and laid his hand on the small of my back. I walked with him for a while until he turned to me and looked right into my eyes. He looked really nervous or something.
"Listen, Desirae, I really like you. Like, a lot. And, I was wondering if you would go on a date with me soon." I must have made a face, because he held his hands up. "Listen, it doesn't have to be tonight. It doesn't have to be this week, even though I prefer it to be."
I looked up at him, and he leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. It barely felt like a kiss, and he pulled away almost immediately.
All of the sudden, I pictured that it was James that had kissed me, and I pulled Joshua back to me and kissed him hard on the lips.
I pulled away when I realized it wasn't James. But Joshua hadn't pushed for anything else, and I felt grateful to him for that.
I breathed in deep. "I'll, er, think about it, okay, Josh. It's okay to call you Josh, right?"
He nodded. I breathed in a sigh of relief again.
"Okay, I better go home, Josh. See you, um, tomorrow."

When I finally got to the Mini Coop, James was waiting. I almost slapped my head in surprise. I had promised James I would drive him back to my house, hadn't I? Shit.
"I am SO sorry, James, I got held up."
"Oh, yeah, talking to Joshua Jackass must have been a huge important thing on your agenda, right? Much more important than your friend in need!" He sounded on the brink of hysteria.
"Oh, James." It was all I could say, and I opened my car and drooped into my car seat. He opened the passenger door and slumped into it.
I sniffed heavily and let out a tiny sob. I leaned forward so that my head was on my hands which were on the steering wheel.
"You are going out with him, aren't you?"
I looked up, bewildered. "You saw the whole thing?"
He shook his head. "Just the kiss."
I rubbed my eye. "Yeah, I'm not going out with him, or anybody else. I want to go out with SOMEONE, but he really hasn't shown much interest."
He smiled. "How could anyone NOT be interested in you?"
I shook my head. "Oh, James, where do you want to go?"
"My house first. I need to sneak in and get some more clothes."
I looked away and smiled, revving up the engine and starting to go to his house.