I Believe In The Finer Things & You Don't Believe In Me

Ever since the day we met we hung out almost every day, texting when we couldn't. We became best friends, and by Monday the week of our presentation, I found myself in his basement again, freaking out as I stressed over the idea of public speaking, my head in my hands.

"Come on! We can practice it, if you'd just let me read it! I can help you." Josh pleaded, and I shook my head, looking over at my backpack which was sat next to the couch since I had just come here straight from school again. The thought of Josh reading my poem was nerve wracking. What if it wasn't as good as I thought it was?

I was quite proud of it to be honest, I found that it flowed along with Josh's nicely, following the same type of mood and reincorporating a few lines. My only worry was that he wouldn't like it. "Please?" he asked, and I turned to see that he was giving me the puppy dog eyes that I hated yet loved oh-so-much. How can someone be so cute, but so annoying at the same time? I sighed, giving way and reaching into my bag, grabbing my notebook and opening to the right page. "Yay!" Josh celebrated excitedly, looking over my shoulder and slightly leaning his chest against my back as I searched for the page.

When We Were Younger Pt. 2

When I was younger, I never thought that when I was older, I'd see you give up.
Now that I'm older, I'll carry the torch, just promise you'll stand and you'll be strong.
When I was younger, I never thought that when I was older I'd fight your wars.
I'll do it for you.
When I was younger, I only dreamed that when I got older, you'd be proud of me.
When I was younger, I promised you both that when I was older, you'd be proud of me.

This was all about my mum and dad. About how my father walked out on us because he was ashamed of my disability. He never did like me, and was in no way shape or form proud that I was his daughter. It was about how my mum had almost given hope, and she was depressed for months. I had started taking most of the responsibility in the house, taking care of my little sister, cleaning the house, organizing forms, helping her get things together and pay for our bills. It was 'fighting her wars' in a sense. A very different one than you'd imagine, but I was taking care of things that she- as a mother- was usually assumed to take care of.

"Kate, this is great." Josh beamed, turning his head slightly so he was facing me. I turned my head as well, practically smacking him in the head with my nose as I turned, he was that close. I backed up a bit so we could see each other properly, blushing at the close contact, and he was just inches away. "That was beautiful." he said, leaning in and my heart almost stopped. He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, one that I hardly felt, one that had me lingering for more, but I resisted.

"T-t-t... Th-thanks." I breathed, and he smiled. "Come on, let's rehearse it." he said, and my face went white, "Hm?" I asked, scared, and he chuckled. "It'll help you, I promise." he assured me, looking back at the paper. "Read the first line." he instructed, and I obeyed, my stutters worsening with the nerves.

After a few minutes I wanted to give up, "J-Jo-Josh, it's n-n-not-t w-wo-working. I-I c-c-can't... d-do it." I argued, turning back to look at him, almost hitting him again. He pulled back a bit so he wasn't centimeters away, a stern but sincere look covering his face. "Don't give up. Don't you ever give up. I know you can do this. You've got to push through. It'll get easier, I promise." he said, and I rested my head against my palm, "I-I c-can't. I'm t-t-to d-dumb." I tried to convince him, and he put an arm around my shoulders. "You're not dumb. Don't say that. Having a stutter doesn't make you dumb, it just makes you unique. It's one of the things I like the most about you, you know. You're actually much smarter than you think." he told me, and I lifted my head, taking a deep breath. "T-t-th-thank you." I muttered, and I sat up straighter so I could look at him, "No problem. Now let's go, sixth line." he prompted, pressing a light kiss to the side of my head, and I blushed as I fumbled for the words.

With a lot of practice on my speaking, eventually I was able to recite the beginning half with a minimal amount of stutters and pauses, and it was definitely a huge improvement. The next day we did the same, practicing it all night until I got it to be almost perfect. Key word being almost.