I kind of like him more than you

‘Hi Josh.’ I answered the phone while getting changed into my pyjamas.
‘Hi, I tried calling earlier but your mum said you weren’t in.
‘I was at a gig.’
‘You didn’t tell me you were going. Who did you see?’
‘Jonas Brothers. I met them in Starbucks and they asked me if I wanted to go.’
‘Was it fun?’
‘Yes thank you. Well I’m off to bed now; I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Night. Love you.’

The next morning I met up with Josh and we wandered around in an awkward silence before our first lesson.
‘Lucy, I think we need a break.’ He blurted out suddenly.
‘What?’ I stopped dead in my tracks, completely shocked at what he’d just said.
‘I think we should take a break from each other. I mean we’ve been going out for a year and I think it will be good for both of us if we spend a few weeks apart. Just so we can have some time to think about our lives and if this is what we actually want.’
I could feel my eyes starting to water and I got confused. This is what I’d wanted, some time to myself. Why was I feeling so upset?
‘Lucy, please don’t cry. We need to do this. It’s important.’ I nodded my head and left him stood on his own while I walked to lesson.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him all day; I did something I’d never done before, I called in sick at work and spent the night in my room sat on my bed in silence. Just thinking.
I was day dreaming when my phone rung. I grabbed it desperately hoping it would be Josh but it wasn’t. It was Joe.
‘Hey Lucy.’
‘Hey.’
‘What you been up to.’
‘Nothing actually. My boyfriend dumped me.’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘He just said he wanted a break.’ I burst into tears down the phone and Joe was silent for a few seconds before asking, ‘Do you want me to come over? I haven’t got a show tonight and I’m still close by. We can eat some Ben and Jerry’s and watch a movie
, cheer you up.’ I smiled before answering ‘Yes.’

Half an hour later the doorbell rang and I ran downstairs to find Joe stood outside with a carrier bag in his hand. I guided him to the living room where he unpacked his bag. Ice cream, DVDs, Haribo’s and Cola. Wow. He knew how to make a girl happy.
‘You choose the film. I got a few because I wasn’t sure what you like.’ He spread out a few in front of me. I chose P.S. I love you.
After the second film, we’d finished all the food and were now cuddled up together on the sofa.
‘Do you want to talk about the breakup?’
‘Sure.’ I told him what had happened and how I felt about him. He was silent the whole way through, never butting in unlike Josh.
I felt happy with Joe. I felt something that I’d never felt with Josh before.

He left just after midnight when Pippa rang and asked how I was feeling. Joe had decided that it was his turn to leave.

I spent the next few days as normal, but without Josh. Me, Harriet and Pippa spent days shopping and visiting a few places we hadn’t been to for a while. I kept in touch with the Jonas Brothers, mostly Joe who I spent most of my time texting on evenings.
It was only a month until I was moving to America and starting University. I’d saved up enough money and my parents agreed to let me move away. This was something I was really looking forward to.
Maybe it was a good idea that Josh and I had split up when we had. A long distance relationship between us just wouldn’t work.