Realistic or Modern 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭?

[amberskies]

For the rest of the night, they called it quits with games and instead spent it chatting. There was a lot of teasing and jokes exchanged between the five of them, but at some point, Joshua felt himself growing a little tired of being around people and instead wanted to retreat to his bedroom. He was a bit introverted, so he couldn't help it, but he still put up the act of seeming like he was fine with socialising, as he typically did.

Ellie wasn't talking that much anymore, mainly listening to the conversation and enjoying the buzz she was feeling from the alcohol. She would occasionally let out a small laugh at any joke that was being told, but for the most part, found herself looking over at Xander on multiple occasions. Something had definitely changed between them, and she wondered whether they'd remember in the morning or not.

"Thaanks." Ellie told Lindsey with a tight hug, eventually letting her go to grab her things and head out the front door. Joshua wasn't super into hugging people goodbye, so he offered Lindsey a smile and a wave before heading out the door toward his car, sticking the key into the door and unlocking it. Assuming Sky was sitting at the front like before, Ellie slipped into the back seat, leaving space for Xander next to her.

 

[esor]

Sky waved to Lindsey as a final goodbye before leaving the house. She got into Josh's car, in the front passenger seat, and clumsily slid her seatbelt over her body. She then curled up in the seat a little, waiting until they were all ready to drive away. She pretty much just looked at Joshua the whole time, a small smile placed upon her face.

Alex ducked his head so he could get into the back seat of the car, sitting down beside Ellie. He was quick to put on his belt then looked over at the girl beside him, he wondered how drunk she was, just out of curiosity. He knew himself that he was feeling quite drunk still, but much less so than earlier.

"You can just drop me near the video store." Xander told Josh, feeling as though the almost ten minute walk would do him some good. The cold didn't bother him much, an alcohol blanket surrounding him caused him not to be at all phased by it right now.

 

[amberskies]

Josh, too, stepped into the vehicle and stuck the keys into the ignition, twisting to the right and hearing the engine rumble to life. He hit the play button on the car radio, some random tune he didn't remember the name of filling the silence of the car as they all fastened their seatbelts. At this point he was completely sober; he had waited until the high fully wore off before daring to leave, also because he didn't need his parents finding out about his little habit.

Ellie was still a little tipsy, so it had completely slipped her mind to pull her seatbelt on until she saw Xander doing it. She slumped against the seat afterwards, resting her clasped hands atop her stomach and shutting her eyes for a few peaceful minutes.

"Got it." Joshua said with a slight nod, placing his hands on the steering wheel and proceeding to turn his head around so he could see as he backed the car out of the driveway. He placed his hands behind Sky's headrest as he did so, alternating between looking back and forward until he had emerged back into the main road and was driving relatively fast in the direction of the video store.

 

[esor]

For pretty much the whole Journey, Sky was in a state of awe at Josh. Probably because she was drunk and he was driving, something she couldn't even imagine doing right now, so it impressed her despite him being fully sober. Her eyes only left him when they closed, eyelids drooping a little as the journey stretched longer. She enjoyed the drive, not once feeling unsafe in Josh's car despite his faster tendencies.

Alex was quiet the whole journey- not unusual for him, of course- and stared out of the window. It was mainly to check how close they were to the video store, no offence to any of them but he was itching to get home so he could sprawl out in his bed and sleep off the alcohol. Probably not a good idea, but the boy wasn't overly prone to hangovers so he wasn't stressing about that. Even when he suffered, his mom would baby him with offers of medicine and water, homecooked food and ancient hangover remedies. He appreciated that, sometimes. Most of the time when he was dealing with one he just wanted to rot away in bed until he felt better.

As they neared the video store, Alex perked his head up and looked around in the car. He looked at Ellie, with a smile on his face, hoping his smile would reveal to her what he was thinking. The night was something he was looking forward to since they arranged it earlier that Friday, but he didn't see it being as much fun without her. He wanted her to know that, but no way in hell would he say it now.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie was honestly on the verge of falling asleep. Alcohol had the tendency of making her sleeping, and combining that with a full day at school and then work, and the girl was exhausted. She couldn't wait to get into bed, even if it wasn't her own. She had a change of pajamas in her backpack, too. As comfortable as her current outfit was, nothing beat sweatpants and a jumper.

Josh didn't mind that the car ride was totally silent. In fact, he preferred it. His mind was focused on the lyrics of the song playing, his elbow resting against the car door and the tips of his thumb and index finger toying with his lips as he cruised down the road. At some point he let out a yawn and covered it with the same hand that was by his lips. He would probably be home within 10 or 15 minutes, which wasn't too bad, but he wished it was now. Once he was alone in the car he could drive as fast as he wanted to without scaring anybody in the car.

Ellie had almost fallen asleep, and only opened her eyes once she felt herself starting to very slowly fall in Xander's direction. She sat up straight before she got too noticeably close, and almost reached a hand up to rub her eyes before remembering she was wearing makeup. She glanced over in Xander's direction with sleepy eyes, and upon finding that he was already looking at her, couldn't help the smile that overcame her features. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, not from just him but a tiny bit because of the alcohol, but it was probably too dim in the car for him to notice.

"We're here." Josh announced as he stopped in front of the Video House, pulling up the handbrake so he wouldn't have to hold the brake down manually with his foot as he waited for Xander to exit the vehicle. He had a quick glance at all of the people in his car; Sky was totally out of it and on the verge of falling asleep. His eyes lingered on her sleeping figure for a seconds before turning to look at Xander.

 

[esor]

Alex was content with the returned smile he gave to Ellie, and with that he unbuckled his seatbelt. He was rather unsure how to thank Josh, neither of them would want a plead of gratefulness so he gave the man a nod, "Appreciate it." He spoke, closing the door behind him. He tapped his back pockets for his keys and wallet and once he was sure they were both there he began walking to his house.

The walk wouldn't take long, made even shorter by his fast walking. The cold breeze felt nice on his face, as if it was brightening him up a little from the fog that'd clouded his mind due to the alcohol.

Sky lifted a hand to wave to Xander quickly as he got out of the car, before putting her hand back down and wrapping her arms around her stomach. She, too, was looking forward to get home. She was very happy being at Lindsey's with her friends, and she'd be very happy in her own room with her best friend by her side, but the in between whilst they were sat in the car just felt like an odd middle ground where all she wanted to do was sleep.

 

[amberskies]

Josh, too, wasn't sure on how else to respond, so he merely gave Alex a nod of understanding. Once the man was out of the car, Josh pulled down the handbrake and proceeded to drive in the direction of Sky's house, remembering that the two girls were both heading there. He reached a hand up to rub his eyes once more, glancing at his watch as he drove. 1 am. Yep, he was definitely sleeping in tomorrow.

Eventually he reached the house he had picked Sky up from earlier, and stopped the car on the side of the road rather than the driveway in case her family was asleep. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her entire family up.

"We're here." He let them know, following up his words with another yawn.

Ellie had been staring out the window the entire time, her face resting against the glass and reading the dim store names they would pass by. She hummed in slight confusion, before realising they had arrived, so she went on to unbuckle her seatbelt.

 

[esor]

Sky made herself wake up completely when they got there. Happy to be home, she unbuckled her seatbelt and then sat up properly, She reached over to Josh and hugged him from the side, her head against his shoulder.

“Thank you for everything, J.” She said, lingering the hug for a few seconds longer before pulling away, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. She was making her admiration for him pretty obvious, she’d be shocked if he couldn’t see that.

“Thank you, again. So much. See you on Monday?”

By the time the rest of the group had made it to Sky’s house, Alex was at home and happily falling asleep in bed. He had, though, spent a short amount of time replaying the events between him and Ellie that night.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie was still inside the car, but she looked up as she heard Sky speaking to Josh. She didn't think much of the hug at first, until she noticed for just how long she was hugging him for. Maybe it was just Ellie, but she typically never hugged Josh or Alex. She sat there with her eyebrows raised up, a few ideas definitely being put into her mind as she watched the way Skylar rested her head upon Joshua's shoulder. The tone of her voice was also different; more high-pitched than normal maybe?

Joshua was slightly surprised by the hug because he wasn't one for physical affection with his friends and he typically didn't receive hugs from Skylar, but nonetheless loosely wrapped one of his arms over her back, giving her a pat in the process. It was just because she was drunk, right?

"Nah don't worry about it. I had fun." Joshua told them, also momentarily glancing back at Ellie as he spoke to let her know that she was also part of the reason why tonight was enjoyable. Next time he'd prefer having the ability to drink, though, since he was sort of jealous that the two girls were still not sober.

"Mhm. Thanks, goodnight Josh." Ellie very simply responded, eyeing Skylar for a few moments to further inspect the girls reaction before grabbing her backpack and stepping out of the car. Josh pulled up the handbrake once more and looked over at Skylar, intending on waiting on the side of the road until the two girls were inside the house.

 

[esor]

The girl gave Josh a final smile, getting out of the car and holding up her hand and waving sleepily at him. "Goodnight Josh! Thank you!" She closed the car door gently, but with enough force to ensure it closed properly.

The hug was motivated by two things, a genuine appreciation for him driving them there and back, and honestly just wanting to be close to him. Because she liked him. Maybe the fact she was drunk meant that she couldn't remember the last time the two of them hugged, or if it was because it was extremely rare for them to do so. The feeling of his arm over her back lingered a little, as well as the slight scent of weed and cigarettes with an underlying hints of his cologne. It was a smell she'd remember, and one she thought fit him rather well. It was a shame to let him go, she knew it would probably be the last time she hugged him for a while.

She looked at Ellie with a smile as she pulled out the house keys from her pocket and walked towards the door, "My parents will be asleep, but they're happy for you to be here." She smiled, as if completely ignoring how much she was just all over Josh. She thought the feelings were just a silly little crush on an attractive guy, no more than that. But they weren't, she just hadn't realised that yet.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie shut the car door behind her too, making sure she did so hard enough so it would close properly. She slipped the backpack sling over her shoulder, fixing her skirt for a moment before following after Skylar. Then, she stopped in the middle of the front lawn with her arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow cocked up as she looked at Skylar.

"What was that all about?" Ellie immediately accused her, tilting her head and awaiting an explanation from the girl. She wasn't sure whether Skylar even understood what Ellie was talking about, since it wasn't a topic they had gone over yet. The two girls didn't talk about boys together that often, but they knew all about one anothers past conquests.

Joshua was still in the car, his eyes lingering on Skylar as she moved across the green lawn with a pair of keys in her hand. He had the intention of waiting until they were inside, so he didn't move from the side of the road just yet. The car was far too quiet for his liking now, so he cranked up the volume of the music until it was blaring in his ears. Anyone outside wouldn't be too bothered by the music, but would probably be able to figure out what song he was listening to. His hands were gripping the steering wheel, fingers tapping along to the beat of the song as he stared straight ahead and eventually returned his gaze toward the girls to check whether they had gone inside yet. Ellie stopped in the middle of the lawn, which sort of confused him.

 

[esor]

“What was all what about?” Skylar asked her friend. She had an inkling of what she was talking about but didn’t want to assume or get it wrong. She put the keys in the door but didn’t turn them to unlock it, instead facing her body towards Ellie and taking a few steps forward so their conversation didn’t need to be too loud.

If you asked her she would’ve said Ellie was talking about the hug, but Sky could’ve easily put that down to being drunk. She may have just been one of those drunks who wanted physical affection from people. But she knew she did it because of the crush, though Ellie didn’t know that for sure yet.

Skylar was slightly wary of Josh still being near but that subsided when she heard the dull thump of music coming from the inside of his car. The last thing she needed was him hearing this conversation.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie placed both of her hands on her hips, almost sassily, upon hearing Skylar act dumb about it. She sort of expected that, but drunk Ellie wanted to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible.

"You know what i'm talking about." She told her, before having a shift of character all of a sudden.

"Oh my gosh Josh, thanks Josh. Thank you so much Josh, thanks! Thanks again, Josh!" She playfully mocked Skylar, pairing her words with her hands flapping up and down in a clearly exaggerated manner. She overemphasised his name during the last bit, practically recreating a dramatisation of what went on in the car and during the process of Skylar leaving it. Ellie's hands returned to her waist afterwards, eyebrows up as she waited to hear how Skylar would try and defend herself.

Joshua could tell the girls were talking about something, and from the way Ellie was moving her arms about, he had a feeling both girls were still drunk and far from sobering up.

 

[esor]

Skylar opened her mouth in a state of shock.

“I did not act like that!” She whined a little, laughing afterwards. “I just…I dunno I wanted to thank him!” She began in a desperate attempt to defend herself. But she knew it was much more than that, and had a feeling that Ellie knew it too.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do tonight without him, I’m just grateful.” She continued with each word more unbelievable than the last. At this point she kind of guessed she was screwed, she knew there was no way a drunk Ellie would believe her and leave it be. If it was any other boy Sky knew she’d have just told Ellie without an issue or hesitation but with Josh it was different. Almost like she didn’t want to admit it to herself; because she knew he didn’t share those feelings. An admission of feelings to Ellie would be an admission of feelings to herself.

 

[amberskies]

"Oh you sure did!" Ellie shook her head, leaning forward as she spoke. "We could've done it some place else. And Josh isn't the only one with a car!" She went on, easily coming up with ways to pick at Skylar's defense.

Then, she let out a gasp as the previous events of the night started making sense in her mind. So thats why all of Sky's weird and kinky dares were only directed toward Josh.

"Oh my god, that's why you dared Josh to take his shirt off!" She pointed a finger at Sky in an accusational manner, her mouth opening once more as she realised more things.

"And that's why you made him lick a nacho!! Seductively!" She added. Ellie was definitely being a little more dramatic than she should've, but she was still fairly drunk. She wasn't actually offended that Skylar didn't tell her she potentially was into Josh. She was more confused as to why she'd keep it all to herself. Maybe it was because that would involve telling Lindsey, who was an absolute gossip queen.

 

[esor]

At this point Sky saw no reason to hide it from her friend, she was only going to figure it out eventually anyway. She took the hand of her friend and sighed, “Okay, but keep it down!” She told her since Josh was still in his car, but she laughed a little since it was so exciting and risky that he was there.

“I might kind of have a few tiny little feelings for him sometimes.” She finally admitted. But it was difficult to admit, especially since she now knew people could tell. That made her wonder if Josh knew.

She pulled her friend closer and began with a whisper, “Do you think he knows?” She asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Since her current feelings for him weren’t too extreme it would’ve been a shame if that’s what made their friendship weird, for all she knew she’d be over him in a couple of weeks. Her eyes darted back and forth from Ellie to Josh’s car, worrying he’d come out at some point to see if they were alright. He must’ve been wondering why they hadn’t gone in the house yet, she thought.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie gasped again, a grin replacing the intense expression upon her features. Her instinct was right, as always, and she couldn't help but feel excitement at the prospect of two of her friends potentially getting together. She was definitely thinking too far ahead, but she was too drunk to be bothered about that.

She wasn't particularly worried about Josh hearing them. As she glanced over in the direction of his car for a moment, she found him lightly bopping his head to the music and tapping his fingers to the beat. It was obvious his music was far too loud for him to pick up on a single word that they were uttering, so she turned back to Skylar and continued at the same volume.

"Are you kidding? He's a guy, they're always clueless." Ellie scoffed a little, following it up with a bit of a dry laugh. Guys were absolutely oblivious half the time, Ellie knew that. The only reason she figured it out so quickly was because she knew Skylar and the way she acted around other guys too well. She knew the telltale signs for when Skylar was into someone. She doubted Josh knew any of those signs.

"Do you like him as in you just wanna hook up with him or be with him?" Ellie asked curiously; that was an important question, because there was definitely a big difference between the two.

 

[esor]

Ellie’s comment about guys being clueless settled Sky’s nerves a little, she was very much right about that and it also kind of gave her a little bit of hope: if Josh was clueless, of course he wasn’t going to show interest in her! So she thought she had a chance, she didn’t know that he had none of the same feelings. But it lifted her spirits at that time, and for that she was happy.

Her apprehension dissipated and was replaced with excitement as she saw Ellie appeared to enjoy this information. Maybe it was exciting, maybe she didn’t have to worry about Josh not liking her in that way.

Ellie posed a difficult question. She didn’t really know all too well herself how she was feeling. “I obviously would hook up with him but then also I think about him when I hear a love song and I laugh at all his jokes and I want to make him a tape for his car radio with songs I think he’ll love.” She sighed.

“It’s just a stupid girly teenage crush, Ell! It’ll pass, I’m just being silly.” She tried to convince her, maybe even trying to convince herself.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie couldn't help the cheesy smile as she listened to the way Skylar talked about Joshua. Oh how she wished to feel that way toward someone again. To secretly do and say all the cheesy things she knew her friends would make fun of if they heard about. Her last relationship was just a few months ago, but those few months were enough to make Ellie crave having those feelings toward someone again. Even if Ellie wasn't the one with feelings for someone at this moment, she was glad that Skylar was.

"Oh that's so sweet." She commented, giving her friend a nudge. Maybe slightly harder than intended, but not nearly enough to knock her to the ground.

"Why would you want it to pass? I mean come on, you're hot. Way out of his league." She added. Maybe it was because Joshua just wasn't her type, or simply because Skylar was genuinely one of the prettiest girls Ellie had ever seen, but she was sure that the feelings would be mutual on his side if he were to ever find out what Skylar felt for him. Then again, she didn't know Josh too well and whether he was a relationship kind of guy or not.

 

[esor]

Sky couldn’t help but blush at Ellie’s comment, probably because she was drunk but it always felt nice to be complimented. She was also a little embarrassed after revealing what she just had, her friends reaction not helping. It was very sweet, Sky knew that, but it made her feel a little disheartened that Josh had no idea someone felt this way about him.

“Thank you.” She sighed, “I don’t know I just can’t imagine him ever falling for me like that. And I’m no good at relationships they never last, I don’t want or ruin a friendship. I really enjoy him being in my life and I don’t want to drive him away over some silly feelings.” The girl ranted a little. Her last proper relationship ended when she was sixteen, and since she’d kissed and done other stuff with boys but nothing overly serious. She just couldn’t picture herself in a relationship with any of them. But she could with Josh; and they hadn’t even kissed or anything of the sort.

Her eyes looked to his car, peering through the window to see him bopping his head and tapping his fingers which sparked a smile on her face and made her feel all fuzzy.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie nodded a little as she listened to what she was saying. "Don't overthink it. I mean if you just realised today it's probably gonna be some time before things.. escalate." She tried to offer advice, her drunk brain not doing a great job at picking the appropriate words to utilise.

"Don't think about the potential of ruining the friendship. Think about potentially having a really nice relationship." She further added, trying to find the silver lining to it all.

At some point, Josh grew real bored of sitting out there and waiting. He didn't want to leave them there on the lawn and drive off, but he also wasn't particularly interested in sitting there while they had their little chat. So, he proceeded to roll down his window and poke his head out.

"You girls gonna head in or what? I kinda wanna go home." Josh called out to them, his voice loud but showing indications of tiredness. It was past 1 am after all, and Josh was typically asleep by now.

 

[esor]

Sky nodded along with Ellie’s reassurance, she knew she was right. And of course Sky would be spending a lot of her time from now on imagining what it would be like if her and Josh were together. In that moment it felt like her life would be perfect if they were an item.

“You’re right, I should just enjoy it. Having a silly crush on him is kinda fun, you know.” She said with a grin, feeling more optimistic now.

She jumped a little when he spoke, feeling bad she nodded. “Sorry, Josh. we’ll go in now.” She could tell he was tired. “Thank you again, get home safe, please.” She added before waving again and walking to her front door, turning her key to the left until she heard that familiar click of the lock mechanics releasing.

She’d wait until Ellie was there with her to open the door, so they could go in together and enjoy the warmth of the inside of a heated home.

 

[amberskies]

"Crushes are fun." Ellie agreed with her. She missed having that kind of tension and giggling with Sky about boys and coming up with code names to be able to talk about them in public. She loved that cheesy teenager-y stuff. Sure, she'd get a small crush on occasion, but it took a lot for someone to really grab her attention to the extent that she would fantasise about them being together.

She looked over in the direction of Joshua's car as he momentarily complained about them still being outside. Despite having looked over at him a few times, for some reason it had totally gone over her head that he had been waiting for them this entire time. Now she felt sort of bad. She said nothing though, and instead looked at Skylar as she spoke and studied the way she interacted with him. There it was again, the thank you's. She seemed to be thanking him a lot.

Once the front door was opened, Ellie stepped in and immediately felt the warm air hit the skin on her legs. She let out a pleased sigh, proceeding to remove her shoes and setting them off to the side so they weren't in front of the door. She couldn't wait to take off her makeup and get into bed.

"Night!" He called out, before rolling the window back up to prevent the cool night air from filling his car. Seeing them finally step into the house, Joshua went on to hit the accelerator and return to the main road, heading in the direction of his house. Luckily it was a relatively short ride, so he'd be home and in bed within a few minutes. He let out the fiftieth yawn that night as he drove.

 

[esor]

Sky also kicked off her shoes and looked at Ellie, "Want anything? Water?" She suggested, figuring even if she didn't want it now it would be nice to have for in the night. She turned on a lamp that glowed an opaque orange against it's surroundings so that the girls had a bit of light to guide them around the place.

She got both of them a glass of water each then turned off the lamp, carefully guiding Ellie up the stairs and to her bedroom. She took off her makeup and gave Ellie the supplies to do so, with both of them eventually getting into bed. Sky fell asleep almost instantly, the drunkenness, late night and excitement from the evening really tired her out. She couldn't imagine how tired Ellie was after school and work on top of that.

Sky spent the rest of her weekend lazing around her house and not doing anything particularly exciting. The 17 year old caught her diary up to date, spilling everything it needed to know about the evening and about her feelings for Josh. These feelings actually made her excited for the school week ahead; having a hallway crush was one thing but when she knew she could see him in her classes, lunch time and even him taking her home sometimes it was really something that brightened her days.

She was particularly excited about that coming Tuesday, the big sports game against the rival school meant everyone was in high, competitive spirits and for once the schools students came together as some sort of union. Though Skylar wasn't a huge sports fan, the atmosphere was indescribable and any sort of event was something that she'd look forward to, plus with everyone going there was no way she'd miss it.

 

[amberskies]

After her little sleepover with Skylar, Ellie spent her weekend inside the house. She worked only one short shift, deciding that she had worked enough during the week to cut herself some slack. She didn't particularly mind staying in, since she ended up doing that most of the time. She simply passed by the Video House before lunch on Saturday and picked up a few horror films to watch during the weekend. Her boss knew she always returned the DVDs in perfect condition anyway, so he didn't care about her borrowing from work.

Monday passed by quickly, and then all of a sudden it was Tuesday. Ellie wasn't particularly interested in sports if she was being honest, but she loved the atmosphere at the games; everyones spirits were high, and almost every student would attend the games despite not everyone being interested in the sport itself. There would be snacks offered, and the bleachers would be jam-packed with teenagers. Besides, it was an opportunity for Ellie to check out the cute football players from the other school. They were supposed to be their rivals, but she couldn't deny that one of them had caught her eye before. He was just too cute.

So, she made sure to look cute for the occasion. Not just for him, but a tiny part of her wanted to dress to impress Xander just a little bit. She wasn't planning on having anything happen tonight, but it wouldn't hurt to look decent. She settled for something relatively simple but cute that showed off her slender figure but was also warm.

It was around 5pm, and the sun was already beginning to meet the horizon and colour the sky various shades of pink and orange. Conversations had to be conducted at a higher volume than usual due to the amount of students scattered about the football field. Sunnydale High players sported navy-coloured jerseys, whereas the 'away' team bore the maroon colour instead. A table was set up to offer affordable snacks for students, like juice, hot dogs, popcorn and fries. The game was bound to start any minute, and Ellie was making her way toward the bleachers with Lindsey, Skylar, Josh and Xander.