Page 31 of Girl Violence

Turning, Vince walks ahead, and Josette stares after him with a lump in her throat, knowing it’s over as soon as tonight ends. But what did she expect? It was only supposed to be one night. She sure got what she wanted.

CHAPTERTWELVE

The following week flies by, and it is the most tormenting week of Josette’s life. Josette and her dad made up on the plus-side, which isn’t a surprise. She’s convinced his change of heart had something to do with Diane.

The next day, after sleeping in their guest bedroom, which Josette often used when she used to stay with them, Diane said her dad wanted to see her. Obviously, she had been over to the house to talk to him about the argument. She even offered to go with her for girl support, which Josette had turned down.

She sat with her dad in the living room for the first time in ages. The place that hasn’t changed since her mum’s departure. Her magazines, that are completely outdated, are still under the coffee table. Her favourite scented candles still on the fireplace, and an awful fake flower arrangement next to the lamp she picked out. It’s been almost a year, and her dad left it instead of turning it into a bachelor pad like any normal single man would.

Sitting with him after their fight was awkward. Josette was quiet, her head about to fall off her after last night. She was in need of a shower, food, and her bed.

“I won’t send you to your mother’s,” he finally broke the silence. “I don’t want to send you anywhere, but you must be more aware of what’s happening around you.” When Josette glanced at him, she saw his eyes grimly looking around the room. He seemed so lost in his own home. “You don’t want that stigma following you through life,” he continued. “I get that you’re almost eighteen and…experiencing new things but don’t be so trusting.” Josette could only nod because she didn’t know what to say. “Diane told me Vince got it taken down?”

Josette’s heart did a weird little swoop at the mention of Vince. She’d tried not to think about him yet. She didn’t reallywantto think about him. That meant facing what happened last night.

“Yeah, he did,” she mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“Are you friends again?” Josette almost let out a snort. Hell would freeze over before that happened.

What happened last night wasn’t supposed to. And even still, it didn’t change anything between them. It confused Josette even more and made Vince colder towards her. He said nothing as they walked home. She waited for him to be honest with her, but instead of admitting that he wanted her, he left her in his guest bedroom.

“No,” Josette finally said, even though her chest pained. “We’re not friends. We just work together.”

After the talk ended with her dad, he went back to his study to do work, and Josette went upstairs, took her shower, and got into bed. She tried to watch something on Netflix, but her thoughts kept drifting. Before she knew it, she burst into tears and sobbed like a baby.

She blamed the show. Even though it wasn’t sad.

The rest of the week was boring, falling back into her mundane work routine. On Tuesday, Vince came in for his shift and refused to look her in the eye. He mumbled a pathetic hello, and that was it. He pretended like nothing happened between them—as if he didn’t get her off at the side of a building.

Miss Finn gave him work in her office again, so Josette barely saw him throughout the day. Time away from him allowed her to have a talk with herself while she was fixing the books on the shelves, deciding that she was better off without him.

It still hurt, though. Still made Josette’s stomach turn and her chest squeeze tightly. She couldn’t eat properly, and he was at the forefront of her dreams whenever she closed her eyes.

It was her dad who noticed her exhaustion after the end of one of her shifts. He tried to get her to tell him what was bothering her, attempting to be a little more proactive in the conversation department. Still, Josette knew nothing she could say would help. She told him she had cramps and he shut up very quickly after that.

Josette messaged Jenna a bunch of times to call her, really needing someone to talk to. She eventually got back to her on a random number, explaining she couldn’t talk as she was caught by her uncle with Beth’s phone. She did, however, get a cheap cell off someone on the sly and will contact Josette as soon as things settle down.

Josette had no one, and her own thoughts weren’t helping. The discussion she had with herself went out of the window whenever she caught glimpses of Vince in the library. She still wanted him, still thought about him, still hoped.

Groaning, Josette repeatedly smacks a romance book into her head for her stupid thoughts. No matter what she does, she can’t get Vince out of her head.

“What are you doing?” Miss Finn snatches the book out of her hand, a bit like déjà vu when life had been simpler when she was smelling the books rather than abusing them. Josette glares at the woman for ruining her attempt to physically bash Vince out of her head. He’s not in today, but he might as well be. “Don’t do that. You will damage the book. What’s the matter with you now?”

“Everything,” Josette says, attempting to suck in air, which she can’t. “Agh! I need air. I can’tbreathein here.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Miss Finn rolls her eyes with exasperation, like Josette having a panic attack is a massive hindrance. “You can leave for today, but you will have to make up your hours some other time.”

That was oddly nice of her. “Uh, thanks.”

Grabbing her coat and bag, Josette leaves the library and decides to go to Finnegan’s. She doesn’t want to go home. Home is where more thoughts happen. Home is bad.

Once she gets there, she orders a hot chocolate, hoping to calm the hell down. She even asks the waitress to double up on the whipped cream and marshmallows.

Sitting by the window, Josette pulls out her phone, almost bashing that against her head too. Her thumb hovers over the Instagram app. She hasn’t been on it since uploading that picture of her and Vince. Funny how she was going to forget about him, but the moment he kissed her, it changed everything. Now she can’t. It’s like he’s cemented himself in her soul.

Sighing, Josette finally clicks on it. She has 70 notifications this time, but when she looks, she’s relieved to see it’s mostly likes and comments on the new picture and nothing sinister.

Clicking on the image, even though she’s looked at it a lot over the past week, her chest still tightens when she sees Vince and his smile. He’s even accepted her friend request, which is like another kick to the gut. Going on his profile, there’s nothing new on it except their picture. A few of his friends commented on it, sending the fire emoji and saying how hot they look—

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