Page 43 of Girl Violence

“Nothing. Staying in,” she says. “Why?”

“Just asking…” He scratches the side of his head. “I’m thinking of going to the bowl tonight.”

“Cool.” She nods, and he doesn’t say anything more, which makes her feel even more awkward. Was he going to ask her to go? He’s never asked her to go out with him, and he’s saying nothing now. “We better catch the bus before we miss it.”

He nods, frowning a little. “Yeah…”

Turning, he leaves and walks out of the library without her. Beyond confused, she says goodbye to Miss Finn, who absently waves, paying Josette no attention. No,thank you. No,I can’t wait to see you next week, Josette. And here she thought they were getting somewhere.

Walking outside, Josette groans at the heat, wishing for rain. Putting on her sunglasses, she heads toward the bus stop. Vince is there, sitting on the bench, wearing a grim expression.

Sitting beside him, Josette nudges him, making his entire body stiffen, a reaction she isn’t expecting. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” His eyes are focused ahead like he’s refusing to make eye contact with her. “Just leave it, alright?”

“God, fine!” she snaps back, turning away. What the hell is his problem?

When the bus arrives, she storms on first after paying the driver, taking a seat near the back. Vince sits on the seat opposite on the other side of the bus, and she glares at him, watching him shove his earphones into his ears. A crashing heavy metal song blasts from them, making some pensioners glance over their shoulders at him.

Josette doesn’t know what just happened. She hasn’t done anything wrong. Why his sudden attitude?

The bus moves, and she looks out of the window. A few stops later, a group of people get on and sit near the front. Josette doesn’t pay attention at first, but she begins to recognise two of them after a while. They went to Chestwood and were in the year above her. Lewis and Carson were the class clowns and popular enough that Josette knew of them but didn’tknowthem.

“Oh, hey.” One of the girls who is with them waves. She’s looking at Vince, who smiles, and waves back. Josette’s insides go tight, recognising it’s the girl he was kissing the other night—Rosie. And she is a cute emo with nice lips, a nice rack, and although Josette can’t see from here, she’s sure the girl has a nice ass too. And she’s smiling at Vince while tucking her hair behind her ear. A sign of how into him she is.

Josette clenches her teeth behind her lips. Not again. She’stiredof being jealous.

Noticing Vince, Carson, and Lewis move up the bus and slap hands with him in greeting, like they know each other. Maybe they’re the “old friends” Vince was telling Josette about.

“You coming to the bowl later?” Josette hears Carson ask him.

“Yeah.” Vince nods, and the other guy, Lewis, lowers his voice. Unlucky for her, Josette can still hear. “Rosie’s going. She’s been going on and on about you, man. You going to tap that?”

Josette squeezes her hand into a fist, wanting to punch Lewis in his fucking face, but forces herself to look away from them, especially before hearing Vince’s answer. She doesn’t care. She really doesn’t.

Josette glances at the girls, watching them be loud on purpose to get the boy’s attention. It makes her agitated and thankful she has Jenna, who is nothing like them.

Her stop soon approaches, and Josette gets up from her seat, only to find Lewis’ long legs in her way.

“Oh, hey. Didn’t see you sitting there, Josette,” he says with a smile, which isn’t true. He looked right at her before he sat down. Moving his spider legs to the side, he gestures for her to go past.

“Thanks.” She’s about to move when the bus suddenly slams on the brakes, jerking her forward. Lewis grabs her by the hips to stop her from flying down the aisle, making her flush.

“You okay?” he asks with concern after she catches her balance by grabbing onto the rail. Josette’s eyes land on Vince, seeing he’s fixated on Lewis’ hands still on her.

“Yeah, thanks for that,” she says shakily, moving away from him.

“Would you like to come to the bowl later with us?” he asks her then. “Haven’t seen you there in ages.”

“Oh, uh...yeah, maybe.” With a forced smile, she walks down the aisle as the bus approaches her stop. She tries not to let it bother her that the girls are laughing behind their hands that she nearly fell, but it does.

Getting off the bus, Josette walks down the street, beyond annoyed and irritated. She hears footsteps behind her, and when she glances over her shoulder, Vince is there. If she thought he looked pissed before, it’s nothing compared to how he looks now.

Turning back, Josette keeps walking, finally arriving at her house. Just as she fumbles inside her bag for her house keys, she glances over at him and sees him standing outside his own door and looking across at her. His eyes darken, and it makes her so damn mad because she feels like she’s done something wrong when she hasn’t.

Shaking her head, she shoves her key into the lock and slams the door once she’s inside. As she lets out a noise of frustration, her dad takes that moment to walk into the hallway, spotting his daughter by the door and giving her a look like maybe she’s gone mad. “You okay there?”

“Yes,” she lies, seething, but then notices something different. Her dad isn’t in zombie-dad attire. He’s wearing smart, casual jeans and a nice shirt. “Where are you going?”

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