Page 58 of Girl Violence

Since the fence between their gardens hasn’t been built yet, they head to the back door. Before running across the grass to her own garden, Josette turns to face him, taking in how cute he looks with his messy hair and sleepy eyes. “Night, Vince.”

He lifts her hand and kisses her knuckles, causing her heart to swoop in her chest. “Don’t you mean morning?”

“Which is a good thing since you’re not allowed to dream of me.” She pokes him in the chest, making him smile.

Stepping closer, he kisses her on the forehead and then her lips. Seconds later, he reluctantly lets go. As she turns to run across his grass, he slaps her ass. Rolling her eyes at his grin, she walks away, grabbing the spare key out from under the plant pot. Making sure she’s quiet, she goes inside and heads upstairs, hearing her dad’s soft snores coming from his bedroom down the hall.

When she gets to her room, she collapses into bed, exhausted and aching. She sleeps all morning, only waking briefly when she hears her dad moving about the house, eventually going into his study to work. Though, she swears she heard him open her door to check to see if she was there.

Halfway through the day, after showering and eating, Josette’s mind is clouded with all things Vince, until there’s a knock at the front door.

Groaning, she pauses the show she’s watching on Netflix and goes to answer it. As soon as she pulls it open, she’s engulfed in arms and blonde hair. Josette goes still when she catches the scent of vanilla and jasmine perfume—a familiar scent.

“Hey, stranger.” The girl hugging her pulls away, giving Josette her signature, killer smile. It’s Jenna.

Josette’s mouth drops in shock. Jenna laughs at her expression, and Josette gasps, throwing her arms back around her and squeezing the life out of her.

“Oh my god!” She pulls away, looking at her from head to toe. “You’re here. Like, actually here?”

“No, I’m just a figment of your imagination. Can I pinch you?”

“How did you get here? I mean, why? I thought you were gone forever.”

“Let me in, would you?” Jenna laughs and steps into Josette’s house, closing the door behind her. “Let’s sit down. My feet are killing me in these shoes.”

Josette looks down, seeing she’s wearing a pair of glittery black heels, which don’t match the rest of the conservative outfit she’s wearing. She must’ve been to church. Her shoe choice is her silent way of rebelling against her parents’ rules. With the spiked studs on the heel, Josette is sure they adored them. “What on earth are they?”

“Do you like them?” she asks, and then shakes her head. “Why am I asking? Of course, you don’t. You hate heels.”

Josette doesn’t hate them, but they wouldn’t be her favourite thing. Though, she might just wear them to impress Vince. Jenna brushes past her and heads into the living room. She looks great, even slightly tanned. But then, she’s always been naturally stunning. She’s tall and slender, her long blonde hair flowing to her waist and big, almond eyes.

She sits on the couch, takes off the sunglasses on the crown of her head, and turns to her. “Are you just going to stand there all day?”

“Just admiring how great you look.” Josette sits beside her, wincing with discomfort when she sits. Jenna’s eyebrow rises but thankfully says nothing. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Germany?”

“My dad missed me too much apparently.” She rolls her eyes. “More like he missed my help with Stefan.”

Stefan is her younger brother by only a year, and he has autism. He’s on the severe side of the spectrum and is dependent on twenty-four-hour care. “To be fair, I actually missed him. I was worried sick about him. I missed you, too, so I’m glad to be back. How have you been?”

“I don’t know where to start,” Josette says, fiddling with her fingers.

She gives her a strange look. “Start from the beginning, and I mean, the absolute beginning. I want to see your facial expressions.”

Josette laughs. “Okay, freak.”

They talk for hours, and Josette tells her everything about Vince. She catches her up on all that’s been going on since he’s come back, including the fights, being arrested again, and her arguments with her dad about the nude image that was leaked. When she told her she and Vince finally hooked up, Jenna’s mouth dropped, but she didn’t interrupt.

Unloading all her thoughts and feelings has always been easy with Jenna, and Josette loves that she’s here. That she has her best friend listening to her spill her guts.

Josette learns Jenna flew in early this morning and had only gotten the chance to get away now. She told her parents she was going to see Josette, and they tried to stop her, but she left anyway. She doesn’t say much while they talk, and the subject always changes when Josette asks about Austin. She’s sure she thinks Josette doesn’t notice, but she does.

“—And now he just wants to be casual, I guess,” Josette says lastly, letting out a deep breath, her mouth numb from talking so much.

“So much for he isn’t my type!” Jenna laughs. “And you’re okay with this?”

She shrugs. “I think so. I mean, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Being around him...it’s different. We’ve always been like that. It doesn’t feel like we’re just having sex, and that’s it, you know?”

“Josette,” Jenna says with a sympathetic smile. “I think you like Vince more than you realise.”

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