Josh jerked awake when he heard a loud knock on the door…”Come in…” he called and eyed his mug of coffee. It was already cold. “Dammit…” Josh got up to refresh his glass as the person came through the door.
“Josh?” Rayna questioned the empty room and frowned Probably avoiding me, not that I could blame him after what I pulled last night... “Josh where are you?”
“Kitchen…” he yelled through the house, then put a hand to his head. Fucking hangover… Josh wondered what she was doing here; just last night she had hated him… And he knew she wasn’t drunk when she had yelled at him like a maniac. “What do you want?” he asked turning around and blowing his coffee.
“To talk,” Rayna stated and sat down at the table.
“You hate me, remember?” His tone was harsh, and it made Rayna flinch.
“Josh,” Rayna’s tone was patient, and understanding. She understood this was all her fault and she meant to see it corrected. “I don’t know what caused that outburst last night… But I’m sorry.”
“Rayna you aren’t yourself anymore! After that fling we had you’ve been acting funny… I mean, granted that is to be expected, but it’s not the kind of funny I expected.”
“Fling?” Her face showed the disapproval she felt, even if her tone didn’t. “Is that all it was to you? A fling? Joshua, that hurts.” Rayna frowned, and stared at the table.
“What was it to you then? Would you rather me call it a ‘fling’ or meaningless sex or a casual hookup, what?”
“Well if to you it was meaningless, that’s great to know. Because it was sure as hell more than that to me.” Rayna stood up. “Listen, Josh, I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”
“You made that clear last night.”
“I need my key,” Rayna stood up and held out her hand. “I’m sorry you’ve wasted so much time in being my friend.”
Josh made a frustrated noise and muttered under his breath. He found his keys, and took it off the key ring. “Take your damn key, Rayna. If you are willing to throw away our friendship for what seems to be no apparent reason, fine. Do it.” Josh placed the key in her upturned palm. “Now get out.”
Rayna opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. Great job, girl. You just lost him. She turned on her heels and stormed out his house, slamming the door and causing his head to give a great throb.
Josh was sitting in the living room with Justin and Chris. He had just told them everything that had gone on between he and Rayna. “She’s acting so stupid!”
“Wait a second,” Chris held up a hand. “You two slept together, and you told her that is was meaningless?! Are you stupid Josh?”
“What was I supposed to tell her, Chris?”
“Well, you could have told her something other than that!” Justin put in. “She likes you, Josh, you don’t just tell her sex was meaningless, it makes girls feel like whores or something. And on top of that if she has been acting funny ever since, it should tell you something! Rayna likes you!”
“Rayna cannot like me,” Josh told Justin. “We’re best friends, nothing more. Never will be more. I don’t like her that way. Besides, last I checked she was in love with someone.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “They don’t tell you when they like you. Trust me, I know. But how are you going to fix it?”
“Why the hell should I have to fix it? She’s the one who had some weird breakdown and tried to let herself get run over! I don’t even know what the hell I did! We were having a drink and I said something about going out with Christy this weekend, and she just got up and ran off.”
“Because she wants you to go out with her!” Justin exclaimed.
“Then why the hell didn’t she tell me so! Listen, it doesn’t matter. She and I are through. I don’t want to be her friend anymore if she is going to act like… like… like a spoiled child! I have a life outside of her!”
“Then you shouldn’t have acted like you didn’t! You two were basically TOGETHER! And now, now you’re just randomly telling her she means nothing!”
“I didn’t say she means nothing to me, Chris! I said the SEX meant nothing! I mean, it was a hookup. We both wanted it, and it happened. It’s not like I did it because I love her or anything.”
Justin and Chris exchanged glances, sighed, and leaned back. “Josh, you seriously need some help,” Justin stated.
“Then help me!” he exclaimed. “You two are my best friends, so help me! I don’t want to not have her as a friend, she’s the one who ditched me!”
Justin frowned. “Do you really want some help, Chasez?”
Josh nodded.
“Okay, fine I’ll help you,” Justin stood up. “I’ll go over there and see what I can do.”
“Don’t do that!”
“I won’t say you sent me, I’m not stupid. I’m just going to be her friend. Me and her got along anyway. Much better than you two did.”
“Okay, fine. Just try your best to help me!”
“Don’t worry, I am, ok?” Justin stood up and grabbed his keys. “In fact, I’ll head over there now. I’ll see you two later.”
Rayna was at home, sulking again. Her cat had climbed back in her lap, and this time she made no move to push him away. She was unsure what to do about everything… Rayna knew that her heart was entirely Josh’s, but she had no clue how he felt about her. She also knew that she was miserable. Hah, great going Rayna… Lose the man you love and the best friend you’ve ever had all in one day!
Her lips turned down at the corners, the house was too silent. She leaned back and rested her head on a pillow, wishing that sleep would come and never end.
For a while, it seemed maybe Rayna would get her wish. She slept in the chair, in the same position, for a couple of hours. The doorbell startled Rayna from the dreams she was having.
Slowly, she got up and answered the door. "What the hell do you want Justin?"
"To hang out, is that so wrong?" he asked, pushing inside and sitting down. "Heard what happened with you and Josh."
"Oh great... Listen, I really do NOT want to talk about this-"
"Rayna, shut up and listen to me. He's stupid, you shouldn't have the type of feelings for him that you do."
"I can't help it," she stated.
"Do you want to snag him?" Justin inquired.
Rayna nodded. "More than anything, I want to be with him."
"I can help you," he told her. "I can help you get him."
"How?"
"You have to trust me, can you trust me?" She nodded. Justin continued... "Josh likes you too, he just doesn't know he does... I know that doesn't make sense, but trust me, I've known him since before puberty... Anyway, all you have to do is make him jealous."
"I have tried making him jealous, Justin, it never works. It doesn't phase him."
"Because you're going about it all wrong."
"How am I going about it all wrong?"
"Because, you have to hit him where it hurts. Rayna, go out with me."
"Do WHAT?"
"Go out with me. Let me take you out to dinner or something, and he'll have a fit. Trust me. And if that doesn't work, then all you gotta do is act like you're my girl."
"Justin, that is stupid and ridiculous, and wrong."
"Fine, if you don't want him..." Justin stood up and started toward the door.
"Okay, fine... Just give me more info than that on what to do!"
"Great!" A mischevious smile spread across his face as he sat down and began to explain his plans to Rayna.
Josh sat in the living with Chris. It had been a couple of hours since Justin had left, and Josh was beginning to get paranoid. “Why has he been gone for so long?”
Chris shrugged as he blew up an alien on a video game. “Maybe he’s seriously trying to help.”
“I hope so,” Josh frowned. “If he screws it up, I’ll kill him…”
Chris laughed. “He won’t, you know that just as well as I do. It’s not like he’s gone over there to sweep her off of her feet or anything.”
Josh laughed. “Rayna wouldn’t ever date him anyway. She thinks he’s arrogant.”
Chris and Josh chortled as Justin came in through the door. “Hey guys, I’ve got to go home.”
“You just got back,” Josh exclaimed.
“I’ve got to go home and get a shower and get ready,” he stated.
“For what?” Chris asked. “You said you didn’t have anything to do tonight, I figured we could all go clubbing.”
“I’ve got a date,” Justin replied nonchalantly.
“With who?” Josh’s eyes narrowed threateningly.
Justin smiled, “None of your business… See you guys later,” he left the house and climbed into his car.
Rayna was standing in front of her closet. She had already tried on and discarded five outfits. “Why am I even trying so hard?” she asked her cat. “It’s just Justin, and it’s just a fake date to piss off Josh.”
Xander meowed, and rubbed against her leg. She leaned down and scratched between his ears before rooting through her closet some more. Rayna couldn’t decide whether to wear a skirt, or pants, or shorts, or whether or not to put on a t-shirt, a tank top, a nice shirt… She sighed loudly and sat down. Justin had said they wouldn’t go anywhere too fancy, but Justin was a mischievous little devil. Rayna pulled out a black skirt with a denim-like material, and set it on her pillow. It came right above her knees, and was part of one of her favorite outfits to wear. She looked at the shirt that she usually wore with it, and frowned. Her mind knew she couldn’t wear that shirt, because she had to seem like this date mattered in case Josh saw them. She picked up the black skirt, and put it back in the closet and extracted a pink one. She hardly ever wore pink, though Josh said she looked nice in it. She settled on wearing that with a cute pink spaghetti strap that matched it perfectly.
“What do you think, Xander?” Rayna smiled when the cat meowed loudly and began to purr. “I wonder what people would do if they knew I took advice from a cat,” she mused aloud before heading into the bathroom to fix her make up. She was still applying eyeliner when there was a knock on the door. She walked through the living room and opened it; she smiled when she saw Justin. “Give me a few more minutes,” Rayna stated, “I’m not quite done.”
“Alright,” Justin laughed a bit. “I can’t believe you’re taking this so seriously.” He sat down in the recliner and turned on the TV. “Take your time.”
She returned back to the bathroom without replying and finished getting ready. Rayna then went back into the living room, and sat down on the couch.
Justin looked at her, and grinned. “You look hot,” he told Rayna. “And I’m not lying, Josh would die if he saw you, not wonder he says you should wear more pink.”
She blushed, and looked away. “Thank you,” she told him quietly. “You look good too,” Rayna added. Justin was wearing a pair of lose fitting jeans, and a tight black top. She had never really noticed how attractive he was before, because she was always focused on his less than pleasing personality.
“Well, are you ready to go?” Justin asked, standing up.
“Yeah, I am,” Rayna smiled back and stood up as well. “So where are we going?”
“Well, inside sources tell me that Josh and Chris will be out clubbing, so I figured we could go out to eat before hand and then go to the club, if that’s okay.”
Rayna chewed her lip… “Well, don’t you think that it would piss Josh off worse if we did something other than that? I mean, you know, went out to a nice dinner and then you know, to like a movie or to a play or something? That way it seems more like a real date and not just friends going out?”
Justin thought, then smiled. “I like your way of thinking, that makes much more sense. I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”
Rayna smirked. “Well, we better get going,” she stated. Justin nodded and crooked his arm, and Rayna took it as they walked out to his car. He opened the door for her, and then crossed the front of the car and climbed in. This night was going to be interesting.
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