the boy on the bridge ✔️

19. bakery boy

Chapter 19 — bakery boy

11 days. That is how long it has been since Josh last laid eyes on the bridge boy or Elliot as he had come to know.

He still goes to the bridge every day though, just like how he did before he came to know of the curly-haired boy's existence. The only difference now is that the bridge used to be a peaceful place to him, but nowadays it only serves as a source of confusion, upset and even annoyance sometimes.

As much as Josh tells himself that he doesn't care whether the bridge boy shows up or not, deep down he knows it isn't true.

Somewhere along the way, Josh unknowingly, or maybe even knowingly but uncontrollably has started to care, and there isn't a button that he can just press and stop caring in an instant. Although he hates to admit it, the hours he spends on the bridge nowadays are always passed with him solely wondering what ever happened to Elliot. There are days where he even questioned his sanity — wondering if Elliot was just a figment of his own imagination after all.

Josh's doubts and worries does eventually come to a stop though. And this is not because Josh stops caring or Elliot comes to the bridge again — no, it happens in the most unexpected way, and one hundred percent by chance.

It starts with Josie bugging him one Sunday to drive her down to a bakery located in Darkside, the part of town where they're not really supposed to go (although Josh does go there every night). He tells Josie this and she just rolls her eyes at him, and persists to annoy him until he has no choice but to give in. He really, really doesn't want to get out of his room, let alone the house, but Josie can really be stubborn when she wants something.

There are other bakeries that are located much closer to their house, even one in walking distance, but apparently the one in Darkside is the best bakery in the whole town, and Josie just has to go there. Josh didn't even know she visited that part of town, and when he asks her about this, she only gives him a vague shrug, not explaining anything.

He would have asked more, but he isn't really in the mood to talk and so he doesn't press for an answer. Josie has promised to buy him doughnuts for his driving service and so he keeps his mind on that. He is too tired to think about anything else really, even though he has done absolutely nothing for the day.

The bakery is located in an area Josh isn't entirely familiar with. The only place he goes to in this part of town is the bridge. It doesn't look too bad or resemble anything close to the description they've been fed with basically all their lives — that it's dingy, sketchy, and run-down. It's nothing close to that. It looks just like the other part of the town where they lived, maybe even little brighter. This goes to explain to what extremes the people in their town can go to make sure that they keep living in their perfect little bubble.

"This place is not too bad," he comments and Josie nods from beside him.

"I know right. Just because someone committed suicide here, or there was this one person who was dealing with drug addiction, doesn't mean this whole place is bad," she shrugs, "I have a friend who's from here, you know and he's not so bad,"

"He goes to our school?" Josh asks surprised — the kids from this part of town usually travel to the next town for school.

"Yeah. No one knows he's from here though. And he's the one who introduced me to this bakery too,"

Josh looks at the shop his sister is referring to, and reads the sign board; Dolce. It doesn't look all that special and looks like just any other bakery he's been to. But Josie swears they have the best baked goods and Josh just has to wait for a little bit more and see if that's true for himself.

"You wanna come with?" she asks, unbuckling her seatbelt, and opening the car door.

Josh shakes his head, and points a finger at her, "Ten minutes — that's how long I'm waiting. After that, I'm leaving, with or without you,"

Rolling her eyes, she sticks out her tongue at him, and closes the door, approaching the bakery before disappearing inside. Josh fiddles with the bluetooth system of his car radio, connecting his phone, so that he can listen to some music while waiting for his sister, but soon gives up when he can't find something that he feels like listening to.

He looks up and something catches his eye from the bakery's window, or rather someone. Josh can't really see their face since their back is turned to him, but still they look so painstakingly familiar, Josh feels as if his heart's grown heavier. He keeps looking at them, willing them to turn around, so he can work out his suspicion, but they don't and only disappear further into the shop, completely moving away from Josh's view.

Josh lets out a heavy breath, grabbing the steering wheel with both of his hands — they look so much like Elliot. What are the odds of them actually being him?

The only thing that makes it possible for them not to be him is their hair — it's shorter than Elliot's, but it's possible he could have had a haircut. Josh tugs at his own hair, conflicted.

One thing he knows for certain is that he has to know for sure if that's Elliot or not before he can leave. If not, it's going to nag at him endlessly until he actually returns to this place and go and see their face. If it's not Elliot, then that's okay, it's not Elliot. He's just magically disappeared and there's a good possibility that Josh just might never see him ever again and Josh has to find a way to live with that.

But if it is Elliot... Josh doesn't know how he's supposed to react to that. He can then confirm that Elliot is a real person and not someone he's imagined. Other than that, he doesn't know.

Taking a deep breath, he nods to himself, and gets out of the car. Simple, all he has to is walk into the bakery, see who that person is and leave. He can do this. But still, that doesn't stop from his hands shaking that he has to keep them in his pockets, and Josh has to remind himself to keep breathing.

He reaches the bakery. A deep breath. He puts his hand on the door and pushes it open. A bell hanging at the entry jingles at his entrance. He sees Josie first, who also sees him, and she's saying something, her mouth is moving but he can't really make any of that.

Because standing right behind her, on the other side of the display counter is none other than Elliot. Weirdly, the only other thing Josh can process other than seeing this boy he has not seen in days is that he has gotten a haircut. His curls no longer fall down to his shoulders but instead they're cropped short up to his ears.

He stares at him unable to look anywhere else or even say anything and the other boy looks at him unwaveringly too, looking very much surprised.

His reverie only breaks when he hears the bell at the entrance jingle once again, signalling other customers. Josh blinks back to the present and tears his gaze away from the bridge boy, looking back at his sister, who is looking at him weirdly now.

"You okay?" she asks.

"We have to go. Now,"

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