Billionaire's Childhood Love

LX. It's Positive

Joshua's POV:

Am I upset?

Yes.

Am I angry?

No.

Am I pissed off?

Fuck yeah!

The memories of Hailey smiling at Ricardo run surfaces.

I rush my fingers up my hair and step onto the bus. Don't look back. Don't look- fuck.

I look back.

Hailey cast a gaze downward. Steadily, she lifts her leg one by one and drags it towards the bus leaving the footprint trail behind her.

Be firm. Firm!

I refuse to allow myself to be pushed around by Hailey. She can't behave all willy nilly - hot and cold - around me. I tried to talk to her. She was the one who continually refuses to talk then chooses to sit with a guy she knows I dislike. I forced myself to look away and sat down beside Ahmend.

"What squeeze through your assho-" he stops talking. Ahmend looks elsewhere. "Oh, it's snowing." He taps his finger against the glass. "Snow. Snow. Pretty snow."

It wasn't difficult to read the atmosphere around me.

"Hey, Josh. When we get-" Tyson stops talking and faces forward. "Oh, someone is calling me. I'm coming!" No one was calling him.

Hailey got on the bus. Her body trembles even with my coat around her. My eyes cast toward her shoes. They're filled with snow. She's going to get sick if she doesn't warm up.

No!

Firm! Josh! Stay firm!

We got back to campus. I was upset but when I saw Hailey attempt to carry her massive bag. I got depressed. She puffed her red cheeks and dragged the bag towards the dorm. Hailey lacks upper body strength.

"Hey, why are you walking so slow?" Ahmend asks.

"Enjoying the weather," I respond blandly.

"This weather? This shit wea-" Ahmend looks back and exhales. "Why don't you just help her?"

"No."

"What? You live and breathe in- ah, forget it." Ahmend walks away. He is so done with my bullshit. I'm glad he is. I don't need someone to tell me what to do with my life. I have my parents for that.

I exhale and head towards the dorm. Austin looks up from the computer and smiles, "Hey Josh. Good day?" He's always happy for some odd reason. Then again, it's probably part of his job description.

I lean against the counter, "Mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure! What is it?" I cannot believe he accepted my request even though he doesn't know what it is.

"Mind going out there and offer to help Hailey?"

He scratches his head, "I guess, but someone needs to watch the front desk."

"I'll watch it," I respond. Hesitantly, he got up and made his way towards the door.

I watch as Austin walks towards Hailey and offers support. I don't have to be cautious around Austin; he understands his limitations. I'm impressed with him; he knew exactly what to do. Whenever I ask him for a favor, he always does it without question. He would make a good secretary.

They got into the elevator, and I exhaled a sharp breath. I rush my hands through my hair before resting on the spinning chair. I can't believe I behave so irrationally. I should've talked things out with her. Then, things won't be so awkward like right now. Recently, I feel like that's all we do. Bicker about something. It usually doesn't last long, and it's not as serious where we won't talk forever, but we bicker more often than we did when we were younger.