slow // joshua t bassett

CINCUENTA Y CUATRO

Auggie was waiting for Jo and Jack to get to the cafeteria, both coming from the same Government class. He texted the cast group chat to let them know where the, now trio, usually sits. He saw that Anna had decided on sitting on the opposite side of the cafeteria, sitting with the more notoriously popular people such as Pepper McSweeny. He was disappointed, to say the least, yet not surprised. 

Josephine came up to the table with Jack close behind. She placed three paper bags in the middle. "This one has Jack's PB and J, and the juice box's. This one is mainly Auggie's and the other is just salsa and guac."

August smiles gratefully at Jo, taking his sack lunch, "did your mom ask why she only made enough for three?"

She took her seat, Jack slipping into the one next to Auggie. Shaking her head, Jo replied, "not really. I guess she assumed that we aren't friends anymore."

Jack concluded, "which we're not." He began to munch on his sandwich, occasionally eating chips with the guacamole on the table. "Are we double-dipping?"

Jo shrugged, while Auggie threw him an unsure look. Joey was searching around the room with her eyes to try to spot out the cast members that were joining them. She took her phone out to text Josh but yelped when she felt someone brace her shoulders. The scream caught the attention of half of the room, making Joey go red with humiliation. Josh appeared by her side, a wide, but apologetic smile on his face.

"You scared the life out of me!" She playfully hit the boy on his knee, a short slapping sound caused by the impact. Josh rubbed his knee in slight pain, "I thought it was gonna be cute! I wasn't expecting you to be so jumpy!"

Sofia reaches over from where she sat and hit Josh on the same knee Joey hit him. "Ow! Would you stop that!"

Soon after, Josephine smiled at the boy. He wasn't looking at her when she did, and Jo was glad he wasn't. It would've been weird for him to catch her staring. She only looked away when she felt a pair of eyes on her. Her head turned, brown irises meeting with Anna's. Anna's stare looked more like a glare, but Josephine sent her a friendly grin anyway. In response, Anna rolled her eyes. Josh placed his hand on Jo's knee, silently asking if she's okay. Joey simply nodded with a small smile.

The lunch hour went by quickly, mostly filled with laughter, but with the foreseen few arguments and discussions that always seemed to happen in their group. Dara and Jack argued, once more, about ghosts and ghouls. Sofia mostly talked to Josephine and Liv about making plans sometime over the weekend, knowing Ramona wouldn't let Jo do anything during the week. Every now and then, the trio of students at the table would catch a snarl or glare from either Pepper or Anna, but chose not to acknowledge it.

As soon as the bell rang, the group dispersed around the school to where they needed to be. Josh and Joey walked behind the large crowd of students making their way back to their classes. Joey was afraid she'd lose Josh in the crowd, so she took his hand in hers. He smiled, twirling their fingers together. "Do you have to take attendance with a teacher before you go?"

She nodded, "yeah, but he's pretty chill. I'll just tell him I'm going to the library." She stopped by her locker to take out the textbook for her next class, so she doesn't have to stop by her locker on the way back from the roof.

"Should I just head up there? I don't wanna seem weird and just wait outside of your class," Josh offered. Joey smiled and nodded nimbly. He shot her a charming grin before he took off to the roof. When Jo closed her locker, she was met with Pepper McSweeny smiling patronizingly down at her.

"Josephine, how nice to see you've gotten to know the actors shooting at our school," Pepper said with an overly sweet and peppy tone in her voice. Jo nodded, not wanting the conversation to go on any further. "Although, I'm sure we all received emails from the school about not bothering our visitors. Would be a shame if administration found out you're getting involved with them just to be on the show."