Variables | Joshaya ✔︎

Storage

𝕞𝕒𝕪𝕒

After a long and extremely embarrassing trip through the city, earning glares from nearly everyone on the subway who had noticed Dillon, a baby in a basket, with me, an 18-year-old holding the handle, we finally arrive at our stop.

Topanga grabs my empty hand right as she sees the huge crowd of people waiting to get on the train. She quickly directs me, practically pulling me out of the subway.

"Okay, come on," she says, after she checks that Dillon is still there, which of course, he is. Where would he have been, if not still in the basket?

Anyways, I follow her a few streets down from the subway to a storage facility. We go in and she shows the front desk people her ID,  her key, and tells them her unit number, and they show us up a few floors to their unit, "Okay, here it is."

She fiddles around with the key in the lock until it finally clicks and she opens the door. She motions for me to stay outside of the unit, since I see that it's exactly what I pictured: organized chaos. If you know where to look, you'll find exactly what you need, but if not, you're pretty much screwed. No, you are screwed.

A few minutes later, she comes out with a few boxes and places them down outside of the unit, "Okay, so in here is a diaper bag, an extra pack of diapers, and stuff for changing. Here is the food supply, since it never expires, it's non-perishables and it doesn't matter where you put it, so there's baby food, little baby utensils, and a few bottles. Then here is the crib, taken apart of course since it took up a lot of space, but it's all there, plus the instructions. Then there's some blankets and passifiers. Finally, there's the toys, along with the toys for when he starts teething," she explains, pointing to each of the boxes, respectively.

"Thank you Mrs. Matthews, I don't know what I'd do without you," I say.

"Of course Maya, anything for you and... wait, do you have a name for it? Is it a boy or a girl?" she asks curiously.

I sigh, "It's a boy, and surprisingly, yes. We do have a name. We named him Dillon."

She smiles, "I love it! It's so beautiful, and so unique. Where'd you think of it?"

"Well, you might not believe me, but it was actually Gabi who thought of it. It took a few tries; first it was Auggie, then Chocolate..." I explain, making her laugh as I laugh along with her.

I sigh, "Well, as they say: third time's the charm."

We both smile, but then about 30 seconds later, Topanga's smile fades.

"Is everything alright?" I ask, my worry growing by the second.

"Yeah, I just totally forgot about how much stuff is here, and how we would get this stuff back to your apartment," she says, but then I see a lightbulb go off in her head.

"What?" I ask curiously.

"Have you met Josh?" she asks.

"Uhh. Not that I can think of..... who's Josh? Should I know him?" I ask.

"Maybe... you might know him as Riley's cool uncle?" she presses, and then a light bulb goes off in my head too.

"Oh yeahhh.... I remember now, but I don't think I've ever met him, I don't even know what he looks like for that matter," I say.

"Well, today's your lucky day! He's going to college here in New York. His apartment is actually a few blocks from here, I could call him. He's really nice. Wait, you did meet him. But it was years ago, you were probably like, 5, so I understand why you wouldn't remember," she says.

"Wait, I did meet him? I don't remember a thing," I admit, shaking my head as she takes out her phone.

"Yup, I think it was Christmas that year," she says as she looks down at her phone, "I'll call him."

I nod shyly and she dials his phone number, bringing her phone up to her ear.

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𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕒

After a few rings, he picks up, "Hello?"

"Hey Josh, it's Topanga," I say, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, of course not," he says, "What's up Pangers?"

"Well, we're in the area, and really need your help," she says.

"Wait, really? You're in the area? Where are you?" he asks, "Hold on, 'we'? Who's 'we'?"

"Yeah, we," I reply. "I'm here at the storage unit a few blocks from your apartment with Maya. You remember her? If not, she's Riley's best friend. You guys met once, but you were probably around 8. It would make sense if you don't."

"I think I do; she had blonde hair right?" he confirms.

"Yeah, that's her. Anyway, could you come help us take some stuff out of my storage unit and back to her apartment?" I ask.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be there in a bit, 10 minutes at most," he says.

"Great, thank you Josh," I thank him.

"Of course Pangers, anytime," he says, "See you in a bit."

"Okay, see you soon," I say, and Josh hangs up.

"What did he say?" Maya asks.

"He'll be over here to help soon," I say, and she smiles.

"Great," she says, but then I can see that she remembers something, "Wait, when you asked him if he remembered me, what did he say?"

"Well," I breathe out, "He asked if it was a girl with blonde hair, and I, of course, said yes, so I took it as a yes; he does remember you."

"Well now I feel guilty. I don't remember him at all..." she trails off, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

"No need to feel guilty. You were young. I barely remember it as it is, and you were younger than I was," I hear Josh say from behind us.

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Word Count: 998