Party of Five Ch. 10

Author's Note: I was beginning to wonder if I'd submitted the right chapter 8 – so many people were alluding to a Dawn/Jacquie scene. Hopefully these next few chapters will prove to most people that I amnot about to trivialize this story. Yes, Dawn is a complete minx, but that doesn't mean the rest of the characters are going to start behaving that way. Just stick with it and you'll see what I mean.

* * *

Chapter 10

Sunday was, relatively speaking, one of the dullest days Josh had lived through in recent times. Having engaged in all manner of unsanitary acts with two of his sisters, he found that the amount of homework he had waiting to be completed was astounding. So, he locked himself in the study and set to it

The time seemed to go by both quickly and slowly at the same time. When Josh wasin the study, working through yet another maths problem or English essay, he found that the minutes crept by at a snails pace. When he left the study for a break, however, he found that two or three hours had slipped by and that the sky outside was an entirely different color from when he had last seen it.

He didn't see much of anyone during the day, except for one brief visit from Jacquie who crept in silently and wrapped her arms around Josh's neck from behind.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.

"Homework," Josh replied simply.

"Need help?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"Can I bring you anything? Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"How 'bout a massage?" Jacquie asked, and without waiting for an answer, began kneading Josh's shoulders with her hands. Josh, not having experienced a massage before – that he could remember – found this extremely comforting and shut his eyes to revel in the feeling of Jacquie's tender soft, tender hands.

"That feels nice," Josh complimented.

"Do you have a lot of homework?" Jacquie asked.

"Heaps."

Jacquie ceased rubbing Josh's shoulders and leant her face down close to his. "Better let you get to it then," she said, kissing the side of his face and then leaving the room as quietly as she had come in.

Barring this incident, Josh didn't have any contact with any of the other members of the house all day. He even forwent dinner so that he could finish up his last essay with no interruptions. When finally, at around nine-thirty, he had completed enough of his homework to see him through the next week, he made his way into the kitchen for a glass of milk. After he had drained it, he stuck his head into the living room where all four women were sitting watching TV, mumbled a hasty goodnight and retreated upstairs for a welcome night's sleep.

* * *

The next morning, a Monday, Josh found staring at his face in the mirror with mingled delight and boredom. So it was gone, finally. But did it really matter now? The main reason he had wished away the accursed pox was so that he could talk to Valerie. Andthat hadn't turned out well. Still, it was better than the alternative.

After showering, dressing and pillaging the entire house for a clean pair of socks, Josh lumbered downstairs and greeted Jacquie as civilly as he could. Monday mornings were always terrible, regardless of how he felt.

"Morning sunshine," Jacquie replied. "You feel like breakfast?"

"I'll eat it on the way," said Josh, grabbing a slice of buttered toast off what was presumably Jacquie's own stack. He stuck it into his mouth and tore off a corner.
"Bye," he mumbled through his mouthful as he opened the door.

"Have a good day!" Jacquie called out just before Josh shut the door.

The weather outside, like Josh's mood, was somewhat neutral; there were cloud covering most of the sky, but none of them were grey or heavy with rain. The sun was making a feeble attempt to warm the streets and there was a slight breeze, but at least it wasn't wet.

Josh took his time getting to school, neither anxious nor reluctant to get there. When he did finally arrive, he found his friends at the gates, who greeted him pleasantly enough before they all started towards the locker bay.

Dean, one of his friends, a blonde, outspoken kid, fell in step beside Josh. "How you holding up?" he asked.

"Huh?" Josh replied.

"Valerie. You're OK now?"

"Oh...yeah. Fine."

Dean nodded and they continued to their lockers in silence. Once Josh had deposited his bag and collected his books for morning classes, he joined his friends once more as they headed off for roll call. A voice, however, stopped him before he could leave the locker bay.

"Josh," it said, obviously female. Josh turned around and saw Valerie standing behind him. He swallowed instinctively and felt his face begin to burn.

God, I thought I was over this, Josh thought. She was still a vision, however, and still the subject of many of his dreams. She was, to use a relevant comparison, something of a mix between his three sisters. She had light brown hair that she almost always wore in a simple, yet elegant ponytail; skin that looked coated in ivory; and a smile that set Josh's world on fire. And then there was her sense of humor, her kindness, her intelligence, all of which Josh had discovered through mere observation, and all of which he had apparently been wrong about.

"Can I talk to you?"

Feeling both insecure and slightly annoyed, Josh stuck his hands inside his pockets and tried his best to sound nonchalant. "I have to get roll call," he said, hoping she would just leave him to his tortured thoughts.

"I won't take long," Valerie replied.

Josh looked into her eyes to try to discern the vein of this 'talk' she wanted to have, but found that he couldn't. He just hadn't looked her in the eyes often enough – or indeed, at all – to be able to tell what she was thinking. All this time spent obsessed with her and he had rarely even seen her this close. He found himself staring at her feet, which were clad in the regulation brown school shoes for the girls (the boys' were black). Above that she wore the usual knee-high white socks, plaid skirt and maroon woolen jumper. She never wore the uniform in the lewd way that some of the girls did, but she never failed to look astonishing in it.

"Fine," Josh replied at length, nodding his lowered head. He followed Valerie in the opposite direction to which most of the students were walking in, out into one of the courtyards. At lunchtime, it would undoubtedly be overrun by hormonal teenagers all vying for their places amongst the social landscape of the school. Now though, it afforded them a few minutes of privacy.

Valerie stopped as they neared a small group of benches and turned to face Josh, once again reminding him how elegantly beautiful she was. Her beauty was a lot like Alice's, not showy or gaudy or crotch-stirringly erotic; he beauty was in her simplicity, in the simple clothes she wore and the simple ponytail she drew her hair into. She was the kind of girl Josh fell head over heels for, which he was sure he had done on at least one occasion.

Usually confident, but never conceited, Valerie was now alternating between looking at Josh's face and down at the ground while she twisted her hands together inside the joined sleeves of her jumper. Josh decided to start, as he would be late for roll call if this took too long.

"So...you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I did." Valerie swept a stray tendril of hair behind her ears using her fingers, which were protruding adorably from the end of her sleeve. "I was wondering if...maybe...you wanted to go out sometime."

Josh resisted the urge to clean his ears out, which he would have done if he had been speaking to Dawn. Valerie was...asking him out? He didn't get it.

"I thought you said I wasn't the type of guy you went out with?"

"I know," Valerie replied. "But I was being a real bitch. I was worrying too much about what other people were thinking and not about what you were thinking, or...what I was thinking."

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that...it might be nice to get to know you better."

Josh was dumbfounded, shocked, a little giddy and very, very confused. "You're serious?" he said.

"Yeah, unless you still hate me for what I said...which, I wouldn't blame you for."

Josh looked down at his hands. He wanted to know whether the disappearance of his acne had anything to do with this, and considered asking her, but there really was no subtle way to do it. And did it even matter? Shallow as it was, Josh had to admit that he probably wouldn't have found Valerie as attractive had her face been ravished by a similar plague – not that it ever would have been; in Josh's mind, she had been carved by the gods.I knew I was right about her, Josh thought.

He was smiling now, he realized, and tried to hide it, but to no avail. "I'd love to go out with you," he said, looking up and watching Valerie's face as it lit up magnificently.

"Really? You would?"

Josh nodded. "For about the last six years."

Valerie grinned broadly and blushed. "Should I call you then?"

Josh's mind was reeling. This was all new territory for him: trading phone numbers, dating, being a couple – he had no idea how to do any of it. And on top of all that, why was Jacquie's face swimming behind his eyes?

"Uh, yeah," he replied. "You want my number?"

"Sure," Valerie said, opening her school diary and handing Josh a pen. Josh wrote his number down and then handed the pen back, feeling increasingly lightheaded.

"So...," Valerie said, smiling at Josh.

"We should probably get to class," Josh replied, still unable to get rid of that stupid smile.

Valerie nodded. "Walk with me?" Josh smiled in reply and they headed off towards roll call, a pleasant silence between them.

* * *

When Josh arrived home that afternoon, he was certain he emanating waves of bliss. Jacquie, however, didn't seem to notice. She simply greeted him in her usual manner and wiped the bench top down with a sponge.

"Good day?" she asked.

"Yeah," Josh replied, starting up the stairs. "I'm gonna get changed."

"'kay," Jacquie replied.

Once inside his room, Josh dumped his bag on the floor and proceeded to change out of his school uniform and into a pair a cords and a long-sleeve shirt. He now had a permanent smile affixed to his face. He was just sweeping up his wrinkled uniform when Jacquie came through the door, smiling at him. Josh stopped and looked at her, wondering how he was going to tell her about Valerie and why he felt so anxious about it.

Jacquie would understand; she wouldn't mind at all – hell, she hadtold Josh to ask Valerie out, of course she'd understand. Josh though, would have trouble with it, he knew. Still, it had to come out, and in this case, sooner was definitely better than later.

Jacquie closed the gap between them and put her arms around her brother's neck, still smiling her dazzling smile. "I missed you," she said, driving a stake through the heart of Josh's explanation.Why did she have to say that?

Josh dropped his eyes to the floor and refrained from putting his arms around Jacquie's waist.Here goes...

"Valerie asked me out today," he said, looking up at Jacquie's face. There was a moment, a bare moment, in which she looked surprised and perhaps a little disappointed, but it was gone almost immediately.

"She did?" Jacquie asked.

Josh nodded. "She apologized for what she said last week and...asked me out."

"Oh." Jacquie's arms returned to her side. "Well, that's great. I'm happy for you."

Josh nodded again. "You know...this means that...that you and I can't...we can't..."

"Oh, of course," Jacquie said. She sighed. "I knew it wouldn't last forever. I'm just glad I could help you out. Now you know what to do when the time comes."

"I don't think that time's coming soon," Josh replied.

"Well, someday. Still, I had fun."

"Me, too," said Josh.

Jacquie smiled at him – her usual, previously dormant, sisterly smile – and patted him on the arm. "I knew she'd come around. You're too special to pass up." Josh flushed with genuine appreciation, feeling an intense love for his eldest sister.

"Well," Jacquie said, "I guess I'll go back downstairs and dust something."

Josh nodded and watched her leave the room, purposefully keeping his eyes off her ass.Well, he thought, that's that. And it went a hell of a lot better than I thought it would. Jacquie had genuinely seemed to understand. She was a hell of a girl, really. Smiling broadly once more, Josh galloped down the stairs and deposited his uniform in the laundry basket.

He returned to his room and spent an hour writing in his diary about Valerie and how all his dreams had come true. When he came back downstairs, Alice was home and chatting casually with Jacquie.

"Hey," she said when Josh entered the room. Her voice, as always, was music, but it wouldn't do to think about that anymore.I'm...unavailable, Josh thought to himself, still not tired of those words.

"Hey," Josh replied. "How was work?"

"Busy," said Alice. "What about school?"

"Great," said Josh.

"Valerie asked him out," Jacquie informed Alice.

"She did? Oh, that's great." She gave Josh a big hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," Josh replied sheepishly, sure he was bright red in the face. Jacquie smiled at him knowingly, though he wasn't to know that she knew.

Another hour passed with Jacquie and Alice wringing information out of Josh about his upcoming date with Valerie – where they would be going, what he would wear, what he'd say to her. As most of Josh's answers were a firm "I don't know", most of the time was filled by Jacquie's and Alice's suggestions, which ranged from the movies, to an expensive restaurant, from the clothes Dawn had bought him to something knew he should buy from the mall, and then some downright corny things to say, which were mostly for the enjoyment of Jacquie and Alice.

Josh was so busy listening to Jacquie's latest suggestion on wearing a cowboy hat to dinner, that he didn't hear Dawn enter the room.

"What's going on here?" she asked. Josh turned around and immediately began to salivate. Dawn had her hair pulled up into a ponytail, which Josh had never seen before, and which looked extremely sexy on her. She also wore a pair of low riding jeans and exposed her navel beneath a red, sleeveless top that was pulled taut between her breasts.OK,Josh thought,telling Dawn is going to be alittle trickier.

"Valerie asked Josh out," Alice told Dawn.

Dawn's reaction was barely measurable, or perhaps, nonexistent. "Oh," she said, "is that all?"

"Dawn...be nice," Alice said.

Dawn's version of nice, however, was not concordant with most other peoples. "Guess that means you might have sex after all," she said.

Josh couldn't resist. "Unlike you, Dawn, most people don't tend to have sex on the first date, or...in the first minute."

"Oh, but that's only because girls find you so repulsive."

"Whereas guys don't find you repulsive; the just find you...incredibly loose."

Jacquie slapped Josh hard on the arm, though both she and Alice had burst out laughing. Josh felt thoroughly pleased with himself, and Dawn looked ready to explode. "That wasn't funny," she exclaimed at Alice and Jacquie.

"Sorry, Dawn," Jacquie said, wiping her eyes.

Alice had, as usual, covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to spare Dawn's feelings. Still, there was no denying how hard she was laughing beneath it. Dawn made an angry grunting sound and stormed upstairs. Once she was out of sight, and once the laughter had subsided, Jacquie rounded on Josh.

"You shouldn't say things like that to her, you know."

"She started it," Josh protested.

"Then be a man and finish it." Josh rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should apologize before she retaliates."

"I amnot apologizing. It was her fault."

"Do you want to end up naked in the backyard again?!" said Jacquie.

Josh shuddered at the memory. "Why do you always have to make sense," he said, getting to his feet.

"Just think of me as your conscience," Jacquie replied sweetly.

"Oh," said Josh, "so you're the little bastard with the whiny voice who's been telling me not to look in the girl's bathroom."

Alice and Jacquie started to laugh again as Josh started up the stairs with trepidation in his stomach. Surely this wouldn't go well. Confronting Dawn after she had been humiliated was like returning to the scene of a brutal murder – very unwise. Still, he reallydidn't want to end up naked again.

Reaching her door, Josh knocked and twisted the handle, which was unlocked and so meant her could enter. "Dawn?" he asked tentatively.

"What!?" she spat from where she was sitting on her bed with a magazine in her hands. She had her bare legs stretched out in front of her, one flat on the bed and the other bent at the knee.

"I want to apologize," Josh said, shutting the door behind him.

"You're not getting soft on me, are you?" Dawn asked, lowering her magazine. She didn't look quite so furious as Josh would have imagined.

"I'm just trying to do the right thing."

"Uh-huh," Dawn replied. "Because Jacquie told you to."

"So what," said Josh, leaning back against the door.

"You'd do anything for a pretty girl, Josh."

"Maybe that's why I never do anything you tell me to."

"Oh, so you don't think I'm pretty now?" Dawn asked, getting to her feet. Josh tried to back up, but realized he was already against the wall. Dawn sashayed towards him, stopping half a foot away and making Josh's mouth go dry. Dawn's hand reached out and cupped his crotch delicately. "Well," she said, "your cock would say otherwise." A mischievous grin spread across her face and she started to unzip Josh's pants.

"I know the others are in the house, but I just want a quick taste," she said.

Regaining control over his motor functions, and not a moment too soon, Josh seized Dawn's hand and pulled it away from his open fly. "We can't," he said in what he hoped was a firm voice.

"They won't hear us," Dawn said. "I'll be really quiet, I promise." She made to pull her hand out of Josh's but he held fast.

"No, I mean...Valerie. I'm going out with her remember?"

"So?" said Dawn, her eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean 'so'?"

"I don't see a problem," said Dawn.

"The problem," Josh answered, "is that I'm going out with another girl. I'm not gonna cheat on her."

Dawn looked increasingly vexed, as though Josh were a child failing to grasp a simple concept. "She'll never know," she said.

"But I would," replied Josh. "And I don't want to."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because...because it's wrong, that's why. Everyone knows that."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're gonna start with the moral bullshit. Look...it's just a quick blowjob – no harm done."

"You're still not getting the point," Josh said, becoming increasingly affected by Dawn's proximity and her oh-so-enticing language.

"No," said Dawn, "you're not getting the point. I want to blow you. Just take off your pants and I'll make it quick."

Josh's heart, while full of unlimited resolve, was being relentlessly attacked by his cock, which was screaming at it to take its morals and fuck the hell off. But no, Josh wouldn't do it; couldn't do it – not to Valerie.

"No," he said firmly. "I won't."

Dawn stuck her hands on her hips and her tongue between her teeth, exhaling in frustration. "I don't believe this," she said. "You call yourself a guy?"

"Dawn..." Josh began.

"No...fine...whatever," said Dawn, turning around and waving away Josh's supplications. "I don't care. Go be with your girlfriend."

"Dawn..."

"Piss off, Josh," Dawn said, not angrily but in a rather bored tone that let Josh knew she wasn't really hurt. He shrugged and made a quick exit. Inside, Dawn sat on her bed glaring at her closed door. "Bastard," she said, and turned back to her magazine.