Crushing On The Wrong Joshua (Crushing on You 3)

“Amber, I think you're studying too hard, because there's not another librarian. I've been the only librarian at this branch for over six years now. You know that. Why don't you find a good book and relax for awhile,” Mrs. Galiey said.

“Amber, Mom is outside. She said I could only stay for an hour and it's been an hour and fifteen minutes. Why don't we go ahead and leave? My mom will drive you so you won't have to wait on your dad to finish playing golf,” Tamara said, guiding Amber away from the checkout desk.

“No, go ahead. I'll call you tomorrow if I have time after I hang out with Joshua,” Amber said, “I'm going to keep looking.”

“No, Amber, please, just let my mom drive you home,” Tamara said, “I really am worried about you BFF.”

“Fine,” Amber sighed, “I'll just have to come back tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow,” Tamara shook her head, “Tomorrow you're hanging out with Joshua.”

“Yeah,” Amber sighed, “but I need to figure out how to break this spell, reverse it, undo it, or whatever you want to call it,” Amber sighed.

“You just need a good night of sleep,” Tamara said, wrapping her arm around Amber's shoulders.

“Maybe,” Amber sighed.

Saturday

Amber wasn't sure what she should wear. Her default choice was her green sundress, but this morning it looked too green. She ran her fingers over the cotton fabric and sighed. The red numbers on her digital clock read eleven-fifteen. She only had fifteen minutes to finish getting ready before Joshua was supposed to arrive. Not wanting to rush downstairs at the last minute Amber settled on her favorite pair of jeans and a green tank.

“Amber, phone!” her dad called up.

“Is it Tamara?” she called back down.

“No, it's some guy,” he called back.

“Coming,” she said and sprinted down the stairs.

“Hello?” Amber said, holding the receiver between her ear and shoulder.

“Hey, Amber, it's me Josh,”

“Hey, what's up?” Amber said, trying to keep her tone even, despite the butterflies swarming in her belly.

“I really hate to do this, but could we hang out later today? I have to go to the new store for a few hours. Dad just rang to tell me he needed my help,” he said.

“That's fine, do you know what time you'll be done?” she asked.

“I'm not sure, but I don't think it'll take too long,” Joshua said.

“See you then,” Amber said and hung up the receiver.

“He ditch you?” her dad asked.

“No, he's just going to be late. I think I'm going to go to the library for awhile. If he calls or shows up, tell him where I went, okay?” Amber asked, grabbing her purse and slipping her feet into her shoes.

“Are you ditching him, now?” he asked.

“No, I just need to take a book back. It's due today and I don't want any late fines,” Amber said and dashed out the door.

Two hours later Amber arrived back home empty-handed. The book still wasn't on the shelf, but she couldn't gather the courage to ask Mrs. Galiey about it again. Her feet drug against the concrete of the driveway as Amber made her way onto the porch. Each step required effort, because the feeling of defeat had settled into her stomach.

The sound of an engine behind her, startled her and she looked over her shoulder. It was an old car. Amber wasn't sure of what the make was, because she had never been interested in cars. Her dad told her it would change once she found a boyfriend, but she doubted it. If it ran and wasn't going to blow up while she was inside, she was fine. She couldn't wait to get her license next year, but she didn't care what make or model her car was as long as it ran. Joshua Kirk was driving it.

“Weird,” Amber thought to herself and waved hello.

“Hey,” he said killing the engine and getting out, “Sorry that we had to postpone things. I just couldn't get out of it.”