Crushing On The Wrong Joshua (Crushing on You 3)

“Barely,” Amber said and collapsed into her normal seat.

She pulled out the book she had begun last night and began to read. Amber knew the bus route by heart. She had traveled the route every morning for school this year and last, because most mornings her dad had to leave for work too early to drive her. Her heart skipped a beat when the bus rolled to a halt at the newly added stop. Joshua Kirk's stop.

Amber raised the book, covering her face and pretending to be deeply enchanted by the story. She even made it a point to laugh out loud. Usually, that kept people from disturbing her.

“Hey, Amber,” Joshua said, sliding into the seat in front of her.

“Hi, Joshua,” Amber said.

“Josh is fine,” he laughed, “Joshua is my father's name.”

“Joshua sounds more elegant,” Amber laughed and closed her book.

“Well, I don't care much about elegance, so Josh will work,” Joshua said.

“Okay,” Amber nodded, “Josh it is.”

“So you ready for O'Bannon's pop quiz?” Joshua grinned.

“Of course and I'm so very thrilled to have the opportunity to take it,” Amber rolled her eyes.

“I'll be sure to tell O'Bannon that,” Joshua laughed, “Maybe he can write up some extra quizzes just for you.”

“Shut up,” Amber laughed, “Why were you eavesdropping on Mr. O'Bannon and Mrs. Kelly anyway?”

“I wasn't,” Joshua shrugged, “I was at my locker and they were talking in the hallway.”

“Sure,” Amber teased.

“They were!” Joshua laughed.

“I don't believe you,” Amber grinned.

The bus pulled to a stop and their classmates began to unload. Joshua smiled at Amber and she couldn't help it, she smiled too.

“So much for avoiding him,” Amber thought to herself as she waited by her locker for Tamara.

Tamara came sprinting down the hall two minutes before the first period bell rang.

“I've got to get to history,” Amber said, “I'll talk to you at lunch.”

“Later,” Tamara said.

Fortunately Mr. O'Bannon didn't issue the dreaded pop quiz. He assigned the class six pages of book work instead. Amber could feel Joshua trying to catch her eye, but ignored him, feigning concentration.

“Hey,” Joshua said, sliding into an empty desk next to her.

“Hi again, Josh,” she said but didn't look.

“Are you going to the library after school today?” he asked.

“Yes,” Amber said.

“Cool, me too! We could walk together if you like?” he offered.

“My dad's driving me,” Amber said.

“We could hang out there and maybe work on this math work together,” Joshua said.