Chapter 7: A Stupid Drunken Mistake

Darin and Josh usually hit the gym on the weekend, but Josh decided to forgo the gym that morning. Josh loved to run because it allowed him to clear his head. He could push everything aside and focus on nothing, or on one thing. If you ran with people, they normally didn't try to carry on a conversation, so it gave him a chance to think. Today he was thinking about the day before.

What a crazy day it had been. It started off with Ella and ended with Payton. He kept wondering if he'd made a mistake with Ella. He hadn't lied when he'd told her he wanted her back for a long time. The only reason he didn't now was because of Payton, and that was crazy because he didn't even really know her. After pushing hard through part of his run, he'd come to the conclusion that no matter what Ella needed to go.

Josh kept coming back to just one line from the night before.

"I can't get you out of my head either," she'd said.

What sucked more than anything was that she'd admitted to being drunk, so he wasn't sure if it was how she really felt or something that just slipped out due to the alcohol. He began to question if it even mattered, and by the time he'd completed his run he decided that yes, it did matter.

After a quick shower, he headed downstairs to watch TV and spotted a pillow and blanket on the couch.

"Did you sleep down here?"

"By the time I made it home last night, Becca and Wes were already here. I didn't want to... interfere," Zander said.

"Glad you share a room with him and not me."

"What'd you do after you left with Geoff? You never came back to his place?"

Josh sighed, "I just came back here. I did run into Geoff's friend, though, the one in his classes."

"Payton?"

Josh's eyebrow rose, "You know her?"

"Not really. She was over at his place a couple times when I stopped by. She seems like a nice person."

"Yeah," was all that Josh could think to say about that.

*

Payton stretched and groaned as she got out of bed. Doing a quick assessment of everything, she realized she felt pretty good considering. As the night came crashing back, she cringed. Patron was like a bad one night stand, only a great idea at the moment. After you woke up the next morning, you really wished you had taken one second to think about it. Add a workout in the mix of all the shots, and Payton was lucky she wasn't going to have to crawl to the shower. The hot spray did a lot to relax her muscles, though, and washed away the nasty from the night before.

As she was drying her hair, Hailey came through the front door as if she hadn't downed the same amount of tequila. She hardly ever had hangovers, and it wasn't really fair.

"Hey, girl! How are ya feeling?"

Payton winced at her loud voice, "Good considering."

"Glad you're in a good mood after last night."

Payton made a face, "I'm trying to forget that. I didn't really run into him before, and I'm praying it'll stay that way."

"I don't get it. Mr. Gorgeous himself was delivered to you, and you hope you don't see him again?" Hailey asked and shook her head.

"Well, let me give you a rundown in case the tequila fried your brain. I yelled really loud that I thought he was cute, and then I told him I couldn't get him out of my head. Then you and your stupid comment in the end. Did you see his face when we were leaving?"

"Whatever Payton. Man up and go get 'em."

"Can we wait until this evening to start with the pep talks? I need to call Gramps."

"You haven't heard the last of this," Hailey said.

"Didn't think I had."

Grabbing her wallet and phone, Payton headed out the door and toward the cafeteria. As soon as she cleared the building, she pulled up his number and waited for Gramps to answer. As much as she wanted the news to be different, she knew in her gut it wouldn't be. As weird as it was, no change was somehow still comforting. At least she wasn't getting worse, and that meant there was still hope.

"I've decided I'm coming home for Fall Break this year," Payton told him.

"I'd rather you didn't drive all this way just for a few days," Gramps said.

"I'm coming home."

"Would you please fly? Grams and I will pay for your ticket."

"I'm sure I can get that worked out. Let me see if Hailey can drop me off."

He sighed, "Please do. I'd feel better if you weren't on the road."

"I'll make it work."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too Gramps."

*

Wait. It seemed like anytime Wes wasn't with them, they had to wait on him. The guy was chronically late and would probably be late for his own funeral. Thank goodness for the couches in the commons area. To his credit, he had told them he would catch up, so it wasn't like they didn't expect it. Josh plopped down and relaxed with a clear mind. He was done thinking about either girl for the day, and hopefully, for a good long while. Soccer and classes needed to be his focus.

Darin broke the silence, "You seem off. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just have a lot on my mind."

"It's not about Ella is it?"

"No," but Josh needed to change the topic quick so it wouldn't be. "You have plans for Fall Break?"

Darin shook his head, "Nah, I think I'll just hang out here this year. What about you?"

"I've been thinking about going to see my brother."

"The one in Arizona?" Darin wondered.

"No, Jackson."

"Oh. Is he even allowed to have visitors?"

"Yeah, it's kind of restricted, but it's better than nothing," Josh explained.

Josh had just about achieved space out again when Wes appeared and plopped down hard on the couch next to him. Josh jerked awake, "Look who finally decided to show up."

"Shut it, asshat," Wes said. "Are we gonna eat or what?"

Darin motioned him in, "After you."

*

Payton rubbed the back of her head trying to rid herself of the tension that had gathered there. Her head was hurting as it did most every day, and while she was sure part of it was due to her drinking binge from the night before, she knew that it was more likely a byproduct of her brain injury.

"Hey! Payton!" she heard her friend Ally yell. She looked around and saw her coming from across the parking lot.

"Ally! I haven't seen you in forever."

Ally had been in a few of Payton's general education classes last year, but since she was a Theatre major, she didn't really see much of anyone outside of the department. Ally had joked that she could go days without seeing the sun.

"Yeah, I know. I've been at rehearsals and dealing with tech stuff."

"Cool, what show are you doing?" Payton wondered.

"Death of a Salesman. You should come see it. It's really good." Ally told her.

"Sure. Send me the dates, and I'll be there."

Ally pointed toward the cafeteria, "You going to eat?"

"That's the plan. You wanna join me?"

Both girls walked through the cafeteria doors and had the clerk scan their IDs. They chatted as they grabbed their trays and filled their plates. Payton and Ally turned and started to scan the room for a place to sit, and that's when she spotted Josh.

"Of course. I couldn't get cut a little slack," she thought as she quickly looked in another direction. When Ally pointed out a table across the room, she sighed in relief and headed that way. They took their seats, and Payton made sure to take the seat facing away from him so she wouldn't be tempted to stare.

The girls chatted while they ate, and Payton was having a hard time keeping up. She couldn't tell if it was due to the headache, her brain issues, or the fact that she'd seen Josh. Josh. It was at least nice to have a name to go with him now, and it really did suit him, but she shouldn't be thinking about him at all.

Ally kept looking over her shoulder, and she wasn't certain what had her friend's attention, but she had a good idea. Risking a quick look, she glanced back and noticed that Josh and two guys with him were pretty much staring in their direction. The one with the red hair wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was openly staring.

Payton rolled her eyes, "Nice."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Good thing she was finished eating because her appetite vanished instantly. The girls got up and took their trays to the pass through and left. Payton wanted out as fast as she could.

She gave Ally a quick hug, "It was good to see you again."

"You too. I'll email you those dates."

"Sounds good."

With that, both girls headed in opposite directions, each going back to where they'd come from.

*

Josh watched from afar as Payton made her way across campus. This was it; the moment he had to decide if he wanted to talk to her or just say the hell with it. He'd told himself a hundred times just to forget about it, forget about her, but he couldn't. There was something that kept drawing him to her. Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it quick or the choice would be made for him. When she crossed the street, he knew he had to make his decision then or the opportunity would be lost. He never got anywhere by playing it safe, so he went for it.

Josh looked over at his friends and said, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"See ya," Darin said.

Josh jogged in Payton's direction and eventually got close enough to holler at her.

"Hey, Payton. Hold up."

Payton glanced back at him and he could tell she wasn't all that thrilled about seeing him.

"Hey," he said again, "Would you just stop already?"

He heard her sigh, and she finally turned around. "Hey."

"So, how's your day going?"

She shook her head, "Listen, Josh, I know I made an idiot out of myself last night. If you're here to rub it in, please don't. I feel like a... well, I feel stupid okay. Sorry."

This he could work with. He smirked, "You think I'm one to judge someone on drunken behavior?"

"You don't have to do this."

"Do what?" he asked.

"Try to make this better. I didn't know you before, so just chalk it up to a stupid drunken mistake?"

"Um, okay?"

Josh was really confused. She was defensive, and while he understood why, he was hoping it wouldn't be this bad. Was it all a mistake? Maybe she really wasn't attracted to him after all.

"Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me. I have a lot to get done before tomorrow," Payton let him know.

"Sure," he said. He watched, stunned as she turned and headed toward the door of her dorm building. "Hey wait! Do you maybe want to go out and get dinner later or something?"

"Thanks, but I better not." It was weird because it looked like she was having an internal dialog. She seemed sad at turning him down. Hell, maybe it was just because he was sad he was getting turned down.

"Oh... okay. Well, have a good one." Josh was stumped. He didn't usually get turned down. Okay so he hadn't actually asked anyone out for a while, but when he had asked, he didn't get turned down.

"Bye, Josh."

"What the hell just happened?" he wondered as he walked back to his place.