“He fought for her to stay in Pennsylvania. How romantic is that Josh? Isn’t it romantic?”

 “And totally unrealistic.”

“You are such a pessimist Joshua.”

“And you are such an unrealistically hopeless romantic, Andrea.”

 This was what it had come down to; after spending four hours lying on the couch, letting the television numb their minds, two college juniors had been reduced to debating the validity of a relationship like Corey and Topanga’s, and whether or not two cynical teenagers navigating life in the nineties could sustain such an unbreakable bond.

“Why are we even watching Boy Meets World?” Josh asked.

“Because you were supposed to get up, and put in the next movie an hour ago,” Andie replied, reminding him of the rotation.

“Why can’t you put it in?”

“Because I put in the last one. Now go,” Andie used her foot to nudge Josh off the couch. He finally moved to get up, and took the comforter with him.

“Hey, you didn’t have to take the blanket with you!”

“Yes I did your house if freakin’ cold, go turn the thermostat up.”

“It is up,” Andie replied, bringing her knees to her chest and pulling her arms into her cream cable knit sweater. “It’s not my fault that the house old.” 

“What do you wanna watch?”

“Hmmm…” Andie contemplated for a moment. She heard Josh huff in frustration at her notorious indecisiveness, and finally decided on a movie. “Okay, okay, put in Jingle All the Way.”

“Andie,” Josh glared.

“What?  You just made me sit through Trainspotting, and that’s not even a Christmas movie!”

“Just because it’s December that doesn’t mean it has to be a Christmas movie,” Josh argued.

“Okay, fine. Put in Empire Records, then.” 

Josh took the tape out of its case and slipped it into the VCR, and quickly reclaimed his spot on the couch at the opposite end of Andie.

“Josh what’s the date?” Andie asked, pulling the cover up over her knees.

“The tenth, why?”

“This was due back two days ago,” Andie said, nodding her head in the direction of the screen, as the previews started up.

“You know, I bet forty percent of your total income goes to Movie Gallery alone. And that’s just on late fees,” Josh joked.

“And I’m willing to bet you’re right,” Andie yawned, snuggling herself into her end of the couch. Josh yawned too, and stretched his legs out. Andie put her legs over his, and they shared the comforter between them. Once the heat kicked in, they were completely cozy, and didn’t even make it to the middle of the film before they were both out like a light.

*~*~*~*

“Okay you two get up!”

“Mom, what are you doing?” Andie cried, wincing from the shock of bright bulbs filling the dark room.

Lisa Scott stood looking down at her daughter; her mass of caramel brown hair splayed across the couch cushion and her glasses half off her face. Josh, who she affectionately referred to as ‘the son she never had’, was tucked into the other end of the couch, his dark hair slightly ruffled, and his crystal blue eyes hazy. They were in the exact same position that they had been in before she had left for work at eight o’clock that morning. She shook her head, and smiled. What was she going to do with these two overgrown babies? “You two have been laying on this couch entirely too long, get up,” she urged. Lisa snatched the comforter away, and watched as Andie and Josh drew up like slugs after an encounter with a salt shaker.

“Oh Miss Scott, c’mon…” Josh pleaded.

“It is five o’clock and the two of you haven’t moved an inch in the last nine hours.”

“Yes, we have. Movies just don’t magically pop themselves into the VCR,” Andie countered.

“This is ridiculous. I have more energy in my body at forty-six, than you two twenty-one year olds combined,” Lisa sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

“C’mon Miss Scott, don’t you have any sympathy for two over exhausted college kids?”  JC whined

“Yeah Mom, this semester totally kicked my ass. I think I deserve a break. We deserve a break,” Andie replied, motioning between herself and Josh.

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Oh please, when I was in college, I worked two jobs-“

“And did your volunteer service hours, and still had energy to spare…” Andie and Josh said in unison, mocking Miss Scott.

“Have you even eaten anything today?” Just like a mother to ask if they’ve eaten.

“Uh yeah, Mom. Let’s see; we had a box of Coco-Puffs for breakfast, a box of Dunkaroos for lunch, Bagel Bites dinner,” Andie started, ticking each item of the list one by one with her fingers*.

“Oh and don’t forget we had Ben and Jerry’s for dessert, and Doritos and Fruit Rollups somewhere in between there, with Pepsi and Hawaiian Punch to wash it all down. We have a pretty well balanced diet,” Josh finished, sharing Andie’s sarcastic smirk.

“Okay you two, get up, get out and get a life. No more lounging around, stretch your legs, get some air,” Lisa suggested.

“Hmmm, but Mommy it’s cold out…” Andie pouted.

“Wear a coat.”

“We are out of snacks,” Josh pointed out.

“And I do need to return Empire Records.”

“Movie Gallery,” the two said at the same time, and sat up to get off the couch. Josh headed towards the door, where his shoes were, because it was Miss Scott’s rule that all guest must take off their shoes by the door upon entering the house, as not to dirty up her ivory carpeting. Andie shuffled towards the closet by the stairwell to get her coat and put her boots on.

“I’ll drive,” Andie said, exchanging her house shoes for her dark blue Doc Martens. “Oh no, I forgot that I’m out of gas,” she sighed, smacking her forehead.

“Andie,” Lisa and JC said at the same time, both giving her the same dismayed look.

“What? When the semester ended, my basic need to function sort of did too,” Andie shrugged.

“Alright, we’ll take my car.”

“Good, your car has heat,” Andie exclaimed, slipping her coat on, and buttoning it up. She walked over to the VCR and hit eject to retrieve Empire Records, and put it back into its case.

“Andrea, you still haven’t gotten your heat fixed?” Lisa chided.

“Don’t worry Mom, Melissa’s brother knows a guy in Bethesda who can take care of it,” Andrea assured her mother all while making a mad dash towards the door as not to be badgered for anymore of her shortcomings. “C’mon Josh, let’s go!” As they headed out the door, Andie stopped and turned back towards her mother. “Don’t worry Mom, I’m much more competent during the school year, I promise,” she winked before closing the door behind her.

“So, my mom totally thinks that I don’t have my head on straight,” Andie stated while fastening her seatbelt. She leaned back in her seat, and allowed the heat from the vents to defrost her face. They were in Josh’s black 1982 Volvo 240, a gift that his parents had given to him on his sixteenth birthday. It had heat in the winter and air in the summer, a functioning fuel gauge, and ran pretty smoothly, which was all that mattered. He maintained his car well, and it had very few kinks for a fifteen year old car, which was more than Andie could say for hers.

“Oh, she knows you do, but you’re her only child, so all of her focus goes directly to you,” JC reasoned.

“What I wouldn’t kill for a brother right about now,” Andie sighed, resting her head against the window. She began to draw a small heart on the frosty glass, before wiping it away.

“You got one,” Josh beamed. Andie smiled and snuggled into her seat.

Once Josh had let the car heat up, they pulled out of the driveway, and slowly crept onto their sleepy street, as to avoid hydroplaning. It had just started to get dark out and the street lights had come on. The street was glistening as fresh now flakes began to touch down, and the block was illuminated with all of the Christmas lights that decorated each house. Not a single house on the block was left undone. Not even Lisa and Andie’s, who with the help of Josh and his dad had strung their window with white lights, and decorated the evergreen in their front light with multicolored lights and green and red garland.

Andie leaned forward to turn up the radio. Naked Eye by Luscious Jackson filled the speakers, and Andie rapped along to every word, while Josh bobbed his head. She loved this; riding in the car with Josh, and jamming out to the radio just like they used to. It felt right. Like high school.

The next song to come on was Every Time I Close My Eyes, and a huge smile crept onto Andie’s face as Josh began to sing along. The way his voice flowed so smoothly with Babyface’s really did something to her. Still facing him, she admired his profile. His strong chisled jaw, and strong nose, He had the face of a classic film star. He was gorgeous.

“What?” Josh asked turning to look at Andie, once they reached a red light. She had been staring at him intently for the whole song.

“Nothing,” Andie shook her head, and averted her eyes to look anywhere but in his. Across the street she eyed a Delia’s and a Starbucks. “It’s just, I always thought that you should have been a singer,” she said, finally turning back to him. She pushed her glasses up a little further onto the bridge of her nose, something she often did when she was nervous, which she prayed he didn’t catch. Then she felt it; that little dip in her chest that her heart took every so often when it was just the two of them, and none of their friends were around.

“Funny,” Josh smirked, taking his foot off of the break once the light turned green. He took a right on Preston and then turned onto Atwood. 

Andie sighed in relief that her momentary heart affliction and nervous tick seemed to go unnoticed. Kiss the Rain by Billie Myers followed a car commercial, and filled the casual silence. “Ugh, I hate this song,” Andie groaned, before leaning forward to change the station.

“What? But you love this song,” Josh exclaimed. “You played this song on repeat and requested it furiously on WIYY. You worship this song.”

“Not anymore,” Andie swallowed. “It reminds of Jared.” Jared. Often times referred to as That Guy; the asshole that completely ripped her heart out.

“Oh.” No explanation necessary. He knew how badly Jared had hurt her, and that she was still reeling from their break up, so he wouldn’t press the issue any further.

“Yeah, so I’m gonna just…” Andie leaned forward to change the station again. She landed on a station playing Christmas music and stopped. Wham!’s Last Christmas had just gone off, and Christmas Don’t Be Late  from Alvin and the Chipmunks had started to play. After babysitting for the Nicholson’s during Christmas break, four years ago, this song had become the bane of her existence. “Oh, for the love of God,” Andie sighed.

Josh let out a hearty laugh. “Nothing like a cheesy Christmas song to lighten up the mood, am I right?”

~*~*~*

“How many times can you watch Party Girl?” Josh asked Andie after she had picked up its case. They were now in Movie Gallery, browsing through new films to rent. Andie loved Movie Gallery like it was her second home. She loved the familiar smell that she always described to Josh as “carpet-y”, and the TV monitors that hung around the store previewing all the new releases. Josh knew that she’d been in a rut, and that nothing could cheer her up like a trip to Movie Gallery on a Wednesday night; like they had done when they were 13 and were too old for Chuck-E-Cheese, but too young to party.

“There’s never such a thing as too much,” Andie replied, as she skimmed through the comedy section. Josh was on one side of the video rack, and Andie was on the opposite side. “So tell me again, how you suddenly became editor of the school paper so late in the semester? You never ran that past me.”

“Rebecca Frazier went postal and pulled a Sylvia Plath.”

“She stuck her head in the oven?” Andie gasped.

Josh smirked at Andie’s horrified expression. “Not exactly, but she did OD on some max strength No-Doz or something, and it was more like a Jessie Spano, ‘I’m so excited’ episode if anything, so her parents had her pulled from school and placed her in an intuition.”

“Well that’s morbid.”

“The cautionary tale that Lifetime movies are made of. I can see Candace Cameron playing her,” Josh said and he and Andie shared a laugh.

Oh how Andie deeply missed this. Their verbal banter and their inside jokes. How she waited all year for winter break, just to have moments like this.

Before graduating high school, Josh and Andie had been inseparable. They’d been joined at the hip since kindergarten, after Josh’s adoption with the Chasez’s had been finalized. They’d done everything together from grade school to junior high to high school. They even went to the same overnight camp every summer where they eventually became counselors together.

College had been the only thing to separate them when Andie had chosen to go Boston University, where she was working toward her BA in Political Science, and Josh had decided to go to Rutgers University, where he working to earn his Masters of Science in Social Work. The separation had been a shock to them both at first; especially not being able to share new experiences with each other, but it was something that their friendship needed in order to survive. The time apart eventually got easier, especially with the use of AOL to get them through. As time went on and they started to meet new people and make new friends, they missed each other a little less every day. They even had separate summers for the first time. But Christmas was always theirs. Since starting college, Josh and Andie had made sure to spend every winter break together at least until graduation. They needed something to hold them together, and winter break was convenient since they’d live next door to each other their whole lives.

“Oh, how about Tommy Boy,” Josh suggested, holding up the case for Andie to see.

“That’s a must,” Andie replied, while continuing to walk down the aisle. “How about we get both Wayne’s Worlds and make it an SNL night?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Josh agreed, meeting Andie at the end of the aisle.

After grabbing Wayne’s World 1 and 2, Josh and Andie were scanning the snack shelves for more junk food to tarnish their insides. “Ya know, I should’ve been a film major,” Andie stated while carefully deliberating between the Milk Duds and Butterfinger BB’s, before eventually deciding on both.

“You’re not giving up on Political Science that easy are you?” Josh asked, perusing the popcorn options. “I thought you wanted to be a ‘political animal’, and become the next Janet Reno, only with ‘better hair’, and ‘Calvin Klein’ suits, as you so put it.”

“Yeah, that was before my Comparative Public Policy professor completely crushed my will to live. This last semester was a complete and total nightmare, and is making me question my choices in life; I just wanna bury myself under my covers forever without ever acknowledging that my real world problems exist.” Between getting the very first D in her college career in her Comparative Public Policy course (which was the hardest she’d ever worked), picking up extra shifts at the on campus pizza parlor to make rent and pay the part of her tuition that her partial scholarship did not cover, and trying to fulfill her duties as a junior class representative, she had burned the candle on both ends and was running on fumes.  She was underpaid, underfed, overworked, and felt like a failure. More than that, she missed being home with her mom and Josh, and just being a kid again. She hadn’t felt this home sick since the first semester of her freshman year.

“C’mon Andie, that’s what professors do. So, you get an asshole professor every now and then? The important thing is that you survived.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Andie huffed. “I think everything’s getting to me because it’s junior year, and I really wanna get into a good grad school, and now I’ll have to pull money out of my ass to take the class again this summer and-“

“Andie,’ Josh interjected. “Chill. You got one D in your whole entire life; it’s not the end of the world. Besides, the semester just ended, you don’t even have to think about this stuff right now. Let’s just continue to numb are minds with satirical comedy, and rot our insides with processed food.”

 Andie took a deep breath and smiled. He was good. He was so good. Good enough to make her stop and put things into perspective. Not even her mom could do that. Well, she could- and did- but it’s not like she listened. “Okay, enough about me how are things on your end, Genius?”

“Typical,” Josh replied nonchalantly, eyeing the candy section. He picked up a box of Jujubes and stuffed them under his arm with Tommy Boy and the Mike and Ikes. He was the epitome of cool. While Andie was constantly frazzled, frantic and perpetually awkward, Josh was even-keeled and always saw the glass half full, rather than half empty. Personality wise they were complete opposites, but somehow fit.

“You mean typical as in 4.0 and honors society, typical?” Josh was a genius, and Andie hated that he tried to downplay it. He was almost too humble.

“Typical, as in I’m staying afloat.”

“You mean excelling?”

“Okay, fine. If that’s what you wanna call it, then yes, I had another A semester,” Josh finally admitted.

“Good. I don’t expect anything less,” Andie replied picking out of a box of crispy M&M’s. “Okay, I think we’re good on the snack front.”

“Yeah, anymore candy and we won’t have teeth. Let’s get out of here,” Josh said, stuffing everything in one arm, and wrapping the other around Andie’s shoulder. 

After paying for their items, Josh and Andie headed back to Andie’s house to resume their movie marathon. Without doing much, Josh was everything that she needed him to be; a friend, confidant, and so much more. More than anything she needed to be back home for the holidays, and back with Josh. If only things could stay this way forever.