Chapter Thirty-Five
Juliet
Is it weird I can’t seem to forget Jared’s outburst? He loves me, my butt. He’s just like Mark. I’m not going to be his side piece while he dates Kimber. Jokes on him and I don’t work that way!
“Sis,” Layla says as she steps into my bedroom. “Can we talk?”
“About?”
“What’s going on with you and Jared?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Nothing is going on with me and Jared. We shared a moment and he claimed he and Kimber aren’t a couple, but this morning proved otherwise.”
Layla takes a seat on the edge of my bed. “Do you believe that? You’ve spent time with Jared. Does he really seem like the type to lead two girls on?
The question sinks in for a few seconds and I sigh heavily. “I don’t know. I mean honestly, I hardly know him. He was shouting at me that he loves me. How ridiculous is that? He doesn’t know me. How can he possibly love me?”
She slaps my leg. “Maybe he does. You need to talk to him.”
“No. Besides didn’t you hear me earlier, he was kissing Kimber this morning. He’s obviously with her.”
“Yeah, I heard that. I also know that he went looking for you at lunch. The boy is hurting Juliet. Talk to him.”
I square around to face her. “What happened to being on my side?”
“I am on your side. Face facts, you’re avoiding him because you’re scared he’ll turn into another Mark? He’s not Mark though. That boy had a crush on you for years. Tyler told me all about it.”
Pffft. Tyler. Like I would trust anything coming from his mouth at this point. He’s probably blowing smoke up our butts to keep his cover. “I don’t care. His actions have Mark written all over them. I’ve been there. Done that. Not happening again!”
“Oh, for goodness sakes. Please call Jared.”
“No. Go away. I have things to do.”
She mutters something I can’t make out and slams my door shut. I don’t know why she’s so upset with me. I told her I wasn’t going to put myself out there and that was final. She doesn’t need to be in such a pissy mood because I refuse to call one of her boyfriend’s friends and listen to him babble some nonsense about loving me all over again. Although if I were to be honest when he said those words my heart did a little flip. And my breathing slightly caught in my throat but that’s just dumb hormones.
“Juliet, you have a visitor,” my mom calls from downstairs.
Ugh. Can’t a girl mope in peace? I get up and head down to the front room. There is a tall person with a bouquet of books. What the … “Um …” I say. Because what can I possibly say to a person holding a bouquet of all the books I wanted but didn’t buy yet?
An acne covered face kid peeks around Dark of the Moon novel and says, “Are you, Juliet Valentine?”
“Yes?”
“Awesome. These are for you. There is a note with each book. Do you want me to read them all?”
“No?”
Why does every answer I give him sound more like a question?
“Who sent these?” I ask.
The kid scratches his head. “Honestly I can’t really remember. I’ve got more deliveries to make. I will say this, that is the oddest thing we’ve delivered this year.”
“Books are amazing! Maybe they should be sent more often instead of silly things like flowers that will end up shriveled up and dead within a week.”
“All righty then. Happy to be at your service.”
He takes a step off the porch and I slam the door shut. What a jerk, calling the beautiful bouquet of books odd. I pull out the novels from each of their specific spots then detach the wooden sticks holding them into place off the backs of the books very carefully. Whoever packaged this was real delicate because there were no issues removing the sticks from the books.
“Who sent you books?” my mom asks startling me from my seat.
“I don’t know. There is supposed to be cards.” I flip open the first book but don’t recognize the writing at all.
“To a special girl who likes to travel to other worlds.” What the heck? It’s not even signed. I want to be mad at the possible sender. I want to be furious with this unsigned card. I can’t. Try as I might, I can’t. They bought me something I dearly love.
“Well,” my mom says.
I shrug. “It doesn’t say. I think I may have an idea.”
“A secret admirer? Ooooh, and just before Valentine’s day. I wonder if they are going to pull a reverse on the “My true love gave to me” song. That will be neat.”
Disgusted by that idea, I snap. “That’s a Christmas song for one. Two that’s absurd. No one in their right mind would do something like that.”
“Your father won me over that way.”
“What?”
She nods. “I refused to let him take me out on a date. He was what you kids call a player.”
“Mom!” I’m tempted to plug my ears.
“It’s true. So, when he asked me out I told him to go climb a tree. Of course, this just made him more determined. Every day he asked and asked. And I kept turning him down. One day he stopped asking. I thought he finally learned his lesson. But your heart is a funny thing. For days, I started to miss him bothering me. Then I got upset when he talked and flirted with other girls. And just when I thought I had enough I got the strangest gift twelve days before Valentine’s day.”
She peaked my curiosity. “What was it?”
“It was a CD I’ve been wanting forever and ever. I listened to that thing every night.”
“Then what happened?”
“More gifts came. Twelve to be exact. The very last one he delivered himself and he asked if I would go out with him.”
“And you said yes.”
She shakes her head. “I said one date. If he messed up, he wouldn’t get a second one. He didn’t mess up.” She swipes a finger under her eyes.
“Mom, is it possible to fall in love with someone from afar? I mean like you see them all the time, but you never really talk to them. Is it possible?”
She nods. “I told you, the heart is a strange thing. It will tell you what you want before your brain does. It will lead you to places you never thought of going. It can take you where you are meant to be, but you have to listen.”
My mom stands up and leaves me with that spout of bullcrap to riddle out. What am I supposed to do with that sort of nonsense? I’m not one of her clients. I wanted a real straightforward answer. Not some fortune cookie crap.
Ugh! I gather up my books in my arms and sishshash directly to my room. As soon as I drop them on my bed my cell rings. “Hey, Addy.”
“You need to help me.”
I’m on alert. “What’s going on?”
“Chase is completely crazy. He came over and asked me to go to the Valentine’s day dance. I laughed, and he flipped out. He asked me why this would be so funny? So … I told him because he’s like my brother and I’m not that desperate to go.”
“Adaline! You used those words?”
“Yes, I used those words. Then Austin showed up at my house and Chase went nuts. He started screaming at me. How could I be so blind? He didn’t think of me as a sister. He thought of you as a sister but not me. Then he pointed to Austin and said he’s a manwhore and he hopes I use a condom. What the heck? I’m not doing Austin Reed!”
“Addy, I’m coming over.”
“Yes. Come over and bring ice cream. Lots of it. There is more to this tale. I’ll finish when you get here.”
“Be there in fifteen. I gotta get the ice cream.”
“Turtle cheesecake!” she shouts.
I hang up and grab my keys then I’m off on my mission to the grocery store. I reach the front door and my mom asks, “Where are you off to?”
“Adaline’s, we have a girl emergency.”
“Oh, does it have to do with your mystery package?”
“Ssssure,” I say. I’m not about to discuss love things with my mom. She’ll hand me pamphlets to give to Adaline. Which I would leave in my Wrangler because those things are full of BS.
I step out of the door before I’m hounded with any more questions and slip into my Wrangler. Zipping down the road, I pass my sister on the way. She waves and swerves a little into my lane. Ugh, she’s really the worse driver ever. Tyler jerks the wheel so she’s back into her lane. I glance in my rearview mirror and it looks like they’re arguing about it. It’s cute they care enough to bicker with one another.
I sigh. Sometimes I want something like that, but with my track record, forget it.
The grocery store is just up ahead, I turn into the lot and park. I head directly toward the frozen section of the store. I’m almost there but someone darts out of the aisle and almost slam their cart into me. I jump out of the way, cursing.
“Shit! Juliet, are you okay? Did I hit you?”
I glare at the menace with a grocery cart. “Watch where you’re going, Jared!”
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” He steps away from the cart full of groceries and tries to examine me in the middle of the store. I feel my cheeks flaming.
“I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much. If I were an old lady I probably wouldn’t be,” I scold.
He rubs the back of his neck. “I know. I’m sorry. God, I keep screwing up. I gotta go.” He goes back to his cart and pushes it away from me. Leaving me with a feeling of utter crap settling in my stomach. I could have been a little nicer. I’ve raced down the aisles before and nearly hit someone.
I need to apologize. I follow him. His mom is bent over in the yogurt section. I stop and backtrack. I can’t say I’m sorry with his mom standing there. Yep, get the ice cream and leave.
I snag two pints of turtle cheesecake and make a mad dash for the self-checkout. Yeah, I’m a coward.
After I get the ice cream I drive to Adaline’s and walk up to her front door panting like a dog. What is wrong with me? I’m not out of shape. I feel like I ran fifty miles though.
“Juliet, hello dear,” Mrs. Frost says. Her first name is Maggie, but I never called her that even if she has insisted I did for most of my life. I can’t bring myself to do it. It feels so inappropriate. Addy never calls my mom by her first name.
“Hi, Mrs. Frost. I came to see Adaline.” I hold up my bag of frozen treats.
She shakes her head. “I swear one of these days you will call me Maggie. She’s up in her room.”
I smile. “Thanks.” I’m never calling her Maggie.
I race up the stairs to Addy’s room and don’t bother knocking. As I bust through the door I announce, “I have turtle cheesecake and spoons.”
Adaline has streaks of makeup running down her face. “Oh my God my life officially sucks!”
I rush over and hand her a tub of ice cream and a spoon. “Chase will come around. He just needs some time.”
“Chase? I’m not crying about Chase I know he will get over this soon enough and see we’re just friends. Any stray feelings he may have for me are just misplaced.”
I’m confused. “Why are you crying then?”
“I don’t know what happened, I think … I think I may be falling for Austin.”
I shake my head. “What? But you called him a lazy asshat like two weeks ago. You also told me you told Chase you weren’t into him. Did you lie?”
“No. I said I wasn’t doing him. Total difference.” She spoons a scoop of ice cream in her mouth. “Austin told Chase not to worry because he wasn’t into someone like me.”
“What an asshole!”
She swipes a hand under her eye. “Exactly! So why the hell do I feel like he hit me with a two by four?”
“I don’t know. My mom was muttering some idiotic stuff to me earlier like your heart will lead you where you need to go you just have to listen or something like that. As if her crappy advice couldn’t get any more allusive.”
Adaline scoops out more turtle cheesecake deliciousness. “Were you asking your mom for love advice?”
I choke on my own spoon of ice cream. “What? Why would you say that?”
“Oh please. I’m your best friend. I saw how you look at Jared Black. Admit it, you’re super into him.”
“Pffft. Am not.”
“Really? So, you haven’t been acting super weird with him since he changed seats? Or went off on him in the hallway this morning when he tried to talk to you? Must have been my imagination then.”
I shrug. “Fine. I like him. It doesn’t matter though. He’s with Kimber. I’m not doing that. I’m not that kind of person.”
Addy tilts her head. “Not even if he’s like your soulmate?”
“Nope. I’ve seen it too many times before. Someone nabs someone else’s boyfriend or girlfriend and the whole season is tanked.”
Adaline gets off her bed and points her empty spoon at me. “That’s why I say playing sports is stupid.”
“It is not.”
She rolls her eyes. “Please. Name one good thing about them other than the fact sometimes you get to make others cry. Hmmmm.”
“Make friends. Good team building skills. A love for something.”
“You can make friends without sports. You can learn team building skills without sports. We do it at our club meetings all the time. A love for something? You love books. You love video games. Try again.”
I have more but she’s in a mood.
“Exactly,” She says and walks over to her window. “Why does the cheerleader always have to get the guy they don’t deserve?”
“Whoa. My sister is a cheerleader,” I growl. “She deserves Tyler.”
Adaline narrows her eyes. “I’m not talking about your sister. I’m talking about in general. People like the bottom feeding trolls called Rachel Little get guys like Austin following them around. He thinks she’s the whole sun and the moon. He looks at me and only sees book-loving-nerd.”
“Maybe it’s not like that.”
“He does.”
“Could be worse,” I say. “He could be leaving you love-grams and have you thinking they’re from your ex. Then tell you how much he loves you. Only to turn around and kiss your teammate.”
Adaline scoffs. “You know what? Boys are stupid! Who needs them?”
“Right!” I dip my spoon into my carton. “They’re nothing but trouble. They throw your heart in a tailspin and then toss you aside. I’m no one’s side piece damn it!” I stomp my foot to prove my point.
Adaline starts to chuckle then her cell buzzes. She glances at the screen and her face lights up with a huge smile.
“What?”
She blinks at me. “Hmmm. Oh, nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing.”
“The reason I’ve been so upset about Austin and what he said is because we kissed the other day and it was mind-blowing.”
I glare at her. “And he told Chase he wasn’t into someone like you?”
She smiles. “He said that, so he wouldn’t hurt my best friend and his teammate. Look. See.”
I stare at the phone message. “Anything sent through text is meaningless.”
She types away with a goofy grin plastered on. “Are you telling him to kiss your butt?” I ask.
“No.”
“Why?”
She looks up at me. “Because I like him.”
“Whatever. I’m out.” I get up taking my ice cream with me and go. What in the hell is wrong with everyone lately?