Chapter Four - Cisco Texas

Juliet sighed. ‘I feel so lost’ she mumbled feeling more at peace than she had in a long time despite feeling lost. The girls had just gone home after their weekend together and long heart to heart about Juliet's relationship with Kyle. If you could call a few days a relationship.

Juliet had went for a walk in the woods. She settled into the grass in a clearing where she used to find peace. This was the place that she had once been happy in. When Kyle had met her here four years ago, it was peaceful.


‘Are you going to marry him, Harper’ Kyle’s voice seeped into her peaceful Zen, yet again.

Juliet looked at him. ‘Three years of being ripped in two by this...’ she looked him up and down, ‘boy’ she thought with hate and it showed in her eyes now as she felt the anger burn her alive from the inside out.

'Even if I where to marry him, what does it matter to you?' she hissed.

'Its a big deal--Marrying someone. You shouldn't do it if you don't love him' he said it softly.

‘Yes, because I should be taking relationship advise from you, Kyle.’ she snapped ‘Your track record isn’t that great, Master date and dash.’ she rolled her eyes and started to walk away. She wanted a clean break from him for once but Kyle just couldn’t let her have even that. He moved to stop her.

‘Date and Dash?!?’ he barked ‘What’s that suppose to mean?’ She could tell that she had hit a nerve.

‘Exactly what I said. You’ve never been in a relationship for longer than three weeks!’ she yelled. Kyle looked at her like she had grown three heads and twelve arms. Juliet felt the groan rumble in the back of her throat before slipping past her lips.

‘How the hell do you know how long I’ve stayed in a relationship? I’m an outsider just like you! I just make it a point to be nice and polite to people!’ he growled.

‘You are nothing like me.’ she started ‘I’m not an outsider by choice. I just am. You don’t know me. You’ve never tried to know me. So fuck you, Brody.’ she hissed darkly. He looked at her blankly. Clearly he didn’t understand what she was saying. She shook her head and spun on her heels and set out on her way to freedom.

‘At least I don’t keep secrets.’ He hissed at Juliet’s retreating back. Juliet stopped. Her body shook with anger and hate. She couldn’t believe that he had claimed that he didn’t keep secrets. He had no idea what he had just done.

‘You don’t keep secrets’ Juliet spoke the words he had just said slowly, making sure she’d heard him right. She laughed then. It wasn’t a happy laugh but more a humorless angry bark of a laugh.

‘My friends know who I am, Kyle’ She said softly. ‘They know where I came from and they know about us. That’s more than I can say for you and your friends.’ She was so hurt she couldn't even begin to explain it. Kyle looked at her in shock. He couldn’t believe that she would bring that up.

‘Go home, Kyle.’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘There’s nothing here for you.’ She turned and walked away. Kyle stared after her. For a second he could almost feel her skin against the back of his hand.

Chapter Three - Coffee Shop Scandal

Juliet and Ailey walked into the coffee shop just before the lunch time rush. They had just come from her house. After all, Juliet needed to clean up and change. Her boots clicked on the cobble stones and her jeans rustled as they brushed together as she walked. Melissa waved from a booth in the back. Her green eyes sparkled with laughter under the eve of red hair. The wave of curly, red was tucked behind her ears, slanted down the curve of her neck coming to rest just below her tense shoulders.

The two girls smiled and waved back, making their way towards her.


Ailey was just as distracted through out Juliet’s shift today that she didn't even notice the change in Julie until she was caught up in a whole new game.

Juliet watched the eyes that followed them through the crowd through her entire shift. Thoughts bubbling in the back of her brain as she followed the looks of want that made heat filter through her. Then of course there where the looks of icy jealousy that made her want to laugh. The looks of utter confusion made it that much better. She knew that no one really liked her here, so why not give them a reason to hate her with the passion they all claimed they had. Well, when it came to hating a complete stranger that they refused to get to know.


Juliet slowed her limp, reached up and tugged the band that held her hair up, shook it out all sexily and let her honey brown ringlets fall and made an emphases on the natural swing of her hips. She smiled quickly at Ailey and Melissa. The two girls glanced at each other as Ailey slide into the booth. Curious as to what Juliet was up to now.

'Thank god, my shift is over' She smiled a storm brewing in her calm eyes. ‘Now, Honey, What do you say we give these people something to stare for?’ She asked standing before the booth with a wicked grin. Melissa shook her head. Ailey grinned.

‘Oh how I love a challenge.’ She snickered glancing around. There. Something had caught her eyes.

‘Juliet, are you up for a challenge?’ she asked a rather devious smile graced her lips. Juliet smiled back.

‘I am always up for a a challenge from you, my dear’ Juliet laughed.

‘Okay, Here it is.’ she started with a wicked grin as she leaned closer to the two girls. Melissa shook her head again and leaned in none the less.

‘Jewels, Your to kiss the next person to walk through that door. Don’t look to see who it is. Just do it.’ Ailey waited for Juliet to reject her idea. The rejection never came. Juliet simply walked away from the booth and slid up next to the entrance to the coffee shop. An added bounce in her limp and swing in her hips.

‘The two of you are so immature sometimes.’ Melissa teased. Ailey looked at her sidelong with her lazy brown eyes and pouty lashes. They all knew that she loved these random escapades just as much as they enjoyed pulling them off. Ailey laughed. 'But even as a cripple, Julie looks stunning' Melissa nodded her agreement.

Juliet waited with great patience by the door. She closed her eyes after Ailey mouthed to close them. She heard the tinkling sound of the bell attached to the door as it opened. With a quick breathe and a fast glance at Ailey, she stepped out in front of the new comer and prayed to God it wasn’t a girl. Much to her surprise, the soft lips that met her’s where warm and very willing for that brief moment before she pulled away and ducked her way back to her friends. Never once looking back at the (she assumed) shellshocked boy she had just kissed. Her fingers brushed her lips gently as she reached the booth and proceeded to sit with her back to the door. She did however listen hard for any hint of who still stood by the door.

‘Come on.’ she heard someone’s gruff voice say. The clap of a hand against a toned torso. A common sign of affection among the male population. She sighed. She desperately wanted to know who she had just kissed, but not enough to risk a glance back.


Melissa and Ailey stared at Juliet, their jaws on the booth in front of them. Juliet couldn’t take it. She shifted her hair with a graceful touch of her fingers. She glanced back through the curtain of her hair to see the boy she had kissed turning his back to her. Juliet about fell out of her chair.

‘Oh shit.’ was all she managed to say before she laid her head on the table with a rather loud thump. Melissa giggled. Ailey looked about with a smug smile dancing on her face and set her eyes on fire. Juliet looked up and glared.

‘You did this!’ she barked. ‘You knew he was coming in next. You conniving--WITCH!’ she growled darkly. Ailey smiled and bowed ever so slightly. She briefly thought about jumping over the table and strangling her, then thought better of it. As much as she hated to admit it at the moment, she would miss the silly girl if she where gone.

‘I hate you.’ Jewels growled, her eyes narrowed as she glared darkly.

‘Aw, but I love you’ Ailey smiled that smug smile. Juliet glowered, sulking darkly. ‘Besides, you wouldn’t make a move yourself. So maybe I tricked you into making one. But now you’ll have no choice but to ride it out and see what happens.’ She snickered at her own cunningness. Elli patted her on the shoulder. Juliet sat up suddenly and grinned. The other two girls new that look.

‘I choose to let go, Ailey! He doesn’t feel the same. So why would I keep putting myself through this hell.’ Jewels gripped. Ailey looked at her as if she where crazy.

'You've only known him a year and as far as we can tell, you've hardly said six words to the boy!' Melissa chimed in. Ailey nodded. Juliet knew she had messed up then. She had let a few words slip that she hadn’t meant to let slide. So she did her best to change the subject. She glared darkly into her friends’ drinks.


‘uh oh’ Melissa whispered, mocking fear. That was the look of vengeance. They knew that look and it meant war. They knew the words that would leave her mouth before they left her mouth.

‘Just remember, pay backs a bitch’ Juliet barked with such fire that they both nodded. Juliet was already planning on how to get back at Ailey for that stupid stunt she had just pulled. Ailey had tricked her into kissing Kyle Brody. Melissa smiled and passed Jewels a drink to help cool the temper that was threatening to explode all over them. Juliet looked at them both darkly.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t warn me!’ she shoved away from the table, standing in a rush. In her attempt to flee the table, her friends and the coffee shop, she managed to tangle her pant legs in the chair and fall. Luckily for her, She’d had years of practice and stopped herself from breaking her face on the leg of the chair across from her. She did, however, split her lip open and to make matters worse, she’d bled on someone’s shoe.

To add insult to injury, she was pretty sure she had just turned that sprain in her ankle into a break.

Ailey fell over into a laughing fit. Thats when Juliet was knew it was bad. It was really bad. Juliet just laid her head down on the coolness of the cobble. She wished she would just melt into a puddle and fade away into the nothingness.

‘Walk much, Julie?’ Ailey giggled from the table.

Juliet felt heat of a blush burn her cheeks as a hand drifted into her view. She accepted it really wishing that she could vanish. He should have just let her lay there on the floor. Why did he always have to do this to her!

Whenever she got Kyle out of her mind, he showed up and did something like this. He was nice and showed compassion and she was hooked all over again. She wanted to hate him but she knew she couldn’t. She sighed.

His hand was slightly calloused from work he’d done in his young life but they seemed to fit almost perfectly in her’s. Brody lifted her to her feet. Just before she yanked her hand away from him she glared.

‘Why do you keep doing this to me, Brody?’ she snapped before bolting out the door of the coffee shop. Melissa and Ailey looked at each other and then at Brody.

‘What did you do to her?’ they asked as they clamored out of the booth. Melissa dropped money on the table as Ailey shoved past Brody.



Juliet paced outside while swiping her fingers through her hair. It wasn’t until Melissa and Ailey where out the door that she felt a familiar set of eyes on her. A glance up told her that Kyle was there, watching the two girls dart up to her and wrap their arms around her. She could see his lips move from the window. She didn’t have to hear him to know the words flowed smooth as honey from his lips.


‘Because I love you’ she whispered mimicking the words she’d watched him whisper against the glass. Ailey hugged Juliet.

‘So, what do you guys think of going back to Jewels place and have one of those Pepsi floaty things?’ Ailey teased. All three girls laughed. They looped their arms around each other and walked toward the road that lead back to Jewels’ house. Juliet kicked at the gravel as they walked. She would think about the pain in her ankle and getting it looked at later. For now, she was just going to go home and chill with her friends.







They had walked a little ways when Melissa laughed.

'So Julie, How long have you been walking?' she teased 'I mean, Yesterday you fall, scrap your knees all up and sprain your ankle and today you get your pant leg all caught up in the chair leg and bust your lip open.' She said it gently and with laughter in her eyes. Ailey laughed shifting her weight away from her friends to watch how Juliet reacted to the teasing. Juliet was quiet for a long time before she spoke.

'Alright! Alright! So I can't be trusted to walk on my own two feet!' Juliet said, throwing her hands up in mock defense. The girls all laughed. She would miss things like this when she left for school.

'What am I going to do with out you guys?' she whined. The other two girls just grinned as they walked toward Ailey's house.






The girls all sat lounging in the tall oak tree outside in Ailey's back yard. Just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the ease of having laughed so hard for so long. It was the calm after a major storm but the peace wouldn't last for long. They could all feel the tension that was building. Since in small towns, word travels faster than wild fire and every action has a reaction, as Juliet and her friends where about to find out.

An eery alarm screeched through the air making the girls jump. Juliet's phone shrieked her dislike for Lucas at that moment in time.

'Wow. Word travels fast round here' she said as her friends giggled 'welcome to a small town'. Juliet tactfully hit the ignore button and tried to regain the relaxed ease from before. The other two girls glanced at each other.

'What is it your not telling us, Julie?' Ailey asked. Juliet looked at them, she knew she would have to talk about it sooner or later. She was just hoping for the latter.

Chapter Two - Let you do the heavy lifting

Juliet was still angry after her last encounter with Lucas and Kyle. She slammed her boot into a wall behind the counter. Then she mumbled to herself about how stupid it was. She sighed and smiled at a girl as she handed her a cup of coffee.

She had made up, kind of, with Lucas. They where at least speaking again. Although, she wasn't sure she wanted to be talking to him. She only had a few more months here and then she would be free of it all. Kyle and Lucas included. She was just ready to be free of all the secrets and lies that hung so heavy in this town. Kyle's secrets and Lucas--Ah, Lucas. He brought a long list of problems, starting with his proposal of marriage. She sighed.

'Sophie!' Juliet called. 'I'm clocking out early!' she waited until the boss nodded and she smiled. She loved working here. Sophie was so easy going. She grabbed her jacket and walked out the door as Kyle walked in. Juliet tossed a glance up at him from across the room as her boot clicked on the cobble outside.



Kyle shook his head. He couldn't understand how the two ended up here. He knew that he had said somethings that weren't very nice when she first moved in, but come one, that was years ago. Why was she still holding a grudge??













Juliet studied the silver band on her left hand for a moment before laying her head in the folds of her arms. The soft, green grass warm against the skin of her belly and arms. A nice contrast to the cool breeze running silkily along the contours of her body, seeking out any bare patch of skin to tickle. Her jeans, t-shirt and cowboy boots didn’t fit in with most of the town but she wore them anyways. She sighed. She loved the peace she found when she was out here. There was a quiet that let her think clearly.

Typically, she would have laughed in his face when he slide the ring onto her finger, but she didn't. She should have, but she didn’t. Lucas hadn't really given her a chance to say much anything. He slide the ring on her finger, kissed her quickly, told her not to answer till she'd thought about it & left her standing alone on the dark street.

She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. She didn't know what she was more angry about--Him asking her to marry him when he knows she wants to get away from this town and him or the fact that he proposed and the fled before she could throw the ring at him.

Luckily for Lucas, Juliet hadn't seen nor spoken to him since that night nearly two weeks ago. Or things may have gone a completely different way. She planned on leaving him, She knew she wanted to leave him--she would leave him at some point. So why was it proving to be so hard to throw the ring in his face and tell him not a chance in hell?
After all, he didn't want her to be a paramedic. It was bad enough she couldn't enlist to be a combat medic. Why did he have to trash the one thing she's dreamt about for years?? No matter what idea she thought she wanted to do, he hated it. Lawyer, doctor, nurse, engineer, police officer. None of them where "suitable" to him, after all, none of those where jobs for women.

Juliet shifted so the warmth of the earth was pressed against her back and studied her ring again. She was only nineteen. Could she really get married to someone she was going to leave. She just sighed again, looking to the sky for her answer.

‘Why can’t it ever be simple with him?’ She asked the clouds lamely. Whether she meant Lucas of Kyle was any body’s guess. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun but enjoyed the simple quiet of the wind through the trees. Juliet sighed. 'I feel so lost' she mumbled feeling more at peace than she had in a long time.

'Marriage is a big deal, Harper' his smooth, warm, voice seeped into her peaceful zen. 'You're feeling lost because you already know where you want to be, you just won't admit to it.' he patronized Juliet gruffly. She hissed dark curses under her breathe at the intrusion. The voice chuckled softly infuriating her even more! How dare he come into her peaceful place and tell her what she knows! What right did he have?!?
Juliet bit her bottom lip till the metallic taste of her blood swam on her tongue in an attempt to keep her temper in check.

‘Can I help you, Brody?’ She asked darkly, calling him by his last name instead of ‘Kyle’ like most of the town did. Kyle smiled sweetly at her, flashing one of those white, I’m-better-than-you smiles that made you want to hit the person. She waited for his response still chewing on her lip, ignoring her mind’s protest to the cruelty she was displaying.
He smiled again, this time a small, crooked smile but didn’t say a word. He just sat down beside her.

Strategically paced far enough away from her that she wouldn’t feel ‘alarmed’ yet close enough she knew he wasn’t going to leave her alone any time soon. It also appeared that he wasn’t going to be speaking, either.

‘That’s a first’ she grumbled.

Kyle watched her out of the corner of his chocolate brown eyes. Being around her was like approaching a frightened deer, any sudden moves and she’d be gone in a millisecond. He’d keep trying however. She was a curious critter and he wanted to understand her. Probably more than he should. It was just she was so different than any of the other girls he knew. She didn’t fall all over herself when he was around. Mostly she seemed as if she hated him and if she did hate him, He wanted to know why. As far as he knew he hadn’t done anything to warrant her dislike. Had he? He flashed back to the moment they had met

'Kyle leaned against the warm, red, brick wall across the street from his house. The new girl was really kinda good looking. He would admit it. Perhaps, he could find away to talk to her.

'Hello, Mouse.' he whispered as he walked up next to her. The girl just looked sideways at him.

'Can I help you?' she asked. He chuckled softly. He liked the way she talked. It was different from the girls here.

'You can let me do you the pleasure of taking you to dinner, Mouse.' he grinned' He shuddered. Alright. Perhaps, he had screwed up. Juliet rolled on to her belly and glanced up at him. She shook her head before burying her head in the folds of her arms again. Juliet groaned and let her head bang against the ground with a thump.
Kyle looked at her with confused eyes and his head cocked to one side. She laughed begrudgingly. It was almost muffled so he couldn’t hear, but she wasn’t so lucky. He smiled with his head cocked to the side.

‘Stop it. You look like my dog, Max’ she groaned from the folds of her arms, peaking at him.

‘You have a dog?’ Kyle asked looking at her crookedly. She looked up at him, her hair fell loosely framing her face. He didn’t need to be a mind reader to hear the trademark ‘Really’ that normally accompanied that face. Kyle laughed teasingly at her. She grinned back at him.



‘You know, you don’t have to make it so hard for people to like you.’ he said softly, knowing that it would be hard for her to respond with out chewing his head off. Kyle waited for her to storm off or scream. It would have been a typical reaction for her, but she didn’t. She just looked at him like he had kicked her in the gut. He knew that face. It was the same face she'd made when he accidently trashed her at school.

She stood up suddenly and glared darkly at him. She was so angry with him she couldn’t be around him anymore. He always did this. He waited until things where going smoothly and then he came out with something to screw it all up. Just like always.

‘You know, you could write a damn book on how to ruin a fucking great day, Brody.’ she snapped. Kyle looked at her. She shook her head.

'You really don't get it do you! I have tried. On more than one occasion to make it right.' She was beyond angry. She stood up and turned, disappearing down the trail before he could even react to her statement.



‘Damn’ Kyle muttered. He figured that she would react badly to that statement. He didn’t, however expect her to throw it in his face. He just wanted to understand why she seemed to make it a point to be different. He liked that she was different, he just didn’t understand it.

All he knew was that the image of her laying there on her stomach looking up at him with her honey hair falling around her shoulders, framing her face and those emerald eyes-- they would stay with him for a long time.











Juliet had started down the trail walking. She was so angry she couldn’t even express how mad she was. She started to race down the green trail. Running always made her feel better.
So she ran, her intent was to run her anger out. She just didn’t count on being so angry with Kyle, very angry. She tried to leave Kyle back on the trail but she felt her anger grow.

She let the pulse of her anger be the only thing that filled her mind. She felt it grow and swell in her belly with each beat of her heart. The more she felt it grow, the less she focused on where she was going and her steps. She miscalculated her steps. She stumbled on the loose gravel and fell. She must have slide at least three feet before she came to a stop. A dust cloud rustled around her as tears swelled in her eyes.

Juliet laid for a moment as the dust finally settled and let a few tears escape her eyes. Did he ever once think it was everybody else that made it hard to get along with? Why was it her fault? She could only be herself was it really her fault that no one in this godforsaken town liked who she was? She was angry with him. He had his own secrets. He had ruined her life here and for what?

A rejected dinner offer? A single tear fell from her eyes and slide into tan earth as she heard footsteps approaching. Just her luck. Someone was coming to see her in all her glorious mess. Her tear streaked face and blood dripping from the cut in her knee. Her blood rippling from the gash above her eye brought out the green in her eyes. She didn’t even have the heart to look up to see who was coming.

‘Julie?!?’ Panic rattled the voice of the female coming her way.

Relief flooded her body. The phantom female voice was none other than her close friend, Ailey. Juliet loved Ailey as much as she loved Melissa. She should have known that Ailey would have been out running to.
After all, If Ailey wasn't running with Juliet, she was taking a run alone to gather her thoughts. The same reason Juliet when for a run.

‘My god! Are you okay!?!’ Ailey shrieked. Juliet looked up as blood trickled into her eyes, blurring Ailey. She just rested her head back on her hands and laid there. Juliet couldn’t help but chuckle, she had just gotten up from the ground and now--she was back on the ground. Ailey shook her head and walked over to Juliet.

‘Are you dying? Is that why you’ve suddenly lost your manners?’ she asked scowling at Juliet as she poked her with her toes. She chuckled from her hiding place under her arms and got a mouth full of dirt for her efforts.

'Are you going to offer me a hand, or just stand there and catch flies with your jaw on the floor?' Juliet asked resting her head on her arm. Ailey rolled her eyes and held out a hand. Juliet took the offered hand.

'You'd still be laying in the dirt without me' She remarked as she pulled Juliet up. She chuckled.

'Naw, I'd have gotten up sooner or later...but why not make you do all the heavy lifting?' Juliet laughed tossing an arm around Ailey's shoulders. Ailey laughed with her, slinging an arm across Juliet's waste. Juliet didn't pull away from Ailey, but instead leaned in against her. She limped along.

‘You know I would do all the heavy lifting, Because, well, I love you, silly girl!’ she teased. ‘And I will always be here for you to lean on when you can’t stand alone’ Her voice held a hint of laughter but her eyes showed just how serious she was.

They walked back into town just like that. Even with Juliet and all her Bloody glory, Ailey stood by her side. 1/3 of her heart right there, like she always was whenever she needed her. Day or night, just like Melissa. She had to love her two best friends.

'Can we stop at my place so I can wash up before meeting, Elli at Cafeteria?' Juliet asked as they walked, taking in the greenery and the quiet. Ailey nodded never disturbing the peace that the morning brings. She smiled and limped as she tried to keep up with Ailey as they walked along. It didn't take long before the two girls where laughing at how stupid it was that Julie had fallen in the gravel.





Ailey and Melissa hung around at Cafeteria while Juliet stumbled through her shift at work. They would all be staying at Juliet’s house that night. It was the same ritual that they shared nearly every weekend. Ailey had watched while Julie walk from counter to table, table to counter nearly every day. She couldn’t help but notice the distance that Juliet kept everyone at, even them. She knew that there where things that she just didn’t talk about.

Ailey watched her closely. She had to smile into her coffee. Julie spoke softly to each customer in her section. She smiled sweetly but her eyes screamed that she had a secret. Ailey just didn’t understand why Julies felt like she couldn’t talk about her past. Had they given her the notion that she couldn’t? Ailey was so caught up in her thoughts she was utterly distracted all the way to Julie's house and to the Coffee shop.

Chapter One - Consider yourself corrected

Here is the Second part to my previously posted Blog, Forgetting Alice. This blog posting is for one of my bestest buddies!

Ailey, Hope you enjoy it!!!!!


Juliet's Keeper



The sun had barely risen over the hills, it’s rays had yet to breeched the green canopies. The birds had yet to begin to sing their morning songs. It was that moment in the morning when the world is utterly silent. The only sound that leaked into soft clearing was the steady beating of feet on the mossy trail & deep, steady, breathing of a runner.

She hesitated for a second. That was all it took for the world to slip back in. That one second and her step faltered. Angry that she had let her mind ruin the amazing run through the woods, she skidded to a stop. Her thoughts came crashing back. She couldn't believe the crap that had happened in the last five years.


Juliet Harper wasn’t like your typical popular ‘city’ girl. Unlike the rest of the people in her world, She didn't wear the short skirts and heels. She was your stereotypical country girl, she always wore her boots, button down shirts and jeans.

For all her ‘popularity’ she didn’t fit in. She spoke with a southern accent, which made her even more of an outcast in this little town. She had lovely honey brown hair that fell in loose ringlets down to the middle of her back.
Her best feature had to be her dazzling, emerald green eyes that normally watched what the people around her did. She had a smile that could light up a room, when she relaxed enough to smile.
When she spoke she thought carefully about what she was going to say before she said it. She did what she could to fit in, but the sad fact was she would never fit in here. Of course, there would be things she would miss from this place when she finally made her escape.


Juliet also had a temper that wasn’t matched by anyone she'd ever met. She could be very stubborn. Her friend Melissa had once told her that she was the most stubborn girl she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. Their friend Ailey said she was inclined to agree. She loved them, so she told them that she was going to take it as a complement.

She hated being wrong, so she made it a point to rarely be wrong. She was small, but she was fast. She had a mind of her own and the temper to back it up.


Collage classes where starting up soon and Juliet was pissed. She wanted to take a year off, see the world before settling into collage life. She wanted to lose Lucas and begin again fresh in a new town, free from him and his control issues.


With an angry huff Juliet kicked up a cloud of damp earth before attempting to jog, yet again. She had barely started moving when she stalled out and stopped.


Juliet pulled the hair tie out of her honey brown braid and screamed in frustration. She wanted to get out of this damn town and away from all the people she knew. She ran her fingers through her hair and for a brief moment she felt guilty for breaking the peaceful silence and scaring away the quietly resting birds.

She let her hair fall in loose ringlets as she pulled her fingers from it before pulling the tangled curls back up into a messy braid. Her soft emerald eyes stood out against her ivory skin.

Juliet loved it out here. Only a hand full of people knew that it even existed. She truly loved the green peacefulness that filled the woods here. Even the air felt some how greener than it did in town. This would probably be the one place she missed when she went away to school. Yes, she would miss the simple silence and peace it had always brought her. 


With one last look around at her favorite place in the world, Juliet looked at her watch. ‘Shit’ She hissed. She had to be back in town in twenty minutes. She smiled. If she stopped wasting time and really pushed it, she could make in with enough time to take a shower before work.













Without another thought about school or stupid boys, Juliet fell back into her steady rhythm and the world simply fell away. Her mind was utterly clear. It was like a fog had suddenly been lifted and she knew what she was going to do. Things had never seemed so crystal clear before. She was going to leave Lucas. Wait a year for collage and.... THWACK.



Juliet’s body creaked and cracked as she hit the hard earth. The wind gushed from her lungs and her head ached, leaving her breathless and annoyed.

She literally ran into someone. A very hard, male someone she noted from the ground. A quick glance told her she’d tumbled head on into a tallish, male someone roughly her age. She started to try and mumble an apology until her emerald eyes rested on the silent ‘victim’ she had ran into.
Now she was simply pissed off. She had run into the town's ‘to-die-for hottie’. She didn’t have to look to closely to know that it was him. She hated the way all the girls in their school fell all over themselves to be near him. So it was terribly annoying that she'd crashed into him, for a number of reasons. The foremost being, that it was him of all people. The only person that it would have been worse to run into would be Lucas. She had literally ran into Kyle Brody, a fact she knew even before he spoke.

‘Are you alright, Mouse?’ He asked kneeling hand extended.


Whenever he spoke it was like he was afraid to be loud around her. Perhaps, he was just afraid to be around her. She would have laughed if she didn’t hurt so much. Instead, all she could manage was ‘Mouse?’ Even that took a great deal of effort. He smiled at her chuckling softly. Juliet recovered quickly.


‘Maybe you should watch where your going, Brody.’ Juliet snapped still breathless from her fall. She hated it when he called her mouse. He had called her that since the day they met five years ago when she first moved into town. She studied Kyle from the ground. His light brown hair was lightly spiked in careful chaos. His deep chocolate brown eyes haunted her in the darkness. He stood about 5’9 or 6 feet. He had a tone, muscled body of an athlete and a swimmer. Kyle chuckled.


‘I should watch where I’m going?’ he asked mockingly. ‘Correct me if I’m wrong..’ he started still kneeling by her side.



‘You are wrong. Consider yourself corrected.’ she snapped rolling swiftly from her back to her belly before jumping to her feet. Juliet brushed herself off in silence. She was very aware that Kyle was watching her every move. Why, she didn't care. She rolled her eyes.


‘I’m not a lab project, Brody. Stop studying me.’ she hissed angry with him for studying her movements. Kyle raised his hands up in mock defense. Juliet chewed her lip, just waiting. Her mind protested such cruelty but she ignored it.

‘Yes, ma’am’ He bowed and winked before simply walking away leaving Juliet standing alone just outside of town.
She stood for a moment, watching the sun creep down through the tree canopies. Frustrated, annoyed and angry she walked the rest of the way home kicking at the rocks along the way.

‘There was absolutely nothing charming about that stupid, annoying boy! Nothing!’ She thought. Who she was more angry with in that moment, Kyle or herself she didn't know.

The ping of her phone let her know that someone was calling. She didn’t even have to look at the caller ID to know who it was but still, she glanced at it.

‘Really!’ she snapped looking at the caller ID. ‘Today can’t get any worse.’ she mumbled. She hit the ignore button and kept on walking. She really didn’t want to talk to Lucas today. She just didn’t have the energy for it. She had almost made it home when the beep of a cars horn made her glance over her shoulder.

‘Apparently, it can’ she hissed looking into the eyes of Lucas.

‘Hey baby, I tried calling, but I guess you where out of signal’ he started. Juliet stared forward fighting the urge to tell him she just didn't want to talk to him. She just wasn’t up for it.

‘Not today, Lucas. Please.’ she couldn’t help the whine that leaked into her voice. She heard the squeak of tires stopping on the lose gravel. Juliet spun on her heel and glared at Lucas who was half out of his running car.

‘So help me, Lucas. I am not in the mood for this crap today. If you get out of your car. It’s over.’ Juliet yelled with out looking at him. She didn't have to watch him to know that he was slipping out of his car.

‘I, Just, Need, A, DAY!’ she screamed at him.

She didn’t even care if the busy-bodies looked on and gossiped later. She really did just need a day to herself. Kyle had her mind in an uproar. All she wanted was some time to think her thoughts and feel what she felt. Then she would be okay and able to deal with her life and the current things that where going on. Then, life would go on.


Lucas stared at her. She never yelled like that, not once. He didn’t know what to think. He did, however, know that he didn’t like this new attitude that she had taken to. He watched, shocked as Juliet spun around without another word and stormed into her house, slamming the door in her wake.

Lucas felt anger building in his chest. Juliet was, for all intents and purposes, his wife. She would not speak to him that way. He would deal with her new attitude after they where legally married. Juliet's actions set in motion Lucas scheme. So for the time being, he simply slid back into his car and hit the gas, speeding away from Juliet’s house leaving nothing but the faint scent of burning rubber in the air.

Once safely inside her house, Juliet locked the door and slid down to the floor. She was leaving town as soon as she could. Juliet felt the hot tears swell in her eyes. She hated that she cried when she was angry. She began to bang her head against the door gently. Anything to keep her mind off crying and her anger at Kyle. She didn’t even know why she was so upset. She just was, which wasn’t helping. Juliet had all but given up on taking a shower. She had to get to work or she was going to be late. She wiped her eyes and pulled herself to her feet.

Quickly, she pulled her hair up, grabbed her coat and stalked out the door once more. She hated that she was so flustered by them.