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.
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