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.
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