“The hard part?”
“Yeah, so I made it home right? My parents weren’t there and I had no way of calling for help. Plus, go figure, I only had one key and it was for the front door, meaning the back wasn’t an option. I parked the car as close to the house as possible to avoid exposure and studied the neighborhood for a second. I didn’t notice anyone or anything so I rushed out and bolted up my porch to the front door. Just then, my neighbor, Sawyer Tuttle,” She paused.”Do you know him? He’s in our Chemistry class.”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “I know him. I sit next to him in class.”
“Oh, anyway, Sawyer comes sauntering around to the front of his house from the side and catches me in all of my underwear glory. Well, there was no sense in hiding because he’d already seen everything. Plus, like a deer in headlights, the kid just stared with his mouth open. He didn’t even bother turning around. So, I winked at him and finally opened the door.” She took a deep breath. “And that’s my secret. Well, mine and Sawyer’s secret. Well, mine, Sawyer’s and that naughty raccoon’s secret.”
“And mine,” I threw in.
“Yes, our secret.”
No wonder Tut stared at Jules the way he did. I couldn’t blame him but that didn’t change the fact that I still wanted to bash his face in.
“You know, I said something that no one else knew. Sawyer knew.”
“Whoa buddy! It counts. Trust me. It counts.”
We both laughed.
“You torture Sawyer Tuttle, you know.”
“No I don’t! I’ve barely said a word to him since. I even wave to him now and again so he knows I’m not angry at him.”
“Even making eye contact with him is torturing him Jules. He’s seen you in your underwear. I’m pretty sure that’s all he ever thinks about when he’s around you.”
“No!” She said. I could almost hear it click in her head. “Wait. Seriously? It was so long ago. I’m sure he barely remembers it.”
“Trust me baby doll. He remembers.”
“Well, crap. Should I say something to him?”
“No,” I laughed, “not unless you want him to keep obsessing about you. No, the best thing for you to do is wear a large bulky jacket to Chemistry.”
More laughing. Poor Tut. Poor, can’t wait to punch him in the face, Tut.
The next day, I saw Jules at lunch and we picked up where our two hour phone conversation left off. We reminded ourselves of all the little things we did together growing up. I had forgotten what great partners in crime we had once been and definitely felt closer to her again. All it took was a simple phone call. It was like time had never passed us by.
I freaked out a little bit while waiting until the end of the day to see her during fourth period Chemistry. We were picking lab partners for the rest of the year that day and at lunch she agreed to be mine.
“Dude, what’s going on with you?” Jesse asked during third period, before the band started practicing.
He pointed to my bouncing knee and the drumsticks nervously twirling in my hands. I stopped all movement before I answered.
“Oh,” I said, clearing my throat, “nothin’.”
“Seriously, you’ve got something going on lately and you’re not telling me.”
“I really don’t.”
He didn’t buy it.
“Okay,” I said, sitting up, “but listen, you can’t say a word to anyone about this. I’ve been talking to Jules...Julia lately and she’s skittish. I don’t want to scare her off.”
“Awww man! Elliott!”
All heads turned our way.
“Shhhhh! Keep your voice down.”
“Elliott, you can’t go out with Julia Jacobs,” he whispered.
“I can do whatever I want Jesse.”
He got unusually serious for a moment and his face and voice grew menacing.
“You’d be smart to stay away from her Elliott. Trust me, you’d be the smartest person in the world to stay away from her.”
“Whatever Jesse. That’s enough ordering me around. Class is about to start.”
I tried to pass off what Jesse said but it really rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn’t so much what he said, but how he said it that gave me the willies. I decided to ignore it. I had better things to think about, like Jules’ hair and skin.
After rocking it out for an hour and a half. I thought about changing my sweaty t-shirt but was too excited to see Jules. My hair even stuck to the back of my neck, I was so sticky with sweat.
I threw my book bag onto my shoulder, stuck my sticks in the back pockets of my jeans and hauled over to Mr. Belkin’s Chemistry class. I sat at the lab table in the back with my little friend Sawyer Tuttle. I say little, but the guy was at least six foot two with a broad chest that could probably take a few punches, darn it.
Jules wasn’t there yet so I took my sticks out of the back of my jeans to play with on the lab table while I waited for her to walk in. I really got into whatever it was I was playing because when she strolled in Tut had to shove at one of my elbows, causing me to drop one of my sticks, to get my attention that she was there and not because he thought Jules and I were talking. I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a clue that Jules and I were talking. It was because she was drop dead and that didn’t escape even one of the guys’ attention in that room.
No one wanted anything to do with her but they could not disagree that she was the most beautiful girl in that school. I knew. They all knew. Hell, she was the most beautiful girl in the entire world. It kind of infuriated me that Sawyer Tuttle noticed her; that all or any of the guys noticed her, really. It infuriated me even more that Tut thought I’d want to be one to delve into whatever private thoughts he was having about her.