PARADISE LOST | JJ Maybank VS Rafe Cameron

EIGHT

E I G H T

[two weeks to age 14]

JULIETTE GRUNTED AS SHE STARED AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR WITH A SCOWL. There was something about the outfit she didn't like — but she couldn't put a finger on what exactly it is. She'd been staring at her reflection with scrutinizing eyes for quite some time as she'd continuously holler at her best friend who was down the hall.

     "Rafe!" she called out again for the umpteenth time that night.

     "What?" he yelled back, clearly tired of her bullshit already.

     "Come here!"

     "No."

     Juliette pouted, saying nothing, but then hearing stomping a moment later as Rafe entered the guest bedroom she was staying at. He had a mixture of exasperation and irritation on his face as he crossed his arms at her.

     "How does this skirt look with this top instead?" she asked. This was her first party with a bunch of teenagers that she'd be going to where she was invited by someone who wasn't Rafe. It was a boy who was a year older than her, a classmate of Rafe's that Juliette thought looked kinda cute.

     Rafe exhaled loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes shut close. "It looks fine, Jules, just like the first five hundred ones did."

     Juliette clicked her tongue, her eyebrows knitting in irk. "You didn't even look at what I was wearing!" she protested.

     He opened his eyes, sighing exaggeratedly at her again before focusing his gaze on her to observe her clothes. She watched the features on his face shift — an unreadable expression dawning as he slowly drank her in from head to toe. His eyes flickered up to lock with hers, nothing came out of his mouth as his throat bobbed.

     "Do you think this one looks okay?"

     He cleared his throat, glancing away as patches of red dusted his cheeks. "Yeah, it's okay."

     Juliette cocked her head to the side at how strange he was acting. "Rafe, come on, tell me the truth."

     "No."

     "Oh, come on," Juliette insisted. "Please?" There was no way Rafe would still say no — he eventually gave in to her no matter what. He always did.

     Finally, he snapped his gaze to her again, his eyes unusually bright as he said, "Do you really wanna know what I think, Jules?" Before she could even reply, Rafe walked forward and closed the distance between them. He had a growth spurt earlier that summer, and Juliette had to crane her neck to look up at him. Rafe swallowed harshly, her eyes flickering to the strong column of his throat as he said in that blunt murmur of his, "I think you're beautiful. I think that you're probably the most beautiful girl I know, and it makes me mad how you can't even see it."

     Juliette couldn't muster up a response to that. She didn't even have time to let the gears in her head turn because Rafe took a step backward and left the room, only stopping once to tell her they were leaving in ten minutes.

     She stared at the threshold of the door he'd just been — her stomach doing a weird flip as though she'd just ridden a rollercoaster.