The Dating Game

Chapter Seventeen

Justin

With Mom absently whining ceaselessly about the unremitting rain, I lumbered off into my own room with Jazmyn on my bed.

She was onto another book already called Why We Broke Up. She was indifferent about this book at this current point.

Whilst Jazmyn and I were in my room, Mom and her new boyfriend, Dawson were in the kitchen for an early dinner because they were going back to his plate tonight – henceforth, leaving me in charge of Jazmyn and I. Candidly, I wasn't too bothered considering it would get them out of the house and we wouldn't have to scarper out into the torrential rain instead of listening to them to getting at it. It was honestly nothing more than sickening and repulsive.

Earlier since I'd got home, I made it my personal objective to retrieve Juliet's number... somehow. That I hadn't quite deciphered but when I text Ryan, he had Beth's number – one of Juliet's friends. Sensing the opportunity and grabbing it with both hands, Beth gave Ryan Juliet's number who forwarded it to me.

Now it was the evening, and I said I would text her back. And I did just that after terminating my homework. Jazmyn, by this point, had wandered off into the kitchen to make us some dinner since we were alone and I did it last time.

Justin: Are you still there? I hope you are. I'd like to fulfil my promise of texting you back and having you reply. Call me old-fashioned, actually, by that.

It wasn't until after dinner did I get a reply from Juliet. Late or not, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was actually replying to me. And needlessly, she had a perfectly acceptable pretext to why she was responding quite so tardily.

Juliet: I'm sorry I'm replying late. I was eating dinner with my dad. He can't get over the bad storm we're having.

Justin: Neither can I. I hope it stops soon. I would love to take you out to that local café and utilise those coupons.

After a few minutes:

Juliet: He said it's got to stop tomorrow after school.

Justin: Excellent. I'll be waiting for you at the big gates.

Juliet: I'll meet you there. And I'm reading Anna and the French Kiss now.

Justin: You'll like that book. Jaz thoroughly enjoyed it.

Juliet: I know I will too then.

It was outstanding how she could be this timid girl who could barely share a life anecdote in person, but can be confident with the use of being tethered to a mobile and using that as her exterior in this case. All she has to do is wait and before she knows it, she'll be exploding with stories from her childhood.

Probably years ago in the same body as myself now but a diverse mindset, the Coke lid necklace may have bothered me but now I acknowledged that it came with the package that was Juliet Royal. With being so unaccustomed to her life and what she's like, you could say this as many times as you want and it would always apply: she was such an enigma. She was a book with a blank cover: You'd have to read the book to explore such depths and love it. Juliet was no different. We all had our facades – how we present ourselves – so why would she be the only exception?

It all came down to love and how you interrupted such a generalised concept of life. No one could ever dream of specifying such a profound emotion that could send you hurtling down a freeway with pinched gems and dimes and a stolen, near-mint condition sports car or even having you deadlocked inside a house day and night or even getting married to the guy who truly makes you the happiest you could ever be.