The Dating Game

Chapter Thirty-Six

Juliet

As soon as Justin confided in me about his home address, I gasped.

I was speechless. I had no idea what I was meant to say. But I closed my eyes and bit my lip. When I opened them again, I said, "Okay, I'm coming now." Then I hung up.

He had to feel mortified. I know I would be. Frankly, I thought living in a lavish mansion was bad enough but to have to downgrade and live in some dingy apartment was worse. But how could someone with so much swagger and authority conceal the fact that he was inheritably poor and therefore, lower-class?

"Dad, I'm going to meet Justin. I'll be back soon, I promise," I said, standing in the threshold to his study.

Dad frowned, looking up from typing rapidly on his laptop. "Are you sure it's wise to go out now, sport? It will still get quite dark quickly."

"I'll be fine, Dad. I promise."

And that's what I told myself for the entirety of the trek to Justin's house. I knew whereabouts that lot of apartments was, but to pinpoint exactly where Gathering Springs Apartment was was a little bit trickier. So for the rest of the journey, I found myself drifting into a contemplative state of manner. It was only when I was stood immobile outside of his batch of apartments did I inhale profoundly.

This is it, I told myself.

Cautiously I was walking up to the apartments. I entered through the front door and made my way up the stairs to the second floor. It did strike me as a little odd that the front door to the apartments didn't have a buzzer or anything, but this was meant for poor people – what would be worth nicking off them? Nothing because nothing in their possession would hold any financial value – perhaps some will have acquired sentiment value, but nothing worthy to others.

Convinced that this was something I had to do for both of us – perhaps for closure or to bring us closer, I was impartial – I knocked a few times on the door. A moment later, it opened and Justin stood in the threshold. Clenching his jaw, he nodded once he saw me.

"I guess this is a start then, huh?" he spoke.

I nodded, peering in around him to his home. "Yeah, it is."

"Did you expect this?"

"No."

Justin sighed, "Come in then. My room is right there."

His whole house seemed not too dissimilar to the size of the upstairs in my own house. This caused some anxiety to bubble up inside of my stomach as Justin stepped forward a few steps and entered his room. Jazmyn was lying on his bed but as soon as she saw me, she smiled and made her exit known. "Hi," she said to me as she passed, offering a warm smile, too.

"Hi."

Justin sat down on his bed and patted the space next to him. Tentatively I took the place next to him and he turned his body inward and crossed his legs. Jazmyn had closed the door behind her so I emulated his conduct. And on his bed, we sat there, cross-legged and facing one another. A part of me didn't even want to look him in the eyes, but I knew I had to.

"So, you told me about your life, so it's my turn now," he breathed.

I reached my hand out and placed it gently on his knee. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"No," he protested, shaking his head and letting his spiked-up hair shimmy with the movement. "I want to tell you. It's only fair, too."

I retracted my hand. "Alright."