Khrysopos ✔

THIRTY TWO

- Juliet's POV -

It was a chilly morning, and Juliet was humming to herself. This was not an uncommon occurrence.

It was nearly Halloween, and there were pumpkins everywhere. Only one more day, and then she could pretend to be whoever she wanted to be.

She already had a costume ready, and all she could do was dance around her dorm room listening to jazz while pretending to be lead by some handsome stranger.

For some reason, this time, she could see the face of her stranger.

It was Alex.

She imagined that she was wearing a long, beautiful, green gown - and he was in a black suit. She had gloves on, her hair was up, she wore heels, and she felt beautiful. It was the 1950s and they danced all night, twirling and spinning.

When Juliet was done dancing on her own - she knew how pathetic it sounded - she took a long, cool bath and finished reading her book. It was a very good book.

Then she started studying. Two hours later, she drank lots of coconut water to calm herself, and then she was close to falling asleep.

She mildly wondered what Alex was doing.

So she called him.

But he didn't lift the phone. Bastard.

Irritated, she kept calling his phone like the annoying child she was until he picked it up. "Who is this?" He snapped.

He sounded tired, she immediately noticed.

Juliet scowled anyway. "I wonder why I'm even calling an ugly fucker like you if this is how you answer my calls."

She could feel him pause. "Juliet?"

She just breathed for a few seconds. She always paused when someone referred to her by her name. It was so shocking that someone actually knew her name. "Yes, it's Juliet. Who else could be calling you at - " she checked the time " - oh god, it's two am. I didn't realise..."

"Why are you calling me at 2am?" He asked wearily.

"I didn't realise it was 2am," she snapped. "I thought it was around eleven or something."

He was quiet for a few seconds, and then said, "What would you have said to me if it was eleven?"

Juliet softened a little. "I would have asked you what you're planning to go as for Halloween tomorrow. Everyone else won't tell me."

"I'm not dressing up for that."

She gasped. "Are you insane? Why not?"

She could feel him shrug. Somehow, she just knew that he was giving one of his brief shrugs that said I don't even care. "I don't know. I just don't see why I should dress up. What's the point?"

"Because it's fun?"

He scoffed. "Sure it is. I've never had fun during Halloween." He asked her, "what are you going as?"

"A woman from the 1950s," she answered immediately. "One of those women with nice dresses and curled hair and red lipstick and elegant hats."

She could tell he was smiling.

"That sounds nice."

"You should dress up too," Juliet said, ignoring his compliment. She had other ideas for now. "You could dress up as a soldier from the 1950s. We'd be all match-y match-y."