That Night

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, I was eager to find Juliet. It was the first day of our new friendship. I had hot tea and a blueberry muffin in hand as a sign of my determination. I had driven twenty minutes out of the way to go to a bakery she had mentioned to me once. Seeing the look on her face when I presented them to her would make it worth it.

My good mood faltered when I spotted her looking up apprehensively at Harrison. Once again, he was looming over her in front of her locker, turning on his false charm in an attempt to get under my skin.

I approached them slowly, counting to ten in my head in time with my footsteps.

"So, you ditched me yesterday," Harrison was saying when I was a few feet away. "I tried calling you. Did you find another way home?"

Juliet bit her lip as she tried to come up with an excuse. I waited, wondering what she would say. When I tried to come to her rescue in the past, I learned that she didn't really want to be rescued, so I stood back, knowing she could handle this on her own.

"I did, I'm sorry," she replied, sounding sincere. "I guess I missed your call."

"That's a shame," Harrison said with a chuckle, leaning against the locker. "I was going to ask you if you had any plans this weekend. I thought maybe we could go out for dinner on Saturday."

Juliet blinked, her cheeks burning red. My body tensed, but still I waited, as hard as it was.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, lowering her gaze to avoid his heated stare.

"Come on, I'm sure you have nothing better going on," Harrison said, trying to pass it off as a joke. His wide frame towered over her as his fists clenched. "Just say yes."

At that, I couldn't stand by any longer.

"I don't think she wants to, Harrison," I cut in, edging my way in between them. "Why don't you give it a rest?"

Harrison grinned as if extremely happy to see me. He probably was, but not for the right reasons.

"Dash, how's it going?" he asked in his sickeningly phony voice. It was amazing how he could act so innocent despite his sinister intentions.

"Good," I replied, crossing my arms. "It would be better if you left her alone, though."

Harrison looked past me to smile at Juliet. "That's not your call to make, remember?" he sneered, mimicking Juliet's words from a few weeks ago. He was a hell of a mastermind, always knowing exactly what to say to get someone fired up. But I wasn't going to let him enrage me today.

"No, it's my call," Juliet chimed in, standing up straighter and making her presence known. "Harrison, I do not want to go out with you. And Dash will be giving me rides home from now on."

We both gaped down at her, astonished by the boldness in her voice. She knew what she wanted, and she was sick of the two of us trying to control her. All I could do was stand there and beam as Harrison's disgusting plan crumbled down around him. The look of shock and confusion on his face was priceless.

"Are you ready to go to class, Dash?" Juliet said when neither of us uttered a word.

Nodding, I followed her, smirking back at Harrison as he stood there, frozen and dumbfounded. Someone had finally done the impossible – get him to shut the hell up.

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That week was turning out to be one of the best of my high school career. Not only was Harrison out of my life for good, but Juliet was back in it. We were quickly finding our way back to our old friendship. While I had prepared myself to start all over, it seemed like we were simply picking up where we left off. It was better than I could have imagined.