I cut through the school toward Jules’ lot. Her car was there. I searched around but Jesse was running late, as usual, and Casey Wuthers’ car was there but she wasn’t. Well, crud. While searching for someone else, anyone that I may have even had the slightest acquaintance with, I caught Jules walking through the parking lot toward me and for reasons beyond my control I found my feet carrying me forward. I was close enough that words came out of their own accord, providing me with an involuntary plan C.
“Jules?” I confidently asked, seconds from collapsing.
She didn’t respond.
“Julia?” I nearly shouted.
She walked right past me and I, against my better judgment, followed suit. Before I could reach her she was already through the doors. I picked up my pace, tossed open the school’s double doors and raced into the hall. When the doors opened, the air spilling in from the outside tossed her hair about her face and carried that honeysuckle-orange scent rolling towards me. I recovered from the fragrant punch and when I caught up with her dug my hands into my pockets to keep from seizing her in my arms. The last thing I wanted was an electric shock to spook her away from me again. I wound my way around the other students in the crowded hall, leaned over her shoulder and spoke closely into her ear.
“Jules, can I talk to you?”
Goosebumps rose on the flesh of her neck. I had gotten her attention. Though she didn’t confirm it with that pouty bottom lip, I had definitely caught her attention. She stopped at her locker and began to spin its dial. Alright, two can play at this game.
“Jules,” I sighed, casually leaning my shoulder against the locker next to hers. I kept my hands in my pockets for safekeeping. “Seeing that you won’t talk to me, I guess I’ll talk to you. I want to know what we’re going to do about what happened in the hall outside Mrs. Kitt’s class, and inside her class, and every time we’ve seen each other since? I’m dying here.” I pulled my hands from my pockets and ran them through my hair but put them back, just in case. “I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I dream about you all day. Against my will, you’ve polluted my thoughts.”
She turned, wide eyed, angry and mouth agape. Just the effect I wanted.
“I never said I didn’t like it,” I amended with a smile.
She turned back to her locker.
“I know you’re feeling the same things,” I continued.
She rolled her eyes.
“I can tell I affect you Jules. You can’t hide it.”
“You do not,” she finally spoke.
And her voice was like velvet. I almost melted into a puddle onto the floor.
“I know I do. You’ve restarted the combination to your locker seven times Jules.”
Her fingers dropped from the dial, she raised her head and stared straight ahead.
“I just remembered. I don’t need anything from my locker,” she said stoically.
She turned and walked off, her hair brushing my arm as she stalked away. Even her hair bit with the literal electricity we shared.
“See you second period!” I yelled, very satisfied at the seemingly meaningless conversation. I knew the truth though. There were deeper meanings behind everything she did, the little she had said, and the way her body avoided mine, avoided the touch that she was obviously denying existed. She was scared. Can’t tell you how I knew it, she didn’t wear the emotion at all but she was scared and I had plans to change that. Jules was beginning to infect my brain and the only antidote I could think to alleviate the pain was more Jules. I went to first period alone with my own thoughts and a smile that caught the attention of every girl I walked by.
Walking to Mrs. Kitt’s class felt like the longest trip of my life. My legs felt heavy with anticipation knowing the fight that Jules was probably going to put up, but I was ready. Metaphorical punches, mom. Metaphorical. I had no clue what I was going to say to her. I could think of no plan of action during first period and ultimately decided to go with my gut. I hesitated slightly because unplanned conversations with Jules had proved disastrous before, i.e. the teeth debacle, but winging it at her locker didn’t turn out so badly so I went with my instinct.
I had a good feeling she’d bring up the bookstore and I had at least planned on being honest there. I didn’t care if she believed me or not. Either way, I wasn’t going to let her make me feel like I purposely did it and that was that.
I stood outside the door to Mrs. Kitt’s class and took a deep breath before swinging it open. I choked and coughed on the deep breath I took when I saw her face and the whole class lifted their head noticing me briefly, except for Jules. Smooth, very smooth. She glanced from the corner of her eye and the nerves that tingled in her stomach tingled in mine.
Thanks to the supernatural phenomenon that was our electricity, I was privy to everything Jules felt. If the feeling was powerful enough, I could feel it without even touching her which explained the butterflies we shared in that moment. It was an understood knowledge that welled inside my chest and I was never so grateful for anything before in my life. It told me what I wanted to know.
I sat next to her and began to lean in but before I could say anything, Mrs. Kitt had started passing out our seriously delayed textbooks, something about the printers making a mistake, and the donated paper covers from Justin Weber’s Auto Body Shop and asked us to wrap them.
They were so stupid looking. On the front was obviously an older picture of Justin Weber because he was easily twenty pounds lighter in the picture than he was in real life. He was standing in front of his auto body shop and there was a rented sports car between himself and his garage. On the hood laid Kitty, in a fitted jumpsuit with Justin’s logo on the front. Kitty was Justin’s ex-girlfriend from Charleston who left him for a ‘big city’ man but he just wouldn’t let her go. “She’ll be back,” he’d always say. Poor guy, total denial. On the top in big letters it read, ‘Come to Justin’s. We’ll treat you right.’