When Lightning Strikes [COMPLETED]

Practice Makes Perfect (Part 8)

With Kara and Muriel out of town, it was easy for Rory to see her every day. Jamie, Andromeda, and Lir watched her dance a few times too. Rory was always mad about it—he hated missing time from her.

As time went by, Julie got used to him leaving her little things in her room. He gave her candy or left her a flower almost every night. He wouldn't tell her how he did it but was amused that she was irritated by it. If anything, it seemed to egg him on.

Thank goodness he wasn't creeping in to stare at her every night or something. At least she didn't think he was. She was afraid to ask. She may not like the answer, since he definitely watched her outside her house sometimes.

She didn't have time to investigate anymore—Rory took every moment of her time he could. Plus, she wasn't sure what else to do or where else to go. She could try the brick building again, but she was lucky she didn't get caught the first time.

After a while Julie was able to draw Rory out some. She found out that he wanted to go to college but wouldn't be able to go since his father expected him to join the family business. He was going to work in one of the companies they owned. It was some type of engineering plant for small computer parts that required lots of technical knowledge but little business skill. His father felt like he would do better to learn this on the job rather than at college.

He wanted to explore the world a little before settling down on the island. He only had left a few times to go on vacation over the years, and he thought it might be fun to live away from here for a while. But, long term he wanted to settle down and run the business with his dad and raise his family here.

"Don't you want to live in a big city? You know, let your family have more activities and opportunities?"

"No, it needs to be here. This is where I grew up. This is where my kids will grow up. Why not live here in this beautiful place with family around to share life with?"

Julie frowned, glad he couldn't see it. She wouldn't stay here. She needed to be in a big city to dance. She wanted to travel the world dancing. Oh well, it wasn't like he expected to get married or anything. They were teenagers, and this was a summer thing for the both of them.

The thought of leaving him hurt. Surely it would wear off in time. She was starting to care for him, but she wouldn't give up dancing for anyone.

She could be overthinking all of this. Look at Mandy. She met boys all the time, was all excited about them and dated them for a few weeks or months, and the feelings drifted away. So, it wasn't like walking down this road with the first boy to make her feel all gooey would destroy all her hopes and dreams of dancing. She wasn't committing to anything. They weren't even dating yet.

He made her happy right now, for whatever reason. Even if she was a little afraid that reason wasn't entirely natural. Not everything had to be so serious. It wouldn't hurt for her to be a typical teenager for once. Wasn't that what her parents always pushed for back in Atlanta?

A week later, Kara came back. She insisted on meeting Julie to practice with her, so the school and gym were no longer a private place. Rory didn't show up that day. Julie was a little hurt but knew he wanted to keep their relationship quiet while it was still so new.

Unless he was tired of her now.

Kara wanted to tell her all about her vacation, so they went to dinner together at the one café in town. Julie ate a little. She was distracted by the fact that the same three people were sitting at the exact same table as they were the day she went on the bridge. Being with Rory kept her from thinking so much from the weirdness of this place. She was so busy being with him that she had stopped trying to figure everything out.