Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Moment

Julie and her dad stared at the necklace sitting between them at breakfast. Luke was sitting besides her and Carlos and Reggie were told to wait outside. There was a screeching silence, unknowingness, that got interrupted when Bobby marched in. He asked, "Where is it?" He had an obnoxious way of walking Julie didn't notice until recently. She didn't think it was necessary to call him in after her dad didn't recognize the necklace.

Her dad held the necklace up, the small aquamarine gemstone getting grappled by Bobby's hand in an instant. "I don't think it's a threat," her dad said to Bobby. Julie didn't ever think it could've been a threat. Was she still too naïve in times of war? Did she have to see every little detail as a danger to her life? Bobby studied it carefully, tapping the gem a few times.

"What are you thinking?" Bobby asked. "Tasteless secret admirer gift?" Julie sat up straight in her seat, not expecting that sort of answer. Her dad looked back at Bobby.

"Exactly that," her dad said to him. He looked over at Luke and Julie, asking, "There wasn't a note or anything?" Julie and Luke shook their heads in unison, and she stopped herself because it felt almost embarrassing to match him in front of her dad. "I wouldn't worry about it. Just a castle worker that has a crush on you," he said as Bobby handed him back the necklace.

"Good thing the idiot didn't leave a note," Bobby said, inviting himself to sit with them. "They'd get fired." Julie's mind traced over to Nick. She'd unfortunately have to talk to him later.

"I'm just worried that people can get into her room so easily," her dad said. Bobby chugged down a glass of orange juice before wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin. He stood up and slapped her dad on the back, making him go forward from the impact.

"I'll have maintenance install new locks," Bobby said to him. "Only the royal children and the head servant will have a copy."

"That sounds good," her dad nodded his head. Without another word, Bobby bowed to her dad and then Julie before leaving. He didn't even acknowledge Luke who was silent and looking down at the tablecloth, playing with the loose seams.

"Well, there you have it," her dad said. "Don't worry too much about it. And Luke." Luke looked up at her dad quickly, silent and still. "You shouldn't worry about rumors either. We picked you for a reason."

"Do you think it was Nick?" Luke asked her at the pond. They were sitting out in the sun after breakfast, and she held the necklace in her hands. She sat closer to him on the bench than what she did the night before, and he was as close to the edge as he could be.

"You don't waste time, do you?" she asked him. She smiled, though. The emotionally intelligent part of her said that Luke was jealous of Nick while the intelligent part of her told her to get over it. But Luke couldn't hide his animosity towards Nick from her. He didn't try to. So why should she try to hide the fact that she could understand him?

"I'm just wondering. I'll feel better if I know who it was," Luke said. He cleared his throat and stammered through his next words, "You know, to know if it was someone dangerous. Or not. It'd be good to just know. And you know."

She almost wanted to laugh at the idea of danger. He ran out of ideas. "It's fine, Luke," she reassured him. "Don't you already feel better knowing you're keeping your job?"

"I do, actually," he said. He put out his hand to her, and she put the necklace in his palm. He took it and studied it as she had been all morning. "This doesn't look cheap."

"I know," Julie said.

"If it was Nick, he probably splurged his first guard check on you." Julie almost forgot that Luke was getting paid to watch her all the time.