The Story of How We Met

Chapter 8

Another month went by with me being ignored by Alana and ignoring Julien. He tried to talk to me many times, and it was always hard for me to see him. I realized that I missed Julien. Somehow, I got used to having him around, someone to talk to, someone who I could finally tell my sarcastic jokes and not be reprimanded. I missed our talks where he would always drop a scientific fact out of the blue.

After the scene in the cafeteria, whenever I was not in class, I would be reading some cheesy novel in some corner. Then I would go home, help my mom, and watch soap operas until I fell asleep. It was lonely, but I felt like I deserved it. Even though falling for Julien was never my plan, I couldn't help but feel guilty and ashamed. The shame kept me from apologizing to Alana or doing anything at all to fix this whole mess.

"Sarah, there is someone knocking on the door," my mom yelled from the bathroom where she was taking a shower. I was watching soap operas as always; my favorites were the Mexican ones. So much drama.

I opened the door to find a vase with white callas on the floor. I looked around and didn't see anyone, but deep in my heart, I knew who sent them even before I read the card that accompanied them.

"Hi, Sarah,

I know you don't want to talk to me. I am trying to give you some space and respect your decision, but I miss you, our talks, your funny jokes, your curly sometimes messy hair. I miss eating your mom's food as well, not going to lie. Also, I worry about you, not because I don't think you can't handle everything on your own, but because I simply want you to be okay and happy. Always. I just wanted to let you to know that.

Yours,

Julien.

P.S I know you don't like dead flowers, so I got you a living one. I am not sure if you know how to take care of white callas, so I searched about how do it in a botanic book. Seems to be pretty simple, water them when the soil is slightly dry but be careful, you don't want to drown it. Bright, indirect light is ideal., That means not directly in the sun, nor in the dark. Follow these tips and they should be fine."

I read and reread the card a thousand times, kissing and hugging it while staring and smiling at the flower vase.

"Julien?" was all my mom asked. I nodded, smiling even more. "I thought so. By the way, I invited him for dinner tonight. You better go get dressed."

I froze.

"Go! He'll be here any minute." As I took a really quick shower, I realized how dumb I had been.

"Of course she was up to something!" I said to myself, facing the mirror while applying makeup. For the past days, my mom had seemed to be very thoughtful and quiet, and that's not very usual behavior on her. Except when she is trying to keep a secret.

I didn't make a scene about having Julien over for dinner, not only because of the flower he gave me, even though I loved it, but because I wanted to see him. His dimples, his smile, his huge ugly glasses.

I hadn't decided what to wear yet when I heard my mom welcoming him.

"Can I help you with something, Mrs. Macklemore?" I could hear him in the kitchen offering her help, and I rolled my eyes at Julien being always so polite. No doubt my mom and my aunt liked him so much. I hadn't decided what to wear yet when I found a green dress Aunt Jayne gave me on my birthday and decided it was good enough.

"I think we agreed on you calling me Maisy, didn't we?" Julien answered something I didn't hear because I put my arms in the wrong spot and got stuck. "I don't need any help. Sarah is in her bedroom, probably hiding. You know where it is. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

I could almost see my mom jokingly smiling at him, and I felt like escaping from my window, but I needed to be properly dressed to do that. I took the dress off, then put it on again, getting the right spots this time when I heard a knock on the door. I checked if the dress and my hair were okay before opening it.

"Hi."

"Hi," I answered. We stared at each other for a couple seconds. It was awkward because I wanted to hug him or say something clever, but I didn't even move.

"Can I come in? I promise I'll behave." He winked at me, smiling, and I saw the dimples I missed so much during the past weeks. Julien never looked so handsome.

"Yes, sure. Come in."

Julien closed the door behind him, and his smile slowly faded.

"How long have you planned on avoiding me?" I shrugged, crossing my arms in front of me. I didn't have an answer for that. "We broke up. Alana and I."

"Yeah, I heard." Loud and clear when she yelled at me in the cafeteria in front of half the school, and I am sure he was aware of that as well. As if it hadn't already been shameful enough.

"Listen, Sarah..." Julien walked toward me. "I...I don't know how to say this, okay? I feel like I made a lot of mistakes and that I screwed things up because I couldn't be honest with myself about my own feelings. I don't know if I can fix it all, but I have to try. Will you at least hear what I have to say?"

He held his hands out to me. Different thoughts crossed my mind, but I ended up putting my hands over his.

"Oh me, oh my." Julien smiled widely. "I didn't think you would actually agree to talk to me, so I don't have any speech ready for this part."

He got even closer to me until our faces were almost touching while still holding my hands.

"I don't want to justify anything, okay. I just want to explain it all to you. Gary and I were new in the city and even though I didn't have a lot of experience with having girlfriends, it felt like the right thing to do when Alana got so interested in me. I don't want you to think I broke up with her because of you. I did it because of me, and because of Alana too."

I held my breath. My whole being was caught in his brown eyes.

"When I met you, things got hard to manage. I wanted to be around you all the time to see your smile, to hear your jokes, just to look at you. Ever since I met you, Sarah, you were all I could think about. All that I wanted to talk about. It was not fair to her, you know? To be with someone who was constantly thinking about someone else. Also, it was not fair to me. Did I really have to lose the girl I really liked because I did something just because it was the cool thing to do? But Alana was your friend, and I didn't want to mess things up between you two, so I waited."

Julien placed my hands on his shoulders and used his now free hands to wrap around my waist, drawing me even closer to him. Our bodies were now glued to each other, and I was not offering any resistance.

"Until I couldn't wait anymore. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to stay away from you?" Julien's voice was nothing but a raw whisper, and chills ran all over my body. "I am in love with you, Sarah Macklemore. Alana deserves someone who can fall in love with her as much and as hard as I did for you. I don't know..."

"Oh, shut up!" I didn't let him finish whatever he was saying before crushing my lips against his.