Xander

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     The fair was actually really fun. It was for all ages, so I saw lots of really cute little kids and a lot of my friends too. Everything was great... except for the fact that every time I looked up all I saw was Juliette and Bri sitting by the cookie table. I cursed the Winter Fair gods for putting her in my direct field of view. My Dad and Mom were at the actual shop all day today so it was just Lily and I. Lily didn't talk to me much. Sometimes I would try to crack a joke around her or start a conversation but she would just stare daggers at me. It was the same with Emily and Jessica too.

     I sighed and looked across the room to where Bri and Juliette were. There was someone else at the booth too. Was that- Chloe? Chloe and Juliette definitely didn't talk anymore so I was surprised when Juliette followed her out of the cafeteria and into a hallway. I thought about following them but then I realized that would be weird and creepy. I continued serving customers until the event was coming to an end. Lily and I were about to start packing up when one more customer appeared.

"I would like an iced Chai, please." Juliette ordered.

Lily butted in before I could say anything. "Sure thing Jules. Only you would order an iced Chai in the middle of winter"

Lily started Juliette's drink. Juliette then turned her attention to me. She cleared her throat. "Xander." She started. "Jules." I responded. She looked hurt that I had used her nickname but brushed it off.

"Can I talk to you?"

"About?"

"Um... Halloween."

      My heart raced. Is that what she and Chloe talked about? Did she know what really happened? My mind instantly raced through a million possibilities. Lily handed Juliette her chai. She started walking away then turned around and motioned for me to follow her. Lily mouthed some concerned statement to Juliette but she flashed a thumbs up and Lily went back to cleaning. I followed Juliette to the hallway where she and Chloe had been earlier. Juliette sat on the floor and I followed suit.

"Chloe talked to me."

"I saw."

     She threw me a confused glance but continued anyway. "She told me what happened. I'm sorry for blowing up on you. You have to understand walking into the kitchen and seeing-"

"Hey. I get it. I'm really sorry. I should have seen it coming."

"I miss you, Xander."

"I miss you too Juliette."

     She put her head on my shoulder, and we sat in silence for a while. There was a window across from us in the hall and it had started snowing. We watched the snowflakes drift down from the sky for a while.

"Why didn't you call me, Xander?"

"I wanted to give you time to figure out your feelings."

"Okay that's valid but it only takes a few days, maybe a week at most to figure out my feelings. You should have called."

"Oh, well I was kind of waiting for you to call me."

"Oh."

We went back to watching the snowfall for a moment before I spoke up again.

"So what now?"

Juliette propped her head back up. "What do you mean?"

"Like what do we do? Do you want to be friends or go on a date or start where we left off or what? I've never had this happen before."

"Me neither. But being friends again sounds like a good place to start. It would be pretty difficult to just go back to where we were. A lot has changed."

"Good point. So, friends?"

"Yeah, friends."

     And so we were friends again. It was a little awkward at first. I kept wanting to hold her hand and tell her that I loved her. I didn't, of course. We were just friends. But that didn't make it any easier. She reapplied and got her job back, and Lily started talking to me again. After a while, we reinstated eating out on Fridays together. It was almost like nothing had ever happened. Almost. I had a heart-to-heart with Noah and told him he needed to get himself together and stop being a player or he was going to start having to find new friends. Oliver and I kept him in check and with time he started to change which was beneficial for all of us.

     Juliette and I had rebuilt our friendship pretty well, but there was one thing that I didn't want to tell her about. My parent's coffee shop was doing really well, and my parents were planning on opening another store. But the store would be in California. I was pretty certain that I wanted to go to school in California, and my Dad's job needed him to be in California for a while, so it just made sense for us to all move. They had already been contacting people and it looked like a second location would be opening there next summer, and we would be going with it. Jenny was going to finish fifth grade this year, and I was going to graduate, and my parents figured that this summer would be the perfect time to move. Jenny and I were both on board. There was only one thing that kept me hesitant- Juliette and my feelings for her. I planned to tell her about us moving at the New Years' party we were hosting. I had no idea how she would take the news. 

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