Everything According to Juliana

Chapter Twenty-Four: Delivery

Jordan watched as a small white boat sailed towards the boat dock in the back of his house. He shielded his eyes from the sun, getting a better view of who was driving the boat. "I knew it!" He exclaimed as the boat stopped in front of him. "Cassie Mendez."

"Hey," she greeted, grabbing the bag of food beside her. He walked closer to the edge of the dock, accepting the bag from her. "Here are your tacos," she said as she bent down the grab the second bag of food. "And here's the rest of what you ordered for your family. I forget."

She couldn't help but notice he was only wearing swimsuit bottoms. His six-pack abs caught her eye almost instantly. It was impossible not to stare at him. She hated that her uniform was all black. The sun was beating down on her, making her feel like she was going to pass out. He ran a hand through his damp, messy blond hair. She assumed earlier that day he was either at the beach or swimming in his pool.

Jordan accepted the second bag of food, holding both of them with his left hand. "Wow," he chuckled. "You're good at your job," he said sarcastically. To her, it wasn't out of the ordinary that she forgot what he ordered. She put his food in the bag and left.

"Don't start," she advised, shaking her head back and forth. "I hate my job," she then corrected herself. "Actually, I don't hate my job. I just hate working in general. My dad thinks delivery is better for me because it will keep me more entertained. I think the boat delivery is too extra, but I don't have my driver's license yet so this will have to do."

Jordan reached into his pocket for his wallet. "Nah, sometimes extra is good, though. It brings excitement."

She nodded her head in agreement as he pulled his wallet out. "It's fifty-three dollars including delivery."

"Okay," he said as he went through his wallet. He pulled out a fifty dollar bill, before pulling out a five and then a ten for the tip. Handing the money to her, he spoke. "Thank you."

"Yeah, sure," she smiled, fixing her sunglasses that slid down from her nose. As she was about to start the boat back up, she remembered what she wanted to ask him. "Oh, wait!" She exclaimed. "How did the date go?"

Jordan thought back to the date. The first thing he remembered was being in the cramped back seat of Jake's Volkswagen. Then he was reminded of Jake and Gabrielle. He tried to think of how to explain how it went. "I think it went well... for her. Not so much for us. Alivia didn't say anything to you?"

Cassie turned away from him, looking in front of her. She was slightly distracted by the boat his neighbor owned as she tried to think of how to word her thoughts. "Alivia and I aren't that good of friends, actually. Honestly, to me, she's just Juliana's friend."

"I didn't know that," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. He was under the impression that Juliana's friends were in a close-knit group. Cassie turned back to look at him. "I guess that makes sense now. I feel like you haven't been too involved in Juliana's plan to set Alivia and Parker up."

Cassie didn't want to come across too bitchy but she couldn't help it. Being mean was what she was good at. "If I'm being honest with you, I don't really care about the plan or Alivia's feelings. I just... I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders. "I was actually kinda left out of things in the beginning but I realized I wouldn't have been able to fully invest my time into thinking how my 'half-friend' and my boyfriend's friend could start dating. I have my own life to worry about." She then realized she might have insulted him. "Not saying you don't care about yourself! I'm just saying for me, the way I see things is different, so—"

"Relax," he interrupted her, shaking his head back and forth. A cool breeze passed by them, sending his messy blond hair in different directions. "I get it."

"Also, not to get emotional, but..." she breathed heavily, fixing her wavy light blonde hair from the wind, "no one would ever do that for me—drop everything to set me up with someone. No one cares about me that much," Jordan frowned at her words as she fixed her sunglasses again before explaining further. "If you ask Juliana, she'll say she set me up with Luke. The truth is, she did nothing to help. I went to shoot my shot on my own and honestly, that's what Alivia should do. But, no... she has to create this whole big scene and get like fifteen people to help her. It's really annoying but at the end of the day, a lot of things annoy me."

Jordan nodded his head in agreement. "A lot of things annoy me too, Cassie," she rolled her eyes from under her sunglasses. Jordan Evans could never relate to her. He had so many friends, so many people that practically worshipped him... but she figured she didn't know the whole truth about his life, just like he didn't know the whole truth about hers. Things that happened behind closed doors, people leave behind closed doors. They only show what they put forth. "I agree. She really doesn't need Juliana's help. She could definitely do this on her own but what do I care? As long as she's happy then I'm happy."

She nodded her head. "I guess I should think like that too," she told him before laughing. "I should probably be nicer."

"Nah," he shook his head in disagreement, "don't change." He didn't mind her fierce personality. He couldn't imagine her being any different than she was. That would feel weird to him.

She nodded her head before letting out a laugh. "Good, because I wasn't going to actually start being nice," she said as he joined in with her laughter. Cassie stopped laughing when she came to the realization that she and Jordan actually got along really well. That was off putting to her since she thought he was different. "Okay, well. I hope you enjoy your dinner."

"You too," he said without thinking. He was quick to correct himself. "I mean... thank you." She snickered at him. "I can't speak. I'm so fucking dumb."

A big smile formed on her face. He noticed that her smile was perfect—she had straight, big white teeth that lit up her entire face. Her smile made him want to smile back. She looked so happy when she smiled, like a toddler eating the ice cream they begged their parents for. It made him never want to see her sad eyes again.

"I will enjoy my dinner. Thank you," she said, creating humor out of his mess up. "I'll see you when I see you, Jordan." She copied the ending of what he wrote on the note he gave her.

He laughed at her. She saluted to him with a goofy grin on her face as she started the engine of her boat. "I'll see you when I see you," he said back.

"Thanks for writing me that note by the way," she said with a smile on her face. "That was really nice of you."

He nodded his head. "Yeah, of course."

He watched as she waved goodbye, turning the boat around and out towards the opening of the lake. He stood in his place, bethinking the conversation they had. His heart was fluttering in his chest. He turned around, reaching into his pocket to grab his phone. He opened it, ignoring his text messages on his lock screen before going into Safari.

His hands shook as he typed the words: How to know if you like a girl.