Charming and Awkward

Chapter 9: He Doesn't Trust Me

-James-

Something wet and warm licked my cheek.

I opened my eyes to find Chaos standing on my chest, his tongue hanging out as he panted, his tail wagging, and his wide blue eyes tell me he's been up to no good. "What did you do?" I grumbled, wrapping my hands around him and setting him on the other side of the bed.

My bare feet touched the carpet of my bedroom floor and I stood up. I ruffled my hand sleepily through my hair and yawned. Chaos had jumped off the bed and was now running ahead of me. As I walked through my apartment, I noticed nothing out of place.

That was until I walked in the kitchen. Somehow he got underneath the cabinet where I hid his food and now it's all over the kitchen floor. He barked at the mess on the floor and sat down on his butt. He looked at me with wide eyes. "What? You did this, I didn't."

He barked again.

I sighed and started to clean up the mess. "Looks like I'm going to have to hide it somewhere else." I muttered to myself.

After I finished cleaning, Chaos slowly walked up to me and sat back down at my feet. Feeling a little bad, I bent over and picked him up. "You need some training, don't you?"

As I was carrying him back to my room, my phone buzzed with life on my bedside table. Juliet's name appeared on the screen. I sat Chaos down on the bed and answered it. "Hey." I said smoothly.

"Hey, I thought you'd be in class this morning. I was going to leave a voicemail."

"Class was canceled." I plopped down and Chaos was immediately in my lap. "What's up, Juliet?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to tell you I'll be home in a couple of weeks. I want to make plans for lunch or something."

"Of course." I ran a hand over my eyes and the second I stopped petting Chaos, he barked.

"Is that a dog?" Juliet asked.

I placed a hand on top of his head and he started wagging his tail. "Yeah, I got a dog. We're kind of twins."

"Because you're both dogs?" She teased.

I breathed a laugh. "So funny."

My friendship with Juliet is great. Because that's all it is, friendship. Maybe there were a few points where I wanted more, but I haven't felt that way in two years. Now she's like a sister. I want to protect her like I do Meredith and I want her to be happy too. It was weird at first being friends with a girl, apparently it's unheard of. Guys and girls can be just friends with nothing attached.

As Juliet was talking, my phone beeped twice, telling me I have another call. "I have to go, I have another call." I glanced at the phone and I didn't recognize the number. It could be a client.

"Okay, well you know my number. Have a good day, James."

"You too." I switched the call over to the new one, "Hello?"

"James." Violet rushed, "I'm glad you answered."

"Is everything okay?"

She sniffled and breathed. "Not really. It's a lot to explain, but I hurt myself during gym and my mom isn't answering her phone. And I really hate to ask, but could you pick me up? I know you have class and it's your day off—"