Juliana

5. Yes. This is my family.

"So this is your truck?" Juliana asked as she nervously paced back and forth in front of the passenger door.

"Yes. Yes it is. Now, you getting in or what?" I stood there holding the passenger door open.

"I don't know." She scrunched her nose up. "Now that I've had time to think about it, I not so sure it's necessarily safe to be in a car alone with a guy that I'm not in a serious romantic relationship with..."

"Juliana..." I leaned against the doorframe. "It's not like I'm going to rape you; that's disgusting to take advantage of a girl like that."

She crossed her arms. "Are you sure you aren't just sweet talking me so I get in your truck and then the truck just magically runs out of gas and then we have to pull over and then next thing you know... BAM... there goes my innocence. You've gotten what you wanted."

"I'm still a virgin if that's what you're trying to get out of me." I shut the door and sat on the hood of my truck.

"There's always a first time for everything, Robbie...." She walked around and stood in front of me.

"Yeah, and for that kinda thing, it's called after marriage." I paused for a second. "I've been raised to believe that, and I always will. And I understand that it's your choice on whether or not to trust me when I say that."

"Hmmm." She paused for a second. "I guess I'll go with you, but I'm warning you that if you try anything, I got pepper spray that I'm not afraid to use." She held up a warning finger.

I chuckled and hopped off the hood.

"Fine by me." I opened the passenger door and shut it after her once she was in.

I quickly got in the drivers seat, turned my truck on, and threw the gearshift into reverse.

"Ready to meet the rest of us Pattersons? Cause you are going to in about five or so minutes." I winked at her and turned out of the school parking lot.

She cranked up the radio, and we both started singing along.

"You got a nice voice, Robbie." She paused for a second. "It has a warming tone to it."

"You got a pretty one too." I smiled.

"Thanks." She rolled the window down, and the wind started blowing her blonde hair around.

I was probably gonna have her hair all over my truck now, but Juliana was worth it.

***

"Mommy! Robbie's home from school, and he's got a girl with him!" My little brother, Danny, shouted out on an endless loop as he ran into the den after seeing Juliana and me walk in from the garage.

"Who was that?" Juliana whispered.

"That was my little brother, Daniel. We call him Danny though." I smiled. "Come on now..." I gently pulled her by the arm. "I think you're really gonna like my mom."

I saw her cheeks redden. "I'm nervous, Robbie." She whined slightly.

After a few minutes, we walked in the den. Immediately I saw that Sam was sprawled out all over the couch. Mom was in her recliner, and Tyla was reading a book in the back right corner. Danny was playing with his toys on the floor.

"Guys..." I walked in and offered Juliana a spot on the other couch. "Don't question her to death please." I sat down next to her.

"What's your name?" Danny asked sitting up from where he way laying on his stomach.

"Juliana." She smiled.

"I love that name." Mom piped up. "You're a doll, by the way."

Juliana just blushed and shifted her weight on the couch. "Well, thank you Mrs. Patterson."

"Call me Momma P." Mom winked. "And Samuel Adam... at least say hey to Juliana and acknowledge her presence." My mom just rolled her eyes.

"Hey." Sam gave her a quick wave of my hand.

"Oh my gosh!" Juliana sprang up and started pacing. "Are... are you the Sam Patterson?!"

"Yep. That's my other little bubby!"

"What!" She shrieked. "Robbie... why didn't you tell me Sam was your brother?!"

Sam sat up. "I don't like for my family to do that, especially when I'm here. I kinda like keeping my life relaxed here, and I want their lives as normal as possible. So he was just respecting that wish."

"Okay, well, let me just say this, Sam. I'm like a ginormous fan of yours. You're probably my favorite actor ever, and I just love every piece of work you've done!"

"Well thank you. That means a lot, but I gotta go make a phone call. See you around?"

She just shook her head yes rapidly then she turned around and smacked me on the shoulder.

"Hey!" I rubbed my shoulder. "What was that for?"

"For not telling me that your brother was flipping Sam Patterson." She giggled. "Sorry, I'm just kinda a mega fangirl."

I chuckled. "Now I know what to get you for your birthday, Christmas, etc."

"Um, yeah!"

***

I walked back in the den after dropping Juliana off at her house. I plopped down on the couch and pulled out my phone.

Juliana: Tell you mom thank you for dinner again. It was delicious. I had a great time tonight with your family. Hopefully, we can do it again soon. Thank you guys once again. Night, Robbie. :)

I typed out a reply.

Me: we enjoyed having you too. mom said you're welcome anytime. i think she really likes you.... that is a good thing. goodnight juliana. sweet dreams, and i'll see you at school tomorrow. can't wait to work on that science project with you by the way. ;)

"So, where exactly do you and Juliana stand relationship wise?" Mom asked as soon as I hit the send text button on my phone.

"Just really good friends for now."

"Good idea." Mom smiled. "You can't go wrong with friendship."

"Yeah. She's a really cool person, and she's brilliantly smart."

My phone vibrated.

Juliana: Oh and before I forget, I've been brainstorming, and now, I'm thinking that we're gonna need to get some dummies and some type of computer software that can measure brain waves as well as different weights to drop on the dummies. Mississippi State could probably help us out. Just be thinking about it. Also, we need to make a list of all our variables. Got any idea on what our control variable could be? You don't have to answer any of this tonight; I just wanted to get it to you so you can be thinking about it for tomorrow. Plus it's just been bugging me in my head. I needed to get it out. We need to get working on this project SOON though.

Picking back up the conversation with my mom I got up and showed her the text. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah. It doesn't look like you're gonna have to do all the work this year. What project is she talking about?"

"Oh. We're working together on this concussion project for this national science competition. I'm doing it for the extra credit. I think Juliana is doing it for fun though."