Everything According to Juliana

Chapter Nine: Blondie!

Juliana thought about her argument with Cassie all of last night. She definitely felt like a bitch for forgetting to mention that Jordan was helping her set Alivia and Parker up. Like she explained to Cassie, it wasn't her intention to purposely leave her out and not tell her. It had completely slipped from her mind.

However, maybe Cassie was right? Maybe she subconsciously avoided telling Cassie because she knew that she wouldn't approve? Unfortunately, the only thing she started was conflict.

As planned, Juliana sat at Jordan's lunch table the next day at school. It was like a moment of fame for her and her friends. Sitting with the junior jocks was something she never would have believed if her future self told her younger self that. She would have laughed in disbelief. But now that it was happening, she was starstruck.

Alivia sat beside Juliana, talking to Jake and Parker. Paisley and Collin sat across from her, talking to each other. Juliana was silent, wondering where Cassie was. Either she was still in the lunch line or she was sitting with her other friends. She had told Collin, Paisley, and Alivia about what happened between them last night, so they weren't concerned about where she was. However, the jocks didn't seem to be concerned either, and they didn't know what happened.

Jordan walked over with a sandwich and a bag of chips in hand. He wore his usual fit; a hoodie with either shorts or sweatpants. Today he was wearing shorts. And, as always, his hood was up, leaving his messy blond hair to peek out from the hood. Juliana looked at Jake and Toby, who were both wearing khakis and a nice button down shirt. It was safe to say that Jordan dressed for comfort and didn't own a single pair of jeans.

He lifted his book bag from his chair, putting it on the floor. He looked around the table as he furrowed his eyebrows. Something felt off to him. His friends waved to him as he waved back, but didn't say anything to them as the focused look stayed present on his face.

He sat next to Juliana, opening the yellow bag of chips. He looked around the table one last time before turning to her. "Where's blondie?"

Juliana was surprised. That was the last thing she expected him to say, coming from someone who told Cassie that no one liked her. She didn't take him for someone who would care whether or not she sat at his table or where she was.

He still looked at Juliana with curiosity. She grew nervous, not knowing how to answer him. "She doesn't like it when you call her that," she told him, trying to stall for herself so she could come up with a believable lie. She didn't want him to become suspicious if she were to answer with something unrealistic.

He chuckled. "That's exactly why I call her that."

"I think it's a cute nickname," Collin chimed in, causing Jordan to turn his attention from Juliana to him. He had a blank expression on his face as he looked at Collin, who shrugged his shoulders, not caring about what he just said. Jordan stared at Collin, not knowing what to say.

"I don't know where she is," Juliana finally answered Jordan as he turned back to her. She truly had no idea where she was. She wanted to text her but felt that would make things worse. "We got into an argument yesterday. I haven't talked to her since."

"Oh," his eyes widened as he popped a chip into his mouth. "About what?"

As if Juliana was going to tell Jordan what they argued about! What was she supposed to say? 'Oh... you.' Absolutely not! That would be a recipe for disaster and one way to scare him away! He was the main reason this Alivia and Parker plan was going smoothly, even if she didn't want it to be. She was in too deep to risk messing things up now.