Odd Attraction | A Split Story

An Offer

*****

"Hey, Julianna?" Casey called inquisitively, gaining the daydreaming girl's attention.

"Hmm?" She hummed in reply.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you actually- you know..." Casey whispered
quietly as she waved her arms around as if to gesture to Julianna what she meant.

Julianna sat in her seat in deep thought.

"The pills?" She eventually mused, earning a small nod from Casey.

Julianna took a deep breath in as she observed Casey's intrigued face as if to edge her to continue.

"Yeah, I do take pills but only for medical reasons." She eventually responded, glancing nervously out the cafe window.

The pair were silent for a couple of minutes until Casey came out of her thoughts.

"Does this involve why you talk to yourself?" She questioned the anxious girl, only to earn a quick, frantic nod from Julianna.

Casey looked down at the oak table and traced shapes onto it silently as she allowed Julianna to have a break away from the topic.

After a little while of silence, Casey looked down at her watch and noticed that it was nearly time for the party to wrap up and end.

Julianna turned away from the window and also noticed some of the girls invited to the party leaving.

"Casey, are you going to have a ride back?" Julianna questioned her in hopes of hitching a lift.

It was a little rude yet Julianna had no other way to get back.

Casey's beady eyes shot back to land onto Julianna and shook her head.

"My uncle's car broke down." She mumbled, leaning on her elbow and looking into the distance.

"Why do you ask?" Casey continued as Julianna fidgeted with her hands.

"My Aunt's gone to a job interview." She replied as she shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Casey nodded apologetically before she turned to look over at the far side of the Cafe.

It was probably for the best that her uncle didn't pick up the pair anyway Casey pondered to herself.

In slight curiosity and boredom, Julianna followed her gaze and noticed that she was looking at Claire, Marcia and Claire's Dad.

They appeared to be in a deep conversation and the Dad made hand gestures towards the pair.

"We aren't leaving until they are picked up, Claire." He hushed in an irritated tone.

Casey turned to face Julianna and sighed.

"I guess we've got to tell them that we both haven't got a ride home," Casey muttered as she got out of the booth with Julianna following her close behind.

As the girls approached the group, they immediately noticed this and abruptly paused their conversation.

"Hey girls! Everything alright?" Claire's Dad smiled with a hint of concern entwined into his tone.

Julianna turned to face Casey as she remained with a dull expression.

"Oh, my uncle's car broke down. I think I'm just going to take the bus." She responded.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to take the bus too. My Aunt has to go to her job interview." Julianna quickly mused as she nervously shifted on the spot.

"You guys aren't taking buses, I'll drive you home. Claire has almost saved half of her money that she needs for a car. Isn't that right, Claire?" Claire's Dad smiled reassuringly as he glanced over at his daughter who nodded in confirmation.

Marcia looked over at Claire with a slightly irritated expression.

"This will be one of the few times left I can drive you guys around, huh?" He chuckled to himself as he looked over at the pair of awkward girls stood before him.

He wanted to make sure that these 'troubled youths' would get home safely, especially after what Claire had recently told him.

"No it's-" Julianna began but was quickly interrupted by Claire.

"You won't be able to hear my dad tell
jokes that only he thinks are funny
for an entire car ride unless you come.
You don't really wanna miss that." Claire grinned, nudging her Dad in the arm before handing him her bags of birthday gifts she had received.

He pulled a comedic expression of looking offended before laughing it off like it was nothing.

Julianna couldn't help but feel a little envious for what Claire had, after all, she never really had a normal childhood.

Casey nodded her head in confirmation and gave a small smile towards the Dad as Julianna copied and did the same.

"Thank you so much, Mr Benoit." Julianna thanked as the group began to exit the cafe and make their way towards the large silver car.

"Neal, please call me Neal." He smiled at Julianna's polite manners and just about managed to unlock the car door due to the number of gifts piled into his arms.

As they walked over towards the unlocked car, Juliana let Casey sit in the front as she decided to sit in the far left, leaving Marcia to sit in the middle seat and for Claire to sit in the far right seat.

"Wow, I got more gifts than I thought I would!" Claire commented as her Dad began to place them all into the boot tidily.

She then began to make her way into the right side of the car as Julianna mentally planned which satisfied her.

"Should I just put this here?" Marcia asked Claire's Dad as Casey began to open up the door and sit down in her seat.

"Yeah, I'll get it. Thanks, Marcia." He thanked the girl placing in her belongings as Marcia also entered the car, sliding across so that she was in the middle seat.

As Julianna stood there patiently waiting for Marcia to get in, she then clambered into the car herself sitting in the far left seat.

It didn't take long for Marcia and Claire to immediately pull out their cellphones and start talking about mindless drabble that wasn't very important to neither Julianna or Casey.

It was just the same old talk about crushes and cute boys and new relationships going on, etcetera.

Julianna caught Casey rolling her eyes in the car mirror making Julianna chuckle to herself at her behaviour.

They were more alike than she thought.

*****