Back to Where We Started From (Miracle)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next morning, Herb was surprised to hear silence from Julie's bedroom around the time when she normally would've been awake and getting dressed for practice. Julia always went with him, desperate to get out of the house and see her friends. 

"Julia? Are you coming with me?" Herb asked from the hallway, knocking on the door gently.

"No," she said sternly, leaving no room for Herb to question her decision. He shrugged, before continuing on with his morning.

"Well, looks like Julie's staying here today," Herb informed his wife as she poured him some coffee. Patti froze, staring at Herb.

"She's not going with you? By choice?" Patti questioned, causing Herb to shake his head.

"I guess not. Whatever happened must've really irritated her. I'm sure it'll work out, honey," Herb reassured his wife, before taking his coffee and heading to practice. He started his car, but couldn't refrain from pausing for a few seconds, wondering if he might see Julie rushing out, saying she had changed her mind and was coming with him. When he realized it wasn't happening, he went ahead without her. He didn't want to get involved with her personal business, but he couldn't help but wonder. He figured whatever had happened at practice had something to do with the phone call from the stranger, but he didn't want to assume anything. Julie could be rash, and hopefully whatever had happened was something that could be worked out with a little communication.

As the boys began arriving at practice, Rob was surprised that Julie wasn't waiting for him like she usually was. Rob sighed, figuring that she was probably still mad at the boys. He made his way to the locker room to get ready for practice, making a mental note to be sure to call her later. He realized he probably should've called her the night before, but he doubted she would've been ready to talk about it yet. He knew the boys hadn't meant anything maliciously, but he also knew that Julie was pretty adamant about not needing to be looked after. That was a statement Rob could argue for hours, but it wasn't worth it. It was typically better to just let her make her own choices, and be there to help her when she made a mess.

"Mac, have you seen Jules?" Jack asked as he entered the locker room.

"I think she stayed home," Rob told him with a shrug. Jack sighed, his shoulder dropping.

"I didn't mean to piss her off this bad," Jack swore once again, going to his stall to get ready for practice.

"I know you didn't. I'll call her later and try to fix it," Rob said.

"Ask her to come over for dinner tonight, so we can all apologize," Jack suggested. Rob looked to his teammate with one eyebrow raised.

"Let's not push it, OC."

Late that afternoon, Julie sat in her bed, writing lyrics in her notebook. Most of the anger she had felt the day before was gone, and now she was mostly just excited for her date the following night. She was so busy writing and humming quietly to herself, she didn't hear the knock on the front door downstairs.

Patti took a break from the cookie dough she was mixing to answer the door. She smiled upon seeing Rob on the other side of the door, not only because she loved having him around, but also because he could help get Julie out of her funk. Or at least help Patti understand what it was about.

"Hi, Robbie. What a pleasant surprise," she smiled. Rob gave his ever-charming smile back.

"Hi, Mrs. Brooks. Sorry I didn't call, but I just wanted to stop by to check on Julie."

Patti moved aside and held the door open to him. He entered the house, but refrained from immediately bounding up the stairs to his friend.

"You know, I don't know what's gotten into her," Patti sighed, before glancing up the stairs and lowering her voice. "A boy called for her last night, too. Do you know anything about this?"