Back to Where We Started From (Miracle)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Do you have anything you'd like to say to me?" Julie asked the boys the next day when she met them at the bus in the arena parking lot. There she stood, sunglasses pulled down on her face, red lips pursed, waving hair messy around her shoulders. She looked dangerous in a glamorous way, a typical Julie Brooks style.

"Hi," Robbie approached her sheepishly with a smile. Julie pulled her sunglasses off her face, popping them on her head. She waited for him to talk, but when he didn't she decided she would go ahead. 

"Robbie, you told him you love him," Julie said quietly, her jaw set.

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Mark just chuckled beside him.

"And you!" Julie said, looking to Mark. "You called him my boyfriend, told him you can't wait for our wedding, and then start singing."

Mark stopped laughing, shrugging his shoulders.

"Silky and Koho stole all his beer! You guys were so embarrassing," she groaned.

"We're sorry," Mark said, glancing up at her, giving her his best puppy-dog eyes. Dave and Silky were joining in behind him. She sighed, a small grin coming over her face.

"You're just lucky he thought it was funny," she told them.

"So we didn't totally ruin your date?" Robbie asked hopefully.

"No," she smiled. "He actually asked to see me again."

"Oh, so really we weren't so bad," Mark pointed out with a laugh. A few more of the boys approached, Jack among them. Julie immediately smiled when she saw him.

"No, you were awful," she told Mark, before looking back to Jack. "It's just that OC had my back."

Jack gave her a half smile, nudging her shoulder as he passed her by.

"I'm glad you had fun, Jules," he told her, moving to get on the bus. Her eyes followed him, her mouth falling open slightly. Why did he suddenly seem so cold to her? She looked back to Robbie, Mark, Silky, and Dave, obviously confused.

"What's wrong with OC?"

The boys exchanged looks, no one too eager to speak up.

"Well, we were kind of teasing him last night and I guess he's still kinda mad," Silky finally told her with a shrug. Julie looked at them, her eyes full of suspicion. That didn't sound like Jack. Plus, if he was mad at them, why would he give her the cold shoulder?

"What were you teasing him about?" She questioned. It was quiet for a second, and just as Julie was about to repeat the question, her uncle called to them.

"Are you determined to make us late or something?" Herb questioned, stepping onto the bus. "We've got a three hour bus ride, let's go."

They all moved quickly to get on the bus, but Jack's behavior was still eating at Julie. He had seemed fine last night at the bar. And in what world did Jack O'Callahan let his friends teasing him get to him that badly? Julie decided to just drop it as she sat down next to Robbie. There wasn't much she could ask him anyway, with Jack and Jimmy sitting right behind them.

It continued to bother Julie the entire ride to Hibbing, Minnesota, no matter how much she tried to let it go. She and Robbie talked about how her date had gone before the boys showed up. She told him about the kiss at the end of the night, which he immediately scrunched his nose up at.

"Ew, don't tell me stuff like that. It's like hearing Kathy talk about kissing," Robbie whined.

"Fine, I'll wait and tell Kathy later."