Back to Where We Started From (Miracle)

Chapter Fifty-Three

After practice, the boys rushed to her for the donuts she had promised, each boy trying to make sure he didn't miss out on the best donuts. The only two hanging behind in the locker room with Robbie and Jack.

"You're not gonna fight like an animal to go get a donut?" Robbie chuckled, glancing over at Jack. Robbie couldn't help but notice that Jack was taking his sweet time getting ready. Jack looked up with a shrug.

"Nah, I'll let them fight over it all," Jack chuckled. He hesitated for a second, grabbing his coat out of his stall. "Are you and Jules doing anything tonight?"

Robbie noticed the way Jack was avoiding eye contact with him, and he tried to suppress the smirk that was threatening to show. He could've bombarded Jack with invasive questions, the way the rest of the boys surely would have done, but he chose not to.

"Nope. No plans," Robbie told him. Jack just nodded casually, quietly leaving the locker room. Robbie grinned to himself, glad that the boys weren't around to tease Jack.

Julia waited, rather impatiently, for Jack and Robbie to finally come out of the locker room. She hoped Robbie wasn't harassing Jack, but when she saw Jack finally walk out of the locker room, he looked cool and calm. She headed toward him, away from all the other boys. She could feel them watching her as she walked over to Jack, and she sighed quietly. Jack ran a hand through his hair, making Julia happy that her back was to the boys so they couldn't see her cheeks light up.

"Donut?" She offered with a smile. Jack grinned, grabbing one of the few donuts left in the box.

"Movie and dinner tonight?" Jack asked her, keeping his voice low to ensure none of them boys would overhear him. Julia felt her heart speed up, excited to have some alone time with Jack. She gave him a subtle nod and a smile, knowing the boys were still watching them.

"Pick you up at seven," Jack mumbled, nudging her shoulder as he walked past her.

Julia was trying to contain her excitement later that evening as she waited for seven o'clock to finally roll around. She didn't want to dress up too much, but she couldn't help but spend a little extra time on her hair and makeup. Julia put on some perfume and grabbed her coat, walking downstairs to see her aunt and uncle in the living room.

"Where are you headed?" Herb asked, barely looking up from the paper he was reading.

"Jack's picking me up. We're going to the movies. We, as in, like, all of us. Not just me and Jack," Julia said quickly. She felt bad lying, but she wasn't ready to have that conversation with them yet. Herb looked up at her, giving her a strange look.

"Uh, okay. Have fun," he told her, looking back at the paper. Patti looked at Julia, a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised. Julia waited for her to say something, but Patti just winked and returned her attention to the book she was reading. Julia froze, nervous that Patti had caught on. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jack's car pulling into the driveway.

"Bye," she chirped, rushing out the door. Jack was getting out of the car, and looked surprised to see her rushing out of the house.

"I was gonna come to the door, ya know," he chuckled, going to open her car door for her.

"I think Patti knows," Julia told him, getting into his car with a panicked look on her face. Jack shut her door, going around and getting into the driver's side.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she knows that you and I are like..." Julia trailed off, not even sure how to finish the sentence.

What are we, exactly?

"Oh," was all that came out of Jack's mouth as he glanced toward the house. "How do you think she knows?"