Everything According to Juliana

Chapter Twenty: Party at Toby's

When Juliana arrived at the party, Cassie was standing with Luke's friends in the kitchen. Everyone's eyes lit up. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if they were looking at her that way.

"Hey!" Toby greeted. Juliana felt someone push past her. It was Brittany. She was wearing high-waisted black shorts and a tight white shirt. She waved to Toby before wrapping her arms around him. She then hugged Jordan.

Juliana accepted that no one was excited to see her as she walked further into the house. Alivia was talking to Parker and Harry. Cassie was with Luke. She had no one to talk to. She sighed as she made her way outside. Like most houses in south Florida, Toby's was behind a bank of water. He had a pool and a small amount of yard where he had a basketball hoop.

She walked over to the lounge chairs in front of his pool. She sat down, pulling out her phone in an attempt to try and make it look like she was occupied even though she had no one to talk to.

"Everything good?" Jake asked, startling her. Her eyes landed on him, who sat next to her on the lounge chair. She didn't even see him walk over to her.

"Yeah," she nodded her head, trying to hide the fact that everything was not actually good. Jake nodded his head as he handed her a White Claw. She smiled, accepting the drink. "Thank you," she appreciated his kind gesture.

"If everything was actually good, you would be with your friends right now," he told her, raising an eyebrow. "But, here you are.... sitting alone."

She laughed, shaking her head. "I can say the same to you," she pointed out. "You're also not with your friends right now."

He nodded his head in agreement before letting out a heavy sigh. He looked upset. "Yeah, you just proved my point. Sitting alone at a party without your friends means there's something wrong."

Juliana waited for him to explain his story but he didn't. "Well..." she said as he turned to look at her. "What happened?"

He laughed with a smile on his face... before the smile fell and his laughter died out. That horrified her. Seeing Jake's expression change was like a wake-up call. Even the happiest of people were going through something, and no one would ever be able to tell.

"I feel constantly pressured by my friends," Jake confessed, nodding his head in realization. Juliana was surprised he was opening up to her, but with his outgoing and warm personality, he could talk to anyone and relate to them. "They keep pressuring me to hook up with this girl and then this girl... it's like... give me a second to relax." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to be like Max... and I definitely don't want to be like Jordan. I don't want to hook up with every girl that goes to West Coral. Is it so surprising or concerning to say that I would rather have a girlfriend?"

"Not at all," Juliana answered as he took a swig of his drink. "But it's also not surprising for them to only want to hook up with girls and not want to date. We live in a hookup culture. It's sad but it's also true." He nodded his head in agreement. "Sometimes it's nice to not worry about commitment or putting effort into a relationship and just having fun with different people. But I agree with you. I would rather have a boyfriend than hook up with boys I'll never get to know on a personal level."

"Yeah," he chuckled, shaking his head. "All my friends tell me that the only way I'm going to fully get over Gabrielle is if I start hooking up with girls. The truth is..." he paused for a moment, taking another swig of his drink before speaking again. "I've already moved on from her and it took no casual sex with anyone to help with that."

"Good," she smiled. He smiled back. Her heart was beating so fast... she had no idea why. She cleared her throat as she looked away from him. "Not everyone is going to understand what you want or how you handle things. Oftentimes, people are very close-minded. They only think about how they see things and never how someone else does. Don't let your friends pressure you into anything. You're your own person... whether you choose to start dating again or hook up with whoever you want, that should be your decision and never theirs."