⇾ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙣𝙚 ➪ 𝙄 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪, 𝘽𝙪𝙩...

ꕥ May 2, 1966 ꕥ

"Let me do your makeup!" insisted my best friend and roommate, Caroline. I was going out this evening on a date organized by my boyfriend, Liam, and at the moment I was getting ready. I just knew it was going to be a good night.

"No, no, no," I responded, carefully securing a pair of earrings in my ears. "I've got it. It'll take me like ten minutes."

"Yes, that's why I want to do it," she responded with a slight smirk.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Believe me, I can do it on my own."

"Oh, alright!" Caroline huffed. "What about your hair?"

I laughed at my best friend's persistence. "I promise it'll be okay. I've been on hundreds of dates with Liam before and I've never had a problem with my looks! I'll be fine."

"Oh, alright," she said. "But don't come crying to me when he leaves you because of your uninspired makeup choices."

I laughed in response, rolling my eyes slightly. Caroline looked down at my floral dress and nodded in approval. "I guess your dress looks fine. Maybe you can salvage the rest." She smirked.

I knew she wasn't saying any of this to be mean. This was simply how we talked to one another.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

I made it to the fancy restaurant Liam had told me to meet him at at 6:00 PM on the dot that evening. He met me out front, like he always did, and we went in to get a table.

Me noticing that he was acting strange was immediate. It didn't take much to see that something was wrong with him, but I had absolutely no idea what exactly that was.

We sat down at the table we were led to and sat for a moment in silence, which was certainly new for us. Usually, we would have something to talk about, but apparently not today.

"Have you had a good day?" Liam asked, folding his hands in his lap awkwardly.

"Uh—yeah, I guess it was good. I didn't really do much."

Liam looked hesitant to say something and I was starting to get upset because of it so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I cleared my throat and folded my hands on the table.

"What are you about to say?" I asked him nervously, dreading the answer. One thing I disliked—and strangely liked at the same time—about him. He was ruthlessly honest.

He turned slightly red in the face. "Well—."

My stomach sank. "Oh, God," I said aloud, falling back against the back of the seat I was sitting in.

"No, listen to me," he said with a hard look in his eyes. "Okay, Juliette, you know that I care about you so, so much and I really respect you," he began and I nodded. I knew what was coming next.

I care about you, but there's someone new.

I care about you, but I don't want to be with you.

I care about you, but I'm not happy anymore.

Which one was it gonna be? It was about time to find out!

"I think you deserve the best there is," he told me. "And I just don't know if that's me."

My lips turned downward in an uncomfortable frown. Why did he bring me all the way to a restaurant just to tell me this?

I nodded. "Well," I said, standing up. "I've lost my appetite."

"No," he said quickly. "We can still have dinner."

I shook my head, offering up a small smile and trying to hold back the tears that I knew were coming.

"I'm sorry," he said, swallowing hard.

I shook my head again. "Thank you for being honest," I told him before quickly walking away.

I went out to my car, tears falling down my face. I put my key in the ignition and pulled away, watching my surroundings as they passed by the car. I saw beautiful trees and houses shrouded in darkness, and I saw people walking hand-in-hand on the sidewalks and that just made it hurt more.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

I pulled back into the parking lot of me and Caroline's apartment building and trudged up the stairs, feeling upset. When I entered the apartment, I wasn't surprised to see Caroline on the couch, her face attached to that of her boyfriend, Harry. I had known he was coming over while I was gone.

As soon as I threw the door open, they jumped apart from one another and looked at me in pure confusion.

I rushed passed them, biting my lip in desperation. I was ready to collapse in my bed and shrivel up. I went and slammed my door in agitation, throwing off my shoes and falling down on top of my neatly-made bed. I buried my face in my hands, tears spilling onto my cheeks again, more rapidly now than as I was driving home. Now that I was all on my own, I just let it all out. All at once.

Then, there was a knock on my door. "Jules?" Caroline asked from the other side.

"Go away," I moaned stubbornly. I knew that she could tell I was crying, and a moment later, my door had opened, then closed, and she was sitting at the foot of my bed.

I looked up with an unenthusiastic look on my face. "I told you to go away," I told her. I really just wanted to be on my own right now. Her being here was ruining that.

"Girl, tell me what happened," she said gently. She knew exactly what had happened, so I shook my head. I dared to look up and her gaze was hard, demanding, and I knew I'd lost. I always did. "Tell me," she repeated and the words she wanted tumbled straight out of my lips.

"He was just so off when we got there," I blurted, my voice shaking. "And then be just broke up with me! Out of nowhere! I don't even know what I did wrong."

Caroline scooted over next to me and put her arms around me. I gladly hugged her back. She was always there for me, no matter what it was that I was dealing with, and I was so glad. I was so thankful for her.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she replied. "He's just a fucking jerk."

I giggled at her casual use of such a vulgar word. "They're all like that." She rolled her eyes. "Especially when you won't have sex with them." She raised her eyebrows.

I blushed. "You know I'm saving that for marriage," I told her with a little eye roll.

"Well, most of them don't like that." Caroline laughed.

I frowned. "Oh, believe me. I know." I thought of all the boys that had been a deal-breaker with. What pigs.

"Hey, how about we go out?" Caroline suggested with a smirk. "I think you could use it! Hell, maybe you'll meet someone new! We'll doll you all up and make Liam know exactly what he's missing." She cocked an eyebrow.

I thought a moment, even though my mind was already practically made up. "I think I'd love that," I responded and she broke into a wide grin before standing up.

"I'll go get my makeup. We need to fix this. Especially now that that mascara is all messed up." She gestured to my face and I rolled my eyes. "Get ready!" she called out, presumably to Harry. "We're going out!" I laughed at her sing-songy voice.