"Guess who got kicked out of boarding school again?" Jules began, taking a sip of her iced latte in front of her as she lets Charles and Lauren guess for a bit.
"Please say it wasn't Tristan?" Lauren groans, flinging her head back in annoyance. Juliette laughs and shakes her head.
"Close but no cigar. It was Logan Huntzberger! Apparently this school didn't have the emotional capabilities to stop him from turning the school pool into a giant sundae." Juliette stated, reaching over and stealing one of the French fries from Charle's plate, who gave her a frown in response.
"Well when's the classic post explosion party?" Charlie asks, swatting Juliette's hand from stealing another one of his fries.
"He was debating not having a party this year. His parents are pretty pissed because next year is his last year and this is the 5th school." Juliette shrugged. Lauren's face turned incredulous as she looked at Juliette
"Huntzy not having an explosion party is like the sun not rising in the morning... it just doesn't happen?!"
"Hold your horses babe, just because he's not having a party doesn't mean he isn't doing something wild!" Juliette pauses, waiting for the anticipation to build between her friends.
"You are such a drama queen, tell us what he's doing!" Lauren rolls her eyes, sneaking a French fry off of Charles' plate while he was paying attention to Juliette.
"Well it wasn't much of a conversation to be honest, I picked up the phone and he yelled 'New York! Bungee Jumping! This weekend! Bring Charlie and Lauren! Picking you up at 11!' And then he hung up, I didn't even get a chance to ask who was going." Jules laughs
"Last I spoke to him he met some Australian guy at this new school and they got on like a house on fire, or I guess in this case a sundae on a pool." Charles and Lauren both laughed. All three of the teenagers stood up, walking out of their usual cosy cafe and into the bustling streets of Hartford, making their way back to school as they ditched their Wednesday lunch.
"Okay mucho problemo, there is no way my parents would sign a form to let me go bungee jumping! Sometimes they get nervous when I drive in the car and it's raining!" Lauren huffs, throwing her arms in the air.
"It's Huntzberger! As if he's not going to have bribed the bungee office or gotten us fake IDs or something." Charles retired, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of the girls on either sides of him.
"If you're scared Lala, I can always hold your hand."
"Bite me Morelli."
Juliette and Logan Huntzberger have been friends practically since birth. With both parents/grandparents of the two being fully involved with the high society Yale and Hartford scene, Logan and Juliette often would sneak off together at the boring parties to cause some mischief, (Emily thinks that he's a bad example for Juliette, but has always been willing to overlook that little fact on the entire basis that he is in fact the heir to the Huntzberger legacy, and thus a fine choice for Juliette's matrimonial future). The two would often play pranks on the high society members, or more often on Honor and her friends. While Juliette had grown out of that as she got older, forming into the perfect high society child; Logan was never quite able to move on from his rebellious nature, and often likes to include Juliette on his mischief, for old times sakes. So when Saturday rolls around, and Juliette is standing in her doorway wearing designer jeans and her grandfather's old Yale jersey with the sleeves rolled up, next to a Louis Vuitton suitcase, she is not surprised in the slightest when Logan Huntzbrger stands, with a shit eating grin on his face in front of a limo, completely wrapped in a bright pink 'HAPPY EXPULSION' banner.
"Has anyone told you Huntzy, that you are a complete and utter moron?" Juliette cocks her head to the side, folding her arms across her chest.
"Oh Juliette I missed you too." Logan stood up off of the side of the limo and extended his arms out, clearly indicating to Juliette that he's expecting a grand hug.
"My grandparents already think you're courting me." Jules shot him a look, that he could read as 'stop adding fuel to the fire'
"My shining Jewel, my arms are getting tired, come snuggle up your cute little butt in them." Logan waves his arms around, clearly not taking no for an answer. Jules reaches him quickly, hiding her smile into his chest.
"It's good to see you too Logan."
When the two pulled away from their hug, Logan began to wave in the direction of the Gilmore house, causing Juliette to turn around.
"I will take good care of your granddaughter Mr and Mrs Gilmore I promise!" The two moved to get into the limo quickly, not wanting to be stopped and pulled into conversation for hours, with Juliette blowing a kiss over her shoulder that Richard pretended to grab and bring to his heart.
"Alrighty party people! This here is Juliette! She's a little minx so be care..." Logan was cut off in a huff as Juliette jabbed her elbow into his ribs.
"Don't be rude Huntzy, I am a sophisticated young lady."
"There is no way a 'sophisticated young lady' would hang out with a Neanderthal like our dear Logan." An Australian voice chimed in, binging Juliette's attention to the other teenagers sitting in the limo. The lanky boy in question leans forward, ruffling her shaggy brown hair out of his eyes and extending a hand out.
"I'm Finn, it's technically OUR exclusion party, don't let the banner fool you." Juliette couldn't help but admit that one of Logan's friends was very cute, and she was a sucker for a good accent.
"You're darling friend Lauren here has been regaling me with tales of what you and Logan got up to at his last expulsion party, I get the feeling we will be fast friends." Finn continued, causing Juliette to turn bright red at the thought of their antics last party, which caused Juliette to get a strong scolding from her grandmother. Shooting an innocent looking Lauren a glare, Juliette met Finn's blue eyes, looking him square on.
"Whatever blasphemy you've heard is nothing but propaganda, and you don't have the security footage to prove anything." Juliette smiled cheekily, settling into her seat and turning to spark a conversation with Elizabeth, a girl who she had heard is Logan's latest fling of the month.
It didn't take long for the teens to arrive at their hotel in New York, unsurprisingly Juliette thought to herself as the 7 teens made their way up to the Penthouse of the Ritz Carlton, Logan spared no expense for his final expulsion celebration. The big, gold and silver suite was far too lavish for the rowdy teens to deserve, a weekend of grandeur just being a standard in the Huntzberger residence.
"FYI, this is so much better than Madeline's birthday." Charles whispered in Juliette's ear, putting their bags down in the entry way.
A loud pop was heard gaining the attention of both Charles and Juliette who looked up just in time to see Logan giving Finn a champagne shower.
"The poor cleaning staff, they aren't gonna know what hit them." Juliette whispered back before running up to grab another bottle of Champagne and spraying Logan down in retaliation.
It wasn't long before all the teens were sticky in alcohol and ready for real showers. Juliette tried to wipe the drying champagne off her hands as she stumbled to pick up her ringing phone, attempting to stay upright and not fall from the puddles on the ground Juliette breathily answers.
"Hello? Juliette speaking." She smiles and slaps Lauren's hand, who tries to pull her back into the champagne puddle as she attempts to focus on the voice on the phone.
"Jules?" A sniffle is heard on the other line. Juliette's smile drops immediately and she moves away from the room to get some privacy.
"Rory? Honey is everything okay?"
"Dean and I broke up." Juliette slides down the wall slowly, trying not to get champagne all over the bedroom she has made her way into.
"Oh Ror, I'm so sorry. What happened I thought you guys had big plans for your anniversary?" Julieette asked, waving off Charlie who is standing inquisitively in the doorway.
"We - we went to dinner and then we walked by the bonfire but it wasn't lit so we went to this junkyard and we sat in this car and I left mom's meatball in the car, and then he said the car was mine and he was going to build it for me and then we broke up and I don't know what to do." Rory rambled on, making it hard for Juliette to follow.
"He gave you a car and then he broke up with you?" Juliette questioned, not quite understanding how a and b make z, "this is the same guy that things the sun genuinely shines out of your ass?"
"He told me he loved me." Rory interrupted Juliette before some crude metaphor could come out of her mouth again.
"And you didn't say it back?" Juliette listened to Rory's harsh breathing down the line, the silence all she needed as an answer.
"Jules I don't know what to do." Rory sniffles, causing Juliette's heart to strain.
"Okay here's what you're going to do. You are going to devour a tub of ice cream and then you are going to get up and get on with life because you are Rory Freaking Gilmore and you are a bad bitch and you can have anyone in the world and now some Sasquatch." Juliette threw her unoccupied hand in the air, not that Rory could see her gestures of reinforcement.
"I don't know how to do that."
"Madeline is having a birthday party and i'm sure she would be thrilled if you and Lane went and had a good time."
"You sure she wouldn't mind?" Rory questioned
"Yes! The more the merrier. Go and shake your cute little butt and the second I am home we are having a girls day and we can get our nails done and watch some trashy movie and I'm sure Charles would come over and let us throw water balloons at him because we hate men." Juliette smiled as she heard a soft chuckle come from the other side of the phone.
"I should let you get back to your weird rebellion party thing. I love you Jules."
"I love you too Ror." Juliette let her arm fall slowly to the ground as the two hang up the phone. There was a soft knock in the doorway and Juliette looked up at the tall brunette Australian.
"You good in here?" His soft voice seemingly uncharacteristic to Juliette even though she had only known him for such a short time.
"Sister drama, it's no biggie." Juliette shrugged, smiling up at the boy.
"Well I do say my fair maiden I must require you to return to the mob as we are having a kangaroo competition and I can only assume that your kangaroo impression far trumps Mr Huntzberger's." He stretched out his hand, leaning down slightly to help Juliette to her feet.
"You would be right in your assumptions Mr Howardson." Juliette returns in a pompous accent, letting Finn lead her back into the living room.
There comes a time in every young girls life where she looks inside herself before she makes a big and scary leap and thinks 'what the fuck am I doing?' For some it happens before a sports competition they are nervous about, or an exam they think they may fail. It can also happen right before they have sex for the very first time. For Juliette, it was when she was standing on the ledge of the Empire State Building with a cord wrapped around her waist.
"Logan, baby how much do you love me?" Juliette say distressed, leaning slightly over the edge to look at the ground beneath her, that seems to be moving closer and closer despite Juliette not having yet jumped.
"You know, because if you really loved me you wouldn't let me jump off a building!" Juliette inhales sharply and presses herself closer to the wall behind her, looking panicked at an entertained Logan Huntzberger, squeezing Lauren's hand harder, Juliette glares at Logan's obvious amusement.
"Jules how is this any different to last year where you made a running leap off the roof of my house and did a front flip into my pool?" Logan inquires, cocking his head and biting his leap to keep the laughs from escaping him.
"Because you asshole! There was a pool, and the only pool here is going to be a pool of blood when I smack the concrete jungle." Juliette releases Lauren's hand just to point and accusing finger at one of her childhood family friends.
"And you missy, I can't believe you have dibs on Charles and are leaving me to jump alone! That's cold." Juliette turns her wrath onto the blonde bombshell next to her, who at least has thee audacity to look at her feet.
"I shall be your shining night Juliette Gilmore. Saddle me up kind sir!" Finn pushes through the crowd around Juliette, having just put on his jumpsuit and harness in order to be clipped into Juliette.
"You just want an excuse to grab me without me slapping you." Jules narrows her eyes at the cocky and yet attractive Australian.
"It would be unethical for me not to help out the damsel in distress." The boy lifts his hands up in the air and send an innocent look towards the brunette Gilmore girl, who has her usually unruly curly hair tied in two French braids.
"You'll be fine Jules. Besides now you finally have an answer to the question of 'if your friends jumped off a building would you jump too?' Charles chimes in, putting his arm over Logan's shoulder as the two boys continue to poke the already agitated bear.
"You piece of shi..." Juliette wasn't able to finish her sentence as Finn grabbed her round the waist and leaped off the building, and Juliette hadn't been aware that while she was being poked and prodded, Finn had gotten himself hooked up to her bungee cord.
Juliette screams bloody murder as the wind slaps her around the face. Her screams turning to laughs as she takes in the sights and sounds whizzing around her. Finn whoops joyously in her ear as a shit eating grin makes it's way onto his face, clearly glad that he got Juliette to actually get off the ledge.
The bright lights of the skyscrapers blended together and the wind whipped down Juliette's throat but it felt, so liberating. Juliette was flying, and in the sky there was no worrisome sister meltdowns, or abandonment mommy issues, or conflicting identity crises or any feeling of being unloved. Juliette felt untouchable. Well, as untouchable as someone can feel with a 6 foot koala wrapped around them.
"Aren't you glad you did this love?" The boy whispered in her ear as the two slowly came to a stop.
"If I wasn't so elated Finn Howardson, I would totally kill you for pushing me off a building." Juliette whispered back, causing the boy in question to let out a roars laugh.
"Technically, we jumped off a building. There's a difference.."
"Suicide, murder scenario. You would be slaughtered in court."
Juliette isn't sure if it is the fight or flight mode that her body went through, with adrenaline coursing through her veins, or if the blu of his eyes was particularly sparkly with the blood rushing to their heads; but she didn't think for once and just leaned forward and kissed Finn with all her might.
Now, Juliette had never imaged kissing someone while she was upside down after having just jumped off the Empire State Building, and she was only slightly sure that Finn hadn't either. It was magical, the soft sounds of the hustle and bustle of New York below them, and the even softer cheers and whoops from above melted into the background noise, the two just expressing their adrenaline and joy from the jump.
"You know, Logan is totally gonna give you shit for making such a fuss out of this." Finn finally said after the two pulled away.
And shit, Logan did give Juliette, practically pushing her off the cliff again as her grabbed her and tickled her mercilessly after they were pulled up.
"Not only did little Juliette enjoy the jump, but she also seemed to enjoy the jumping partner provided by yours truly. Looks like little Juliette isn't so little anymore eh Romeo?" Logan teased over the sound of Jules' shrieking.
"Don't expect the same treatment when we jump Morelli." Lauren said to Charles standing next to her in his harness, causing the group to laugh at Juliette's red face once more.
Later on that evening, Juliette felt herself cornered, sitting next to a petite red head who was droning on and on about her childhood trauma (apparently this girl gets to 3 shots and turns into blabby Cathy, which is ironic because her name is Caitlin). Juliette presumed that Caitlin was a friend of Elizabeth's as she could see how her fast friend Finn, or her old friend Logan would put up with such a boring individual. Just as Juliette reached her peak of being able to listen to irrelevant rich people problems, Charles saw her desperation and came to rescue her.
"My little ravioli, would you come and dance with me?" Charles questioned, smiling at Juliette's clear and utter relief on her face.
"Only if you wouldn't mind Caitlin?" Juliette didn't wait to hear her answer but instead immediately stood up to join Charles on the makeshift dance floor, where they had moved the couches back for some flailing room.
"You're a lifesaver babe. That girls has as much personality as that fish that Lauren's brother hid in her room when he came back from his week long trip." Charles' face scrunched up in disgust.
"Ew, I remember that, her whole room smelled slimy for a month." The two laughed, thinking back on the unfortunate time in their friend's life, enjoying being in one another's presence.
"So you and Finn are really hitting it off." Charlie comments, spinning Juliette around by her hand.
"He's funny and good energy." Juliette shrugged, not mentioning that the Australian accent is pretty damn sexy.
"Alright, keep your secrets locked up like Alcatraz." Charles narrows his eyes, as if he had x-ray vision to look into Juliette's mind, which often it feels as if he does. Charles looks up and away from Juliette before quickly spinning her around three times until Juliette felt the world shift on its axis and she began tumbling to the side, into someone's waiting arms. The smell of a pine forest overwhelmed Juliette's senses and she looked upwards to see sparkling blue eyes, the colour of the pacific ocean.
"I know I'm from Down Under, but you can be right side up when you talk to me." Finn winked at Juliette, who was getting quite cozy wrapped up in his arms.
"You think you're so clever don't you." Juliette rolled her arms, righting herself on her feet. Finn didn't have a moment to respond as Juliette's phone started ringing, much to her displeasure. She was contemplating ignoring the call and staying wrapped in her moment with Finn, but she recognised the number from Rory's house.
"I better take this." Juliette shot an apologetic look towards the tall boy in front of her, moving to head back to her bedroom for a bit of privacy.
"Rory, you okay hun?" Juliette asked, softly shutting the bedroom door behind her, and moving to sit on the queen sized bed.
"I messed up Jules, and I don't know what to do." Rory says
"I'm sure it can't be that bad, there is no problem that can't be fixed."
"I kissed Tristan tonight, I didn't mean to and it just sort of happened but I still like Dean and it was a complete mistake." Rory rambles quickly, causing Juliette's eyes to widen at the revelation.
"You kissed Tristan?"
"I kissed Tristan." Rory deadpans, "that's not the point, the point is what do I do?"
Juliette lets out a sigh at the mess her sister has gotten herself into.
"You do nothing. You and Dean broke up babe, as hard as it is to hear, you are a free woman to do whatever you want with whoever you want." Juliette relies
"But I want Dean, why do I feel so guilty."
"Hun, you haven't accepted that it's over, you need to wallow, have some ice cream, hell even cry about it! Pretending that it didn't happen isn't going to help." Juliette can almost hear Rory's heart breaking over the phone.
"You know, mom has been trying to get me to wallow all weekend." Juliette has to swallow down the disgust she feels at having a similar opinion to Lorelai, taking a deep breath before she replies.
"As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. You gotta feel bad to feel better again." Juliette waits a few beats, hearing Rory breath on the other line.
"Can you not tell anyone about Tristan and I? It's not exactly something I'm proud of." Juliette can't help the furrow in her eyebrows at her sisters words.
"Your secret is safe with me. Besides I may have been mad about him for the whole prom thing, but he's still a good friend of mine, and deep down beneath that asshole exterior is a really great person." Juliette says, not quite sure why she's attempting to changes Rory's opinion on on Tristan.
"I should let you get back to your party. Goodnight Jules." Juliette hears the phone click after a quick goodby response, and she places the phone under her chin, thinking about what could possibly have happened between the Tristan and Rory, to lead to the kiss.
The door in front of Juliette slowly opened, with a shaggy brown haired boy popping in the doorway.
"She lives!" He jokes, moving into the room and closing the door behind him.
"Let me guess, more sister troubles?" Juliette sighs, resting her head on Finn's shoulder as he sits next to her.
"She hasn't been in my life for very long but god it's been a rollercoaster. Do you have siblings Finn?" Juliette asks, shifting away so that she can look Finn in the eyes while she talks to him.
"I do not, thankfully there is only one version of me, otherwise I probably would have been the evil twin." Finn winks causing Juliette to laugh and softly hit his arm. Finn grabs the hand that Juliette extended, using it to pull her closer to him.
"Although a clone of you running around doesn't sound too bad." He leans in, whisper in Juliette's ear causing her to blush a light peach.
"Well unfortunately for you, there is only one of me." Juliette quips back, trying to hide th obvious blush on her cheeks by looking away.
Finn leaned slowly over and pressed a soft kiss on Juliette's cheek, making her blush increase down her neck.
Juliette turns to look him in the eyes, "you know you're going to be shipped off to some other boarding school, and I am quite busy so I'm not looking for anything." Juliette reasoned, trying to logically calm the obvious butterflies she feels.
"We can just have fun you know." Finn kisses Juliette's other cheek, not moving away from her face as he sees that Juliette has sat still.
"I haven't had fun before." Juliette clears her throat, looking up into his eyes through her eyelashes, "but if it was with someone I was friends with, someone like you, maybe I could be interested in having some fun." Juliette bites her bottom lip, as Finn grins widely at her words, leaning in to close the space between the two.
The moment their lips touched, Juliette felt butterflies erupt in the pit of her stomach, like a herd of wild elephants. And tingles ran up her spine as she moved herself closer to Finn until she was practically pushed up against his side. Finn wrapped his arm around Juliette's waist until she was straddling his lap, the smell of pine and lavender blending together.
And on one of the worst evenings of Rory's life, her first night where she sat on her couch crying into a tub of ice cream over a breakup, Juliette also experienced a first in her life.
Juliette had never thought about losing her virginity, which she was adamant was an archaic expression. 'What am I losing, the act of losing something makes it seem as if I would no longer be whole, which is complete nonsense.' Juliette would rant to Charlie and Lauren, particularly after her awakening into feminist discourse. Juliette from that moment on thought about this experience as rather than losing something, as experiencing a human condition for the first time.
Juliette knew that this wasn't Finn's first time experiencing this condition, but he was soft and gentle, making Juliette feel as if she were a temple, and he was worshiping her. The butterflies kept bursting through her, until she felt as if she were floating, she herself was a butterfly, emerging from the cocoon of adolescents, into a brand new feeling.