I think by the time Jules finally speaks, she only does it because she couldn't stand being silent any longer. She's been quiet for three minutes. "What happened?" she asks.
"I don't wanna talk about it," I mumble.
"I do. So tell me."
By now, I've sort of figured out a way to make her shut up and stop pushing. "If you keep quiet, I'll put my arm around your waist."
She thinks about it before saying, "Sit on my lap, and you got a deal."
I grunt. "That's too much work."
Jules giggles. "I'm stronger than you think." Before I can stop her, she leans over and puts her free arm under my knees. She drags my butt across the grass and picks me up for a brief moment before setting me down on her lap. "See?"
"I would have believed you without this," I say in protest.
"But this way, I have you trapped with a Jules prison." The statement sounds wrong in my head, and she says while I'm laughing, "What? It's true!"
"Nothing." I have to admit, this position feels nice and comfy. It's almost as if I'm sitting on a couch.
"Okay." Jules wraps her arms around me again. The woodsy scent wafts up to my nose, making me think of something.
"Why are you outside?" I ask.
Jules points at the neighborhood, meaning her house. "I told you at the cafeteria, I go to the woods and use my imagination," she says. "It's near my backyard."
"You . . . have the woods as your backyard?"
"Kind of."
This leaves me more confused. "Then how did you know I was here?"
"I was bored, and I wanted to get out of the area for a while," Jules explains. "And then I saw a car stopping at an illegal spot, and you jumped out and sat here!"
I look at where my car is. "That spot's illegal to park on?"
"Yep! I should know," Jules says proudly. "I've been living here all my life." She pauses before adding, "You should move it. Sometimes the police come in this area to check for strange things."
I roll out of her lap and stand up. "Fine." I start heading to the car, intending to do this quickly, and then return. Jules has other ideas. She skips over and slows to a walk beside me. "You want to be in the car, I assume?"
"Duh. Who doesn't?"
". . . Okay then."
We both get into the car, and I put the key in the ignition. Jules makes a noise of happiness when I start moving the car. "I have an idea!" she tells me.
"And what's that?" I figure it's best to play along.
"We go on a ride!"
"Um, why?"
I bet Jules is rolling her eyes. I'm sorry if the answer's too obvious, I think. "It'll be fun! And music! We can play music!" Jules leans over and turns on the radio. It starts playing some kind of a rap, and she immediately switches stations. As soon as a familiar song starts playing, she stops fiddling with the radio and leans back in the passenger seat.
"Home, James!" she tells me.
I gesture behind us. "I'm already passed your house."
"Oh." Jules twists behind. "Never mind. Anything but home, James!"
I suppress my laughter. "That's better." Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I try to remember the name of the song. I give up after a full minute. I ask Jules, "What's the name of the song?"
She gives me a weird look. "It's 'Monster' by Skillet."
"Oh." I pretend that I knew it all along. "Is there anywhere specific you want to go to?" I ask.
"Oooh, Seattle!"
I shake my head. "That'd involve going on the highway," I say. "It's pitch black out. I'm not going to risk my life on there."
"But you'd risk mine?!" I decide not to answer that. "Fine. At least I know how much love you have for me." Jules crosses her arms and slumps. Not even a split second later, she sits back up. "You didn't tell me what happened earlier," she accuses.
"I was hoping you'd forget about that," I admit. The song ends, and another one starts playing.
She turns on the lights from the ceiling, just so I can see her glare. "Tell me," she commands. She then turns the lights off.
"It's not something I want to talk about at all tonight," I say.
I turn to a sloped street which, if I'm correct, would lead us down to another town. It's not something for me to worry about; I've been there countless times. Jules, on the other hand, is acting as if she never knew this place exists.
"What does that place have?" she asks, pointing at one of the many buildings.
"Health foods and seeds," I reply.
"That's gross. Let's not visit it."
"Um, alright. Wasn't planning to."
I keep driving around the town until I find that I've taken us back to where the town starts. I slowly drive back up the hill to the area again. This time, I keep a sharper eye out on a far more acceptable parking spot.
Jules points at a little space off the side of the road. "That's a good spot," she tells me. "I don't think anyone's lying on the concrete right now, pretending to be dead."
There's no way to tell if she's serious. I do, however, make sure no one's on the spot before I drive into it, being forced to parallel park. "Is that better?" I ask, being a little sarcastic.
"Yep!" I turn off the engine, and the radio keeps playing, much to Jules' delight. "Cool, it's still playing! What else can this car do when it's turned off?"
"Um, I don't know," I say.
"That's sad. You should explore your car more." I pretend to make a note of it, and Jules rolls her eyes. "You're not being funny there."
"I wasn't even trying." Looking at my phone, I add, "It's getting late. Mom should be home by now, and she already yelled at me for coming home late."
Jules seems interested. "Why? What did you do?"
Another song starts playing before the previous song even fades all the way. I turn off the radio by opening my door, and then closing it. "It was on the same day I did homework at your house."
"Oh." Jules takes off the seatbelt and gets out of the car. Before she walks away, she gestures for me to lower the window. Peeping her head through, she adds, "We should do that again. You know, except for that lecture." Before I can say anything, she stands up and starts walking towards her neighborhood.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I ask aloud as I start up the car again.