Chapter Thirty-Three
“Eden?” Chase questioned, a smile trying to hide its presence on his face.
“Shut up,” I said.
“Julia!” my mother said firmly again.
“Yes?” I said, slightly anxious.
“Why didn’t you ask your father or me if this boy could come over?” she said. Though I couldn’t see her face, I presumed her expression to be less than a happy one.
“You remember Talia’s brother, don’t you?” I asked, removing Chase’s arm from my shoulder, and standing up to face her.
“Yes,” she said stonily.
“Well, this is Chase, Talia’s brother,” I said, reaching down and grabbing Chase’s arm, bringing it up.
“Mr. Ryan, since my daughter has yet to explain to me why you’re here, maybe you can enlighten me!” she said, glaring at the back of his head. I yanked Chase’s arm, and pulled him up so he too could face the wrath of my mother.
“We were hanging out,” he replied nervously.
“Uh huh. Julia, care to elaborate on that?”
“Chase and I are dating,” I sighed.
“Didn’t you just break up with Josh?”
“Yes! Four months ago!” I said, not understanding why she would bring up such a touchy subject.
“I liked Josh,” she said calmly, “what exactly happened?”
“He cheated on me, doesn’t matter, I’m dating Chase now,” I said.
“Uh huh. Chase, how would you like to stay for dinner?” she asked courteously, though there was something about the way she asked that made me think there were reasons other than politeness behind the invitation.
“Sure…” he said apprehensively, also uncertain if we were headed right into a trap of some kind.
“Okay, then it’s settled. Chase-” she began.
“I’m home!” Adam yelled from somewhere else in the house. And that would be one of the many reasons I love my brother; his timing is always perfect.
“In the living room!” I called, hoping that he would be able to save us.
“I was going to go out myself, but since Adam’s here, how about the three of you go shopping,” she suggested.
“Uh… okay,” I said.
“Here,” she said, handing me a piece of paper she had fished out of her pocket.
I accepted it, and looked down, scanning the various loops and squiggles that formed a shopping list. “Okay then… Let’s go, Chase,” I said, tugging him by the shirt out of the room. I held my breath as I passed my mother, unable to read into her actions.
“What a cute couple!” Adam mocked once he saw us.
“I know, aren’t we?” Chase said.
“Mom said we have to go get this stuff,” I said, rolling my eyes, and handing Adam the list.
“I just got home,” he whined, “I don’t want to go out again!”
“Too bad, let’s go,” I said, walking past him to the door.
“Is she serious?” I heard Adam ask Chase.
“Afraid so,” Chase replied. I shook my head, and jogged down the stairs, wanting to get out of the house. I pulled on my black Converse I had left to dry, not caring if they were still damp or not, considering that I would be going out anyways, resulting in them becoming even wetter. Chase and Adam soon followed. Chase put on his shoes, as Adam took out his phone and quickly texted someone.
“You kids ready now?” Adam asked, slipping his phone into his back pocket.
“Yeah…” I said, grabbing a jacket that was hanging on the banister of the stairs and putting it on. As I did so, it occurred to me that I was wearing only a T-shirt and sweats. Classy Jules, real classy.
We exited the house, and were instantly pelted with tiny droplets of water coming from the sky. Raindrops began to seep into my canvas shoes, and soak my feet for the second time today. Though rain may be annoying, somewhat depressing, and, well, wet, I like it. Rain always gives me a sense of calmness and tranquility.
Chase and I slid into the back seats of Adam’s car so we could sit together, and Adam seated himself in the driver’s seat. I brought the seatbelt across my chest, making sure it was properly placed. Adam twisted his key in the ignition, causing the entire car to come to life, and stepped on the pedal. Here we go.
“So, Eden?” Chase said.
“Eden,” I nodded.
“Why?”
“My parents thought it was a pretty name, and my dad was fixated on having our initials spell something out,” I explained, retelling the story I had heard many times before.
When my parents were picking out baby names, they knew they wanted something with a J. I was originally going to be named Jaclyn. Thankfully, my parents had the good sense to change that. My mom said the reason she convinced my father against it was because it may have led to people calling me “Jack” or “Jackie”. She didn’t want her little girl to have a boy’s name.
“So, you’re initials are JET?” he asked.
“Yup,” I said. I think that’s kind of cool. Jet. Being associated to a type of plane isn’t the worst thing to happen. Jets are cool, right? Even if they aren’t, I’m epic, therefor jets are too.
“Huh. Wait, so both of your initials spell out something?” Chase mused.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Adam, what’s you middle name?” Chase asked. I smirked, loving how this conversation was going.
“Nathan,” Adam mumbled.
“Nathan?” Chase repeated, processing the piece of the puzzle Adam had filled in.
“It spells out ‘ANT’,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Ant?” Chase echoed.
“Yes ‘ANT’!” Adam said, swerving the car, causing me to collide into Chase.
“Don’t perturb the driver, especially when they don’t know how to drive,” I warned, attempting to move back to my side of the car, only to be restricted by Chase’s arms wrapping around me. As much as the idea of laying in Chase’s arms is alluring, when Adam’s the one driving it isn’t the most appealing thing in the world.
“I actually do know how to drive,” Adam objected.
“Sure you do,” I scoffed.
“So, ANT, why?” Chase questioned.
“Jules, would you like to enlighten him?” Adam asked.
“Absolutely!” I said smugly. “At first, my mom wanted to name him ‘Adam Robert’, but my father disagreed with it, saying that his initials weren’t ‘manly’ enough.”
“Your initials were originally going to be ART?” Chase said.
“Yes,” Adam muttered.
“Then, good old dad suggested Nathan!” I chimed.
“Uh huh,” Chase said, suppressing a laugh.
“You know what, let’s drop the subject of my name, and listen to the radio!” Adam said, pressing a button, and turning the radio on. Music began to play, and Adam turned up the volume to avoid anymore unwanted conversation. Oh Ad…
Chase’s POV
After a silent (meaning not a word spoken, though music was blaring) ride we eventually reached the supermarket, and withdrew from the car. I stepped onto the bumpiness of the pothole filled road, and was promptly hit in the head by raindrops. I found my way next to Jules, and interwove our fingers, giving her hand a light squeeze.
“Aw! That’s so cute!” Adam mocked.
“Shut up!” Jules said, scowling at him.
“It’s on the top of my to-do list,” he said, beginning to jog in the direction of the shop. Jules followed quickly after, dragging me along behind her. We came to the entrance, and two automatic doors separated, letting us in.
“Do we need a cart or basket?” Jules asked her brother.
“Uh… from the looks of it, I’d say a truck,” Adam said, looking down at a crumpled piece of paper.
“Is she serious?”
“Yeah, I think so. Uh, I’ll go get a cart,” Adam said.
“You can barely drive a car, so there is no way that I’m letting you push a cart,” Jules said, breaking our connection and rushing off to retrieve a metal shopping cart.
“You never give me a chance!” Adam complained.
“I’m sorry,” Jules apologized, “but I’m afraid you’ve used up your chances after your totaled the first two cars.”
I looked over to Adam skeptically, and asked, “You totally two cars?”
“Look, the idiot in front of me decided to stop short without any warning, so it wasn’t actually my fault!” he defended.
“And the other time?”
“He drove into a pole,” Jules said, laughing. That laugh…
Whenever I hear Jules’ laugh, it gives me an overwhelming sense of joy. There’s something about the contagious bubbly sound of her vocal chord that makes me smile. Jules’s laugh is like the quintessence [A/N: that’s a big word] of happiness.
“You drove into a pole?” I addressed Adam.
“Yes,” he mumbled.
“How does one accomplish something like this?” I asked.
“Talent; lots and lots of talent,” he answered, as Jules began to walk away from us, pushing the cart in front of her. We caught up to her, and walked along side her.
“So, what’s first on the list?” Jules asked.
“Carrots,” Adam said, looking at the thin slip on paper, covered in loopy writing.
“What type?” Jules asked.
“I don’t know,” Adam shrugged, “it just says ‘carrots’.”
“Uh huh. Let’s assume she wants the big ones,” Jules said, going over to a mountain of fresh produce. I went after her, and she handed me a thin, translucent bag. “Hold this open for me… please.”
“Okay,” I said, taking it by either side so there was a space in the middle.
She grabbed a few carrots, and dropped them into the bag. “Hope this isn’t too heavy for you,” she said, continuing to fill the bag.
“Right, because with muscles like mine carrying a few carrots is truly a challenge,” I said, holding the bag with one hand and flexing my other arm.
“You have muscles?” she said mockingly. “I hardly noticed!”
“Oh come on Jules, you know you’re totally attracted to me,” I said, grinning widely at her. She remained silent, though I noticed a slight smirk surface on her face. I am pretty damn hot now that I think of it…
“Got the carrots?” Adam asked.
“Yes,” I said, holding up the bag full of the orange vegetable triumphantly.
“Okay, next on the list is five pounds of ground turkey..?” Adam said, squinting his eyes as if he hadn’t read it correctly.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” he said.
“I think it’s like hamburger meat… but with turkey,” Jules said insightfully.
“Oh…” I said. We went over to the poultry section, and began searching for ground turkey through the vast variety of packaged… dead animals.
“Is this it?” Adam asked, holding something up.
“What does it say on the label?” Jules asked.
“Ground… beef. So I guess it isn’t,” he said placing it back.
“I think this is it,” Jules said, pointing to something in a display case.
“Then put it in the cart,” Adam said.
“I can’t,” she said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because it looks like mushy brains,” she said, shivering.
“Lemme see!” I said, going over to her. I looked down at the article she was referring to, and she was indeed correct. The ‘ground turkey’ resembled that of ground brains, guts, or a selection of different internal organs. I poked it, and smirked. “Seriously, Jules?”
“Yes! It’s gross!” she cried, daintily picking up the container with her index finger and thumb and tossing it to me. I caught it, and shook my head. This girl so weird… which is one of the many reasons why I am happy to have the privilege of calling her my girlfriend.
I placed the mushy guts (or ground turkey) into the cart, and we continued on our quest of finding everything on the list Mrs. Tylers had given us. Normally, if I’m dragged to the grocery story by my mom, or occasionally Talia, we get a few things, and leave. On this trip, we were getting a lot more that “a few things”.
When we were finally done going through the countless rows of shelves stocked with bottles, breads, baking goods, beans, bagels, bell peppers, butter, and a bunch of other food related items, we went over to the check out counter. The three of us proceeded to haul all of the contents from the cart onto the conveyor belt. Let’s just say we weren’t in the “fourteen items or less” line… or the “thirty-nine items or less” line.
The checkout girl looked at us like we were crazy for buying so much, and shook her head, probably remembering that she was making eight dollars an hour either way, so it didn’t matter. I took out my phone quickly, and sent Talia a text: “gonna b havin dinna w/ JT 2night”. After a good eighteen seconds of waiting, I got a reply: “Sorry, I don’t speak moron. I will however tell Mom and Dad.” Sometimes, I think my sister is genuinely not related to me…
Adam gave the cashier his credit card, causing an uproar from Jules. “Since when do you have a credit card?” she asked.
“Since mom and dad were sick of me asking for cash,” he snorted.
“So let me get this straight,” she said, “you’re allowed to have a credit card, a car, and a driver’s license, but when I asked for a new pair of Vans they said ‘no’?”
“It’s one of the many benefits of being the favorite child,” he said, as Jules hit his arm.
“Adam… Tylers?” the cashier girl asked uncertainly.
“Yeah…” he said, equally as hesitant.
“It’s me!” she said, smiling brightly at him.
“Uh huh…” he said, as she handed him back his plastic card that stood for money.
“You don’t remember me?” she asked.
“Afraid not,” Adam said awkwardly.
“Lisa? Lisa Daniels?” she said. Adam shook his head, not making the connection. “We went to the freshman barbeque together?”
“Oh! Lisa! One sec!” he said, holding a finger up to her, and turning around so he was facing Jules and I. He handed me the keys to his car, I took them, not knowing why, and placed them in my backpocket.
“What do I need these for?” I asked.
“Take the groceries and run like hell,” he whispered to us. We needed no further explanation. We went to the end of the conveyor belt, where another girl had bagged everything, and distributed the bags between the two of us (I took nine bags and Jules took four). As soon as we were sure the bags were securely set in our hands, we took off.
“Wave to the camera!” Jules said, as we ran as fast as we could out of the store. Rain began to shower on our heads, and acted as a motivation to find Adam’s car and get the hell in it.
“Over there!” I yelled, jogging over to the car I presumed to be Adam’s. I came up the car, and, after a quick inspection, concluded that it was indeed Adam’s car. I carefully dropped one hand of shopping bags on the wet tar, and took out the keys from my pocket. I pressed the button to open the trunk, and it popped open. I finished putting all the bags away as Jules finally caught up to me, out of breath.
“I hate running,” she said, dropping the bags into the trunk along with mine.
“Yeah, let’s get in the car,” I said, going over to the back door, and opening it for her. After she had climbed in, I slid in next to her, closing the door behind me.
Within seconds of the two of us soundly being seated in the car, Adam hopped into the car, and was in a frenzy. “Give me my keys! Quick!” he commanded. I gave him his keys, and he drove off faster than I had ever imagined was possible to achieve for a car like this.
“So, had a nice little chat with ‘Lisa’?” Jules asked.
“No, actually, I didn’t. That chick’s in-fucking-sane! Delusional and absolutely crazy!” he said, continuing to speed.
On the way back to the house, he told us of his… interesting, for lack of a better word, encounter with ‘Lisa’, or ‘the crazy chick’ as he referred to her as. The ride back to the house didn’t take that long, but that was only because Adam was paranoid that she would somehow be able to follow us and then stalk him. He was really freaked out.
After unloading all the groceries from the trunk, we brought them up to the front door, and Mrs. Tylers opened up. “Dinner’s almost done!” she said, as we passed through the door.
“Wait, I thought we just went out to get food for dinner?” Adam said.
“No, this is for the rest of the week,” she said, as Adam groaned. We hiked up the steps, and went into the kitchen, placing all the bags on the ground. “We can put these away later.”
“Well that was a waste of time,” Adam grumbled.
“Look on the bright side,” Jules said, “you gained a potential stalker!”
“Funny! You know Jules, I think you should really be a comedian!” he said.
“Why? I was being serious,” she said, as Adam flicked her.
“You must be Chase,” a man said, coming over to me. I looked up to face Mr. Tylers. The first time I had met him, at that boring dinner when our parents first met, he seemed pretty okay. But then again, I wasn’t dating his daughter at that time.
“Mr. Tylers,” I said, shaking his hand. His hand tightly squeezed mine, a telltale sign that this evening would be far from relaxed.