20
I’m not tired, I’m not tired, I’m not…tired…I’m not tired…not…tired…tired…
Juliette’s head clunks back onto her desk, sleep overwhelming her. Since the Terra’s death, she’s been spending more time at the hospital than anywhere else. Romeo still didn’t wake up yet, even after five days have passed. She’s trying to work on an essay, but sleep is nipping at her eyes.
A slam on the desk makes her jolt awake to a grinning Astrid. “Mornin’ Alpha.”
“Stop calling me that, Astrid!” She groans, trying to whack her friend but failing.
Astrid has taking a liking for calling her Alpha. It gets her pissed off, that’s technically the only reason why she calls her that. “Why are you trying to type an essay at-” Astrid’s eyes hover over the alarm clock, “-5:50 in the morning?”
“Because I have to go see Romeo today.”
“You go everyday, don’t you think it’s time for a break?” Astrid questions, picking at her nails and taking a seat next to her friend.
“No,” She answers immediately. “I’m staying by his side no matter what.”
“Hmm…what if the whole Center turned into a volcano and started spurting hot lava everywhere and-”
“Shut up, Astrid,” She snaps, even though she’s smiling.
The two girls giggle at each other. Max comes in then, whistling the tune of Starships. He pouts in Juliette’s way with a sulky expression. Automatically, she knows he did something wrong. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” He says quickly. Too quickly. His face winces, “Ah, well…”
Astrid raises an amused eyebrow. “Did you break something?”
“Maaaaybe…”
“What did you break?” Juliette sighs, glancing up at her older brother.
“I did it on accident, I swear!” He answers, looking panicked. “I didn’t mean to do it! Dad’s gonna have a cow…”
“Cow?” Astrid echoes.
Now Juliette knows he did something seriously bad. “Just tell me, Max.”
“The hose…go take a look at it…”
Both girls send each other quick glances before hurrying out to the backyard. “Holy fucking chicken Mcnuggets,” Astrid swears, mouth hanging open.
“…Is it that bad?”
“That bad?” Juliette repeats, eyes wide in horror. “You practically turned our grass into a swamp!”
That’s what it looks like. On the side of the house, the hose is plugged in, on full blast. It unravels to come to the middle of the grass. At the looks of it, it must’ve been on for a while, because the backyard is all muddy and wet. You can’t even step on it without getting your shoes dirty. It’s flooding the backyard, and there’s no stopping it.
“Turn it off!” Astrid yells.
“I can’t. I super-glued the hose to the faucet, and the handle to turn the faucet off is broken.”
The pair stare at the idiot in front of them. Juliette practically explodes on him. “Why the hell would you do that!?”
“Long story that involves ripped pants and some cheese…”
Julie shakes her head and retreats back into her house. “Dad is going to kill you. And then bury you in our new swamp.”
“Where is your dad, anyways?”
“At the diner. He works till 12,” She replies to Astrid, then turns to her stupid brother. “You have until 12 to clean your shit up. Good luck.”
He frowns when he sees her picking up her things. “Where are you going?”
“To see how far I can get before dad comes home,” She flashes Astrid a dazzling grin. “Wanna come?”
“Hell yes. I cannot stay with this idiot.” She runs out the door, pulling her friend with her.
Behind them, Max is shrieking, “TAKE ME WITH YOU!”
The two ignore him and speed off, finding the Center easily. “Let’s eat breakfast, first. I’m starving,” Astrid pleads.
“Fine, fine.”
They maneuver their way to the Center’s cafeteria, seeking warm food. After their stomachs are satisfied, they head up to Romeo’s room; 308. It’s not as dark as it was the last time she saw him. The blinds are open, revealing sunlight. His scratches are almost gone, just hints of them here and there. He just seems like he’s sleeping, but she knows better. He’s in a coma.
Juliette’s phone goes off, startling her. She fishes it out of her pocket and mutters a, “Hello?”
“We have major problems.”
“No, you have major problems, Max,” She sighs into the phone. “What is it now?”
“The hose…it’s attacking me.”
“Just leave it alone, Max.”
“I can’t. The water in the whole house is freezing, and I need to take a nice hot shower. So there’s gotta be a way to shut this damn thing off. I mean, how hard can it-SHIT!” Then there’s water spraying sounds, and the phone gets disconnected.
“Huh. That was weird,” Juliette comments.
“What was weird?”
“Max and the hose,” She tells to her friend. “No explanation needed.”
Astrid chuckles, shaking her head. She props her feet up on the chair next to her, playing with her shoelace. “I’m bored.”
“You should’ve brought a magazine or something. You didn’t need to come, you know.”
“I know, but then I can’t do this.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Watch and learn.” She lingers by the doorway, looking for somebody. A cute nurse, probably somewhere around his 20s, walks by her. Before he can get away, though, she taps him on the shoulder. He turns around, a bit confused, then smiles at Astrid. She puts on a flirty face and winks. She uses her hand to motion to a phone and puts it up to her ear. “Hey, I just met you, but call me maybe.”
With that, she quickly slams the door in his face.
The two girls stare at each other in shock for a couple of minutes.
Then break out into laughter.
“What the hell…is wrong with you?” Juliette gasps, a wide grin taking over her face.
She shrugs, smiling also. “I thought of it yesterday.” All of a sudden a scowl appears on her face as she goes into a trance.
Juliette blinks at the sudden change of emotion. “Uh…Astrid?”
The said girl blinks and a sheepish expression covers her features. “Sorry. Noah shot me a message via mind. He was mad because of the call me maybe nurse.”
A pain hits her heart at the mention of mates. “Do you think Romeo will wake up soon?”
Sighing, Astrid shakes her head. “You, girly, need a break from this stress with Romeo. Lets go. Right now.”
Astrid pulls her friend up from her seat, guiding her out of the room. Juliette takes one last look at the lifeless Romeo before sighing and turning to her friend. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere fun.”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
“This isn’t fun.”
“Oh come on,” Astrid giggles. “You know it is.”
Juliette sends her friend a wry look. “Yeah, watching pigs oink at me is considered fun.”
“It’s not just pigs,” Astrid defends. “There’s goats too.”
“Goats…great…”
Juliette turns her eyes back to the little petting zoo. There’s children running around the smelly place, feeding little animals from the palms of their hands. Goats, pigs, chickens, sheep, and bunnies are all moving around to a different child for more food. Astrid is one of these kids.
“Aw,” Astrid coos, feeding a baby pig. “Isn’t he adorable?”
“How do you know he’s a he?”
She swiftly ducks her head down to check, and grins back up at the horrified Juliette. “He’s a boy!”
“You-you don’t do that in public!”
“I did it and I’ll do it again,” She replies, swinging her head down to the pig.
Juliette groans and shakes her head. “I hate this place.”
Astrid jumps up from feeding the pig. “Come on, let’s get some more food. This time, you feed.”
“Astrid, why are we here? This isn’t making me feel any-”
“Hush. Feed a bunny.” Astrid thrusts some food into her hands.
Having no other choice, she bends down to the closest bunny near her and gently puts her hand out. “Here…bunny…” The rabbit wiggles his nose and hops closer to her. Slowly, the rabbit reaches out and takes some food. A grin itches onto Julie’s face as the bunny continues eating.
“Aw!”
“I know, he’s so-DAMMIT!” Juliette pulls her hand away quickly, sending a glare towards the bunny. “He bit me!” Astrid starts up in laughter at Julie’s face. “It’s not funny!”
“Oh yes it is. How do you get bit by a bunny?”
“I-it’s-I just did, okay! Leave me alone!” She huffs, crossing her arms and muttering things about bunnies under her breath. As Astrid continues laughing, Juliette whirls around to leave. “This place is nothing but a-AHH!”
The girl trips over the back of the pig, sailing into the mud. Astrid is in tears by now, choking on her own laughter. Julie blinks at the squealing pig in front of her, mud dripping from her hair. The baby pig runs away from the both of them. Astrid grins at her friend, “You…just got tripped…by a pig!” That sends her into another wave of laughter, bending over and holding onto her knees for support.
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Julie comments, “because I’m not!” The girl, muttering things under her breath, stumbles upwards. She sends another glare Astrid’s way. “I will be in the car. I want to go home and get this filth off me.” She puts her arm out and shakes off the remaining mud. Loads of it stains her clothes and face.
“But-”
“No buts, Astrid,” She hisses. “There are little kids taking pictures of me. I will be forever known as the-girl-who-was-tripped-by-a-fucking-pig. This is extremely embarrassing.”
The smile on her face quivers, trying not to let the laughter loose. “You gotta admit that you look hilarious.”
“You know what-” Juliette marches over to her friend, arms open wide. “I think you want a hug, Astrid.”
Astrid’s eyes go wide with horror, laughter dropped. “Uh…Juliette, don’t you dare come near me!” She steps back as Juliette gets closer.
“Oh come on, you love hugs!”
She shakes her head violently. “Not today, I don’t!” Not seeing where she’s going, she trips over a rock and sails into the mud. Juliette bursts into laughter at her shell shocked best friend.
“That’s what you get for bringing me to a petting zoo, you bitch.”
Knowing she’s teasing her, Astrid sits up and glares at her friend. “I hate you.”
A wide grin etches her face. “Not so fun being covered in pig shit and mud, huh?”
Eyes wide, she echoes, “Pig shit?”
“Uh, yeah. Where else do you think they drop the kids off? In a-”
Astrid hooks an arm around Juliette’s elbow, dragging her off to the car. “We need showers. Pronto.”
“You’re car is going to get all dirty.”
“Shit,” Astrid curses under her breath. “We’ll walk.”
“Are you serious?” Juliette asks incredulously.
“Hell yes. There is no way we’re getting shit all over my car.”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
True to her words, two hours later, they arrive at Juliette’s house.
“WELL, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT?”
“I DIDN’T KNOW IT WOULD BREAK!”
“MAX, OUR BACKYARD IS RUINED!”
“WE DON’T EVEN USE OUR BACKYARD!”
“IT DOESN’T MATTER!”
Both girls share quick glances before hurrying into the house. Max and Eddie are arguing in the kitchen. Max turns to the girls and his mouth drops open. Eddie turns around to see what he’s staring at, and his mouth opens too. Everybody just stares at each other in shock, the house dead silent.
“Well I’ll be damned. You guys had a mud fight without me.”
“Max, shut up, you’re not helping. We’re just going to take showers…”
“Oh no you’re not,” Her dad says, his tone laced with amusement, the previous argument out the window. “What the hell happened?”
“Astrid,” She throws her friend a glare, “thought it would be fun to go to a petting zoo. Long story short, we tripped over pigs.”
“How…do you trip over pigs?”
Both girls ignore Max. “Shower time.”
“No, hose time.”
“What?”
Eddie grins evilly. “Get outside. We’ll hose you down. You’re not dirtying up my squeaking clean showers.”
“Speaking of hoses, did you fix that problem yet?”
The dad huffs out a breath. “Yeah. Got the water company over here. Damn boy cost me 100 bucks.”
“Max,” Juliette sighs flatly.
“What? Blame the stupid hose! It’s his fault!”
“…Why is it a boy?”
“It just is!”
Eddie makes a motion at the two girls. “Get out of my kitchen and outside. I’ll hose you down.”
Astrid wrinkles her nose. “I’d rather have a shower, thank you very much.”
“Tough shit. Get outside.”
Both girls trudge outside. “Max,” Astrid calls, “go grab shampoo!”
“You guys aren’t getting naked, are you?”
“No, you pervert!”
After their hose showers, Juliette swipes her dad’s car keys. Now she’s dressed in ankle boots, jean shorts, a baggy vest and white tank top, she yells, “Going to see Romeo!”
“Oh,” The dad yells back, “I forgot to tell you. The hospital called. They said Romeo is starting to wake up.”
Her heart stops beating as she runs back into the living room. “What the hell, dad! You didn’t tell me!?”
“I forgot,” He echoes sheepishly.
Darting out the door, she fumbles with the car keys before taking off. At one point, she almost takes a wrong turn because she’s that nervous. Ten minutes later, she arrives at the Center. Julie dashes past the snobby desk lady who always asks what she’s here for. This time, she ignores her and enters through the hospital-looking hallways. Her eyes go over every door number, like she does every time she comes here, and bursts through Romeo’s door with hope.
That flushes down the drain when she realizes he’s still fast asleep.
Trudging over to the seat next to his face, she sits down. Her hand plays with his hazel hair. “Romeo, for crying out loud already, just wake the fuck up.”
No response. Just his heart monitor and the soft sounds of his breath. Not like she expected one, anyways.
The free hand, the one that’s not toying with his hair, reaches for the necklace around her neck. The same one Romeo gave to her at the after party. It seems like years ago when that happened. She hasn’t taken it off since.
Sighing, she starts to talk to him. It’s her daily routine. She comes in here, talks to him for a bit, eats lunch, comes back and talks, then tries to keep herself entertained with the stuff the nurses leave hanging around.
“So,” She starts, “Astrid took me to a petting zoo today. She said I looked depressed and I needed to do something fun. Well, it wasn’t fun. At all. I fed a bunny and it bit me. Then I tripped over a pig and landed in mud. When she was laughing at me, I went to hug her and then she tripped. We had to walk home because she didn’t want to get her car dirty. My dad made us hose off in our swamp of a backyard.”
For some reason, a tear slips down her cheek. “I wish you were awake.” She pauses.” We killed my mom,” She confesses. She hasn’t talked about what happened with her mom yet. “Turns out, Dustin and Kass were spies for her. They were planning on kidnapping me and because you would do anything to get me back, you would give up the pack for me.”
Of course, he doesn’t reply.
“I miss you. I miss your voice.” She sniffs in, and then she realizes she’s been crying. “I…I love you. I know I haven’t said it before, but I do. I love you. I love you a whole lot. Which is why you should wake up right the hell now!”
But nothing. Nothing comes.
Wiping away her tears, she sighs again. “I’m still wearing your necklace, too, you bastard.” She rests her arms and head on the side of his bed, her face turns towards the door. Nurses and doctors swim by the open door, into different rooms of the hallway.
Suddenly, she feels something warm petting her hair, and a hoarse, deep, velvety chuckle. “Why did you call me a bastard?”
The girl jumps up and stares shocked into Romeo’s now open eyes. Her mouth opens to reply, but nothing comes out. She slams it shut, takes a deep breath, and lets it out, all while staring into his amused eyes. She jumps out of her chair, nearly knocking it over, and runs over to the door. “WE NEED A DOCTOR! HE’S AWAKE!”
With that, she goes running back to her mate, grabbing onto his hand. “Holy shit, you are awake.”
“Really? Huh, I thought I was asleep…”
“You need water, your voice is all scratchy,” She deadpans, grabbing the container of water on the little tray and pouring it into a cup. She hands it to him, which he takes gratefully, gulping it down. Romeo smiles as he puts the cup down. He goes to sit up, but she gently puts her hand on his chest. “D-don’t. Don’t move. It will hurt.”
Her eyes are brimming with happy tears. Romeo nods, grabbing the hand on his chest and squeezing it. “Stop crying, I’m fine. See?”
“Good god, Romeo, do you even-”
Just then, a bunch of nurses and two doctors come running it and over to Romeo. One of the nurses gently pulls Juliette out of the room. “I’m sorry sweet pea, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room.”
“But-”
“No buts now, dear.” She sadly smiles at Juliette as she shuts the door in her face.
Sighing, she takes a seat in the mini waiting room in the corner. She rests her elbows on her knees and hangs her head in her hands. Her heart still has traces of wild thumps. Julie rubs her eyes, silently pleading the doctors come out quickly.
After about an hour, the last doctor leaves the room and comes over to Juliette. She gets out of the seat to smile at him. He smiles back in return. “Good evening, Miss. Reed. You make go in now.”
“Thank you,” She ushers, hurrying into the closed door.
Romeo sits propped up now, a fresh new IV in his arm. He looks a lot better than an hour ago. A smile cracks his face as she scurries over to him. She sits back down in the chair she previously sat in, smiling softly at him.
After a moment, she dares to say, “Hi.”
Chuckling, he replies, “Hi, Jules.”
Jules. She hasn’t heard that nickname in a week. “I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Wasn’t everybody in Romeo and Juliet suppose to die?”
“Romeo,” She scolds. “Don’t say that.”
“What? It’s true.”
“How do you feel?”
“Good. My stomach hurts, but other than that, I’m fine.”
She nods and blows out a breath. “That’s good.”
“So, you still didn’t answer my question,” He casually comments. “Why did you call me a bastard?”
“Because I was mad at you for not waking up,” She mutters, then realizes something. “Wait, how did you know that?”
He ignores her question. “Only Astrid would bring you to a petting zoo. I had a hard time not laughing when you said the bunny bit you. God, how I wish I was there for that one.”
“Go on Youtube, I’m pretty sure it’s up there somewhere,” She mutters. “Wait! Stop that! How…were you awake that whole time?”
“Yes, no, maybe so…”
“You little bastard,” She hisses.
“Aw, I missed your little kitty-like voice, Jules!” She smiles at his grinning face. “So,” He starts off a little bit more huskily, “You love me now, huh?”
That smile drops off her face as a blush appears. “Y-um…you…I…uh…”
“Say it again, Jules,” He murmurs, reaching up to play with the ends of her hair.
She gulps down air. “I love you.”
He sighs with content. “I’ve waited a very long time for you to say that. I love you too, Jules.”
She bends over the bed to give him a kiss on his lips. He arches a bit to reach her. One of his hands hooks onto her neck, pulling her closer. Julie almost slips and lands on his chest, but she manages to catch herself just in time. They open their mouths and let their tongues mingle a bit. It doesn’t last too long, though, because a frantic beeping cuts in.
Jules backs up to see his heart monitor going crazy. A blush and a grin creep up on her face as her eyes find his again. A faint redness on his cheeks is visible as he looks away from her. “Got a little too carried away there?”
“Juliette, shut up.”
“I am so going to tease you about this forever.”
“Juliette, I’m serious-”
“So am I,” She grins and leans down for another kiss. This one’s quicker so the heart monitor doesn’t go off again.
“I knew that damn Dust kid was no good,” He mutters, secretly changing the subject. “He didn’t even want to date you.”
Smiling, she lets the monitor episode go. “Now they’re in jail. We fixed the Terrier situation. Now they’re taking all the wolves on Terra’s side to jail. They found mostly all of them.”
“How did you fix it?”
“My dad. He brought them in here and they took a look at your face and saw that you hardly look anything like the wolf.”
“Good. That’s taken care of. How’s my alpha been doing?” He asks, raising his eyebrow and smirking at her.
She narrows her eyes playfully. “Horrible. I was a train wreck the first day.”
He chuckles. “I can already picture it.”
“I hate you.”
Romeo grins. “I love you, Jules.”
Waiting for her to say it back, she sighs and gives in. “I love you too.”
Just then, Max, bursts into the doorway with Astrid, Noah, Eddie, and Romeo’s family. Max is carrying a bunch of balloons, giant cards, and stuffed animals.
“WE GOT YOUR TEXT! ROMEO, I GOT YOU A GIANT DANCING PANDA BEAR! IT WAS ON SALE!”
“Here we go,” Juliette sighs and rolls her eyes.
Max looks at the tag on the bear and drops his happy face. “Oh no…the bear needs triple A batteries…” He drops all the stuff right where he is and runs into the hallway, screaming, “WE NEED TRIPLE A BATTERIES, NURSE! THIS IS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION, PEOPLE! WHERE’S A DOCTOR WHEN I NEED ONE!?”
Romeo grins at Juliette’s brother. “I missed that guy.”
“I sure wouldn’t if I were you,” Juliette mutters.
Astrid grins and walks in dramatically. “Aw, the lovebirds reunited once more! What a happily ever after!”
“OLD MAN, I NEED THOSE BATTERIES! GIVE ME THEM! WHO CARES IF THEY’RE FOR THE BITCHY DESK LADY!”
Astrid winces. “Sort of.”
And it's over. sadly, i'm not making a sequel, so don't ask. :)
Today, I had a friend of mine on Wattpad pass away. He was a terrific friend. I'm going to miss him a lot. <3 I hope he's in a better place now.
On a happier note, this is going into the Watty Awards and the Special Awards. I hope you guys vote for this! It would mean a lot.
Okay, so yeah, I'm going to go and try to finish writing You're Not My Flavor. :)