Return What Was Lost

2: Present & Past

Julian closed the door behind him, his movements mirroring Chelsey's as she slipped off her skirt and he shed his jacket and kicked off his shoes. His eyes caught the hue of her lacy blue bra—an unexpectedly familiar shade.

"Interesting." He smirked. "That's my favorite shade of blue."

Chelsey smiled playfully. "Why do you think I'm wearing it?" she teased, looping her arms around his neck.

Their proximity was a dance of intimacy  that Julian usually could navigate on his own terms with ease. Yet, as he leaned in, his hands settling on her hips and lips meeting hers, a dissonance echoed softly in the back of his mind. When they were done, they laid on the bed together.

"It's still kind of weird you won't take your shirt off," Chelsey remarked casually as she got up from the bed and went to the mirror to fix her hair.

"Does it matter?" Julian's response came our a tad too sharp, a flicker of irritation crossing his features.

Chelsey shrugged as she slipped her skirt back on. "I just didn't think you were that insecure about your body."

His physique had never been a problem, his shirt covered other things he'd rather hide. But that wasn't the only thing that was irritating him about Chelsey. His eyes lingered on her blue bra again. The color tugged at a memory, a a ghost of a feeling that he had tried to bury that had recently resurfaced. That blue—the exact shade of Avery's eyes.  It hit then why that color resonated so deeply. 

The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth. He suddenly became aware that he was annoyed Avery had come back. She had brought memories with her that were supposed to be a thing of the past. He sighed, whatever he felt, it all reminded him that he had to take Avery to dinner. Julian took Metallica shirt and a pair of jeans out of his bag and changed into them instead of the uniform he had previously been wearing. 

You don't have to go," Chelsey offered when his hand was on the doorknob. "Bridget won't be back for a while. I could even kick her out for the night."

"I have to go take a new student to the dining hall," he explained.

"That girl you were with earlier?" she asked with a hand on her hip.

Julian glanced over at her. Chelsey was obviously mad he was ditching her for the new girl. Except they weren't dating, he didn't owe her anything and sometimes he had to remind her of that. 

"I'm good," he said indifferently. "Maybe I'll text you later."

Chelsey only frowned as he left the room but Julian ignored it. Even if she was mad right now, she would not be the next time Julian came to see her.

He walked down the hall and found Nikki's room. He and Nikki were on the basketball team together, that was where their friendship existed, outside of that, they hung out with Brady and Cole, his other friends on the team, but even that was strained. Which to be fair was mostly Julian's fault but he put that thought out of his mind as he knocked on the door.

No answer, he waited for a moment, still no answer. He sighed, Nikki would have already come to the door by now. She was way too nice to not answer the door immediately. He thought about just leaving but then he thought to try the knob anyway. He turned it, and to his surprise, the door opened.

Julian walked into the room and found Avery on the bed on the left. She was staring at a poster on the ceiling of Joe Montana. Julian studied her a little closer and realized a few tears had slipped down her cheek. Certainly, she was not crying over the retired quarterback.

"Headmaster Davidson asked me to take you to the dining hall for dinner," Julian said, trying to keep the awkwardness of the situation out of his tone.

Avery's face was turned away as she wiped her tears. When she looked at him, he saw a rather stubborn look on her face.