Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 17

Once I walk through the front door, I see Jess sitting on the couch, not doing anything.  No movie, no computer: no nothing.  “We need to talk.” She says, not turning to face me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, hanging up my coat and pulling off my shoes.  As I walk into the lounge, I see a flash of metal sitting on the table.  She picks it up, and I see exactly what it is.  “Where did you get that?” I ask, trying to snatch away my blood-covered blade.

“You know exactly where I got it.  Why do you have it?” she tears up. 

“No reason.” I say, again trying to grab it.  She grasps my hand, turning it over so that my wrist is facing up.  Luckily my dress is covering my scars at the moment.

“What is under here?” she asks.  “I want to hear you say it.  We can pretend you just told me, and I didn’t find this thing.  Why do you always wear long sleeves?  Why was this hidden in your bathroom?”

“Why were you even in there?” I retort, suddenly infuriated.  “Why were you looking through my bathroom?  You have your own.”

“That’s not important!” she screams, tears falling now.  “The only thing that matters is your safety.  You can’t do this to yourself!”

“Stop screaming at me!” I yell as I grab my razor, running into my room and locking the door.  She follows me, pounding on the door.

“Penelope, let me in!  We need to talk about this.  I can’t have my best friend cutting herself; I just can’t.”  I feel tears well up in my eyes as I pull out my phone.  I can’t deal with this tonight.  I dial Dan’s number, and on the second ring he picks up.

“Hey!  How was the callback?” he sings.

“It was alright.” I reply shakily.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, obviously sensing my state right now through my voice.

“My roommate is just aggravating me, that’s all.”

“No it’s not.  I can tell.  But if she’s bothering you, why don’t you sleep over tonight again?  Phil and I miss you already and would love to have you back.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“Please come!” Phil yells. 

“I’ll be over as soon as I can.” I respond, the thought of them bringing a smile to my face momentarily.  I say goodbye, then hang up and pack a bag.  I throw in some pajamas, my toothbrush, an outfit for tomorrow and other things I may need.  Without realizing it, I drop in my razor and hide it between a tank top and my sweatshirt.  I erupt from my room, not paying any attention to Jess as I pull on my shoes.

“Where are you going?”

“Dan’s.”

“You can’t run away from this!  We need to talk about it.”

“No we don’t!” I screech, spinning around to face her.  “We don’t need to talk about this.  It is my life and you shouldn’t care what I do with it.  So do us both a favor and just drop this!”  Finally, she has nothing to say.  A tear slips from my eye as I bolt out of the door and into the elevator.  I run quickly to Dan’s, and once I get there he’s waiting by the door.  As soon as he sees me, he runs over and traps me in a hug.

“What’s wrong, love?” he asks sweetly.

“I needed to get away from my roommate.  Thanks for letting me stay again.”

“You are always welcome.” He smiles, taking my coat and bag.

“Hey!” Phil grins when he sees me.  “How was the callback?”