Right Place, Wrong Time

28. Second Chance

Back at home, Lauren turned the piece of paper over and over in her hands, careful not to crease it. She shouldn't have taken it from Joey's things when she helped him pick up what he had dropped. But curiosity had got the better of her morals: it had her name on it.

Now she had the words he had written about her memorised. It wasn't at all what she had expected, but maybe some part of her had suspected, and that was why she felt the urge to slip it into her pocket. While it didn't reveal much about his feelings for her that he hadn't already told her, seeing it written down, right alongside him covering for her, was consolidating something she had known for a long time. That she loved him back.

There was a knock on her door, Julia as usual opening it without a response. Instinct made Lauren hide the paper behind her back, though it was perfectly innocuous. So naturally, Julia narrowed her eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." Lauren tucked it back into her pocket and stood up. "Are you ready to eat?"

Julia held her hand out. "Show me."

"Homework," Lauren said.

Julia made a grab for her and she stumbled backwards out of reach, almost falling back onto the bed. Her friend's face morphed into one of concern. "What is it?"

Lauren sighed, and handed over the paper before sitting back on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest. Julia scanned the writing, then looked up at Lauren, who kept her gaze on the floor.

"Is this..." she said, trying to understand.

"Joey's," Lauren replied quietly.

"He gave this to you?"

She shook her head. "He dropped it."

"You stole it," Julia said, rereading the words on the page.

"I didn't steal it!"

Ignoring her protestation, Julia sat down beside her, handing the paper back to her, and Lauren traced the edges almost reverently. "Are you going to give it back to him?"

"I can't do that." The mere thought of him realising she'd taken it made her want the ground to swallow her up in embarrassment, and she was sure he'd feel the same way about knowing she'd read it. Plus, she liked having those words physically in front of her, even though she knew it was wrong to gain pleasure in them after she'd rejected him.

"He won't notice it's missing?" Julia asked.

"He'll just think he lost it."

There was a long silence between the two girls. "You should tell him," Julia said finally.

"No way."

"Not about this. You should tell him that you like him."

Lauren met Julia's eyes for the first time since giving her the paper. "We've been over this."

"Lauren, I hate watching you torture yourself over this. You like him, and he clearly still likes you."

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled.

"You don't regret turning him down yet?"

"I'm not going to regret it." She shot a sharp look at Julia. "It was the right decision."

"Okay." Julia raised her hands in surrender. "So he's fine with it?"

"He's acting more normally than me, I think. I wouldn't say he's over it, but..."

"He's trying to move on," Julia filled in.

"Exactly."

Julia seemed as though she was trying to be delicate with her next words. "And... if he does move on?"