Borrowed Time

Chapter Twelve

Juliette had come to the quiet realization that she could tell Shelby about what was going on between her and Esme, at least the general details, and it no longer made her feel like she might throw up. Honestly, she wanted to share it, she wanted to let someone know what was going on, and she knew Shelby would listen. And the lunch room was the perfect place to do it because no one was actually paying attention, they were too wrapped up in their own lives, she could probably say that she'd committed a string of murders and no one would be the wiser.

"So." She slid into the seat across from Shelby who was poorly hiding her phone under the table and didn't even look up at her at first.  The chair next to her was noticably empty, meaning Micheal was probably still out sick. "I have news and if we talk quietly I'll tell you about it." Shelby looked up, giving her a smile as she tucked her phone back in her bag, folding her hands in front of her.

"That is a great incentive for me to shut up. You have my full and undivided attention." Good. Juliette leaned forward, giving her a smirk. She wanted to see Shelby's reaction to what she was going to say... they'd never really been able to talk about Juliette's love life, she hadn't had one before... It was exciting.

"I went over to Esme's last night." Juliette murmured, and Shelby's smile dropped into a look of bored confusion. Honestly, it was unnerving how easily she did that, it was like it was second nature to her, looking like she'd just been told something that was utterly devastating to her own interests.

"Don't you do that at least three times a week? How is that news at this point? That's like a headline saying 'Breaking News! Paper comes from trees!' Like is it informative? Sure. But it's boring." Shelby sighed, and Juliette gave her a look, kicking her under the table. She yelped and rubbed her shin, glaring over at her... Honestly, she was being dramatic, Juliette could've kicked her way harder. She should be grateful that it was just a tap.

"Shut up." Shelby did. For once. "I went over there after telling her I liked her and uh... we..." She trailed off, trying to figure out how to talk about what had happened. It'd been more emotionally stimulating than anything... like it probably wouldn't have felt that way with anyone else, Esme had heightened her senses with the way that she talked, the way that she would hang just in front of her, making her untouchable... it'd driven her crazy. Across from her, Shelby gave her an alarmed look, leaning forward.

"Did you two fuck?" She asked, a little too loud. Juliette shushed her quickly and glanced around. No one had heard, good... No one had decided that now was the time to listen.

"No. God, no... But I've never felt like that before... like my entire body was on fire and she just kept whispering and not letting me kiss her back and it was infuriating but I liked it? And now I just keep thinking about what could've happened if her bandmates hadn't walked in-." Shelby cut her off. Yeah, okay, she had just given more context to Esme's life than she probably had right now, that was fair.

"Hold on, Esme's in a band?" Shelby asked, and Juliette nodded, feeling her face get hot. She bet Esme looked really good when she played concerts, that people practically fell at her feet. It made her a little jealous, thinking of other people wanting her... but she shook it off. It wasn't fair, she couldn't control what other people thought, all she could hope was that Esme didn't return the feelings.

"Mhm. Punk band." Juliette clarified, and Shelby looked impressed, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her arms across her chest, a small smirk on her face.

"Damn. Her stock just keeps going up." That was very true... every time she thought Esme couldn't get any hotter, something else would happen that would reel her in even further... honestly, she was bound to become obsessed with her, Esme was by far the most interesting person she'd ever had the fortune of meeting.