Borrowed Time

Chapter Thirty Nine

Walking into Bryce's house after having an admittedly fairly good time at homecoming felt like walking into an active fucking bomb... waiting behind that door were the consequences of actually being with Esme, the things that guys could say, the whispers... They'd already dealt with something fucking gross... But she'd been the one who suggested that they should go.

Esme's hand squeezing in hers told her all she needed to know about how she felt about it... Which was unsurprising and clear. Her pleading expression gave that as well... God, maybe they should just bail.... No, they'd gotten all the way here, that would be such a waste of gas.

"I hate being here, I hope you know that. Like, my skin is fucking crawling and you're so lucky I love you because otherwise I would not have agreed to this." Esme said, and Juliette could tell from her tone that she was dead serious... and she didn't blame her. If some small part of her didn't still crave the ability to stay socially relevant, she also wouldn't be here... but she was human. Of course, she wanted to be liked, that was normal... Maybe not to the extent that she privately desired it, but still.

"Yeah, we all hate being here but what are we gonna do? Leave?" She asked, and Micheal sighed, leaning against Shelby as he spoke... He looked tired; it made Juliette feel bad for having them come along in the first place. The dance was probably exhausting enough without the stress of attending an afterparty that would probably suck.

"Well, we could, but you two insisted we do something memorable tonight and for some reason you picked the most mentally damaging thing that you could." Shelby gave him a look, rolling her eyes as she rested a hand on his cheek, making him look down at her. Gross. That could never be something she did... An utter lie, but one that she could feed herself for the sake of humor in her own mind. She'd do anything for Esme, especially when she was being coaxed along.

"We're not wrong, Micheal. It will be memorable... It'll just be the issue of it'll probably be a very... Gray memory." He seemed confused by her wording, but Juliette understood it immediately... Not every memory that they would make tonight would be one that they didn't want to look back on, but there was a very slim, almost nonexistent chance that everything they went through tonight would be good.

"Gray?" He asked, and Juliette nodded, completely ready to clarify it in terms that were simple and easy to understand... Shelby could probably do the same, but she liked the metaphor so much that she wanted to be the one to explain it.

"Gray. There will be good things, but I'm sure there will be bad as well." This seemed to clear it up for him as he nodded slowly, shooting Esme a glance. She shrugged, clearly not agreeing or disagreeing... but it was cute to watch them interact with each other. Juliette liked how they seemed to seek out an understanding with the other, how they seemed to be on a similar wavelength sometimes... Maybe it was because they were stuck dealing with Juliette and Shelby and that would lead to anyone needing emotional support.

"... Fair point. We can have fun anywhere, I guess." Yeah. That was the whole point, nothing was ever truly a fully good or fully bad experience, so long as they were around each other, that was how it had always been. It was something that Juliette actually felt was quite special about their friend group, hanging out never felt forced, and being apart rarely felt better than being together.

Shelby patted Micheal's cheek, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. Juliette grimaced, glancing away from them. Get a fucking room.

"There you go, honey. Was that so hard?" She asked, and Micheal chuckled, nudging her slightly... Okay, their moment had been cute, but it could be over now, and Juliette wouldn't mind it at all.