Borrowed Time

Chapter Fifty Five

Honestly, Juliette thought that after that long of a car ride, her father would just want to go to bed and not be around his parents anymore, but... No. No, he decided that he wanted to take her grandparents out for dinner... and he wanted Juliette to come with them.

So now they were in the car, 9:30 at night on a Thursday, heading to the diner... Which was nice for Juliette, it meant she'd run into Gianna. ANd it was also terrible for Juliette, because it meant that she was going to have to field her grandmother's 'well intended' terrible remarks that she would probably make about Gianna. According to her father, Gianna's pregnancy had been a scandal in the town, there was no doubt that she'd heard about it when it happened.

The car was silent at first, there was a tense energy, but her grandfather dispelled it by straightening up and clearing his throat... He looked calmer than he had the last time she'd seen him, tan from the Arizona sun, his blue eyes even more prominent. His hair was a dark silver, always cut short... He was handsome, Juliette was blessed to have the genes she did. He'd passed on a lot of how he looked to her father, only he kept his hair long... It'd apparently been a point of contention in the house while he was growing up. It was funny to think of her father as a rebellious teenager, but he had been, he'd snuck out all the time to see her mother, things like that.

"So... How's school going, Junebug?" Juliette glanced up, meeting her grandfather's eyes in the rearview mirror to give him a nod. It was going fine, aside from the way that people were talking to her sometimes... But she didn't want to worry him, he'd always been protective over her, and his heart wasn't doing too well... She didn't want to be the reason that it failed, she'd never forgive herself.

"It's good, getting good grades... I'm going to Syracuse in the fall." She said, and she saw his eyes crinkle in the corners as he smiled. That was one thing she loved about her grandpa- he smiled with his entire face, it always made her feel good.

"That's wonderful! What are you majoring in?" Oh. She hadn't actually given it all that much thought... She was in between something in English and something in history... But her grandpa was also a history buff, he knew everything about the Vietnam war - partially because he'd been in it- and they didn't have enough time during the short car ride to actually dissect it right now.

"I don't know." Beside her, she saw her grandmother perk up, which didn't surprise her. Her grandma had gotten a masters degree while her father was young before she decided to start teaching at Hollingsworth high school... She'd only retired ten years ago, that was when they moved away. The winters had gotten too harsh for her arthritis.

Juliette already knew what she was going to say, and it would still be a resounding no, she wasn't going to teach high school. That sounded like hell.

"You would be a great teacher, sweetheart, you should look into it." Her grandmother patted her thigh, giving her an excited look... She'd rather skin herself alive. "It's a wonderful place to meet a husband, you know." Ew. She cleared her throat, offering her grandmother a smile as she shook her head... She wanted this to remain peaceful, she loved her grandmother... Most of the time. When she wasn't sharing her personal opinion.

"No... No, I know that I don't want to be a teacher, that doesn't sound like me." Juliette said, trying to keep her tone as kind as possible as her grandmother's face fell... She knew it was something that made her sad, the fact that people didn't want to follow in her footsteps... But teaching didn't offer much money, and while Juliette recognized the insane importance of good teachers, she knew that she would never be one.

No student should have to deal with how angry she could get for no reason, and she couldn't imagine trying to field her breakdowns while teaching... She could try to ignore them pretty well, but they'd never fully end up going away, and she knew that.