Borrowed Time

Chapter 107

Juliette had been to the Walsh house mostly on the occasion of a party anyway, but there was something about being there for a holiday party with a ton of rich people that was just... Freaking her out.

It wasn't helping that it was already packed and that it was freezing cold, she was thinking about a thousand things at once, and one was that if she slipped and fell the wrong way, she'd freeze to death in a fucking snowbank... Don't think about that one, dumbass.

"Damn, this place is huge, I always forget about that." Micheal sighed, tugging his jacket tighter around himself as they walked up the cul-de-sac entrance to Emma's house... God, the whole thing was full, how many fucking people did this family know?

"Well, you've only been here twice, right?" Juliette asked, and he nodded, taking a deep breath. She could tell he was nervous, it was clear from the way that his brows were crinkled, from the way that Shelby was holding him around his waist as he walked.

He had nothing to worry about, everyone wanted him here.

"Right." He looked over at her with a half smile as he shrugged. "Both times I was more focused on studying than I was anything else." Good point, he'd studied with Penny and Emma a few times for Physics, and he was always very focused when he studied, so that didn't surprise Juliette in the slightest, honestly.

"The only one of us who has to not be surprised anymore is Shelby, she's here all the time." Juliette pointed out, and Shelby let out a deep breath and shook her head. What was she shaking her head at? She was the one here the most out of all of them, that wasn't a lie.

"No less shocking, believe me." She said, and Juliette raised an eyebrow... She highly doubted that, at some point it had to lose its luster, right? Like, it had to be more normal after the first ten or so times.

"Hm. Alright." She said, letting an amused tone show through... Plus, Shelby had probably seen... A lot of the house... Or maybe she'd just mostly seen Emma's wing of the house, but either way.

She knew a lot of it. Shelby raised her eyebrow and gave Juliette a look.

"What?" She asked, and Juliette shrugged... She knew that what she was thinking about was clear to Shelby, so there was no reason why she had to say it again, right?

She could let it pass.

"Nothing..." Not nothing... Shelby knew that.

"Get the smirk off your face." She instructed, and Juliette sighed, rolling her eyes... That was no fun, what was the point of their friendship if she wasn't allowed to tease Shelby about shit, right? That was like... Fundamental to their relationship.

"... Fine." They made the rest of the walk silence, pausing in the foyer. Juliette swallowed heavily when she heard the sounds of the party, saw how many people there were... They all looked so nice, she was worried that she was underdressed... She knew that she was already being outshined by Micheal and Shelby... But that was normal. They both cleaned up really nice.

"So many people..." Micheal mumbled, peering through the glass of the foyer door with some nervousness. Juliette chuckled and nodded, running her fingers through her hair so that she could fix it a bit... She was sure that the wind had fucked it up.

"The Walshs are well known." Juliette reminded him, but that wasn't exactly something that needed to be said, even if it was true. They were a pillar of their community, everyone seemed to know them.

Shelby sighed and shrugged her jacket off, folding it over her arm as she fixed her hair in the mirror in the foyer before hanging her jacket up in the closet, holding her hand out to Micheal and Juliette so that she could do the same for them.