𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫 | ✎

xiv.

I FEEL LIKE flying. I'm not joking, I sincerely do. I feel like singing at the top of my lungs until I lose my voice. Even the rain —that I usually hate— was excellent. The soothing chilly breeze that caresses my skin lightly, the hard fall of minuscule rain droplets hitting the umbrella causing a thundering sound, the puddles of rain that pools at the floor beneath me that makes a splashing noise any time I jump or even walk on it. Everything was so —is so— perfect.

And Dean. Poor Dean. He really didn't deserve what he went through in that library; he didn't. I only can imagine what happened to give him that attack, what did he see? Who did he talk to? Did someone originally see him like this before ultimately choosing to ignore him? All these thoughts ran through my mind like a hamster on an exercise wheel.

What if I wasn't there, who would have come to his rescue? 

What if I couldn't help him?

I admit it, I was scared; I didn't know what to do. He was lying there, hand clenched on his chest, sweat dripping down his head, as he struggles to get air into his lungs. I have never once seen or even helped someone who was going through a panic attack, I never even thought I had it in me, but then I saw him there, helpless, and well . . . I guess I did have it in me.

Oh, and Angel. He called me angel. Me, Juliette di Laurentis, angel, ugh, I could scream. 

This is the first time I've felt this way. The first time I've been this happy. I just can't wait to tell Violette how my day went; she won't believe a single thing, at all. Speaking of Violette, I need to talk to her, she's been blowing up my phone like crazy and I promised to call her when I get home.  

"Good evening, everyone. I'm home!!" I say in a singsong voice while pushing open the front door, letting it slam against the wall before bouncing inside the house and locking the door. Kicking off my shoes, I place it in an empty slot in the shoe rack beside the wall and closed the umbrella Dean gave me. 

"Juliette, come here please," my dad's deep and cracked voice yells out to me from the living room. 

"Good evening, da-" my smile immediately drops as I feel my stomach start to churn, when I see both my parents sitting at the long L-shaped couch looking a bit irritated with Natalia in between the both of them with a look on her face that I could tell that whatever that was about to happen, was not a good one. 

"Naty, baby, can you please excuse us for a second," my father says while lightly tapping her hand.

"Okay dad," she says while kissing the side of his head then doing the same to our mum. Getting up, she walks towards the door and shoves my shoulder rather harshly with hers, before eyeing me from head-to-toe then continuing to go out of the living room and into the hallway before disappearing from sight, all the while giggling to herself. 

"Sit down," my mother says, her voice laced with disdain and disgust. Slowly, I make my way towards the couch beside them and take a seat. My body growing uneasy. All the happiness I once felt was now sucked out of my body just by looking at them. My once good day is now on the brinks of ruins.

"What time is it?" my father said while crossing his arms.

"It's five-thirty," I muttered after checking the time on my phone.

"Why are you coming home by five-thirty, Jules?"

I didn't answer, I didn't know how to answer. And I simply didn't want to tell them about Dean. Why? Because it wasn't any of their business. Neither was it mine to share.

"Juliette that's three hours past your school's closing time. I hope you know that," my father said amidst the silence.

"I know I jus—my friend needed me."

"Your friend needed you?" he eyed me up and down, clearly not believing me.

"Yes."

"Okay, let me get this straight," he sighed, "because your friend needed you, you decided that it'll be best to skip all your lessons, starting from the fourth period, and on top of that, come back home late?"

I stayed silent. "Juliette, answer me!"

"N-no," I stammered.

"But that's what you did so, you can't be telling me 'no' when all the signs are saying 'yes'."

"Jules we were worried sick, both I and your mum, she even cried. You made your mother cry; how do you feel about that?" my dad said while snuggling his wife's head down onto his shoulder. Her hand slithering onto his broad chest slowly drawing circles around it as she sniffles softly. 

I kept quiet; I couldn't bring myself to say anything. The thought of my mum crying because I wasn't home yet, was honestly laughable. 

"Juliette," my dad said much softer now, "don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at you, I —we— were just worried-"

"I know and I'm sorry-"

"Let me finish. We know that you are a growing child, and you'll want to experience a sense of freedom every now and then so it's normal. And since this is your first offence, we won't hold it against you, but make I remind you, if you ever try this stunt ever again, we won't take it so lightly with you."

I don't miss the slight irritation on my mother's face accompanied with an eye roll. She obviously didn't agree with what he had just said but honestly, I don't care. 

I didn't even know that I skipped all those periods. God, I'm such an idiot, I just had to fall asleep, I just had to. I hope for the love of God that Vi took some notes for me if not, I don't know how I'll catch up.

After what felt like an eternity, my father let me off with a warning to never do it again and sent me up to my room. Hurling myself on my bed, I picked up my phone and dialed Vi's number.

After three rings she picked up, "Where have you been?! I searched for you everywhere, I was worried sick, Jules! You can't be doing this to me."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. But today was some weird day, and like, a lot happened a-and I just—y'know?"

"What? Julie, what happened? Are you okay?" 

"I don't know, I jus- I just," I felt my voice cracking, this was not the time to start acting like a baby for no reason. But here I was, on the brink of tears because I got scolded. 

"Julie, do you hear me?" 

"Yes," I nod my head, knowing fully well that she can't see me. 

"What happened? I want you to tell me everything." and I did, starting from Dean's panic attack all the way to my parents sitting me down and shouting at me for my carelessness, making sure not a single detail was excluded.

"Julie! How can you be crying when the best thing just happened to you? So, what if you got scolded, and your mum and your sister weren't giving you a good time about it? It doesn't matter. The thing of your dreams just happened—like it was out of some fairytale."

"I know, it did feel like a fairytale," I smiled to myself, turning myself on my side and staring at the umbrella that lays on the floor beside my bed.

"Jules, the next time you decide to skip, tell me! You can't be running around everywhere, and no one will know where you were, okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I smiled into the phone knowing very well that she's smiling back. After that we talked for a while before finally hanging up.

Picking up the umbrella I hold it close to my chest and smile a very stupid smile.

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