Borrowed Time

Chapter 123

Maybe Juliette was over-attached to the presence of Esme in her life, that was the only reason that she could think of that she was so frustrated whenever they were gone, why she missed the viciously... Or maybe that was normal, either way...

Shelby having to deal with it? God, that was a punishment that she hadn't meant to put on her, but she was the one who'd offered to drop her off at Esme's, so it was at least partially her fault, right? Juliette was already pissed off after practice, she knew that... Today was just that much more frustrating.

"So..." Shelby trailed off, giving her an expectant look... The only problem was that Juliette had no earthly idea what she was expecting. She couldn't read minds, and Shelby was not giving her enough context for her to have a solid jumping off point.

"So?" She asked, listening to Shelby sigh... Okay, don't sigh like you're annoyed when you're being vague, that's not fair.

It didn't help that she was in a shitty mood... She hated days when Esme wasn't at school, they were always boring, so an entire day plus practice? Literally her personal hell.

"How is Esme's recovery going?" Shelby asked, and Juliette shrugged... About as well as she could make it go when Esme was digging in their heels on allowing any help at all... She wanted to take care of them, but they were so intent on doing everything and that they were fine even though she could remember how that particular ailment felt.

Not pleasant at all.

"Well, they've only been recovering for like... A day... So I feel like that remains to be seen, but who really knows, right?" She asked, and Shelby nodded, drumming her hands on the steering wheel for a moment. Juliette could feel her eyes on her, she knew that Shelby wanted to ask more things, but she couldn't figure out what they were.

Please talk. Please just tell me. I'm not cut out for figuring things out, you know that.

"Sure..." Not even a moment later, Shelby's eyes were on her again. Juliette glanced over, giving her a knowing look... It really wasn't like Shelby to beat around the bush, that was something that worked very well with their relationship was how direct she could be. Juliette was never left guessing.

"You're staring again." She said, and Shelby sighed, squeezing harder onto her steering wheel as she continued to drive... It was clear that something was bothering her, and Juliette did want to know what it was... But she couldn't quite make it out.

Maybe it was the game tomorrow? Probably, right? The possibility of having to see an estranged parent who disowned her was probably enough to make her anxious... But what if she was wrong?

"Not trying to." Another long pause... C'mon babe, you're almost there... Talk to me. "Are you and Esme gonna make it to the game tomorrow?" There we go, good job. She nodded, turning to Shelby with a smile as she reached over, squeezing her leg lightly. There was no way that she was missing another chance to try to bite Isaiah Montgomery's finger off... She'd failed last time, but she wanted to try again. And Esme? Esme was considering exactly how far off school property they had to go before they could beat the shit out of him and it was just a crime and not something that would get them suspended...

But Juliette had insisted that they leave the fighting to someone else, their head needed to heal first.

"They're refusing to miss it either way... Push comes to shove I'll force them to put on some headphones and sunglasses and give them pain meds before." She nodded reassuringly. "We won't miss it." I could be dying and I'd still be there for you.