Borrowed Time

Chapter 178

The track record of parties at Ingrid's house in 2020 had not been good, considering the only one was New Years... So Juliette wasn't too sure why they were trying again aside from Shelby and Esme insisting that they accept the invite probably partially because it was a 'hey cheerleading is almost finally fucking over' type of thing and they knew how much Juliette wanted that to be done, but still.

Odd.

"So... Remind me why we're going to a party and Ingrid's house?  Don't we hate her?" Carly asked, which made Juliette chuckle as she watched both Esme and Shelby exchange a look in the mirror before letting out a heavy sigh.  Shelby cleared her throat, leaning forward a bit to signal to the entire car that she would be speaking.

Okay, go ahead.  You have my full and undivided attention.

"Okay, no... I mean, for a while yeah, but no." Juliette smiled, shaking her head as she looked back at Shelby... The pause before she'd said 'yeah', as if she wasn't sure if she should acknowledge the past or not... The past was something that Juliette would never be over, so in her personal opinion, she would always mention it. "She's made improvements and while I certainly don't like her very much, she did invite us personally and I feel like we should make an appearance, even a quick one." Honestly?  That was a really good explanation of what they were going to do, they weren't there to spend their entire night at Ingrid's, from what Esme and Shelby said it was more a show of good faith so that there was less drama through the end of the year.

God, that was something that Juliette really wanted... She loved the idea no more drama.

Was it going to work?  Not entirely, sure it might curb Ingrid, but there were always other factors... Hell, Samantha hadn't even given birth yet, that could be a whole thing... Like, it had to be any day now, but there was no saying how that could end up.

But yeah.  This would probably make Ingrid be human instead of a fucking feral freak for the rest of the year.

"You don't think that's a trap?" Carly's question came out so deadpan and in disbelief that Juliette had to fight back another laugh... What an unserious way to ask 'are we gonna need therapy after this?  I'm just planning ahead.'

Esme sighed, shaking their head as they drummed their hands on the steering wheel, clearly wanting to add their point of view.  Go ahead, baby.  We're listening.

"I think that Rachelle has taken a lot of that out of her, or at least put it on a leash." Esme's statement was met with a chorus of agreement, and how could it not be?  Rachelle was one of the most beautiful women in the entire world, and it had been a heavy topic since she'd shown up a basketball game this year and Ingrid had kissed her, making their relationship public.

Ingrid didn't really do that... It showed that she was actually committed, and in the words of Ingrid she liked to 'keep options open and things light'... Like, she was pretty sure they weren't exclusive, but the fact that Ingrid was comfortable enough to show real affection to her without any sort of ultimatum did show a huge amount of growth on her part.

"Can't blame her for listening to everything that woman says, she is goddamn gorgeous." Becky sighed, something that Juliette had to agree with. 

"No for real, how can she be so perfect?" She turned around in her seat so that she could make eye contact with Becky as she spoke, wanting to make sure that she was paying attention. "Like, I didn't notice it when I ordered from her at the cafe all those times, even when she gave me her number-." Shelby choked on air, pulling attention towards her.