Right From The Start

4

There was a knock at the door. Julie got up from the table and went to answer it. Nick was standing in her front yard looking sheepish. There was something different about him recently but Julie hadn't been able to put her finger on it yet. Maybe it was his crush on her? She couldn't really tell.

He had started dressing differently, gone were the t-shirt and jeans and occasional trilby. Over the past week, he had started to wear what she would consider formal wear. Black pants and white shirts with a tuxedo. His friends had mocked him for it but he didn't seem to care.

Julie had wondered if he had started to do it to impress her. She liked fashion but she wasn't someone who would judge someone for the clothes that they wore. Her Mom had raised her to appreciate what they had and never to judge someone. Everybody was unique.

"Hey," Nick said with a wave.

Julie moved aside to let him in.

"Are you ready to start this project?" He said as Julie closed the door.

"Yeah, we'll be working in the studio." Julie replied. She had told the boys that she needed to use the studio for school work so had asked them to stay clear. Luke had promised even as far as going to pinky swear with her. He then proceeded to explain what a pinky swear was as she had never heard of one before. Sometimes she forgot her band were from the 90's and then they went ahead and did things that were slightly beyond her.

Nick followed Julie down towards the studio and she switched the light on. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she noticed that the boys had kept their 'pinky' promise.

"You have such a cool studio," Nick said looking around as he took in sight of the couch, table and piano. His eyes then lingered onto the plants.

"A fan of gardening?" He asked as he took in the collection of plants behind the piano.

Julie looked at the plants too. She had finished watering them about an hour ago and the green leaves looked as vibrant as ever. Her Mom had always told her to take good care of them.

"They were my Mom's." Julie said as she walked over and touched one of the stems.

She looked back up at Nick and she saw something flash across his face. It was gone too quickly before she could realize what expression it was. However there was something about it that made Julie feel a little on edge. She had never felt on edge with Nick. Was she just being paranoid?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Nick looking down at her. He was smiling but there was something about that smile that she knew meant that he understood. It was another way of trying to keep her Mom's spirit alive. If the plants were kept alive, then she was too.

"You've done well Julie. Your Mom would be proud of you." Nick said and smiled down at her.

Once before that smile would have done something to Julie. She might have melted into a puddle onto the floor unable to get up but now she didn't feel anything. Even when she had realized that she liked Luke there had been a part of that still held onto her feelings for Nick, but now nothing. She wasn't sure if that was normal or not.

"Thanks," Julie replied. She moved away from Nick and went over to the grand piano.

"Are we ready to start then?" Nick said as he placed his hand on top of it.

"Yeah, have you got any ideas about what the song could be about?" Julie asked. She recalled the conversation with Flynn on Monday. She didn't want to write a love song with Nick. She had Perfect Harmony to work on anyway.