Juliana Woodland and Nate Jacobs have been best friends for as long as they can remember.
They are now in their junior year at East Highland High School and things are starting to get complicated.
*Had this story up on my old account and it got dele...
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It had been five days since Juliana and Nate got into their first big fight, and it was the longest time they had ever gone without talking to each other.
Five days didn't seem that long, but it felt like a lifetime to them when they had spent every day together up until their argument.
Juliana was pretty sure she had low-grade depression. All she wanted to do was stay in bed and watch Love Island.
She didn't care about seeing her other friends or going to school or cheerleading. She told her mom that she must have caught a stomach bug or got food poisoning.
Maddy and the other girls tried to cheer her up, but nothing worked. She just wanted her best friend back, and for things to return to normal.
Nate was definitely depressed since he got angry at Juliana and said those awful things to her.
The only difference was instead of feeling sad like her, he was angry, to the point where his family and friends would barely say a word to him, not wanting to set him off.
Every time he thought of going to her house and begging for her forgiveness, he could picture her telling him she would never accept his apology and that she was happier without him.
At least if they didn't talk, she couldn't tell him that she was done with him, like he was sure she was going to.
He felt like there was a piece of him missing as he replayed their fight over and over in his head, which often led to him smashing a glass or punching whatever inanimate object was nearby.
She was his innocent Angel who hadn't gone further than kissing before what happened between them at the carnival. It pained him to remember the look of hurt on her face during their argument. He regretted every moment of it.
Maddy and Cassie were in Juliana's bedroom, helping her get ready for her first date with Elliot. Maddy was doing her makeup while Cassie was digging through her closet.
She would much rather stay home in her comfy bed and continue binge watching reality TV shows, but her friends convinced her she should get out of the house.
"I hate you guys right now," She groaned, trying not to move her face too much as she spoke since Maddy was doing her eyeliner.
"You love us," Maddy said as she skilfully applied black liner. "You seriously need to go out, you'll feel a lot better."
Elliot texted to say he was on the way to pick her up just as she got dressed into the clothes Cassie had picked out, which was a pair of jeans and a silky white top with flowy sleeves.
"Let us know how it goes, I'm sure you'll have fun!" Cassie said encouragingly before she and Maddy left.
Nate heard a car horn as he sat in his bedroom like he had done all week so far, when he wasn't at school or football practice. He looked out his window to see an older looking car parked in front of Juliana's house.
A second later she stepped out of her front door and his heart skipped a beat, laying eyes on her for the first time in five long days. She was a vision in a silky white shirt that complimented her tan skin and jeans, her lush hair curlier than usual, flowing down her back.
He caught sight of who was driving the car. All he had to see was a flash of bleach blonde hair. That's when he realized that their fight was pushing her away from himself, and towards Elliot.
He had to figure out how to fix things before it was too late.
Juliana and Elliot went to an ice cream shop that was a short drive away from her house. Inside, the bell jingled as the door swung open. The chatter of other customers and the whir of the machines created a comforting background noise.
Juliana scanned the selection of flavours. "There's so many choices, it's hard to pick."
"I know, I've never seen a place with so many different kinds." Elliot agreed.
She finally chose a vibrant scoop of strawberry, while he went for chocolate. They sat at a small table by the window, the lights from the street outside casting a warm glow on their faces.
They talked about their days, their likes, their dislikes, and the occasional awkward silence was filled with the sound of their spoons clinking against the sides of their bowls.
He listened intently as she spoke, her eyes sparkling as she recounted a funny story from her summer job.
She noticed the way his face lit up when he talked about his love for photography. "Can I see some of your photos?" She asked.
He hesitated for a moment, then pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his camera roll, showing her snapshots of the world as he saw it: a tapestry of light and shadow, of beauty found in the most unexpected places.
"These are amazing," she told him.
After that, the conversation flowed quite easily, over an hour slipping by before the employees in the shop started to clean up, signalling that they were getting ready to close.
When they went back outside the air was cooler and the parking lot was deserted. They got back into Elliot's car and started to drive back to her house.
He glanced at her as he pulled in front of her house. "I had a really good time."
"I did too, thanks Elliot." She smiled at him as she picked her purse up from the car floor.
"Of course," he returned her smile and leaned in towards her.
She leaned forward slightly too, letting their lips meet for a kiss. She really tried not to compare it to Nate but she couldn't help it.
It's not that Elliot was bad at it, but it didn't even come close to how it felt when she kissed Nate.
She thanked him again before climbing out of his car and entering her house, getting a glass of water before making her way to her bedroom. She washed her makeup off and changed into one of Nate's T-shirts, grateful that it still had his scent on it.
Juliana💝: Home now, it was fun, he was really sweet and we kissed ☺️
She texted her friend's group chat, her message sounding much happier than how she actually felt.
When she crawled into bed, all she could think about was Nate. She wished that he was there with her like he always had been, and that she could tell him how she really felt about him.
As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him.
