Juliana Woodland and Nate Jacobs have been best friends for as long as they can remember.
They are now in their junior year and East Highland High School and things are starting to get complicated.
*Had this story up on my old account and it got del...
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I'm finally caught up to the chapter I was at before my account got deleted, hope anyone who was reading it before found it again, don't forget to vote/comment, thank you 🩶
"That was my fault, sorry- Juliana?"
It took Juliana a moment to realize who she had just banged into, who apparently knew her. She took in the sight of the familiar guy in front of her, with perfectly messy blonde hair, matching scruff and icy blue eyes.
"Oh, Alex, hi." She hadn't seen Alex since he ghosted her the year before and she definitely wasn't expecting to see him again any time soon.
"Hey," he grinned at her, his eyes running up and down her body. "How are you?"
"I'm good." She replied stiffly.
"You and your friends should come join mine for a drink."
"We were just about to leave, actually." She didn't actually know about her friends but she knew she was just about to text Nate to pick her up, and after seeing Alex, she was even more ready to go.
Before he could say anything else, she darted into the bathroom. It was packed with girls talking, laughing, and fixing their hair and makeup in the mirrors.
"Who was that?" Cassie asked as she applied a layer of lipgloss.
"Ugh, that was Alex."
Maddy came out of a stall and went to wash her hands. "Wait, Alex Alex? The one that ghosted you?"
"The one and only." She rolled her eyes.
"I didn't know he was so hot!" BB exclaimed, joining them at the sink.
"I definitely don't see it anymore." Juliana scrunched up her face. "I'm going to get Nate to get me now if any of you want a ride too?" She asked as they exited the bathroom.
"Wait!" Maddy grabbed Juliana's arm, something catching her eye across the bar. "That's Alex over there, right? He's sitting with the hot guy from earlier!"
Juliana followed Maddy's line of sight and sure enough Alex was sitting at a table in the corner with three of his friends, one of them being the guy Maddy had been checking out earlier.
"Can you just introduce us really quick before you go?" Maddy questioned.
"Mads, I'm way too drunk to deal with him right now." Juliana groaned.
"Please, just one quick drink with them before you go so I can talk to his friend." Maddy pleaded.
Juliana rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Fine, let's go, you're lucky I love you."
"Oh, I know I am."
"And please do not mention to Nate that we saw him, he's not a big fan." Juliana added.
The four girls made their way to the table they had been eyeing up. Alex noticed them coming over and smirked.
"Decided to join us after all?" He questioned smugly.
Juliana forced a smile and sat down beside him. "Just for a quick one."
Alex introduced his friends to them and Juliana did the same. Maddy immediately started chatting and laughing with the one she was interested in, who's name was Liam. His other two friends went to get them all drinks.
"How have you been, Juliana? It's been a while." Alex checked her out again in a very obvious way.
She tried her best to ignore his wandering eyes, reminding herself she was just there for Maddy. "Yeah, it has been. I'm fine, what about you?"
"Really good." He responded. "You look amazing, by the way."
"Thanks," she mumbled as his friends came back with the drinks. She thanked them as she picked hers up and took a big gulp, wanting to finish it as soon as possible so she could leave.
"Aren't you too young to be in here?" Alex inquired with amusement in his voice.
"BB knows the bouncer."
"That works out well for you then. Are you seeing anyone now?"
She nodded and took another sip from her glass. "I'm with Nate, you didn't mean meet but you might remember me mentioning him to you."
"I remember Nate, the best friend, right? I did meet him."
"That's right, but I didn't think you guys met?"
He looked puzzled for a second before speaking again. "Oh, I figured he must have told you. After you and I hung out a few times, he showed up to my work and threatened me to stay away from you. That's why I stopped talking to you."
Juliana was so thrown off guard she didn't know what to say. She had no idea that was the reason Alex disappeared on her. At the time Nate knew her feelings were hurt over Alex, and he was the reason behind it the whole time.
Not that it really mattered now, but it surprising to find out that Nate was the cause of Alex ghosting her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or anything, I just thought he would have told you. Especially since you're together now."
"No, it's fine." She said shortly.
"He didn't scare me, though, but I thought you two had something going on and I didn't want to get in the middle of it." He explained.
She figured that probably wasn't true, she knew Nate could be very scary and threatening, even if he was a couple of years younger than Alex.
Either way, she had enough of Alex now and texted Nate to let him know she was ready to go.
"I messaged you on Instagram not long ago, didn't realize you were taken now."
She knew that probably wasn't true, either, since she had quite a few pictures of her and Nate posted that clearly showed they were in a relationship.
She drained her drink as he continued. "Anyways, if things don't work out with him, feel free to hit me up. Or even if they do work out. I'm good at being discreet."
She ignored his comment and laid her empty glass down before looking to her Maddy, Cassie and BB. "Nate is coming to get me now, are you sure you none of you want a ride home?"
They all agreed they were staying so Juliana went around to give them all hugs and reminded them to text her when they got home safely. With that, she made her way outside where Nate was already waiting on her.
He got out to kiss her and help her into his truck. She watched him as he pulled out of the parking lot, admiring how handsome he looked and how lucky she was.
"How was your night, baby?" He asked and placed his hand on her leg, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"It was good, but I'm very glad to be back with you."
She leaned over to kiss him while he stopped at a red light, and he kissed her back hungrily. His grip on her thigh tightened, making her smile against his lips.
She was still a little shocked about what Alex had just told her, but clearly it was for the best since he was a total douche bag and definitely would have ended up hurting her, anyways.
And Nate was just looking out for her since Alex was older than her, and obviously a creep, with the way he talked to her tonight. She just didn't realize it when she first hung out with him, but Nate did. He was always good at reading people, and she knew he would do anything to keep her safe.
