Sanity Siphoned

Ch17: Jealousy Tortured

Chapter 17

Nick was seriously the type of person everyone should have in their lives. Julienne couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun and laughed so hard. She hadn't felt like herself once, she hadn't been sad or quiet and that was all because of his big heart and the way he knew what she needed. He hadn't asked her about anything serious the whole time. She liked spending time with him, there was no ugly past and he never once made her feel bad about herself.

At the house he had suggested a few things they could do; in the end they did them all. First they went and saw a really bad horror movie then hit the ice cream shop where Nick got brain freeze more then once. After that while the sun was starting to set and the beach was pretty empty he suggested they go there next. The boardwalk was lit up brightly and provided more then enough light to get around.

"Have you ever had a sand fight?"

Julienne's eyes got wide. "Oh god no. Do you know how long it would take to get sand out of all this hair?"

"That's just too bad." He had a nice clump of wet sand in his hand and wasn't afraid to use it.

"This means war." She grabbed as much sand as she could and flung it at him as he took off running. Like two crazy kids hopped up on sugar they ran all along the beach and didn't care who saw them.

"Not the hair!" he said while using his hands to protect his mohawk and took the hits of sand against his body.

"That's what I said!"

He considered that. "One dip in the water and you'll be nice and clean. It's a lot more of a process for me so have mercy and remember you love me and drop the sand."

She eyed the green hair dye and all the twists to create enough height for his mohawk, it really must've taken some time and with his pretty face it really worked. She never thought anyone could pull off his outrageous look but with his outgoing personality he really did. "Ok, you win." She let the warm hand slip through her fingers.

"Thank you." He tried not to laugh. "You should really take my suggestion and wash some of that out." Her long hair looked like it had been in a sand storm; every strand had some stuck to it.

She took a piece of it in her hand and frowned. "There'll be payback for this. Watch my pants." She unbuckled her jeans, her shirt was long enough to reach past her knee leaving her far more covered then all the other girls hanging around.

She was excited to feel the water against her skin and taste the salt in her mouth; she hadn't been much to the ocean since the accident, before that she used to go with her dad every weekend. She shook her head and wouldn't think of him, she was supposed to be having fun and she owed it to Nick not to check out when he was trying so hard to make her feel better. She jumped into the ocean and all thoughts were forgotten.

IIII

When Michael agreed to join Cody and everyone else at the boardwalk for some pizza he never imagined he'd see Julienne there and worse with Nick. At the table he was seated at he could hear them running around the beach. He cringed every time he heard her laugh at something that freak said. Michael turned slightly in his seat when he heard her ask him to hold her jeans. Was she really going jump into the ocean this late? Yes she was.

"They are bigger weirdos then we give them credit for." Maria commented. "The sun is gone and that water is probably freezing."

"Maybe she's a closet thrill seeker. The quiet ones are really freaky." One of the guys said, gaining a round of laughs from the other guys as inappropriate innuendos were passed around.

"I can't believe you dated him." Janelle said to Anna about Nick. "I guess he's ok looking under all that but a mohawk, brow piercing and two in his ear? He wears more jewelry then most girls and lets not get started on the eyeliner."

Anna shrugged. "He wasn't like that when we dated. You know I'd never date a freak like that. The piercings and shit came later."

Marko spoke. "There's proof dating you is a bad idea. The guy lost his mind after it."

"Real funny you idiot." Anna threw a piece of bread at him.

Michael mindlessly paid his friends any attention. They were too busy joking around with each other to notice what he was doing. With the new angle of his chair he could see the ocean and where Julienne was clearly. He watched as she got out of the water, her t-shirt was plastered to her body. She bunched it up around her thighs and squeezed the excess water out.

He realized he could hear them pretty well too when Nick jumped to meet her and offered his extra shirt if she wanted to get out of the wet one. He turned around and stood guard while she changed behind him. Michael noticed flashes of her naked legs as she did this.

"Ok give me my pants." Julienne said after buttoning up the borrowed shirt, this one fell pretty low on her knee too.

"About that," Nick had her jeans hanging on his shoulder; he stepped out of her reach. "I'll race you for them."

She crossed her arms and considered this. "How about this? You give me my pants and we still race but with better terms."

Michael's fists tightened at his side as she joked with that son of a bitch. She was having a good time; she was that girl he wished she'd be with him. He had to drag it out of her but Nick, oh great friend Nick, brought it on with stupid games. He continued to listen.

"I'm interested." Nick handed her back her jeans. "What are the terms?"

Julienne smiled a thousand watt smile that Michael didn't know she was capable of. Shane had been right, he was jealous of her friendship with Nick and that jealously soared like a painful fire in his chest now.

"Dude, you alright?" Cody shook his shoulder. "What are you focused on so hard? I know it can't be them." He cocked his head back to where Julienne and Nick were laying out the details of their race.

"Nah man I was just thinking about some shit at home." He turned his attention back to his friends and tried to forget the grey eyed girl behind them as she spoke so effortlessly.

"Ok ready, on three we go….one….two…three!"