Happily (N)Ever After?

Jealousy

“I can’t believe the crazy amount of homework you have.” Julia said, biting into the cupcake Val had grabbed for her. Julia had stopped by the Bakery where she worked for a snack while she was running errands, so Val took her break and sat down with her best friend.

    “Yeah, I know. I have to copy notes from Rachel.” she said, sneering her name. Even though it had been a week or so since the dream incident, Val had no desire to spend anytime with her.

    “Yeah, why have you two been acting so weird lately?” Julia asked, sensing a problem.

    “Oh, we just had a little fight.” Val replied reluctantly.

    “About what?”

    “Nothing, Jules. It’s stupid.”

    “Oh whatever. Tell me. We stopped keeping secrets in like, 6th grade.” This made Val’s stomach churn. She knew she had to tell Julia but Rachel would be so mad. She considered telling a little white lie, but she knew the snowball effect would not go over well.

    “Okay.” she gave in. “It’s actually kind of a funny story...” Val laughed nervously. “See, Rachel, had this dream about Adam, and in the dream...she...they..”

    “They?”

    “Had sex.” she added quickly.

    “What?” Julia almost laughed, not believing her. “That’s nuts. They don’t even like eachother.”

    “Apparently in dreamland they do.”

    “Yeah, I guess...” Julia replied, a little uneasy.

    “Are you mad?” Val asked, hearing the tone in Julia’s voice.

    “No!” Julia lied. “No, not at all. Especially not at you. I’m glad you told me. It’s just a silly dream, right?”

    “Exactly. Just a dream.” Val reassured. That was when she knew there was no way she was going to tell Jules that Rachel actually did have a crush on him. Not now, anyway.

    “Alright. We’re good then. It’s actually kind of hilarious.” Julia said. “I’m going to head out and let you get back to work. Thanks for the cupcake, doll.” She gathered up her purse & keys. “Text me later?”

    “Yeah, sure. See you soon.” Val waved.

    Valerie retreated back to the kitchen, put on her embossed apron, and began icing the next batch of strawberry cupcakes as her boss had asked her. She carefully layered on the thick, pink frosting precisely, and daintily topped each one with a thin slice of fresh strawberry. Usually decorating cupcakes kept her mind off of things; after all, she enjoyed doing it and knew it was exactly what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, but today, it only helped her dwell on her current problems. Now Julia and Adam would probably fight, causing Rachel and Adam to fight, leaving Rachel and Julia to fight and it would be all her fault. She knew she shouldn’t have said anything, but she couldn’t change that now. Val gathered she did it partially out of revenge toward Rachel, partially out of love for Julia, and partially out of the guilt she felt inside. All she knew was that now she was feeling even more guilty than she did before, and that was no fun.

    Julia walked out of the bakery not knowing what she should think or feel. She knew it was all just a dream and she really had no reason to be mad or jealous, but she was. Immediately, she decided her best choice was to go for a run. When she ran, it was her against the rest of the world; it was the only thing that really helped her clear her head. And if anything, her head definitely needed some clearing at that moment. I have a right to be jealous, don’t I? she asked herself, lacing up her favorite pair of Reebok's. She’d never act on it, would she? she contemplated. Well, then again it wouldn’t be the first time Rachel gave into her...desires. Julia realized she just had to admit it to herself:she was mad. Why am I trying to pretend it’s okay? She asked herself, slipping the remainder of her long hair back in a ponytail. I’m very allowed to be mad! And with that, she took off. As each of her feet rhythmically pounded the pavement, she continued to admit this to herself. I’m mad! she screamed inside her head. I’m mad! I’m mad I’m mad I’m mad! she continued to say until each exhale felt as if a huge weight was being lifted off her shoulders. After 3 more miles of Julia’s legs taking over, her brain clicked back in and she remembered she was once again on Serena Duty for the night, so she headed inside for a quick shower before she had to pick up her little sister from daycare.

    “Hey Bug. How was your day?” Julia asked, tossing Serena’s back pack in the trunk and checking her seat-belt.

    “Alissa and Tyler got divorced.” Serena sighed over dramatically.

    “Oh really?”

    “Yep. He decided he wanted to marry Gabby instead.”

    “Was Alissa sad?”

    “Yeah. I shared my trail mix with her to make her feel better.”

    “That was nice of you.” Julia replied, pulling out of the parking lot. Since when do kids play divorce? she asked herself. She remembered playing “house”, “mommy”, even “treasure hunt” and “restaurant” but never “divorce”. Of course, Divorce had been on an up rise since Julia had played these childhood games, but it was a scary thought. When did divorce enter play-world territory? When did it stop being real, rare and scary and start being an everyday thing? That’s America. she thought. Her phone rang.

“Hey.” It was Adam.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

           “Nothing much. Just checking in. I’m heading over to Rachel’s for a study session.” He replied, sneering her name. Julia’s stomach leaped into her throat.

    “W-Why are you studying with Rachel?” she asked curiously, trying to keep her cool.

    “It’s for Anatomy. Usually I get notes from Matt and we study after practice, but he had his Great Aunt Martha’s funeral Up North this week, and Donaldson said Rach has the highest grade in the class and that she was up for tutoring.” He explained. “I wouldn’t normally, but I’ve got to pass this test if I want to start at our first game in a few weeks.”

    “Oh.” Julia replied, although it all seemed innocent enough. Then again, it was Rachel and they were studying Anatomy.

    “‘Oh’ what?”

    “I was just a little..surprised is all. I mean, you guys kind of..hate each other.”

    “Yeah, well, I didn’t say it was going to be fun, but I guess whatever works. Anyways, I’m pulling up to her place. I’ll call you when you get out of here, okay?”

    “Alright. And Adam?” she said, and immediately regretted. Why did I say that? What am I going to tell him?! ‘Keep it in your pants?’

    “Yeah?”

    “...Um, never mind. It’s fine. Good luck!” She replied delightfully, ignoring the fact she was ever going to say something in the first place.

   "Okay then." he replied. "See you later."

"Sounds good. Bye." she said, clicking the red button on her phone.

"Was that my Adam?" Serena asked. "Is he coming over?!"

"No, not right now. Maybe later, okay?"

"Aww..Okay..."

"How about some Jungle Java?" Julia asked, knowing that would perk Serena up.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed.

Jungle Java was an indoor jungle gym and a coffee house combined, so Kid's could could play while Adults relaxed and drank coffee. It wasn't a bad deal, and quite frankly, Julia would take anything that would help her keep her mind off what could possibly be happening at Rachel's.