What We Never Had

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I woke up earlier than usual the next morning and I got to school a bit earlier to, so I had time to talk to Ariel before class. When I walked up to her she greeted me with a huge smile.

"Juliet? There's someone I'd like you to meet." She said, pointing to a guy behind her. My mouth dropped open when I saw him. He was tall and had short, dark brown hair. He had big brown eyes that kind of lit up when he smiled. When he smiled, his straight, white teeth glistened. He had on dark jeans and a button down wrangler shirt with cowboy boots. He was really good looking, and yet I still didn't know he was. Ariel must have noticed the silence because she said,

"This is my cousin, Briar. He moved here from Texas and he's going to start going to school here. I have told him so much about you, I'm pretty sure he already knows who you are. Oh, and the best part? He's a cattle roper, which is kind of similiar to what you do!" She said with a smile. She gave me a look that I could tell meant 'hook up with him because he's hot and I can't and I can tell he likes you.' I laughed and stuck out my hand.

"Hey, I'm Juliet. But, I'm guessing you already know that. Oh, and you cattle rope? I barrel race, which I guess is kind of similiar." I said, smirking at Ariel at the last part. She groaned.

"Whatever, all I know is that you two are going to become great friends." I felt instantly attracted to him, but everytime I looked at him, I could hear a voice in the back of my head saying to stay away, your heart belongs to someone else.

"Well, hello there, Juliet. The pleasure is all mine." He said in a really cute cowboy accent. I looked over at Ariel and she gave me a thumbs up.

"Um, what do you have first perioid?" I asked, crossing my fingers and hoping it was Spanish 3, same as me.

"Spanish 3," he replied. I volunteered to show him the way since that was my first period class as well, and he smiled that cowboy grin and said he would like that. I looked over at Ariel again and she whispered to me,

"See? I told you that Houston wasn't the only boy in the world." However, when she said that, my heart sunk a little. Sure, this guy was amazingly handsome and seemed really nice and had an awesome southern accent, but he wasn't Houston, the guy I was madly in love with. As me and Briar were walking to Spanish, we bumped into Houston.

"Hey, Juliet," he said with a smile. His warm smile that made me melt. Maybe he didn't have an accent, but when he said my name, it still sounded better than when Briar said it.

"Howdy, partner," I replied, smiling back. I suddenly felt really wierd with Briar standing behind me and I decided to introduce the two.

"Um, Houston, this is Briar. He just moved here from Texas and he's Ariel's cousin. Briar, this is Houston. He's one of my friends." They shook hands and I noticed Houston getting kind of tense.

"You do any kind of rodeo stuff?" Houston asked Briar. Briar nodded his head.

"Yup, I'm a cattle roper. Pretty good one, too, if I say so myself." Houston noticed his confidence and frowned.

"Oh, well, maybe I'll catch you around. Bye, cowgirl." He said, giving me a small smile and a wink. I sighed happily and told Briar to follow me.

"So, Juliet, that's a very unusual name. Is there a story behind that?" Briar said to me with a cocky grin.

"You're right. I'm the one with a wierd name. So what's the story behind your name, Briar?" I said with a teasing smile, emphasazing the name Briar.

"Well played, your a fiesty one." Briar laughed. I laughed with him and we walked to Spanish. I don't really know how to describe it, but I just kind of felt a tingly, happy feeling when I was with Briar. The wierdest part is, I just met him! What was I thinking? There's no way I could be falling for Briar, I'm in love with Houston. I thought about that for a minute and I must have been paying very little attention to where I was going because I bumped into the Spanish room door. My head smacked off the door and I stumbled back, a little taken aback.

"Juliet! Are you okay?" I heart Briar ask. All of a sudden, I felt two, big, strong arms steadying me and holding my shoulders. Whoa. This cowboy some serious muscle! Okay, I was going crazy. I was talking about this guy like I've known him for ever, and I just met him!

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," I replied, shaking my head. He let go of me and we walked into the Spanish room just as the bell rang. Melanie was also in that class, and when she saw me, she gave me a death glare.

"Oh, hello, Juliet. Still upset over the loss of your Romeo?" She said with an evil smirk. I laughed.

"Wow, Mel. Is that really the best you got? Oh, and another thing. I think you forgot your pants this morning," I replied, pointing to her short mini skirt that looked more like underwear. She gasped and looked away, her face turning red with anger. Briar sat in the desk next to me and offered his fist. I pounded it with a smile.

"Good one, Juliet." He said. I gave him a wink and then listened to Mr. Dubel start the lesson. Although, I was more paying attention to my mixed emotions. Two names kept floating through my mind and wouldn't go away. Houston, Briar. Briar, Houston. I honestly didn't get it. I mean, this guy, Briar, just popped into my life out of nowhere and is now making me second guess my feelings! Is that really even normal? The last thing I heard from Mr. Dubal was something about the trip to Mexico the seniors got to take this Spring before I drifted off to daydream land.

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