What We Never Had

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"A date? Oh, my gosh! My little Juliet has a date. This has to be one of the biggest moments as a mother, and it must be pretty important for you to, honey." My mom exclaimed as she rummaged through my closet. I groaned. She was taking this way to far.

"Mom, it's hardly a date. And, I don't know what you're doing looking in my closet. We're riding, mom. That's it. So, please, quit throwing a big deal over nothing!" I said, saying the last few words slowly and loudly. My mom frowned for a minute and then her face beamed.

"Oh! I know! You should invite him over for dinner. I'll make my amazing homemade lasagna with garlic bread and a nice side salad." I groaned some more when I heard that. This may be my first date, but if my mom acts like this, it's definitly going to be my last. I wonder if she knows that I don't even have as much feelings for Briar as I do Houston. Or, um, I think. I can't explain why, but it felt really wierd saying that. Like, maybe it was a lie or something. But, that can't be true. I have loved Houston all my life, and I just met this Briar guy. Wow, life has been throwing me some major curveballs lately. I must have had a a puzzled expression on my face because my mom frowned at me.

"Juliet, don't make that face. The wind might change and it'll get stick like that." She said scoldingly.

"Mom, fine. I'll invite him over to dinner. As long as you promise not to act like this when he's here," I sighed. My mom nodded her head in agreement and threw an outift at me. I gasped when I looked at it. She had thrown me a black, leather mini skirt (and I mean, really, REALLY, mini), a pink. sparkly tank top, and a black leather jacket. Then, she threw me a pair of knee length black, leather boots.

"There, you can wear that, honey. I know it will look great with your figure. Maybe you could curl your hair to? That might look cute." She added. I threw the skimpy looking outfit back in my closet.

"Mom, no way. I want to look like me, not a slut who's trying to get laid." I said with a snort. I reached into my closet and pulled out my favorite pair of Wranglers and a peachy pink colored button up shirt with a pair of cowgirl boots.

"I was thinking more along the lines of this," I stated, pointing to my outfit with a grin. My mom rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I should've known with you. Your just like your father." My mom gave me a quick hug and left the room. I actually had a feeling like I couldn't wait untill tommorow night for my date with Briar. Hm, date. I liked the sound of that. I'm going on a date! With a really cute cowboy! Then I thought of Houston, and I actually didn't feel that empty. Ok, that was wierd. Maybe there is such thing as love in first sight. No, no, of course not. That kind of stuff only happened in movies and stuff. But, now, I wasn't so sure. Could a mystery boy really just walk into my life and turn my whole world upside down, just like that?

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I awoke the next morning to my mom hollering my name, telling me to wake up. I was so happy it was Friday and I couldn't wait for my date with, ahhh, Briar, tonight! I wasn't sure if I should tell Houston, I was a little worried about how he would take it. Wait, was I thinking? He wouldn't even care. I'm just like a sister to him, he might get a little protective, if even that, and that would be it. I frowned a little bit at that thought but then I smiled again when I saw Lacey grazing out in the pasture through my window. I shouted her name through the window screen and she looked up at me, whinnying, showing her big, yellow teeth. I laughed and shut my window. I swear, sometimes I think Lacey knows exactly what I'm saying, and she's talking back to me. I reached into my closet and pulled out a pair of denim shorts and a PBR rodeo t-shirt. It was supposed to be really hot later, so I was hoping I wouldn't die of a heat stroke later on my ride with Briar. I walked to my bathroom and grabbed a ponytail, throwing my long, bleached blonde hair into a messy bun at the top of my head. I brushed my teeth and then threw some socks on, followed by my boots. I bumped into Matt on my way down the stairs and he laughed when he saw my get up.

"Whoa, I hope you're not trying to impress anyone today, Yikes," he said with a playful grin. I slapped him and continued down the stairs. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, princess." He said to me, giving me a warm smile.

"Morning, daddy!" I replied, grabbing an apple from the fridge and biting into it. My mom came in and kissed me on the forehead.

"Goodbye, sweetie. I have to go to work. Have a nice day at school and don't forget to do your hair before you leave." She shouted, walking out the door. I frowned when she mentioned my hair. Um, did it really look that bad? I didn't care, anyway. I wasn't here to impress anyone. Then, I thought of Briar. I might want to double check.

"Um, daddy? Does my hair look alright?" I asked, blushing a little at the fact that I'm asking my dad this question.

"Of course, princess. You look beautiful. Now, finish your apple and hurry and get to school." He answered, not looking up. I sighed and grabbed my backpack, my truck keys, and my textbooks, walking out the door and into my old ford truck. I revved up the engine and started to drive to school. On the way, I couldn't help but think of Briar and Houston again. Well, mainly Briar. I mean, it was just so wierd. I had always been sure of my feelings for Houston. He was my best friend, and I had always loved him. He was perfect to me. But, Briar. I just met him yesterday, but I feel like I've known him for my entire life. He seemed so nice, and he was country, just the way I like them. I mean, not that Houston wasn't, but Briar was just, well, different. I pulled into the school parking lot after about fifteen minutes and parked. I walked into the school building and straight to my locker where Ariel was waiting for me, as usual.

"Hey, Juliet, Ready for your date tonight?" She said with a smirk.

"Come on, it's hardly a date! Plus, after he gets to know me, how much do you want to bet he drops all contact with me?" I answered teasingly. Ariel rolled her eyes.

"As if! You should have heard him talking about you last night. I couldn't get him to shut up! If he wasn't talking about you, he was asking about you."

"He talked about me? What did he say?" I asked curiously. I couldn't believe he had talked about me!

"Well, ok, don't freak out! But, the first thing he said, was, and I quote, 'So, that Juliet girl, she's quite the looker, eh?' and then he winked at me." She answered. I couldn't help but get a little tingling feeling at the fact that he said that.

"That was nice," I added casually.

"Yeah, and hes super excited about your date tonight." She stated. I smiled. Good, so I wasn't the only one! I told Ariel I needed to get to first period and said goodbye to her, walking to Spanish. I had this period with Briar! On my way, I bumped into Houston.

"Hey, Houston," I said with a huge smile. He smiled back and waved, but said nothing, just walked on by. I frowned. He never does that. My heart sank a little and I almost felt like I was going to cry, but I just kept walking untill I got to Spanish. I took my seat next to Briar, who was already there, and turned to face him.

"Hello, Juliet," he said with a smile.

"Hey, Briar. What's up?"

"Oh, you know. Hey, I just want to make sure we're still up for tonight." He said to me with a warm smile.

"Yeah, of course. Dinner at my place and then out for a ride, right?" I asked, making sure I got the details right. His face lit up, so I took that as a yes.

"Of course. I'm really excited, Juliet. I don't think I've ever met a girl I've liked as much as you in such a short time." He stated. Whoa, did he just say that? Oh, my gosh. I think he did! Plus, it sounded even more sweet in his southern accent. I wanted to scream, but that would be just wrong and totally not cool. I smiled back and turned around to hear Melanie snickering behind me. Shoot, she heard that. And, I knew it was going to get back to Houston. Great, just great. Then, the bell dinged and Spanish started. It's no wonder I'm failing this class, because the minute he started taking attendance, I went off into daydream land again. Only this time, I was riding horses on the beach with Briar. Wait, what? Houston is the only one I've had that daydream with! But, as sad as it is, I think maybe, he's to far gone.