Prank War

Chapter 27: Surprise?

My eyes widen as I take in Julian at my door. His hair is it's usual messy mop and he's still wearing the clothes from today, jeans and a black tee. I cough and look away, blushing that I found myself checking him out.

"W-what are you doing here?" I cough out as I bring my gaze back to Julian's perfect face.

He smiles and holds up the bag "Vanessa told me you went home sick and I thought I'd bring you some soup. I hope you don't mind" he says and I shrug.

"Not really, come in" I say, stepping aside to let him in. By the look on Julian's face I know he can tell my house isn't that impressive, especially compared to his massive one. I close the door behind him and lead him toward the living room where Anchorman is still paused.

"You seemed like you were having fun" he comments, taking in the mess of popcorn and wrappers as well as the mountain of blankets piled on the beige couch.

I laugh, rubbing the back of my neck as I steer him onto the loveseat next to the couch while I pick up my mess "Yeah, excuse the mess" I say as I dump all the wrappers in the trash bin.

"Anchorman?" Julian asks as he realizes the movie that's paused on the screen. I smile.
"Yeah, I love that movie. I've seen it at least a million times" I say, feeling an embarrassed blush rise to my tanned cheeks.

Julian smiles cheekily "Me too! It's one of my favorites" he says and my smile widens.

"Well I hope you don't mind that it's halfway through the movie already, but you are free to join in" I say nervously, rubbing my arm awkwardly.

Julian shrugs "Why not?" He says but he stands up. When he catches my confused gaze he smirks and sits down next to me on the couch and pulls the bag he brought with him closer to him. Digging through it, he pulls out a Thermos and a package of granola bars. He hands me the Thermos while opening the box, pulling out two granola bars. He tosses one to me while opening the other one.

I stare at him "Aren't you afraid of getting sick?" I ask, motioning to how he's so close to me our thighs are almost touching.

His gaze is scrutinizing as he stares into my face. I shy away slightly "Autumn, we both know you're not really sick" he says and I look down.

"How do you know that?" I challenge

"Autumn, don't even try. It's obvious you just decided to ditch school. Why?" he says and I sigh.

I turn my head so I'm staring at the unmoving screen, still frozen on the scene for the past 10 minutes. I can feel Julian's gaze burning a hole in the side of my head. Sucking in a breath I turn my head to face Julian's smoldering gaze.
"Julian?" I say, thinking of how to word my next phrase.

"What now, Autumn?" he says, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

I turn so I'm staring at the metal Thermos in my hand, the heat of the soup seeping through and into the palms of my hand. Memories of what Vanessa told me during lunch are floating through my mind as I open my mouth.
"You remember what happened at the party, don't you?" I say slowly and I hear him suck in a breath. I brace myself for his next words.
"Yeah, I do" he admits a bit sheepishly.

I look up at him, taken aback by the guilt and sadness in his eyes. My look softens slightly. "Why didn't you say so?" I ask.

Julian averts his eyes, bringing his gaze to the half eaten granola bar in his hand. "Well when you first asked me, I panicked. I definitely wasn't drunk enough to forget what happened but I didn't want to make things awkward between us and you looked so... embarrassed by what happened" he says and my eyes prickle slightly.

"Julian, I wasn't embarrassed. I wanted to forget because it'd make things awkward and we're fri--" My voice is cut off by Julian's proximity. My eyes widen slightly. 

"Julian, wha--" my sentence is ended abruptly once again as he attaches his lips to mine.

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Another short cliffhanger chapter because I just love those. Anyways I planned out at least the next ten chapters last night and my writer's block is gone. I think today's a double update because I'm feeling proud of my work. I'm seeing a kiddy movie today so yay?

Sorry for all the short chapters. The next few chapters are going to be mostly plot. I've had a lot of fillers recently and I don't want to get too far away from the plot. And the pranking!

Song of the chapter... Miss Jackson by Panic! At the Disco. If I repeat a song, don't get mad. I've lost track of all the songs I've been playing :P