Juliana

14. Man, I'm a jerk

*About a month later*

"Hey honey!" My mom said as I walked in the garage door from school. She was in the kitchen cooking, just like she always was. "How was school?"

"Horrible as usual. I failed my calculus test. I swear that Mrs. Vick is just trying to fail everyone in the class." I plopped down on the bar stool. "I mean, she asked questions on that test that weren't even in the book!"

"Son, you better get used to it. Most professors in college are like that."

"Well. It's ridiculous. The woman doesn't know how to teach, and my GPA is going to tank because of her."

"What if we hired a tutor? Would that help?" My dad asked. He was sorting through the mail on the counter.

"Yes, Sir. I'm willing to try anything at this point. Whatcha cooking, Mama?"

"I'm baking a chicken and cheese casserole for the Keatings." She put a glass dish in the oven.

"Why? You guys know that I'm not exactly on speaking terms with Juliana, right?"

"Yeah... Robbie and Juliana got in a big fight and now they aren't talking. Robbie's mad at her, and he's called her bad words." Danny said, running into the kitchen.

"Robert James!" Mom gave me the glare.

"What!"

"You are to respect that girl, even if she does something to make you angry, Sir." Dad said sternly. "And let me give you a hint, Son, derogatory terms are not how you do that."

"Yes, Sir."

"Juliana may have stuff going on in her life that you don't know about. If you actually read the church email blasts, you would know that Mr. Keating and their entire family was put on the prayer chain requests. Mr. Keating is dying of cancer, and he's not expected to not live much longer." Dad said before walking out of the room.

"You need to be praying for Juliana and her family, whether you two are on speaking terms or not."

"I'll be back later." I grabbed my keys to my truck of the granite counter and walked out the door.

To say I had been a jerk to Juliana here recently was an understatement. I had been a total asshole. I was ashamed of myself, and now, I had to apologize to her, in person, before I went absolutely out of my mind. How could I have been so mean to her?

I pulled out of the driveway. Just an apology wasn't going to be enough to tell Juliana how sorry I was; I probably needed something more than that. I just didn't know what exactly it what to get her.

I flicked the radio on at the stoplight. It was on my favorite country station.

"Men: have you messed up recently? Have you been an idiot? Have you done something that you regret? Have you treated your woman wrong? Don't worry any longer. We have found the perfect formula for you to get things back to normal between you two. Okay? Girls love comfort food when they're upset. Get your woman her favorite candy. She'll see that you care, and she'll come back to you!"

Hm. That didn't sound like such a bad idea actually. These jokers on the radio knew what they were talking about. I chuckled a little to myself. Now, I just had to get Juliana's favorite candy.

I drove for a few more minutes before turning into the parking lot of the local grocery store.

I parked my truck, grabbed my wallet out of the center console, and walked inside.

You can do this, Robbie. You know you messed up, and now, you gotta fix it.

I grabbed a basket and walked to the candy isle. This couldn't be this hard. All I needed was a box of Everlasting Gobstoppers.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket. I took it out only to see yet another text from The Crazy Creepy Lunatic.

The Crazy Creepy Lunatic: ROBBIE! Video chat me ASAP! I got stuff to tell you! It's exciting news too! :DDDD

Oh, for the love of God. I just wanted her to leave me alone. I looked up from my phone and scanned the candy isle, completely ignoring the text.

Gobstoppers...... gobstoppers.... My eyes scanned the shelves, searching high and low for just one box of them.

Finally, after a few minutes of looking, I found a box. It was hidden behind some of the other candy, but I found them eventually.

On my way to the check-out lane, I passed the floral department. I paused for a second and studied the flowers.

Would it be a little too weird if I got her flowers too? I mean, we weren't even dating... yet. I thought to myself as I sat there looking at the various bouquets that were lined up in the cases.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Patterson?" Carole, one of the employees, asked me. Everybody knew who everybody was in good ole Star.

"Well. I'm not sure really. See, I really like this girl, and I messed up really bad with her. I just can't decide if I should get her flowers or not. We're not even friends at this point, and we've never dated. I just don't want to come across as too... creepy...." Like Kylie.... I added silently in my head.

"You got yourself a sticky situation right there, son. Flowers are a nice gesture. If you were to get her some, stay away from the red roses—that would come across as a little too creepy. I'd go with maybe some yellow roses or some daisies."

"You got any of those?"

"Here's some yellow roses." She handed me a bouquet of flowers. "Be good to that girl, Robbie. I'm sure she's a good one!"

***

I paid for everything, and then I walked back out to my truck. I put the box of Gobstoppers and the bouquet of flowers in the passenger seat. I cranked my truck up and just sat there for a few minutes.

I looked down at my gauge board and shook my head. Juliana's picture belonged there.... Not Kylie's.

Apparently, God knew that I wasn't dating Kylie for the right reasons, and he was using her creepiness to get back at me. I laughed. God sure did have a since of humor, and boy did it make me crack up.

I looked at my Bible that was always on top of my dashboard, unless I was using it. I had been a jerk here recently, and I felt wrong—that was because my behavior recently was wrong. Jesus would never have treated someone the way I had been treating Juliana.

I shifted my truck into drive and started the drive to Juliana's. Of course, there were a million red lights and stop signs on the way.

Juliana was worth this though. I wanted her back in my life. She was cool and kinda weird, in a good way. She was funny and silly, but she could be serious. She was relaxed and laid back. Most of all, she was an awesome friend.

And for some reason, I had decided to be one of the biggest jerks to her. Why? I'd never know. I just knew that I had to fix it... somehow.

I pulled into Juliana's driveway and cut the ignition.