Maybe Something More

06 | finally falling for romeo

JULIETTE
____________________

CALL IF YOU need anything, he'd said.

And ever since then, I'd fought the urge to call him, telling him that I needed him. I felt like I was going out of my mind, not talking or seeing Ayden for this long. In fact, after he'd lectured me about how he loves me, I began counting the hours and minutes that I haven't spoken to him since.

It's been roughly 336 hours and 13 minutes now, and this entire time, I had been debating on whether or not I should call or even text him, my thumb hovering over his contact and just awaiting to press 'call' or 'send a message'.

"Goddammit!" I cursed rather loudly as I threw my phone at the beanbag chair across the room. "Why did he have to be such a—!"

Cutting me off, my mom peeked around my door, looking worried but also amused.

"Now, now," she chastised. "Young ladies shouldn't swear. Not out loud, anyways, no matter how much of an idiot a person is."

"I know!" I groaned as I collapsed onto my bed from a sitting position. "I haven't seen him in three days and I feel like I'm gonna go nuts if I don't see him, but I'm scared."

I looked over at my mom, hoping she would give me good advice. "Mom," I said. "What should I do?"

"Juliette," she began as she seated herself next to me on my bed, "I know that you love him. Even your dad knows. Michelle knows. Chris knows. Even your cousin Aubrey? She knows, too. Sweetie, I think you're the only person who doesn't know you love Ayden." Mom swept a portion of my hair to the side of my forehead. And asked:

"Is it because you're afraid of falling in love?"

There it was. The dreaded question. Maybe I was afraid of falling in love – I probably was. The thought of giving my heart away to someone who wouldn't give it back was the scariest thing ever, and heartbreak would be an evident part of the equation.

"So... maybe I am," I said in a deflated voice. "But how do I know that he won't break my heart? This is Ayden we're talking about—most popular guy in school, won every girl over, and he always made a point to tell me how Annalise Greier had dubbed him the hottest guy in school and I—"

"Honey," Mom said as she gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You love Ayden—the one that took you out to the mall whenever you wanted, the one that tutored you when you were failing Trig, and the one who would wait patiently for you no matter what. Juliette, you love Ayden. You didn't fall in love with his popularity."

"But still," I countered. "How can I be sure—?"

"Did you not hear a single word I said?" Mom shook her head at me. "He waited for you, Juliette. He knew how many boys have asked you out, but he still waited."

Waited? I don't get it. What did Mom mean when she said that Ayden was 'waiting' for me? Waiting for me to what, exactly?

Sensing my confusion, Mom pointed over to the bouquet of begonias that Ayden had gotten me, which laid near my windowsill with the other flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons with 'Get Better Soon' inscribed on them. "Read it," she said before she left the room.

I remembered Ayden saying that he had written something along with the flowers, so I carefully picked the bouquet up and snatched up the little envelope attached there with my name hand-written in his looping cursive.

Opening the envelope, I let a small smile weave itself into my face as I read through his letter.

My dearest Juliette,