Unapologetically, Juliet

Chapter Eight

"NO, no, the period goes on the inside of quotes if someone's speaking." Inwardly, I laughed manically at Pierce's frustrated groan. He sat at my kitchen table with his laptop open and his hair sticking out in every direction because of how many times he'd run his fingers through it in irritation.

"Does it really matter, Jules? If you'd just done this for me, I would've already been home by now." He clicked his tongue as he leaned his head back against the rickety wooden chair he always sat on whenever he was over. He said it was his favorite because there were fish carved into the legs.

"You wouldn't learn anything that way," I responded as a knock sounded on my door. I'd completely forgotten all about the plans I'd made with Saber. Shit.

"Is that Trixi, or Shel?" Pierce questioned, while I made my way to the door and pulled it open.

"Neither. This is my friend, Saber. Saber, this is my little brother, Pierce." I introduced them quickly as Saber made a beeline for my kitchen setting down the armful of groceries he had.

"Nice to meet you!" Saber preoccupied himself with unpacking the three bags he'd carried up from his car.

"Wow, Jules. I didn't think you had any other friends." Pierce never pulled any punches. He always said what was on his mind too, except that he almost never got in trouble for it like I did.

"I do too," I defended, probably quicker than necessary. "Besides, what about Grimm?"

Pierce scoffed. "He doesn't count. He's part of the same family."

Saber walked around into the dining area where I leaned over Pierce and made a few more corrections that had him frowning like I'd ruined the whole paper. He watched us for a few seconds, before he stood next to me to see the computer too.

"What're you working on?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Juliet was supposed to proofread my paper, but she's practically making me do it on my own!" Pierce pushed himself out of his chair and stomped around the living room a little, touching all the plants to make sure none of them were fake.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "If you just get back over here, we only have three more pages left, and then I'm finished torturing you."

Pierce shot me a dirty look, but at least he quit arguing with me. He almost threw a tantrum earlier, when I'd told him we were going to work together on it. But it was the compromise I made with myself after he first asked me. If he wanted my assistance, he was gonna put in some of the leg work too.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." He sat back down and looked over the four pages of notes I'd written down on the things he'd needed to change or edit.

"Is it okay if I steal your sister for a few minutes?" Saber asked, putting his hands on my shoulders and guiding me around the corner and into the kitchen, where the only thing that separated us from where Pierce stared blankly at his computer was the long prep counter.

"As long as you don't make out while I'm here," my brother deadpanned from where he sat with his back to us. I felt my face flame red at his comment, but Saber looked entirely unaffected.

"Great. So, yesterday we mostly just went over safety, and Chef told us about the types of bacteria and diseases that can be found in restaurants. But I had this idea, that I could show you a few techniques I learned from my dad. How do you feel about fish?"

"I like to catch them," I answered immediately.

"Right," Pierce spoke up from the other side of the counter. "More like, you're the only one who doesn't want to claw your own eyes out being on a boat in the middle of Sloane's Lake with Dad for twelve hours. He's the one who does the actual fishing."