Romeo And Julian (Part Two)

Chapter Nine

Julian walked into History ten minutes late and handed a pass to Mr Washington. He looked at the note, then gestured for Julian to sit down.

"Thank you, Mr Athens. It's nice to see that you're ok. We were getting worried with you not coming to class." He said to the boy. "I'll give you the due date on the assignments you missed."

"That won't be necessary." Julian said. "I completed all the papers while I was out."

Handing a folder to Mr Washington, Julian walked to his seat. The professor smiled softly. "It's nice to see we've got the old you back. I almost feel like I don't need to grade these."

The period went quick as I watched Julian. He hasn't been talking to people nearly as much, not even the academic team or myself (Not that I'm keeping tabs on him). He only talks to Henry, but that boy won't tell anyone what's going on with Julian.

"Hey, buddy!" I called, running up behind Julian after class. "What's been going on? We haven't gotten a lot of time to talk recently."

"Umm, yeah, sorry about that. I've been busy. Lot of stuff to do." Julian explained (Explained being a generous word for it).

He didn't look ok. Pale skin, bags under his eyes, and what he was wearing just didn't fit him. Instead of his usual clean cut look, dress shirts and sweaters and bowties, he has has on a hoodie and sweatpants. Sweatpants of all things.

"What's going on? Julian, you need to talk to us." I said.

It looked as if he could hear how concerned I was, but he closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't."

"Why not?! Why won't you talk to anyone besides Henry? Why hasn't Warren come to school in days? And don't even try telling me it's a coincidence, I'm not a fool." I stated.

"That's arguable." Julian said. "Look, I get that you're worried, but everything is fine. It's all ok."

He almost sounded like he was convincing himself. He didn't even give me a chance to say something, rushing off to the gym. Fine, I get it (I'm not upset at all). I'll get answers after school.

I was at the last class of the day, waiting desperately for the bell to ring. Henry was sitting a few rows up, he was part of my plan. Around me, everyone was just doing whatever work they had left, and I was just waiting for that stupid bell.

"Romeo." Chris whispered over to me. "What are you thinking about, bro?"

I shook my head a little and smiled. "Nothing, I just need to do something later."

"Hey, if you need help, you know who to call." He laughed.

And the bell finally rang (Finally!!). I ran over to Henry just as he was leaving the room. "Hey there, bud."

The boy smiled at me. "Hi, Romeo. What's up?"

"I was curious about where Warren lives. He hasn't been to school all week and I just want to make sure he's ok."

Henry hesitated, but with a sigh, he took out his phone and texted me the contact info and address. "There. Anything else?"

"I... Can you please tell me what's going on with Juli~"

"I don't have the right to talk about it." He snapped. "If Julian wants to tell you, he will."

And with that, the boy stormed away. Well, I guess I've got to find out what's happening myself.

I went down to my car and got in, setting my GPS to Warren's house and turning my Punk Goes Pop playlist on. It didn't take more than ten minutes or so to make it over, and I realized that Warren lived right by Julian. Maybe I'll stop by later.

With a knock at the door, I waited for a few moments, expecting some middle aged parents or Warren himself to answer the door, but instead it was a girl that looked to be in her early to mid twenties. Her light blonde hair was slightly wavy and made her blue eyes glow brightly.

"I- umm... Is this Warren Radcliffe's place?" I asked, still a little shocked at this girl.

She laughed a little and smiled. "Yeah, this is Warren's place. I'm Macy, his sister."

We shook hands I introduced myself, then Macy led me inside. She walked over to one of the doors and knocked quietly a few times.

"Warren. You've got a friend her for you." She said gently as she opened the door a little. "Are you ok if I let him in?"

"I don't care..." I heard Warren mutter, his voice muffled.

Macy opened the door all the way so I could walk in. The room was filled with instruments and soccer paraphernalia, but was messy and unorganized. A guitar was sitting next to Warren's bed, the strings were either disconnected or frayed, and clothes were all over the place.

"Hey there, Warren. Buddy." I said quietly as I walked in. "What happened? Why aren't you coming to school?"

He looked up from his pillow for just a moment and instantly looked like he was going to cry. "Why'd you come here..?"

"I was worried. You're usually always around, and nobody's heard from you in days." I explained.

"I don't care." His head went back into the pillow. "I ruined everything, and I don't even know how..."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

My heart hurt to hear the soft sobbing coming from the usually happy and upbeat guy. He was always cheering on the soccer team and went to the student council meetings and was just kind to everyone he met. What broke him?

I sat down next to him and gently rubbed his back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset yo~"

"Julian left me..."

My heart stopped. "H-he did what?! Why!?" I couldn't help but feel sorry for Warren. He didn't deserve to suffer, and I know that he loved Julian.

"He wouldn't tell me..." The boy cried. He leaned up and looked at me. "You didn't know..?"

"No, Julian hasn't been talking to anyone recently." I told Warren. "He's cut himself off from everyone but Henry."

Warren looked down for a second, his eyes blank as tears started to fill them again. Before I knew it, he fell on me, crying and trying to breath. What is going on? Julian, what happened?