chase.

1.2

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chapter two - but i can't stay lost forever

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Juliette was only alone when she chose to be, and that was very often. She found she never really craved to be surrounded by masses of people, all spewing their own versions of the truth. After all, everyone was born and would die the same; alone. There were days when she felt lonely, and those were the days she often sought out comfort in other people. There were a number of days when she felt destructive and closed off entirely, purely because she knew if she didn't, she'd destroy someone else, along with herself.

By this logic, Juliette didn't know what carried her legs over to his table that day, and why she sat down and tried to have a conversation. She was almost thankful when her brain snapped back into action as his best friend wandered over, quickly realising she could've messed up immensely. Thinking back on it, she'd messed up anyway.

Her first mistake was meeting his eyes. She found herself entranced by flecks of gold, brought out but the sunshine on a July day. Her second mistake had been making him smile, or even making him laugh. The sound waves of it sent a shock right through her heart, leaving her dazed. He was beautiful, and she couldn't deny that, with his curly hair and bright green eyes. He was almost the opposite of her, his features alive in the best of ways. At that moment, she'd picked a random topic to bother him with, not even slightly caring as to if it was true or not. She was amused, to say the least, at how uninterested he was in her topic of conversation, and how little attention he seemed to be paying- a brutal sign that he was aware of her reputation. After all, infamy had a way of ruining everything good before it had even started. That being said, she found herself relatively confused as to why Chase Anderson, who she was sure hated her anyway, stood behind her, a hint of recognition and a smile on his face.

"Chase. Hi." She smiles politely, turning to face him. "What're you doing here?"

He pockets his hands, toying with his keys and choking on his words slightly. "Ah, I was on my way home, but I thought I saw you. Wanted to say I'm sorry about earlier, at lunch." He chuckles nervously and leans back against the hood of his car, shooting her a smile.

"You didn't do anything" she pauses to laugh softly, glancing down at her hands and back at him "I just figured I should let you and Nicholas have a word."

"You didn't need to, he wouldn't have minded if you were there." He shrugs "It's just Nicholas."

She pauses, glancing at him and then hums to herself, mumbling almost inaudibly. "Yeah, it's just Nicholas."

"D'ya want a ride home?" He questions, toying with the car keys in his pocket, silently praying she'd say yes so he could drag out the conversation a little longer.

"I don't want to bother you, it's okay. I'm okay to get home."

"Nah, don't worry. Come on, hop in." He smiles at her and she glances at him with a weary look. She sighs, defeated by his smile and stands up, holding up a finger and pressing a couple of buttons on her phone, lifting it to her ear. She waits for a couple of seconds. "Hi, I'll be alright getting home. No- Yes i'm fine, jeez, just catching up with a friend." She smiles slightly, and hangs up the phone before the other person could say anything, letting out a small laugh at the confusion plastered on the face of the boy standing opposite her. "Sorry. My brother is a bit persistent at times." He chuckles at this, slowly and unlocks the car, opening the passenger door and bowing slightly.

"Understandable. After you, my lady." He laughs and so does she, hopping up onto the leather seat, strapping her seatbelt on almost mechanically. He closes her door with a charming smile and jogs around to the other side, humming to himself all the while. Somewhere along the way he decides to postpone taking her home and when he slides the keys into the ignition, he decides on ice cream at the park.