Juliet Won't Wait Forever

(7) - Juliet

Chapter 7

I watch Riley burn the weed in distaste, and I press down the handkerchief on my nose even more. If the sight of it already makes me queasy, what more the horrid smell?

Once he’s finished, he sits down next to me on the abandoned ice freezer, this old rusted rectangular block of metal that’s stationed in the alley hidden behind the bar. We’re both feeling utterly deflated, and I have the sudden urge to cry.

What on earth did I do?

No matter how hard I try, how hard I try to not think back to the night of the Halloween party, I can’t. His face as he shoved me away when I finally found him after half an hour of searching the place for him is imprinted on my mind.

I put my face in my hands, fighting the tears and the despair that wanted to ebb out of my body.

That night, I was so happy and excited to bring Pete to him. I already had everything set up: Pete was to come onstage with his new band despite the ridiculous amount of musicians much better than him partying on the dance floor. He was supposed to call us out and dedicate some song to us and everything was supposed to be great – but then my ex showed up.

I’m pretty sure Aaron read me wrong and got the message that Jeremy – seriously Jeremy freakin’ Miles – was the one I was looking for rather than Pete. But goddammit, how could he forget that I kicked the guy in the balls? I think that’s a rite of passage into everlasting hatred.

As Jeremy popped out of nowhere and made eye contact with me while we were dancing, Aaron looked at me accusingly, and yes, maybe I was a bit irritated with him for implying such things (hence the face I may or may not have made), but never on earth would I have thought that it was capable of breaking his heart.

Not that I think I broke it, I may have more of frozen it.

“What do we do now?” I ask Riley. He moved from the freezer while I wasn’t looking, and now he’s pacing in front of me, his fist pressed to his mouth. If this whole personality-switch thing is hard on me, I can’t even comprehend what it must feel like to be Riley. The guy practically lost his best friend.

And it’s my fault.

Which is why I’m hanging behind the campus bar rather than studying for my Spanish test, ‘cause the least I could do for the guy was help him get the old Aaron back in any way I can. Besides, I want him back myself; this time, I’m going to make sure that he knows it.

Riley groans and squats down to the ground, the palms of his hands pressed to his eyes. “You know, I actually have no idea.” He takes a breath. “Whenever I’m in these scenarios I always call Aaron up. It isn’t really an option I have right now.”

With that statement, my heart starts hurting once again.

Backtrack to second grade I first met Aaron Kennedy. He was, needless to say, a complete sweetheart. I’m not sure if he remembers, but knowing him it’s most likely that he does: I hated him. Maybe it’s programmed into girls’ minds to be mean to the boys they find cute when they’re younger, or maybe it’s playing hard to get at six years old; either way, I made it known that I didn’t like him when the only thing my little heart desired was to receive a red heart-shaped card from him on Valentine’s Day.

Guess what? I got one.

Contrary to popular belief, childhood crushes are extremely unforgettable. They can either lead to happy, sappy memories you recall every once in a while, or long-term attachments that can’t seem to fade away because you’re never given the chance to forget said crush. I acquired the latter.

For more than ten years of my life, I’ve been crushing on Aaron, and not once have I acted upon it. I’ve got a knack for hiding my feelings very well, being an actress myself, and all this time I’ve covered up all because I can’t seem to find the right time/place/event to let it known to him that I’ve always liked him I’ve always noticed him in the halls I like the way he bites on his pencils even if I find it gross on other people I practically died the day he asked me to prom I danced around my room when I found out we were both going to Lisbourne and

I’ve played his cover about a million times already.

That cover sparked something within me. It’s why I called Pete up and asked him about what I should do, and he laughed at me and told me that I would know what to do on my own. So eventually I called Em and told her about my brilliant plan of inviting Pete over to play at the party, which, as I now know, must’ve been gossip that spread like wildfire. Because of that, Aaron’s supposed ‘rejection’ spread like wildfire too.

I don’t know the grotesque details of the rumor, but Em likes to hint some at me occasionally, trying to make me spill the true reason Aaron left the Halloween party five hours too early. I’d tell her the story any time, but Riley doesn’t want word going out like that yet, ‘cause he’s pretty sure that once it enters Em’s ears, it’s going to enter everyone else’s.

And then I realize.

“Are you sure I can’t tell Em what really happened on that night? It’s much easier,” I tell him imploringly.

He stands up to his full height and leans his back on the freezer. “Easier compared to what?”

“Well, it’s either we do something, or we don’t do anything at all,” I say. “Witnessing what just happened, I’m sure both of us know better than to risk giving him time. So I was thinking…”

Riley raised his eyebrow in response.

“What if I recorded a response to his cover of Check Yes Juliet?”