The Perfect Pitch

C H A P T E R 20

                          J U L I A N

Flash back,

I should blame it all on the alcohol or maybe it's just my wind pipe excuse for a mouth. I can barely see where I'm going to but all I know is that I'm at the pool with the others.

"Hey Reece, Can I turr you a secrr?" Andrew's words came out in a blur.

"What was that?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah sure" I gulped down another glass of Maddie's special juice.

"I miss Julian,shh" He shushed me "Don't tell anyone"

"Wanna know something?" I whispered.

"Mhm" He nodded. I used my hand to signal him to come closer.

"I'm not actually Jace, it's me Julian" I giggled and burped

"Huh?"

"I'm actually Julian, Jace is in Korea and I'm pretending to be him. I never went to New Orleans but I've been here all long"

"So you're saying that you're" He burped "Julian?" He asked

"Yes but shh don't tell anyone" I laughed

"I won't tell any....one" He slumped on the floor and zoned out. I collapsed on a lounge chair too and everything after that is a blur.

End of flashback

Oh my God, I did tell him my secret. Ok, calm down Julian, I bet he doesn't remember. I'm sure if he remembers, he would have said something about it. Andrew will look for every opportunity to ruin me.

I think I'll have to find out if he remembers because I won't be able to sleep if I know that he knows.

"So what did your mom say?" Darcey had an extremely worried look on her face when I came in.

"You can get rid of the worried look because it's my mom we're talking about here. What she says is not important" I opened her refrigerator and took a can of Dr pepper.

"But I still wanna know" She pouted

"I said I don't wanna talk about it" I yelled

"Sorry" I was struggling to open a can of Dr pepper, really?

"Why won't this stupid thing open?" I started pulling it with force and the thingy you use to open it came right off.

"Here, lemme help you" Darcey stretched her hand. I gave her the can and folded my arms to watch how she plans to open it when I broke it.

She took out a tin cutter and cut away  the top of the can. She opened it like a can of beans and poured it into a cup.

"Ok, how did you do that?" I asked in surprise

"With this" She pointed to her head "So now will you tell me what she said"

"No"

"Fine"

"Fine" There was akward silence.

"Can you believe the nerve of that woman? Suddenly caring about my absence from school? She has never been to any programme in our school. Since I was a little kid, I always wished that she'd at least check my report card but she never cared about any of that. You know what, she doesn't care about me leaving school, she's just worried about her reputation. What will her friends say if they found out that her child took a leave from school by lying about charity while the other was thrown on an airplane" I exhaled deeply "Wow, that felt really good"

"Thought you didn't wanna talk about it?" Darcey teased me

"Well I'm saying it now so shut up and tell me what to do"

"You know, you can't expect me to always be there to tell you what to do"

"Yeah I can, that is why you're my BFF. It's in the name, best friend for-ever" I said

"You're a nut job"

"Yeah yeah, now tell me what to do"

"Ok, first things first, you have to tell Maddie the truth. She might be of great help with all of the inside details of the team that you and I don't have access to"

"Do I really have to tell her? Jace is coming back like next week. Everything will go back to the way it used to be"

"Really? You really think things can go back to how they used to be? That can never happen Missy. Even if Jace comes back right now, the memories of this few weeks will forever live on and eventually someone else will still find out"

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you do have a point. I'll come up with something on how to tell Maddie the truth" I finished up my drink.

I exhaled deeply as I stared at the hallway of my school with a book clutched to my chest. No, I'm Jace, Why would a book be clutched to my chest? Why would I even be holding a book?

I have to somehow trick Laverne into telling me the truth. Andrew's at his locker talking to Whitney. Ok, this is perfect, I'll tell Whitney I wanna talk about football and she'll walk out as soon as I mention it.

"Hey Andrew, I..."

"Hey, you, stop, if you're here to talk about football" She pecked Andrew's cheek "Count me out"

Well that was easy.

"You guys are a couple again huh?" I asked him out of curiosity

"What's it to you carrot top? Do you see me asking about you and Maddie? By the way, I think she's going to dump you soon, she's been saying something about you not being active anymore but I'm sure you came to say something important or are you just wasting my time?"

"No of course not, I was wondering if you still have the bracelet I gave you when you were drunk"

Hey don't judge me, I can't just walk up to him and say 'Do you remember me telling you anything?'

"Bracelet? Dude, you wear bracelets?" He burst into laughter.

"No, they're for Julian. I don't know why I had it but I did and then I gave it to you while I was intoxicated. Do you happen to have it?"

"No, I can't even remember a shit that happened that night. That's the way it's always been, I never remember anything that happens when I'm drunk. I feel like it's good, like some kind of super power. I can easily forget drunk mistakes but then again it's messed up. What if a girl confesses to me? Or I take some girl I've been dying for to bed and I was intoxicated while I did it"

"So you don't remember borrowing five hundred bucks from me?" I'm so mischievous

"I did?" His jaw dropped. He reached into his back pocket and brought out five one hundred dollar bills.

"There you go" He handed it to me.

Normally, I'd feel bad for playing someone but it's just Andrew, I actually don't care. He's a rich guy, a conglomerate's son to be precise. He can buy an entire island if he wants to.

Alright, he doesn't remember but that doesn't mean that I'm off the hook. I have to still find a way to tell Maddie the truth. I gotta do it quick before I destroy the relationship she and Jace never had.

Maddie has always been in love with Jace but the fool's not ready. I feel like he needs to loose her or be on the verge of loosing her before he can truly appreciate her because guys don't see the magic in girls.

***

Thanks for this chapter.

~Peace.