Before You Leave

31. Julia

I wasn't speaking to Gideon, and he wasn't speaking to me. I didn't blame him after last night. I was a bitch and a half.

I threw on a white crop top and baggy overalls and then threw on Gideon's hoodie. Then, grabbed my phone and my suitcase. As I walked out and into the living room, where Gideon was on his laptop, I looked around awkwardly as I say, "I'm going to my dads."

"'Kay," he says, acting as if he didn't care.

I sighed. "You're always welcome to come," I remind him. "My dad actually like you—"

"I'm good. I'll see you in two days."

I groaned. "Gideon, stop. Now is not the time to be petty. It's Christmas! It's, like, illegal to be a petty jackass on Christmas."

He looked up from his computer. "I'm not the jackass here."

"Look, all I wanted was some privacy," I say, shoving down the guilt that rose in the back of my throat. "You were coming with me to my dads anyway and now your not because of some stupid fight?"

"I don't care if you want to go out with your friends, JJ." He didn't say Juliette. "But I would at least like to know where you went or who you were with. I was worried. You left me on delivered for three hours before you got home. I didn't know anything, JJ."

"Yeah, well, you're not my dad and you don't need to know where I am 24/7."

"Why are you being like this?" He asks. "It wasn't like this before."

"Before what, Gideon? Before your birthday? Why does it matter? If you're in love with me, then why should it matter how I'm acting? I am the same person I have always been."

"No, you aren't. I've seen you change—"

"I've said from the very beginning, Gideon!" I yell, my voice straining. "I don't want to change!" I slowly pronounced each word so he finally got the idea.

"Then I don't want to go to Tennessee with you."

"Fine," I say, rolling my eyes as I clutch the handle. "See you in two days. Your birthday-slash-Christmas present is on my dresser," I muttered as I opened the door and quickly shut it close behind me.

With no ride, I had to get inventive.

I leaned against the door of our apartment and dug our my phone from my back pocket and dialed the only person who I knew wouldn't be busy today.

Alexei answered one the third ring. I heard his yawn before I heard him say, "Hello?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

I envisioned him smirking as he says, "You're asking me for favors now? Are you sure we aren't dating, darling?" I could hear his bed creak as he got up. I rolled my eyes.

"What's in it for me?" He asks.

"A nice place to stay and a lot of food?" I offer.

"Shouldn't Gideon be reaping these benefits?" He asked teasingly.

I didn't say anything.

He sighed. "How far?"

"Gatlinburg, Tennessee?" I tell him, my voice high with uncertainty that he would take me.

I heard him mutter a curse. "I don't know if my car holds that much gas in it." He sounded like he was lying.

I knew Alexei didn't have a lot of money. Was that was this was about?

"I'll pay for your gas, I don't care, just please. I need to see my father."

"Okay," he sighed. "Fine, I'll try. Give me fifteen minutes to shower. I'll see you in thirty. Alright?"

"Thank you," I said, relief entering my voice.

"Don't be late," he says. "Again."

———————

I waited outside of the school, on the grand steps, for thirty minutes. Alexei was on time, as always, and parked the car as close as he could to me.

I shivered in my hoodie as I stood and dragged my suitcase to the car. I tossed it in his back seat as then slid into the passenger seat.

"Care to tell me why I'm getting up at six in the morning for a girl I barely know?" He sighs, one hand on top of the wheel and the other on the armrest.

"Not really."

He backed out of the school and emerged into the abandoned road.

"Well, how about why I'm driving you all the way to Gatlinburg then?" He raises an eyebrow, awaiting my response.

I leaned back in the seat. "I haven't seen my dad for about..," I counted in my head, "three, maybe four months? And I've decided to stop being petty and see him."

"You? Petty?" He grinned. "Never."

I snorted as Alexei turned the vehicle onto the highway.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, our eyes trained on the road, but it eventually got the best of him.

"And how is the ass wipe this morning?" He asks, rubbing his eye with his free hand. He drove a little fast, but it was less reckless than what I expected. I wasn't going to tell him how to drive. He took time out of his day to do this for me.

"Gideon's fine," I sighed.

He smirked as he looked over at me. "So you're fighting then?"

My eyes went back to the road as I crossed my arms and tried to relax.

"What's wrong with the couple of the hour?"

"What are you? A teenage girl with nothing better to do than gossip?" I glare at him, propping my feet up on the dash.

It was cold, especially since he didn't have a hood on his car. I kept jerking every few seconds from cold chills.

"Could you put your hood up please?" I ask in a sigh, my jaw starting to jump up and down.

He snorted. "I would. If there was a good to put up. It's a cheap car, Juliette," he tells me. "I do not get all the benefits that those like you and your beloved do." He said beloved somewhat bitterly. "And I do not have the luxury of a nice car."

Awkward...

"I don't have a car," I inform him. "My parents never trusted me enough to have one. I've been drinking ever since I was fourteen. Smoked for a few years. Did a few drugs here and there." I sighed a deep sigh. "So no car."

"I pity you," he deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm rich, Alexei. Why does that mean so much to you?"

"Rich people are all the same. They're like Gideon."

"And what about me?"I ask, turning on my side to see him better.

"What about you?"

"I'm rich. But I'm not a stuck up asshat like you think all of us are, am I?"

"You are you, Julia. You do not count," he informs me.

I let surprise enter my features, but I decided to ignore the nickname and smoothed back down my features. "I am me? I'm a bitch."

He grinned. "You're honest. And you're a fighter. You aren't who you think you are."

"Again, you barely know me, Alexei."

He chuckled darkly, but didn't tell me what he was laughing about.

"What?" I asked.

"I'll tell you someday," was all he said.