“Wow,” I said and dragged both my hands through my hair.
Her chest huffed with each winded breath. She rested the back of her head against the cold passenger window and attempted to straighten out her hair but I could tell she was thinking of something. She quickly sprang for me and grabbed the collar of my shirt. She crushed her lips into mine with the same severity as before, but this time I resisted.
“No,” I said grabbing her shoulders.
“Yes,” she said pushing herself against me.
“No Jules.”
“Please Elliott.”
“Jules!” I yelled.
Her eyes popped open, startled. She sank into her seat, licked her lips and wiped her mouth with her thumb and index finger, pulling at her bottom lip. She ran her fingers through her hair and bit her thumb, her elbow resting on the door staring out of the window. I could see her reflection in the frosted glass and her eyes began to wet with tears.
“I’m sorry,” was all I could muster up.
The tears flowed more steadily and she opened her door without a word. She scrambled quickly to retrieve her bag. I jumped out of the truck and followed her up the porch steps to the front door.
“What are you doing Jules?” I asked desperately.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” She bellowed, the tears still coming, “I’m going to bed.”
“What happened? I don’t understand,” I said, racking my brain for an answer to the question of how this had turned so badly, so quickly.
Her hands trembled as she searched in the dark for her keys in the front pocket of her bag. When she found them she slid the key in the door and turned it. She walked in and left me standing on the porch without a word, without a second glance.
The whole way home, I kept trying to guess what I had done that so terribly offended her. Jules was dramatic but she had never been unreasonable, so I had to have done something pretty awful. I parked my truck and turned off the lights. I slid out of my truck and bounded up the steps to the kitchen. When I walked in, my mother and father were at the kitchen table.
“What’s wrong son?” My mom asked immediately.
Either I plainly wore my emotions on my face or it was a mother’s intuition, or maybe it was a little of both but she could tell something was up.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m going to bed. G’night.”
I tumbled into bed still wondering if it was the rejection but decided I needed some sleep and that maybe after a night’s rest Jules would come to her senses and talk to me.
The next morning, I ran to my truck once I was ready for school. I went to The Perry House and knocked on the door but no one answered. I went around back and Jules’ car wasn’t there. She’s already left for school? I raced down the road to Bluefield and saw flashing lights behind me.
Dang it! Danny! I said glancing in my rear view. Danny was my mom’s youngest brother.
“Danny, what do you want?” I asked impatiently.
“Nothin’ Elliott. Just want to know where the fire is?”
“I pissed off Jules somehow and she left for school without me,” I offered as an excuse.
He started chuckling and slapped me on the shoulder.
“Boy, you better get used to that. Women are funny like that,” he said.
He didn’t know Jules though. She wasn’t the type. We’d never had so much as a cross word since the day we got together, not seriously anyway.
“I think I really offended her though. It’s not just a girl thing,” I said, looking for advice, even from my ‘clueless about women Uncle Danny. How he married my lovely aunt Becky I will never know.
“Well, if you really did, then you should have a pretty good idea what happened that made her that way,” he said intelligently.
“I have an idea Danny.”
“Well, go fix it son but it’s better you get there in one piece. You hear me boy? Slow down!” He demanded in his best sheriff’s voice.
“Okay, I will. Thanks Danny.”
“Alright, bye Elliott.”
“Wait! Uncle Danny?”
“Yes Elliott?”
“Don’t mention this to my mom. Please?” I pleaded.
“Mention what?” He said with a wink while walking back to his cruiser.
I started back toward Bluefield, this time at a snail’s pace. When I finally got to school, the parking lots were pretty full. I drove around Lot A, where Jules’ car would be and saw it parked toward the front. I had to drive to the other side of campus to my lot and was almost late for my first class. I was going to have to wait until lunch to see her.
I paid little to no attention in Economics or Algebra. I only faintly remember Mr. Cook calling on me in Algebra and asking me if I’d forgotten to turn in my homework. He had counted one short and called out everybody’s names on the headings to take attendance and find out who skipped out. I apologized and handed it in. I sat back down and zoned out again. I was okay with having to teach myself the lesson later from my book.
After second period, I walked into the lunch room and Jules wasn’t there. Damn it Jules! What is going on? I sat down next to Jesse. I was still slightly bitter about Jesse’s date with Jules, not to mention his strange new behavior spilling out of the woodwork. I regretted his getting to know Jules more because, ironically, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be friends with him anymore.