Jerome and Mara made up. Gag. Juliana had the luck to walk in at the exact moment the pair kissed. Juliana saw them together, wondered about what Jerome had said the previous night to Willow, and then turned and walked straight back out into the hall, into Eddie.
"Sorry Jewel." He apologized.
She laughed. "It's fine." She lowered her voice. "I'm glad none of us got in major trouble last night. Even Patricia turned up okay."
Eddie nodded. "Definitely. Hey do you know where Fabian and KT and Patricia are anyway? I want to go into the tunnels and check something out."
"No idea…when are you going to fill me in on what happened at the mental place last night anyhow? None of you explained anything to me."
"On the way. C'mon. Let's round up the gang."
They found Alfie first, and then managed to get everyone else.
"Why are going now? It's still school." KT pointed out.
"That's why it's the best time. No one's around." Juliana clarified and they all walked on.
They ended up in a crypt, and bats fluttered their wings and soared above them, freaking Juliana out, and she cowered into Fabian's chest.
Another fear of hers, bats. She had gone camping with Fabian and Amber once, and while Amber complained about nature, Juliana was freaking out over the bats. Maybe it was Fabian's fault, for telling Juliana vampire stories at their sleepovers in primary school.
They were stuck in the crypt.
"We can only hope Alfie and Patricia will rescue us." Eddie sighed, sitting down next to KT, and noticed she was freezing. He took his jacket off and placed it over her shoulders. He looked across the room to see how the others were doing and noticed Juliana sleeping soundly, her head resting on Fabian's shoulder, his coat draped over her as a blanket.
Eddie met eyes with Fabian and sighed, looking towards the entrance of the crypt, waiting for help to come. Which did come thanks to Alfie.
Juliana stood and gave the jacket back over to Fabian and smiled awkwardly at him before leaving first. There was a Sibuna meeting later, but Juliana avoided it, instead focusing on all her homework and projects for the next week and a half. At about 8, she realized she'd forgotten her literature textbook in her locker, and headed to the school to retrieve it.
She was only doing it to avoid Sibuna though. She didn't know why, but she just didn't feel like going. Maybe because without Nina and Amber things just weren't the same. She heard noises coming from the rec. room again after she got her book and peeked in to look, and came across Jerome and Willow kissing.
She dropped her book in shock, causing the pair to break apart and look in her direction. Juliana sprinted away before they could see her though, leaving her book behind.
Jerome crossed over to the doorway and noticed the textbook on the floor. He picked up and studied it, then looked out into the hall, wondering how the book had gotten there…if anyone had seen. But he put the book into his bookbag, shrugging, and went back to Willow.
Juliana was sprinting across campus, thoughts racing through her head, hurting both her head and her heart.
"He's cheating on Mara…" she rasped as she came to rest against a tree to catch her breath. She shut her eyes. Jerome wasn't worth it after all…he was cheating again…and this time he didn't have the excuse of his girlfriend suffering from a case of amnesia to protect him.
She felt her neck and felt no chain. She remembered she no longer wore the necklace. Juliana wondered where it had gone. Had she destroyed it in her whirlwind of rage when she broke up with Jerome? Did she throw it at him or something? Did Rufus steal it? She honestly couldn't remember, and not knowing made her uncomfortable. It felt like the past few months were just a dream without it…but then again, maybe Mara had it, or now, Willow…Jerome seemed to get around pretty fast all of a sudden.
"I'm supposed to hate him. To hate Mara…but why does it hurt so much?" Julian moaned, clutching at her chest, her emotions getting the better of her. "Now Mara's just like me…used."
Unable to stand in the darkness for another moment, she continued back to the house, running straight into Fabian in the lobby.
"Hey Julie!" Fabian smiled and then noticed how Juliana was crying, cursing herself for breaking down after she promised herself she wouldn't be a crybaby anymore. Bad things just kept coming her way, and she couldn't stop it. "Julie, what's wrong?" She ignored him and traveled past him down the hall. "Ana? Juliana!" he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "What's wrong?"
Juliana picked up her head and searched Fabian's clear eyes, seeing herself reflect in his worried gaze. She was unsure of what she should say to him, so she didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled Fabian's head closer to hers and kissed him, her saltwater tears mixing in with the kiss.
And to her immense surprise, while Fabian's hands were on top of hers as if he were ready to pull her off, he didn't push her away. She pulled back and stared at him for a minute. Then the weight of what she had just done hit her. If Nina or Joy or Amber had seen them just then…She stared doe-eyed into the face of her best friend. She'd just kissed her best friend…because she'd seen her ex-boyfriend cheating on the girl he had cheated on her with…Was she so selfish as to do that? Fabian loved Nina…so why had she…
"I…" Juliana blanked on what to say. "I…I should go." She got out, and then she sprinted up the stairs, afraid of what he would say if she stayed there.
Fabian didn't reply, and Juliana bolted into her room and locked the door behind her. She ran her hand through her red-brown hair and then practically collapsed onto her bed. What if Fabian hated her tomorrow?
She headed downstairs the next morning, jumpy and afraid of the fact Fabian would walk in for breakfast at any minute.
She walked past Jerome and paused to whisper to him, "You know, I don't hide things about myself from others…you should be more careful Jerome. You never know whose watching." Then she continued to her seat.
Jerome grabbed her arm to stop her from sitting and looking her in the eye whispered back, "So you know."
Juliana stared back into his eyes, wishing he wasn't paying attention to her for the wrong reasons. She yanked her wrist out of his grip and nodded, not knowing what else to do. "Yeah I do…now I know it was never my fault…you're just a two-timing jerk." She glared at him and sat down to breakfast, wanting to eat as fast as possible to avoid Fabian, and Jerome walked out of the room, running his hand through his hair.
Victor then entered and announced he was searching for the bracelet…the bracelet Amber used to have, the one that was a clue to the mystery. Fabian overheard Victor's announcement as he entered the room for breakfast. Juliana immediately stood up then, and exited in her hurry to escape him.
"Jill…Juliana wait!" she heard from behind her as she got ready to go over to the school.
She rolled her eyes, knowing only one person called her Jillian. She lazily turned around and noticed him holding out her lit. book for her to take back.
"My book." She murmured absent-mindedly, and reached out to grab it back.
He passed it over to her, careful not to touch her hands with his, as if he didn't want to step on a land-mine or something.
"I found it last night." He explained. "I figured it was yours, but I wasn't sure." He shrugged, looking at the textbook now in her hands. He snapped his gaze up to her face and studied her for a moment. Juliana blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" she pressed, wanting this uncomfortable exchange to end.
"I know it's a little late for this, and you don't have to forgive me or anything, but I need you to listen."
"Jerome I-" she shifted her weight to her other leg anxiously, shaking her head, looking down.
"Juliana." He said softly and Juliana looked up at him then.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. I never planned on hurting you…and last night…I wasn't planning on hurting Mara…I just keep messing up-"
"Yeah, you do." She agreed bluntly.
He sighed. "You're amazing Juliana…I still-"
"Stop right there." She held her hand up to silence him. "I know what you're going to say, and there's no point. Maybe I would've agreed after that kiss in the library last term, but now…you made your choice, and I'm not going to wait around for you anymore Jerome…maybe it's about time we both just forgot each other…Man, things would've been so much easier if I'd never remembered you."
"So we can't even attempt to go back to how we used to be before you even left for France?" he seemed so let down.
She laughed incredulously. "After all we've been through? Definitely not. It would be a weak attempt at best. Plus, going back to the times when we liked each other and did nothing about it wouldn't help any. I think you should just leave me alone Jerome. The girl you used to know isn't here anymore. And you better make up your mind about Willow or Mara…because I'm letting you get away with it. No one is going to a victim because of you ever again." She turned her back to him and left, leaving Jerome wanting to chase her, but then his situation would just be even worse. Jerome wanted to punch something…Juliana hated him…that was clear to him now.
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