Julie first met Luke in seventh grade, and he caught her attention immediately.

(Not for the reasons you think, okay? It was just that, well, they didn't get a lot of new students in her school. So what was she supposed to do, not notice him?)

She had learned through the grapevine (aka Flynn and Carrie) that he had moved school districts so that come high school, he could be a part of the Los Feliz music program.

"I wonder what instrument he plays," Flynn pondered as the three friends sat huddled around their lunch table.

"My guess is drums," Carrie said. "Have you seen his arms? He's one of like, two people in our grade who has what could maybe be classified as biceps. It's got to be from whaling on a drum kit or something."

Flynn hummed in agreement, staring off into the distance as a smile graced her lips. "Dude's some good eye candy, that's for sure."

Julie shot her friends an incredulous look. "Alex plays drums. He's still a stick, so your logic is flawed. And Flynn, didn't you just tell us that you were done with boys like, last week?"

If there was one thing to know about Flynn's love life, it was that she developed, and got over, crushes very quickly. Just three weeks before, she had started crushing on a boy in her math class because of the way he smiled at her. And then fast-forward to last week, when she declared she no longer liked him because she didn't approve of the way he would tap his pencil against his desk during class.

Flynn's eyes snapped to Julie, a playful glare overtaking her features. She could hear Carrie try to stifle her laughter as she took a sip from her Capri Sun, but Julie didn't miss the smirk on her face.

"Just because I don't want to divulge in the cake doesn't mean I can't enjoy the décor," Flynn replied confidently as she turned her nose up at the two.

Julie and Carrie, no longer able to contain their amusement, broke into fits of laughter, causing Flynn to jokingly throw her napkin at them. They were about to continue with their meals when Flynn looked past Julie and Carrie, jutting her chin out to let them know someone was approaching.

"Hey, speaking of," she practically sang, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

Julie twisted in her seat to see a trio of familiar boys walking toward them. Alex, Reggie, and Bobby. Julie had known the three boys as long as she'd known Carrie and Flynn, and because Bobby was Carrie's cousin, their lives had always been somewhat intertwined. Not that she was complaining. She had her trio, and the boys had theirs, but when the six of them came together it was absolute mayhem in the best way possible.

At first glance, she had assumed it was just the three of them. But taking a closer look, she realized that three had now become four as they approached with the new kid she'd been hearing so much about in tow.

She studied him for a moment. He was wearing an old Nirvana shirt which looked as if he had cut the sleeves off himself, ripped black jeans and black vans. He looked straight out of a '90's catalogue, and based on his attire alone, Julie guessed he was most likely into grunge and rock n' roll. Probably a guitarist. He looked the part. She knew what Carrie had meant now though, about his arms. It was obvious that he was ahead of the curve compared to most of boys in their grade. Although still slightly long, lanky and awkward as most middle school boys were, she could see the potential. Julie huffed in annoyance. Of course he was a stereotype. The cute, musical new kid that nobody would stop talking about.

"'Sup, ladies," Reggie greeted as they approached, a flirtatious wink and wiggling of eyebrows accompanying his words.

"Reggie!" Carrie snapped. "What did we tell you about saying that kind of stuff?"

Immediately Reggie's face morphed into what Julie could only describe as a kicked puppy.

"If I'm gonna be an obnoxious flirt, don't bother trying to be friends," he muttered, eyes fixed on the ground, scuffing his feet sheepishly against the cafeteria's tile floors.

Carrie shot him a smile. "Good boy."

Julie sighed, exasperated, as she shared a look with Alex. It was a running joke that the three boys shared just one brain cell, and with Alex as the most sensible and mature of the three, he usually held it the majority of the time. But the blond boy just shook his head.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I can only do so much to control him."

"Yeah, well same with her for us," Julie joked back, gesturing to Carrie.

Carrie rolled her eyes before quirking a perfectly arched eyebrow at the boys.

"Well? Are you guys going to sit or just stand there like idiots for all of lunch?"

Bobby rolled his eyes but took a seat across from Carrie nonetheless, the other boys following his lead. Then he turned back to the newest member of their group. "Sorry about her, you get used to it."

Then the boy let out a yelp as he reached down toward his leg, glaring at Carrie. She smiled back at him, all sweet and innocent. But if Julie knew her friend at all, then she knew Bobby would most likely have a bruised leg for the next few days.

"Luke," Bobby said through gritted teeth, his glare never once leaving Carrie, "This is my lovely cousin, Carrie, and her two best friends, Flynn and Julie. Girls, this is Luke Patterson." He gestured toward them respectively.

"Hey, nice to meet you," Flynn said warmly.

"Yeah, you too," Luke responded before turning to face Julie for the first time and…

Now that she could study him up close, there were a few more things Julie noticed about Luke Patterson. For one, his smile. It was big and friendly and warm and inviting. Probably the most perfect smile she'd ever seen. It was a smile designed to pull people in. A smile that would make girls swoon, and Julie had no doubt that he would learn how to learn how to use it, if he hadn't already. It was dangerous, if you asked her.

Second, his hair. It was dark brown and shaggy and messy but somehow looked styled and soft all at the same time. It reminded her of Zac Efron in the High School Musical movies, and she didn't really know what to do with that information (and no, it wasn't because Zac Efron happened to be her celebrity crush at that time, thank you very much).

But what really resonated with her was his eyes, blowing all his other features out of the water. They were big and innocent and the way they studied her reminded her of a deer caught in headlights. And their color. Or rather, colors. From far away and at a glance, Julie had assumed they were brown, but now that he was sitting across from her they had a greenish tint.

But then someone walked by their table, casting a shadow over his face and suddenly they were brown again.

…Okay, but now the person was gone, and they looked green again.

What? What color were they?

Julie sighed in annoyance, squinting her eyes and furrowing her brows as she tried to get a better look at the boy in front of her when suddenly she felt something jab her in her ribs.

"Ow!" She looked to her left to glare at the culprit.

Carrie shot her a look, making a not-so-subtle gesture towards Luke with her head.

Say something, you weirdo!

"Oh, right," she muttered, embarrassment coursing through her body. She flashed a tight-lipped smile toward Luke, not daring to meet his eyes this time. "Hi."

In her peripheral, she could see Luke studying her curiously.

Probably trying to decide if she was insane and even worth his time.

"Hi," he finally decided on before turning back to the rest of the group, engaging in a conversation with them like nothing had even happened.

She was silent the rest of lunch.

He ignored her the rest of lunch.

She figured that was her answer.

That was how it went from then on. The boys would join the girls for lunch every day, and each day Julie made a point to ignore Luke. And he never tried to talk to her either, so really, the whole awkward and tense dynamic wasn't totally her fault.

Unfortunately, she couldn't ignore him completely. After that first day she learned that they shared the same sixth and seventh period, Music and English. She also discovered that her initial assessment had been fairly spot on. He was a guitarist, because of course he was. But not only that. He was good. And passionate. And obviously lived and breathed music in the same way that Julie did, and Julie didn't like that. That they had a connection through arguably the most important thing in her life, sans her family. So she decided it would be in her best interest to ignore that, too.

Her assessment of him being a flirt was also validated. In a matter of days, he already had half of their grade swooning over him, and it was obvious to Julie that he didn't mind one bit. He would just flash that big, warm, inviting, perfect smile at every girl who approached him and they'd be putty in his hands and – yeah. He totally knew what he was doing.

Every so often, though, she would catch him looking at her. She always pretended she didn't notice, (because if she did that would be like admitting she was looking at him too, and she was smarter than that) but she would feel his gaze burning into the side of her head. And out of the corner of her eye, she would make out that deer-in-headlights look again, curiosity and intrigue bursting through.

It was unsettling, the look. Or more, the part about how it made her feel was unsettling. Her heart would start to pound and her stomach had this nervous swooshing sensation like riding a rollercoaster as it started to make its descent and she was only twelve years old and she didn't know what it meant or how to stop it and she hated it.

One evening, while her mother was kissing her goodnight, she brought it up.

"Hey Mom," she asked tentatively.

"Yes, mija?"

"There's this…person. At school."

Her mom raised her eyebrows with piqued interest. "Oh?"

Julie heaved a loud sigh and sat up in her bed. "No, not like that. Ew."

She ignored the way her cheeks heated up and was thankful that her mother did too. Verbally, at least. She did send her an amused look which Julie didn't entirely appreciate.

"Oh, of course not. Now, does this person have a name?"

Julie scrunched up her nose. "Luke."

"Ah, I see. And what is it about Luke?"

Julie threw her arms up incredulously. "That's the thing! I don't know! I get along with almost everyone! But there's something about him that just rubs me the wrong way. Gives me a weird feeling in my stomach. Obviously that's, like, a bad omen or something, right?"

Her mother pursed her lips, attempting to hide a knowing smile that Julie definitely didn't like as she sat down on the bed next to her. She pulled Julie into her side, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"I can't tell you what you feel, mija. But I will say that feelings aren't always black and white one hundred percent of the time."

Julie didn't know what to do with that information, but she decided that it wasn't worth dwelling on.

…But she also made it a point to never bring Luke up to her mother again.

Julie had hoped that this strange little friend group they had going on would eventually disband, or even just that Luke would make friends with other people as he became more integrated into their school. But given that the boys decided it would be a cool idea for them to form a band, it seemed that Julie was out of luck and Luke Patterson was here to stay.

"Sunset Curve," Alex told the girls one day, gleaming with pride. Apparently, he was the one to come up with the name.

"Tell your friends!" Reggie butted in.

The girls stared at him, blinking.

"Please tell me that's not going to become your catch phrase," Flynn deadpanned.

(Spoiler alert: it was.)

Julie did eventually start to speak again. She sat in silent protest of their new group for the first week or so, but when she realized that Luke only seemed to be getting closer to not just the guys, but Flynn and Carrie too, she figured she should suck it up and start conversing again.

But not with him, of course.

Because, no.

That would mean she'd have to look at him and run the risk of making a fool of herself again.

Until one day, when they were talking about Romeo and Juliet, which they were currently reading for their English class.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the whole 'you're the love of my life, I've loved you from the moment we met thing,' kind of pointless when it comes to Romeo."

Julie was just scrolling on her phone, attempting to ignore anything that came out of Luke's mouth, but froze as soon as she heard his words. She didn't look up, but she was definitely intrigued by their conversation. She loved reading, would be reading pretty much any time she wasn't working on music (it helped get her creative juices flowing) and had already read the famous Shakespeare tragedy long before they were assigned it for class.

"Why is that?" Flynn asked.

Luke sighed, and Julie could feel their table start to vibrate as he bounced his leg impatiently, like he couldn't believe he had to spell out the answer.

"Because he's a serial romantic."

She couldn't help herself. She had to ask.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She swore it wasn't supposed to come out bitchy. Really, she did. But with the way Luke was causing the entire table to shake with his impatience and the way he responded to Flynn so arrogantly like his opinions were just straight up fact, it rubbed her the wrong way. So yeah, her question came across a little bitchy. Sue her.

Luke turned to her, his – she had decided to label them greenish-brown – eyes widening a bit in surprise (did she see grey hidden in there now too? What on earth – back to the drawing board on that) as he realized that she was indeed talking to him. But just as quick as it came, the surprise vanished and his eyes (okay they definitely look grey now) zeroed in on her face, sizing her up.

Long gone were those deer-in-headlights, big, innocent greenish-brown eyes. No, these eyes were a stormy grey, narrow, challenging. Daring her to go up against him. This. This she could deal with. This didn't turn her stomach into a rollercoaster.

Alright, Patterson. Let's see what you got.

Julie narrowed her eyes right back at him, hoping to God she was mimicking the look he was giving her and didn't just look like an idiot.

Luke pursed his lips before continuing, not once taking the heat of his glare off her.

"It means that Romeo falls in love like that" he said, snapping his fingers to emphasize his point. "He was in love with Rosaline and was all 'woe is me' until literally the second he met Juliet, and then he's suddenly in love with her? Nah, I call bullshit. He doesn't even know anything about her. He's in love with the thought of being in love. It just lasted longer with Juliet because she felt the same as him, unlike Rosaline. I'd bet if she didn't, and if another pretty girl came along, he'd fall in love with her too and forget about Juliet."

Julie was already shaking her head before Luke was even done speaking. She let out a huff of annoyance.

"Romeo was in love with Rosaline before the play even started. You don't know how long he loved her for, or how much he knew about her, and you don't know if there were others before her or if she was his first love, so there's not enough evidence to be able to call him a 'serial romantic'. And plus, isn't that how love works anyways? You love someone, and if it's unrequited, you get over it eventually and then love again and repeat until you find a mutual love. That's what he did with Rosaline, and he found it with Juliet."

"That's a lot of assumptions there, Molina."

"So is your claim that he would fall in love with the next pretty face he saw. And plus, the whole point of the play is that Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed lovers. I'm pretty sure Shakespeare actually meant for their love to be true love."

"Oh did he now? Did you ask him personally?"

"It's common knowledge! Well, to most people, at least."

There was a charged pause between them, grey eyes battling with brown. It was intimidating, but Julie refused to back down.

"The play is stupid."

"The play is romantic."

"You would think so, wouldn't you, Julie."

She knew immediately what his implication was by the way he drawled out every letter of her name. She clenched her jaw, trying to channel her anger.

"Just because my name, something I had no control over, is similar to one of the titular characters has nothing to do what how I feel about the play!"

Luke just smirked back at her. He had gotten to her and he knew it. Him with his stupid eyes.

A bell sounded off. Julie jumped slightly before realizing that it was the school bell signaling the end of lunch. Whatever trance she had been in was now broken, and she looked around at the rest of her friends who she realized had been staring at the two of them throughout their whole encounter.

Alex looked uncomfortable, Flynn looked surprised, Reggie and Bobby looked amused, and Carrie looked suspicious.

She heard Luke clear his throat.

"Boys, you guys ready?"

There was a murmur of goodbyes from the other guys as they all got up from the table to throw away their stuff.

"Oh, wait!" Flynn said. "I'm headed the same way as you guys, I'll come with."

Which left just Carrie and Julie. They cleaned up their trash in silence, but Julie could feel Carrie's questioning stare burning into the side of her head. It wasn't until they were leaving the cafeteria Julie finally asked.

"What is it?"

Her friend pursed her lips, studying Julie a little longer before answering.

"I don't know. I just find it interesting that after you read Romeo and Juliet over the summer, you spent an hour ranting to me about almost the exact same points Luke made today."

Julie refused to look at her, her eyes laser focused on the hallway they were walking down. Maybe if she looked super fixated on avoiding any collisions, Carrie would let it go. But this was Carrie, and Julie knew better than that. Her friend kept a watchful eye on her, and Julie knew she wasn't getting out of this.

"What's your point, Care?"

"You hate Romeo and Juliet."

There was a pause, their silence more deafening than the chaos of the halls surrounding them.

"I know," she finally replied. "But I think I might hate him more."

Everything went downhill from there. It was as if now that Julie and Luke had had their first official interaction argument, the floodgates had been opened and there was no stopping them. Any point Luke would try to make about anything, Julie would disagree with, and vice versa. Even if their opinions and beliefs aligned on certain topics, they didn't care. They wouldn't let the other out-do them.

"Eric Clapton is one of the best guitarists of all time." "Hendrix is better."

"Nirvana changed the game for grunge and punk rock music." "I think they're overrated."

"Pride and Prejudice is the greatest love story ever written." "What happened to Romeo and Juliet?"

"The sky is blue." "Actually, I think it's more of a greyish overcast today."

"That's not – okay. Seriously?" Alex said regarding the last one.

Everything was a constant battle. But in a weird, twisted way, Julie sort of liked it. It became a staple in her life, arguing with Luke. Something she had come to rely on. Something she could rely on when she felt life was throwing her too many curveballs.

It wasn't like their friends didn't try to convince them to lay down their weapons. They did, on many occasions. Reggie was the first one.

"Look," he whispered to Julie in the middle of their science class. "Luke's actually really great. He's like a puppy. Feed him, love him, play with him, and he'll love you forever."

Julie raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Play with him?"

Reggie gasped dramatically. "Julie Molina, I meant play music! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

Julie wacked him on the arm with her pencil. "That's not what I meant either, you disgusting idiot."

"Hey," Reggie whimpered playfully, rubbing his arm. "Words hurt. And pencils too, apparently. Last time I try talking to you."

"Good."

"Julie! Reginald!" Their teacher scolded. "Next time I catch you two goofing off, you're being separated."

"Yes ma'am," they both muttered.

Bobby was the next one.

He had caught her as they both made their way to music class.

"Hey Jules, I really think you should take a look at the stuff Luke writes. He's actually pretty talented and I know you're really into writing too and-"

"And nothing, Bobby. I'm sure he isn't interested, and I'm not either. You know I only write with my mom."

"Yeah but if you hear his stuff I really think you could connect."

That was exactly what she didn't want.

They walked through the doorway of the music room to see Luke and Reggie already there, tuning their respective instruments. They looked up when they heard footsteps and Reggie immediately smiled and waved before turning his attention back to his bass.

Luke beckoned Bobby over with his head before smirking at Julie, giving her a once over. And cue the heart palpitations and rollercoaster.

"Juliet."

Never mind. They were gone.

She glared back at him so hard she felt her eye start to twitch. Then she turned back to Bobby.

"Absolutely not," she said before making her way to the opposite side of the room, attempting to put as much distance between them as she could.

The last one was Alex (Flynn and Carrie had given up at that point).

In all fairness, he had probably been the closest of all of them at convincing her to give Luke a chance.

It was a Saturday and the two of them had made plans to meet at the local park, a central location within walking distance of both their houses. It was nice, being able to spend some alone time with Alex outside of the chaos that was their friends, but Julie could tell he was distracted by the way his eyes kept flitting over to the grass fields where an impromptu soccer game had started with some boys from their school.

"You good?" Julie asked him. "You've been distracted all day. Like you're looking for someone else."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Totally. Just looking at all of the trees…clouds...dogs…"

"Soccer players?" Julie offered.

His eyes snapped to hers, blonde hair whipping across his forehead and for the first time that day, she had his undivided attention. "W-what? No. T-that's not-"

Julie just smiled at him knowingly. "Alex."

He let out a breath. "You know?"

"Well, it isn't that hard to figure out when you start to hyperventilate every time Chandler Jacobs walks by our table at lunch."

They both laugh at that. "Yeah, I guess I'm not the most subtle person."

There was a comfortable silence for a minute before Alex spoke up again.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" he asked quietly, eyes downcast as he fiddled with his hands.

Julie shrugged. "Because it really doesn't matter all that much. Whether you like a boy, or a girl, or a plant, you're still just Alex."

He looked at her again, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "A plant?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Another pause.

"Hey Alex?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you just tell us? You know we'll always love you, no matter what, right? I mean, you've all met my cousin Sofía who came out last year and-"

"I know, I know. It's not about you guys, trust me. In fact, I'm in the process of telling you all right now."

Julie furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, looking down at his hands again. "I wanted to tell you all individually. That way I could have a lot of practice so that when I tell my parents…I don't know. Maybe I'll know what to say so they won't be mad."

Julie felt her breath hitch, and she reached to gently pull his hands apart, squeezing them tight. It was a tactic her, Carrie, and Flynn used on each other to let them know they were there when they couldn't find the words. "Alex."

"I know, it's stupid."

"No," Julie shook her head vigorously. "It's how you feel, so it's not stupid at all. But it is not on you to try and make your parents accept you for the way you were born. Okay?"

Alex said nothing.

"Okay?" she asked again, firmer this time.

He nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"Good," she replied, satisfied with his answer. "So, who else knows so far?"

"Uh, just you and Luke right now."

"Ah."

"You know, he's actually a really good person, Jules. A bit intense, a bit too focused on his music, but a good person. Sounds like someone else I know, actually." He nudged her shoulder playfully.

Julie smiled and rolled her eyes. "I get it, you all love him. But just because we're both good people doesn't automatically make us friends. I don't know, maybe we're too alike."

"I get what you mean. But if you gave him a chance, I think you'd change your mind."

She was silent for a moment. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask."

And she did. Think about it, that was. But that Monday, she walked into the lunchroom and her eyes locked with his and her stomach became a rollercoaster again. And once again, Julie found herself overwhelmed at the feeling, unwilling and unready to deal with the implications of it all at twelve years old. All she knew was that she wanted to stay as far away from that uneasy feeling as possible.

It wasn't until the first day of 8th grade that there was a change.

Julie met Carrie and Flynn at their lunch table as she always did.

"Who's excited for our last first lunch of middle school?" She practically sang as she sat down at their table.

The other two girls smiled at her excitedly.

"Yes, finally!" Carrie groaned. "After three years of eating in this hellhole, I'll never want to come back."

Julie laughed at her, pulling out the peanut butter and jelly her mother had packed in her lunch that morning. But about halfway through her sandwich, she realized something was different.

"Hey, where are the boys?"

Carrie and Flynn shared a look, a silent conversation playing between their eyes before they turned to her.

"Um, they're over there," Carrie said, pointing behind Julie.

She turned around and sure enough, there they were, sitting four tables down from them. The four of them were talking, laughing about something, and Julie let her eyes fall on Luke (but only because he was the only one she hadn't seen all summer, so he was the only one that looked different, okay? Don't get any ideas.) He looked slightly older, more filled out than he had been when she had last seen him. Arms not quite as long and lanky, but more suited to his body. His hair remained the same though, shaggy and messy and gorgeous, as did his affinity for sleeveless shirts and ripped jeans. She turned back around before he could catch her staring. His eyes always seemed to find hers.

"Why are they over there?"

The pair of friends exchanged another look.

"So, Carrie and I were talking to Bobby, Reggie and Alex a few nights ago and we kind of decided it's best if they don't sit with us anymore."

"Oh. Why?"

But she knew why.

Carrie sighed. "Come on, Jules."

Julie looked down at her sandwich, guilt spreading through her body like wildfire. The last thing she wanted was for her personal feelings towards someone to get in the way of her friends.

"We all really tried last year to get the two of you to get along. Obviously, you're just not ready for that yet."

She looked at her friends questioningly. What was that supposed to mean?

Actually, she didn't think she wanted to know the answer.

"So what, we're just not going to be friends with any of them anymore? Seems a bit immature, doesn't it?"

Carrie and Flynn shared another look, and now it was starting to get on Julie's nerves.

"Stop doing that!" she exclaimed.

Flynn winced. "Sorry. But, of course we're still friends with them. Kind of have no choice since Bobby and Carrie are literally related. We're stuck with them for life, unfortunately."

Julie let out a small laugh at that.

"We just think, in the interest of preserving everyone's sanity, it's best if you and Luke interact as little as possible. We'll still hang out with the rest of the guys, minus Luke, and Flynn and I can hang out with Luke and the guys without you."

Ouch. That one hurt. Valid, but it hurt.

She thought back over the last year of her life, sitting down for lunch with her friends (plus Luke). She tried to think back to a day where they all laughed together. Maybe at something silly Reggie did, or at a sarcastic comment made by Carrie or Flynn, or even at watching Alex panic slightly when the soccer players would pass by their table.

She knew she had those moments with them. She did. But they were all overshadowed by Luke, Luke, Luke. Luke's smile contorting into his signature cocky smirk when he knew he was getting a rise out of her. Luke's legs and the way they would start bouncing when he thought he was winning an argument. Luke's eyes as they shifted into their stormy grey color when he felt Julie was about to disagree with something he'd said.

Maybe they had overshadowed everything else for their friends, too.

Julie shook her head, trying to clear her mind of all thoughts of him.

She turned back to her friends.

"You're right. I want nothing to do with Luke Patterson. I'm done with him."

And she was.

Until freshman year, that was.

Until one of her best friends decided to erase her from her life.

Until her entire world came crashing down.

Songs/Other References:

-Your Eyes, Adam Pascal from RENT (Chapter Title)

-High School Musical

-Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

-Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen