Juliet woke up next to Natalie the next morning. Juliet stared at her as she slept. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. It took Juliet a moment to fully come to her senses and remember what she and Natalie had done the night before. When she'd realized it, she was terrified. She got out of the bed trying not to wake Natalie and put her clothes back on. 'Oh God what I have I done,' Juliet thought as she searched for her shirt. She found it on the other side of the bed and as she stood up after bending over to get it she caught sight of the clock on the nightstand. 4:30 AM. She put her shirt on and when she lowered her arms she saw the bracelet on her wrist. 'Oh no..No...' she thought as she worked at the bracelet's clasp to remove it. It was stuck and wouldn't budge so she decided to go home and try to get it off there. She didn't have her car so she walked to the main street and caught a cab. When she got into her flat Peter was still asleep. She quietly shut and locked the door and went to the bedroom where she took off her clothes and lay in bed with Peter. She closed her eyes but couldn't fall asleep. The bracelet felt tighter and she felt agitated with it around her wrist. She tried once more to take it off but it wouldn't come free. She gave up and let herself fall asleep. When she awoke Peter was gone and it was noon. She got out of bed to get something to eat and found Peter in the living room.
"Good afternoon. You must have had an exciting night last night," Peter said.
"Y-yes," Juliet said uneasily, going into the kitchen to find something to eat.
"No coffee with Natalie this morning?" Peter's voice came from the other room.
"No...no coffee, Natalie's feeling ill," Juliet told him, looking into the refrigerator. Nothing. She shut it and went back into the living room.
"Well that's a shame. Hopefully she'll feel better soon," Juliet frowned, wondering why Peter was acting like he was fine with Natalie.
"I'm really tired, I think I'll lay down a bit more," Juliet told him. She turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, Peter?"
"Yes?"
"Will you help me take this off?" She said walking towards him and holding out her wrist.
"Help you take your bracelet off?"
"Yes, it gets rather uncomfortable after a while,"
"Are you sure? It's beautiful and you seemed to be so fond of it,"
"Peter," Juliet, slightly irritated. "Just please...take it off," Their eyes met and she looked away. He held her wrist and took the bracelet off with no trouble at all and Juliet wondered why it was so hard for her and so easy for him. 'He's stronger than I am,' she told herself, 'He'd never be unfaithful to me like I am being to him, because he's stronger than that.' She turned as tears began to fill her eyes.
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.
"Just tired is all,"
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Natalie sat alone at the coffee shop. She stared off into nowhere as she slowly stirred her coffee. She knew Juliet wasn't coming and regretted coming onto her the night before. 'Now you've done it,' she thought, 'you've scared her, and now she wants nothing to do with you.' Finally coming to terms with never being able to see Juliet again, Natalie got up and left. All she could think about was Juliet and how incredible she was. Natalie had always thought she was beautiful and had often fantasized about what making love to her would be like but Juliet was far more incredible than Natalie had expected. Lost in thoughts of Juliet, Natalie found herself walking down the street in no direction, not paying attention to where she was going or what was going on around her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a man's voice;
"Natalie, it's great to see you..." It was Mark. He was standing outside of the art gallery.
"Um, Hello, uh..." Natalie began.
"Mark," Mark said.
"Hello, Mark."
"Come into the gallery and have tea with me, will you?"
"I really should be getting home,"
"No, I insist. I'd like to talk to you about something,"
"Well, let's just...talk about it right now and make it fast, I don't have much time,"
"At least come inside," Natalie sighed. "Only for a moment," Mark led her into the gallery and they stood just inside the doorway. Mark faced her, her back to a corner and made sure she couldn't leave even if she wanted to.
"You and Juliet are awfully close," he began. Natalie was silent. "She's beautiful isn't she?"
"Okay, I have to go," she said trying to get past him.
"Not yet," Mark said. "Not until you promise me you'll stay away from Juliet. Just leave her alone. Stop trying to corrupt her with your...lesbianism. It's disgusting and she's not like that! Stay away from her. I know it was your plan all along to try and confuse her. That's why you bought her the bracelet, isn't it!"
"No! No!" Natalie exclaimed feeling her stomach drop and a lump rise in her throat. "No I didn't want to corrupt her or confuse her or anything like that!" She fought tears now. Mark had struck a nerve and a sensitive subject. "I only wanted to take her to the Christmas Ball, nothing else. Nothing else I only wanted to be her friend!" Natalie cried now. "A ball? Is that where you planned to seduce her? She's gorgeous, yes, I agree but I would never," Mark began, taking one step closer to Natalie, "force her," he took another stop closer, pushing her into the corner, "to cheat on her husband." Mark backed off now and Natalie pushed him away and ran out of the gallery. Mark watched her leave and pulled out his cell phone.
"Peter, I just ran into Natalie," Mark said, walking into the gallery.
"You did? But Jules said she was sick,"
"She didn't seem sick to me, but I've got to let you know about something. Natalie wanted to invite Juliet to some type of Christmas Ball. Make sure Juliet doesn't go,"
"If Juliet wants to go to a Christmas Ball with Natalie, there's nothing I can do to keep her from doing so,"
"You mean you'd let her be corrupted by a lesbian?"
"Mark," Peter sighed. He figured that it was worthless to try to explain his logic to Mark. Mark had always been a bit homophobic and a bit immature when it came to issues like these. There was silence between them now.
"Thank you," Peter said at last, "for letting me know," Peter hung up the phone and went into the bedroom where Juliet was sleeping. Thinking about the situation, he came to the conclusion that if she preferred the company and affection of a woman over that of a man, he had to accept it. He spotted a plastic bag in the corner of the room and went to investigate its contents. The plastic made noise when he moved it. Peter looked at Juliet to see if she'd been disturbed. She sighed and rolled over. He looked into the bag: Juliet's clothes and a book. He took the book out of the bag and read its cover: KEEPING YOU A SECRET. He flipped to the inside cover to read a summary of the book. "Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peterson is one young woman's coming out and what that means in her life. When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe, but none of her friends understand, especially her boyfriend." Peter's eyes widened when he read it. He wondered why Juliet would be reading a book like this and if it had any parallels to what was going on with her and Natalie. Surely Juliet wasn't keeping her affections for Natalie a secret because she feared Peter wouldn't understand.
"Peter?" Juliet asked, waking up.
"Jules," Peter said, startled, "did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did," Juliet replied.
"Good...good..." Peter said before gathering his strength to ask her about the book. "Juliet," he started. "What is this?" He held up the book.
"I don't know. It's a book I guess," Juliet said truthfully.
"Jules, you can tell me," Peter said.
"No, honestly, I don't know what it is."
"'Keeping You A Secret', is what it's called."
"Ooh..." Juliet said slowly, immediately recognizing it as Natalie's. Natalie must have accidentally slipped it into Juliet's bag with her clothes.
"Still don't know what it is? 'When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe'" Peter read out loud. "It's a book about lesbians,"
"I-I gathered that," Juliet said breathlessly. "It's not mine Peter, It's--"
"Natalie's." Peter finished.
"Oh my God..." Juliet said looking down. She'd spent the entire morning convincing herself that what had happened with Natalie the night before was done out of drunken irresponsibility, all the while in the back of her head knowing very well Natalie didn't drink. She had refused to believe that Natalie was interested in her until now when it all became obvious. "It's all clear to me now..." Juliet said, more to herself than to Peter.
"Yes, Juliet," Peter said. "Natalie has a thing for you,"
"She was always hiding it from me, that book. She didn't want me to know that she was..." Juliet's voice trailed off as she looked up at Peter.
"You slept with her last night, and it takes a book that you find this morning to prove to you that she's in love with you?"
"What? In love with me? No...Natalie is not in love with me...and I'm not in love with her either, I'm in love with you Peter. You, and only you." Juliet said getting up from the bed. Peter didn't appreciate Juliet lying to him. He knew her better than she knew herself and he thought that she knew by now she could never get a lie past him. She stood by the window and stared outside, it was beginning to rain. Peter's eyes followed her. Juliet looked down, then closed her eyes.
"It's alright," Peter told her slowly approaching her. "I can accept that you fancy women,"
"Damn it, Peter would you stop with that?" Juliet said opening her eyes.
"I can accept it," Peter repeated. There was silence between them and Juliet looked down again.
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.
"Yes," Juliet answered.
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Natalie was inside her house now, staring at the rain just as Juliet had done. Raining, just as it was when Juliet had come to her house that night, dripping wet at the front door. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. Sleep, she thought as she went to her bedroom, would be her escape. She lay back and stared at the ceiling. Images from the previous night flashed before her and she could still hear Juliet's heavy breathing as she pleasured her. Tears stained Natalie's face now and she rolled over with her face in her pillow. Deeply inhaling, she smelled Juliet. She sat up and threw the pillow onto the floor and pulled her other pillow to her face and laid on it but it smelled like Juliet too. She threw it off of the bed and lay on the sheets but everything was covered in Juliet's scent and Natalie couldn't get away from it. 'I hate you Juliet, I hate you,' she thought repeatedly as she got up and got a blanket from her linen closet. She lay down on the couch in the other room and tried to fall asleep.
"Good afternoon. You must have had an exciting night last night," Peter said.
"Y-yes," Juliet said uneasily, going into the kitchen to find something to eat.
"No coffee with Natalie this morning?" Peter's voice came from the other room.
"No...no coffee, Natalie's feeling ill," Juliet told him, looking into the refrigerator. Nothing. She shut it and went back into the living room.
"Well that's a shame. Hopefully she'll feel better soon," Juliet frowned, wondering why Peter was acting like he was fine with Natalie.
"I'm really tired, I think I'll lay down a bit more," Juliet told him. She turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, Peter?"
"Yes?"
"Will you help me take this off?" She said walking towards him and holding out her wrist.
"Help you take your bracelet off?"
"Yes, it gets rather uncomfortable after a while,"
"Are you sure? It's beautiful and you seemed to be so fond of it,"
"Peter," Juliet, slightly irritated. "Just please...take it off," Their eyes met and she looked away. He held her wrist and took the bracelet off with no trouble at all and Juliet wondered why it was so hard for her and so easy for him. 'He's stronger than I am,' she told herself, 'He'd never be unfaithful to me like I am being to him, because he's stronger than that.' She turned as tears began to fill her eyes.
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.
"Just tired is all,"
--------------------------------
Natalie sat alone at the coffee shop. She stared off into nowhere as she slowly stirred her coffee. She knew Juliet wasn't coming and regretted coming onto her the night before. 'Now you've done it,' she thought, 'you've scared her, and now she wants nothing to do with you.' Finally coming to terms with never being able to see Juliet again, Natalie got up and left. All she could think about was Juliet and how incredible she was. Natalie had always thought she was beautiful and had often fantasized about what making love to her would be like but Juliet was far more incredible than Natalie had expected. Lost in thoughts of Juliet, Natalie found herself walking down the street in no direction, not paying attention to where she was going or what was going on around her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a man's voice;
"Natalie, it's great to see you..." It was Mark. He was standing outside of the art gallery.
"Um, Hello, uh..." Natalie began.
"Mark," Mark said.
"Hello, Mark."
"Come into the gallery and have tea with me, will you?"
"I really should be getting home,"
"No, I insist. I'd like to talk to you about something,"
"Well, let's just...talk about it right now and make it fast, I don't have much time,"
"At least come inside," Natalie sighed. "Only for a moment," Mark led her into the gallery and they stood just inside the doorway. Mark faced her, her back to a corner and made sure she couldn't leave even if she wanted to.
"You and Juliet are awfully close," he began. Natalie was silent. "She's beautiful isn't she?"
"Okay, I have to go," she said trying to get past him.
"Not yet," Mark said. "Not until you promise me you'll stay away from Juliet. Just leave her alone. Stop trying to corrupt her with your...lesbianism. It's disgusting and she's not like that! Stay away from her. I know it was your plan all along to try and confuse her. That's why you bought her the bracelet, isn't it!"
"No! No!" Natalie exclaimed feeling her stomach drop and a lump rise in her throat. "No I didn't want to corrupt her or confuse her or anything like that!" She fought tears now. Mark had struck a nerve and a sensitive subject. "I only wanted to take her to the Christmas Ball, nothing else. Nothing else I only wanted to be her friend!" Natalie cried now. "A ball? Is that where you planned to seduce her? She's gorgeous, yes, I agree but I would never," Mark began, taking one step closer to Natalie, "force her," he took another stop closer, pushing her into the corner, "to cheat on her husband." Mark backed off now and Natalie pushed him away and ran out of the gallery. Mark watched her leave and pulled out his cell phone.
"Peter, I just ran into Natalie," Mark said, walking into the gallery.
"You did? But Jules said she was sick,"
"She didn't seem sick to me, but I've got to let you know about something. Natalie wanted to invite Juliet to some type of Christmas Ball. Make sure Juliet doesn't go,"
"If Juliet wants to go to a Christmas Ball with Natalie, there's nothing I can do to keep her from doing so,"
"You mean you'd let her be corrupted by a lesbian?"
"Mark," Peter sighed. He figured that it was worthless to try to explain his logic to Mark. Mark had always been a bit homophobic and a bit immature when it came to issues like these. There was silence between them now.
"Thank you," Peter said at last, "for letting me know," Peter hung up the phone and went into the bedroom where Juliet was sleeping. Thinking about the situation, he came to the conclusion that if she preferred the company and affection of a woman over that of a man, he had to accept it. He spotted a plastic bag in the corner of the room and went to investigate its contents. The plastic made noise when he moved it. Peter looked at Juliet to see if she'd been disturbed. She sighed and rolled over. He looked into the bag: Juliet's clothes and a book. He took the book out of the bag and read its cover: KEEPING YOU A SECRET. He flipped to the inside cover to read a summary of the book. "Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peterson is one young woman's coming out and what that means in her life. When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe, but none of her friends understand, especially her boyfriend." Peter's eyes widened when he read it. He wondered why Juliet would be reading a book like this and if it had any parallels to what was going on with her and Natalie. Surely Juliet wasn't keeping her affections for Natalie a secret because she feared Peter wouldn't understand.
"Peter?" Juliet asked, waking up.
"Jules," Peter said, startled, "did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did," Juliet replied.
"Good...good..." Peter said before gathering his strength to ask her about the book. "Juliet," he started. "What is this?" He held up the book.
"I don't know. It's a book I guess," Juliet said truthfully.
"Jules, you can tell me," Peter said.
"No, honestly, I don't know what it is."
"'Keeping You A Secret', is what it's called."
"Ooh..." Juliet said slowly, immediately recognizing it as Natalie's. Natalie must have accidentally slipped it into Juliet's bag with her clothes.
"Still don't know what it is? 'When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe'" Peter read out loud. "It's a book about lesbians,"
"I-I gathered that," Juliet said breathlessly. "It's not mine Peter, It's--"
"Natalie's." Peter finished.
"Oh my God..." Juliet said looking down. She'd spent the entire morning convincing herself that what had happened with Natalie the night before was done out of drunken irresponsibility, all the while in the back of her head knowing very well Natalie didn't drink. She had refused to believe that Natalie was interested in her until now when it all became obvious. "It's all clear to me now..." Juliet said, more to herself than to Peter.
"Yes, Juliet," Peter said. "Natalie has a thing for you,"
"She was always hiding it from me, that book. She didn't want me to know that she was..." Juliet's voice trailed off as she looked up at Peter.
"You slept with her last night, and it takes a book that you find this morning to prove to you that she's in love with you?"
"What? In love with me? No...Natalie is not in love with me...and I'm not in love with her either, I'm in love with you Peter. You, and only you." Juliet said getting up from the bed. Peter didn't appreciate Juliet lying to him. He knew her better than she knew herself and he thought that she knew by now she could never get a lie past him. She stood by the window and stared outside, it was beginning to rain. Peter's eyes followed her. Juliet looked down, then closed her eyes.
"It's alright," Peter told her slowly approaching her. "I can accept that you fancy women,"
"Damn it, Peter would you stop with that?" Juliet said opening her eyes.
"I can accept it," Peter repeated. There was silence between them and Juliet looked down again.
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.
"Yes," Juliet answered.
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Natalie was inside her house now, staring at the rain just as Juliet had done. Raining, just as it was when Juliet had come to her house that night, dripping wet at the front door. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. Sleep, she thought as she went to her bedroom, would be her escape. She lay back and stared at the ceiling. Images from the previous night flashed before her and she could still hear Juliet's heavy breathing as she pleasured her. Tears stained Natalie's face now and she rolled over with her face in her pillow. Deeply inhaling, she smelled Juliet. She sat up and threw the pillow onto the floor and pulled her other pillow to her face and laid on it but it smelled like Juliet too. She threw it off of the bed and lay on the sheets but everything was covered in Juliet's scent and Natalie couldn't get away from it. 'I hate you Juliet, I hate you,' she thought repeatedly as she got up and got a blanket from her linen closet. She lay down on the couch in the other room and tried to fall asleep.