Ch. 3 You’re Unbelievable
Benji shook his head and stood up- knocking over his chair. He walked around the table and out into the backyard quickly shutting the glass door. As the clank of the door sounded Julie jumped. Billy looked at Joel and Joel shrugged. Paul put his fork down and scratched his head uncomfortably. Julie just sat there with her head down as Joel took her hand and squeezed it. She looked up at him and shook her head- letting another tear fall. She put her elbows on the table and took her head in her hands- rubbing her eyes. Her phone rang and she felt it vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and set it on the table. It rang again and Joel asked, “Want me to answer it?” Julie shook her head and tried to steady her shaking hands. She picked up the phone and fumbled with the button pressing talk. “Hello?” her voice quivered and she covered her mouth with her hand, closing her eyes. It was her friend. She sighed, “I'm gonna have to call you back.” Her friend agreed and said goodbye. Julie whispered, “Bye” as her voice shook again. She put her phone down and wiped her eyes once again.
She pushed her plate away and Joel pushed her hair behind her ear. She looked at him, “I don’t know what to do.” He nodded. She slid her chair away from the table. “I guess I’ll go try and say something,” she said- half trying to reassure her self. Joel nodded, “We’ll be right here.” She stood and took a breath. Billy grabbed her hand, “You don’t have to if you want to.” She squeezed his hand, “I have to.” She shakily stepped towards the glass door and left it open behind her. Benji was sitting in the little Tiki Cabaña in the backyard.
She slowly walked towards the Cabana and realized she was holding her breath. She stopped and took a breath feeling the cool air and the slight sprinkles. Benji looked up and noticed her coming. He stood and tried to clear his face of his tears but they wouldn’t stop. She came closer and they just looked at each other neither of them moving. Julie motioned to the seat he had been sitting in and he sat back down, her sitting two chairs away but facing him. He looked at her then back down at his hands. His tears had stopped but his hands were trembling on his knees. His eyes were all red and puffy. She said nothing but watched him. He really looked horrible. He had lost weight; his hair was tangled and sticking up slightly all over- so unlike Benji to leave his hair undone. His shirt was wrinkled and he was wearing his faded black dickies. Her eyes welled up but she shook the tears away.
“I need to know why.” She said calmly.
Benji closed his eyes. He looked back up at her- fear in his eyes. “I fucked up,” his voice cracked.
“What happened?”
Benji covered his mouth and looked away. “I umm, I was drunk and before I knew it…”
She held up her hand. She didn’t want to know anymore. “You were drunk. That’s your excuse?”
“I don’t even know who she was or exactly what happened.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I was really wasted.”
“Benji, you and I both know I can’t handle alcohol- and I’ve never slept with just some random person.” She said angrily.
He closed his eyes and the tears started again. He looked back at her through tears, “I messed up. I'm so sorry.” He said falling on his knees sobbing in his hands. “I just wish we could go back.”
Julie’s tears began again, “I don’t know how we can ever go back. Was I not good enough for you? I know I'm not the hottest girl but I thought we really had something.”
“No, it’s not like that. I love you. You are everything to me.” He said trembling.
The rain began coming down incredibly hard. The slits in the roof of the Cabana did nothing to stop the water. In a less than a minute Julie and Benji were soaking wet. The water was running down his face mixing with the tears. He was trembling and her tears were stinging in her eyes.
“I know I screwed up. I know that things may never be the same but I'm willing to wait. I’ll do anything to have you back. I love you Julie.” He said big tears rolling down his cheeks, choking on the words that he really meant.
Julie’s tears came hard sitting there watching him break down. She was so angry with him still. How could he do that to her?
“I need to think Benji. I just don’t know. I still can’t believe you would do this.” She said getting up and walking to the house.
Ch. 4 Trying to Laugh
Her tears came still hard as she stepped into the door. She was dripping wet and Billy was nearest to her. He turned to her and she fell weeping into his arms. He hugged her close as she cried until her head was pounding. Her tears died a little and she pulled away from Billy. He had a comforting look on his face and she tried to laugh, “I got you all wet. I'm sorry Billy.” He shook his head, “It’s okay Jules.” Joel was on her other side and she tried to smile at him too. He smiled assuredly and grabbed her hand; “Let’s get you dry.”
She wiped her face and followed Joel up to the large room he shared with Benji. She stopped when they reached the door and looked at Joel. He shook his head, “He wont come in here- don’t worry.” He opened the door and Julie didn’t even want to look at Benji’s side of the room. She could only imagine it was in disarray- a replica of what he looked like at present. Joel walked to his dresser and pulled out a pair of running pants and a couple shirts for her to choose from. She picked a faded New Found Glory shirt. Joel smiled, “Here change. I’ll be right here. I won’t leave.” Julie nodded and went into the twin’s bathroom. She shut the door and avoided looking in the mirror at all costs. She splashed cool water on her red face and changed into Joel’s pants and shirt. She stepped back out of the bathroom. Joel smiled at her and took her hand, “Want to put those in the dryer?” he asked about her wet clothes. “No they’ll shrink,” she shook her head and tried to smile once again. He smiled, “Okay, then you can put them over the radiator. They shouldn’t shrink there.” When they had finished Joel took her hand again, “Feel like going downstairs?” Julie nodded and they slowly went down the stairs.
Joel motioned for her to wait a second behind him and he looked around the corner into the living room. “Where’s he?” he asked Billy. “Office,” Billy replied. Joel turned and smiled nodding, “K? Come on.” They sat on the couch, Julie between Joel and Billy and Paul in the loveseat. They were watching Spaceballs one of their favorite movies. Billy looked over and patted her knee, “Anything we can do?” Julie looked down, “No, just keep my mind off…everything.” Billy nodded and scooted over playfully relaxing on her. Joel laughed, “Hey don’t hog the Julie!” and wrapped his arms around her ribs. Julie laughed, as Billy did too, “No She’s mine.” Paul laughed standing up, “Hey! No fair! I want Julie too,” he leaned down and half laid on her. She laughed as three of her best guy friends tickled her simultaneously. She laughed hard and now she had tears of joy. Paul fell off the couch and yelped as he hit the floor. Billy pointed and laughed and Joel stopped tickling. Julie settled back on the couch and they all slowly quit laughing.
~Meanwhile Benji’s in the office. He hears Julie’s laughter and he begins to cry harder. He curls up on the old sofa and cries into the only thing of hers he still had. (A/n: no the object isn’t a couch- you’ll find out later what it is.) He remembers all the times they shared and everything they did together. He knows he screwed up and could have ruined it forever. He cries himself to sleep thinking about her and holding onto her memory like a blanket. ~
Paul had sat back down and Julie was leaning against Joel with her legs near Billy. Julie subconsciously played with the ring on her left hand. The ring she wore on her middle finger. The ring Benji had given her on their one-year anniversary. Paul noticed and looked at Joel. Joel looked at Paul and formed with his mouth ‘what’. Paul motioned his eyes to Julie’s hand, twisting the platinum ring around and around on her finger. Joel looked at Julie’s hand then looked back at Paul. He raised his eyebrows and formed ‘Benji’s’ then shook his head. Paul nodded as Julie reached up to play with her hair and she closed her eyes. Paul looked back at Joel and mouthed ‘she still wears it’. Joel nodded and smiled as Julie looked at him. “Do you have a rubber band or something? My hairs bugging,” she asked. Joel nodded and stood up, “I think I saw one.” He went to the kitchen passing Paul and shrugging then rummaged around in a drawer. He laughed, “I got a condom! No, here’s a hair thing- it’s probably yours.” He handed it to her and she lazily put her hair up- letting it fall however- not really caring.