Ch. 25 Walk By Again
“Hey today’s October ninth, “She caught my eye on October Ninth. It was twenty-two days before Halloween, how did I know she’d be my evil queen?” Julie began singing as she got in her car. Her cell phone rang as she pulled onto the street. It was the boy’s house. “Hello?” she asked. It was Joel. “Oh hi Joel- hahaha I was just singing Walk By. Happy October Ninth! Hey did you write that song or did Benji?”
Joel laughed, “I did- it’s about Courtney (his ex-girlfriend). That’s funny I didn’t even realize that was today. Anyways, what are you up to?” he asked a hint of a smile in his voice.
Julie smiled, “What do you mean?”
He laughed, “Oh I think you know. How are you doing? How did it go?”
“I think it went well. And…” her voice trailed off.
“And?”
“And I’m glad I'm giving him a second chance.”
“Great, Now can I tell you something I learned?” he questioned.
“Huh?”
“Well I just wanted to tell you that Benji was very excited. And he actually slept. Thank you Jules.”
Julie laughed, “You’re very welcome.”
“What are you doing today?”
“I have classes then I have work. Sorry.”
“What time do you get off or have a break?” he asked.
“I have a break at 8 but I have to work till 10.”
“Well can I stop by and see you- I wanna know more about last night. If you wanna tell me.”
“Of course I want to tell you!” she laughed. “That would be fine if you stopped by- and if my managers not there you can stay after my break for a while too.”
“Okay cool. I’ll see you at 8 then. Bye Jules.”
Julie hung up the phone and smiled the rest of her day thinking that she was getting her Benji back. Joel arrived almost right on time and walked up to the counter where Julie was. She smiled at him and finished with the only customer in the store. Her coworker beside her leaned over and giddily but quietly yelled, “Oh my god! Julie, look it’s that guy from Good Charlotte! Omg I think he just smiled at you!” Julie smiled and laughed, “Yeah I know he did.” She persisted, “He is so hot! Oh my gosh- I can’t believe he came in our store.” Julie smiled at Joel and Joel flashed a big grin her way, making her co-worker swoon and almost fall over. “Thank you, have a good night,” she smiled at the customer. “Well hello there sexy, how can I help you?” Joel laughed and hugged her over the counter. They laughed when they heard a squeal. Julie turned, “Allison, this is Joel. Joel, Allison. Joel’s a friend of mine,” she introduced him. Allison held out her trembling hand and Joel shook it slowly. Allison almost died and went to heaven. Joel smiled, “So can you take a break yet?” Julie looked at love-struck Allison and snapped her fingers. Allison jumped and sighed, “Yeah, go.” Julie smiled and walked around the counter, sliding her arm through Joel’s. They went and got some coffee and sat down at a table in the back of the coffeehouse.
“So- come on. Tell me, how was it?” Joel smiled.
Julie laughed, “It went really well. It reminded me of all the good times. I do still love him ya know.”
Joel nodded and sipped his coffee. “Benji slept the whole night for the first time in a while. He does love you too.”
Julie smiled, “Yeah, I just- Ahh I don’t know. I'm glad he didn’t kiss me when he took me home.”
Joel questioned.
“Well, I mean, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep my hands off him.”
Joel laughed, “Oh okay. Got it. I was confused.”
Julie laughed and Joel smiled, “Yeah. Anyways, that’s good. I’m glad to see you two are all right. If I can do anything just ask.” Julie smiled and he continued. “Yeah so it was Paul’s birthday the other day. And with the whole- thing- we didn’t get to celebrate.” Julie nodded and thought, poor Joel. He can’t even mention it. Joel continued, “So since Benji is doing so much better we thought we’d drive up to RaceCity and race go-karts. We were going to go party for Paul but with the Benji- thing- we thought that probably wouldn’t be good. So he wants to go do this instead. So do you want to come? It’ll be fun.”
Julie smiled, “Sure, sounds like fun. Oh what should I get Paul for his birthday?”
“Oh that’s the other thing- we’re going to get him an Xbox. But if you want you can contribute and we’ll do the rest.”
Julie agreed and they went over the plans for RaceCity. They walked back to her store and Joel smirked, “Can I mess with her head?” he asked motioning to Allison who was staring at Joel. Julie nodded, “Yeah, she gets on my nerves sometimes.” Joel smiled and walked back up to the counter. Julie slipped behind it and put her bag away as Joel smiled at Allison. “Well Allison, it was a pleasure meeting you. I’ll have to come back sometime and visit.” Allison could do nothing but stare. Joel took her hand and shook it then leaned down and kissed it lightly. He ginned at Allison and turned to Julie. He hugged her and kissed her cheek, “I’ll see you on Saturday. Bye Jules.” Julie laughed as Joel walked out of the store and Allison stared after him. When he was out of earshot she screamed, “Oh my god! Omg! Omg! Joel from Good Charlotte just kissed my hand! Omg!” Julie laughed, if she only knew how close we were- it would kill her. “Yeah, and I’m dating his brother.” Allison’s mouth hung open and she gasped, “Benji?” Julie nodded and smiled then went to restock the store- leaving Allison there to entertain her thoughts.
Ch. 26 Speeding Into Things
“No fair, Billy has a faster car!” Joel yelled as Billy whizzed past him on the little racetrack. Joel turned around and saw Benji heading straight for the back of his car. Joel let out a girly scream and tried to get out of the way but it didn’t work- he sent Joel careening into the rubber walls. Julie laughed as she passed Benji but smashed into Paul who had stalled in his go-kart. This continued for the rest of the day. Everyone was having a good time and in the end it was Billy who won.
When the sun went down they went to the Arcades at RaceCity. Joel and Paul were acting like little kids and Billy was having trouble keeping up with their running all over. But he managed. Julie and Benji had played a game of air hockey and Benji said he was hot. They got a soda and went and sat outside on the wall. Julie looked out towards the ocean and Benji looked at her.
She smiled at him as he asked, “Are you having fun?” Julie nodded and Benji smiled, “Good. I am too.”
“Julie, can I confess something?” Benji said quietly.
She smiled and nodded,” Of course Benj.”
Benji took a deep breath, “I just wanted to tell you that I'm really glad that you are giving me a second chance. I'm still really sorry about what I did.”
Julie smiled, “I know Benji. I'm glad we’re doing this too.”
Benji smiled and sipped the soda. He looked over at Julie and she was shivering. “Here, come here. I'm warm,” he said and slid closer to her. She lightly leaned into his side and was warmed by his body heat. “Jules, I know Josh and Sarah already said this but, thank you for taking care of Joel. I really scared him- I scared you all and I'm sorry.”
Julie nodded and looked into his deep brown eyes, “We would really miss you Benji.” Benji stared in her eyes and slowly leaned in. She took a breath and put her hand on his chest.
“Benji,” Julie whispered stopping him.
He jerked away and looked the other direction. He then slowly moved away from Julie. She started shivering again and he sighed. Julie looked down and felt his eyes on her.
She reluctantly turned to look up at him and he quietly asked, “Are you trying to punish me?”
Julie sat up straight and shook her head, “No Benji, that’s not it-“
He interrupted her, “Then what?”
Julie sighed and looked away, “I just- I just need to know that it won’t happen again. That there wasn’t-“
“It’s not Julie. That there wasn’t what?”
Julie stood up, “That there wasn’t any other reason that you would cheat on me.”
Benji gaped, “I was drunk. It’s not going to happen again- Julie I love you.”
“Benji, I can’t trust you.” Julie blurted out.
Benji’s eyes grew wide and Julie looked away. She slowly went back into the building. Benji kicked the wall and sat there looking down at his hands. Julie went back inside and found Joel, Billy and Paul. She smiled and acted like nothing was wrong. Joel looked around, “Where’s Benji?” Julie shrugged and looked away. Benji walked in the door and up to the group. He smiled like nothing was wrong. They didn’t want to ruin it for Paul. Joel looked between Benji and Julie and knew something was up. Paul yawned, “I'm tired. This has been fun- but I think I'm ready to go.” Billy agreed and yawned too. Julie smiled, “I need to use the bathroom before we take that long ride.”
She walked to the bathroom and heard Joel say he had to go too. She could hear him running after her and stop as she reached the bathroom door. She turned and looked at Joel. He sighed and asked, “What happened?” Julie opened the door and looked around. There were no other people in there so Joel followed her inside. She sat on a couch and he did too. “Now what happened?” he asked.
Julie looked down, “I don’t know if I can trust him. How do I know it was a mistake? How do I know it wont happen again?”
Joel shook his head. “But it was an accident. He’s not going to do it again. Julie, I’ve never seen Benji happier than when he is with you. He really loves you.”
Julie closed her eyes, “I know. I'm being stupid but I can’t convince myself that it was a mistake.”
Joel nodded and patted her arm, “He didn’t do it purposely. But, I know, let’s go home and we can figure it out later.”
Julie agreed and they went back to the group. Everyone got in the car. Joel was driving Paul in the passenger seat, Julie and Billy in the middle seat and Benji in the back seat by himself. The cool east coast night was getting colder and it seemed like it was going to snow soon. Joel got onto the freeway and set the cruise control. He turned the radio on low and everyone calmed down. Billy fell asleep and Paul was about to. Benji sat behind Julie and just stared at her. His emotions were conflicting in his head. He didn’t know if he should be angry or sad- he was just confused. Julie could feel the tension and leaned up against the door then closed her eyes. She could hear Joel singing lightly along to the radio. The freeway was pretty vacant. Joel passed a car every once in a while but not regularly. Julie tried everything to forget about what had happened between her and Benji that night. Joel changed the radio station and turned it lower. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw that everyone but Benji was just about asleep- he didn’t know Julie was still awake. Benji had a worried look on his face and was chewing on his labret ring. Benji looked up at Joel and saw him looking. Joel shrugged and Benji shrugged too. Julie heard Joel start to sing again and she opened her eyes. She listened to Joel’s voice and tried to sleep so she wouldn’t have to think.
The car darkened more as Joel passed under a bridge but then it began to veer to the left. Julie sat up and Joel yelled, “Whoa, what the-“ The car spun around and hydroplaned across the lanes of the freeway. Billy woke up and Julie felt Benji grip the back of the seat. Joel tried to correct the path of the car but he was too late. The next thing they new they had crashed up against the side of the tunnel in the oncoming traffic lane. The last thing Julie saw before she passed out was the wall of the tunnel rapidly coming towards her. A lone car stopped and called 911and everyone was pulled from the car.
Julie came to and tried to sit up. Her whole body was in pain and an EMT ran over to her and tried to make her lay back down. She sat up anyway and looked around for the boys. From her place on a stretcher on the ground she saw Billy sitting up about 10 feet away. The sirens and lights flashing hurt her eyes as she searched for Paul and Joel. Paul was standing next to Joel- who was getting put in an ambulance. She saw Joel talking but where was Benji? God where was Benji. The EMT’s were trying to make her lie back down and were yelling in her face but she twisted away and looked frantically for Benji. She was pushed back down and picked up. She finally found him on the other side of her. Benji was on a stretcher too and she could see him bleeding. He looked right in her eyes and she in his. Julie could feel blood on her face and pain all over. She was looking into his eyes as she blacked out once more.