Oh Juliet

I got home early for once in my life. I actually quit. I gave up on dancing for the first time and broke down crying. I wasn't too worried about going home because Grace told me she was staying at Tyler's for the night. Just like every other night. I mean, I'm sure his apartment was much nicer than ours. He also didn't have a roommate, unlike Grace.
I walked into the house, sniffling with enough take out Mexican food to feed five people. I set the food down on the table and went to grab a pop and the taco sauce before I realized that the tv was on and they were both looking at me. I grabbed my food and silently went to my room, leaving my dance bag by the door. I knew it would piss Grace off but I honestly did not care.
I could hear them mumbling something as I walked away from them. I locked my door, hoping neither of them would come knocking. I wasn't that lucky though.
"Jules, what's wrong?"
"Can you let me eat in peace for twenty fucking minutes?"
"Jules."
"What?" I snapped, throwing the door open.
"You left your bag by the door." She handed it to me, not impressed with how I was acting. I guess I wasn't allowed to have bad days. "I have to run something down to Laura. I'll be back in a few."
I shut my door and went back to eating. I didn't remember to lock it so minutes later, Tyler walked in and sat on my bed.
"It's weird that I've never been in your bedroom before." He said, "But you pretty much lived at my place for a while."
"It's weird that you're dating one of my best friends." I shoved a chip in my mouth and put hot sauce on my taco. "What do you want Tyler."
"For you to look at me and tell me what's going on." I spun my desk chair around and rested my feet on the edge of my bed. Even though I was being a bitch, he was calm. I didn't really understand why he would be, or why he even cared.
"Can't I have a bad day?"
"Bad days don't make you come home early. Bad days make you stay longer. What's going on?"
"I don't know. I just had a shitty day, isn't that good enough for you?" I started to raise my voice. Why didn't anyone get the concept that I can have a bad day without having to tell them some deep psychological reason.
"There's something else."
"You're not my psychologist. Stop trying to be."
"Stop being so damn stubborn, Juliet. Tell me what's going on. You always did before."
"What? You're not used to having a girl not fall over you the minute you walk into the room? That's right. You go for the girls who just want to sleep with you because you're Tyler Seguin and they've heard the sex is good."
"Damn it Juliet, I liked you. Why couldn't you see that?" His voice was beginning to get louder than mine.
"You cannot tell me you don't miss hooking up with random girls every night." He was silent, which pissed me off that much more. "Do not fuck with Grace's feelings."
"You seem more worried about your roommate's feelings than your own."
"I don't have feelings for you." Yeah, Juliet. Just keep telling yourself that. It'll be the truth at some point.
"Whatever."
"Not every girl is head over heels in love with you because you won a freaking Stanley Cup and are on the Stars. I could honestly care less about those things."
"So you like me for me?" He raised his brows, questioning what I had just told him.
"Get the fuck out of my room, Seguin."
"What's going on?" Grace walked down the hall to find Tyler standing in the door and me shoving more food in my mouth.
Tyler shrugged, "I was just trying to help."
I rolled my eyes. He would make me look like a complete bitch in this situation. Grace was already upset with me. She doesn't need another reason to be passive agressive whenever I'm around. I stood up and threw some shorts and a t-shirt in my dance bag before looking through my closet for something to wear to work tomorrow.
"Where are you going?"
"To my parents. I need someone to talk to."
"You can talk to me," She crossed her arms, offended that I wouldn't think of her.
"Oh no. It's fine. You're with Tyler. Wouldn't want to make him spend time at his own house." I brushed past the two of them with my dress in one hand and the leftover food in the other. I stopped by the bathroom to grab everything I would need for the morning and left for my parents' house.
It was going to take at least 45 minutes, hopefully there wouldn't be much traffic. But it was six and I would have to drive through Fort Worth. Who knows how traffic would be.
"It's me." I opened the door, setting my bag by the closet door, hanging the dress on the door knob.
"We weren't expecting you. Your dad made chicken parm for dinner." My mom greeted me.
"I already ate, but I'll come sit with you guys." I grabbed a can of sprite from the fridge and sat next to my little sister. "How's your steps coming?" I nudged her, causing the spaghetti on her fork to fall onto the plate in front of her.
"Good, I guess. Can you help me with them?"
"Yeah, of course." Having a sister that was half your age isn't the easiest. She got on my nerves a lot and both me and Austin were tired of babysitting whenever my parents wanted to go out. But now that I don't live in the same house as her, and she's older, we get along pretty well.
"What made you come home?" My mom asked.
"Had to get away from Grace and her new boyfriend."
"When did she get a new boyfriend?" My father asked, pushing a plate and the dessert towards me. He knew I wouldn't be able to resist my mom's fudge.
"Couple weeks ago, maybe a month. I don't know. He's the complete opposite person you see Grace to be with." I cut myself a decent sized piece of the cake batter fudge and set it on my plate. "Two full sleeves of tattoos. Loves to party. You know, Tyler Seguin."
My parents eyes got wide, this reaction was priceless. "That's the kind of guy that I would see you with." My dad told me. I wasn't sure how to take that, but we would definitely be a hot couple.
"More of a Jamie Benn girl myself." I took a bite of the fudge, unable to wait any longer. It's like an orgasm in your mouth. "Shit I'm actually supposed to text him back."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." My mom reminded me. Not "don't swear" but "don't talk with your mouth full".
"How long have you been with Jamie?"
"We aren't exactly 'together' but we've been talking on and off for a while now."
"So do you go one double dates with Tyler and Grace then?"
"It's complicated." I mumbled, going back to my fudge.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Later. It's not exactly Sawyer appropriate."
"Can we go work on my dances now?"
"Yeah of course, just let me put my stuff in my room."
I helped my parents clean up before heading down to the room my father installed mirrors and hardwood floors in. When my grades started to drop, he said I was spending too much time at the studio and not enough time studying, so one of the guest rooms became my dance room. I just wasn't able to use it until I brought my grades back up.
"What are you having trouble with?" I walked in and Sawyer was stretching.
"Everything."
"That's real helpful." I plopped down next to her, putting on my ghillies.
"It's making me not want to dance."
"Then take a break." I unlaced the one shoe I had on and stood back up. "It's fine to take breaks every once in a while if that's how you feel."
"But the-"
"You're 11. You have years to win competitions. Go watch a movie or something. Go play outside. Do something 11 year olds do cause I can't remember that far back."
"Can you even remember what you did last weekend?" The sass on this girl. I'm proud to call her my sister.
"I quit drinking, thank you."
"Fine, can you remember your birthday?" She cocked a brow, pursing her lips.
I could. Rather vivid, actually. "Barely. But I do remember getting hit on by some hockey players so that's always a plus."
I messed up her hair and walked out of the room. My parents were both sitting on the couch, catching up on one of the shows they always watched together. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine, pouring myself a glass.
"Do you want to talk about what's going on?" My mother's soft voice filled the kitchen. I nodded and poured her a glass.
"I know Tyler. I know him.. Well. I've probably slept in his bed more times than she has. Over all the breakfasts we have had together, I got to know him." This was a very classy version of the story, when it was anything but. "I started to really like him, but I also knew his past and well I guess it would have been him at the time too. So if I was at his house one night, I'd be gone before he woke up. Then my birthday was the last night I ended up at his place. Or anyone's for that matter. I stopped drinking and then two months later, Grace brings him home because she doesn't know."
"What about Jamie?"
"I had slept with Jamie a few times and he's a great guy, but it's not the same. The spark isn't there."
"So what made you come home, sweetie?"
"Grace gets everything. She's perfect and I have to try so hard. I work my ass off for everything." I started to cry, "Everything comes so easy to her. I just wish I could be like that."
"You're saying Tyler saw you in the morning and he still wants you?" She looked surprised as I nodded and finished off my glass. "Wow. You need to get that boy back."
"I'm not stealing my best friend's boyfriend. She would hate me."
"Boys can't be stolen. If they didn't want to leave, they wouldn't. But what are you going to do until then?"
"I don't know. That's the problem."
"You should probably figure it out. Talk to Tyler about it." She kissed my forehead and put the bottle back where I had gotten it from. "I'm going to bed. Take the morning off from dancing. It's going to take you long enough to get to work anyway. I love you."
"I love you too."
I sat at the dining room table, texting Jamie while everyone was sleeping. I could easily hide my feelings from everyone, just not myself. I knew I shouldn't be talking to Jamie when I couldn't get my mind off of Tyler. I refused to use Jamie. He was so much better than that. He deserved so much better than that.
>> You seem like you have a lot on your mind
<< Just tired and can't sleep
>> I'll let you go then. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?
<< Yeah of couse.
>> See you then :)
At around two, I decided it would probably be best if I went to sleep. Especially since I had to leave the house in less than 6 hours.
It was a sleepless night. I tossed and turned for hours before I was able to get a little bit of sleep. I tried telling myself that this wasn't about Tyler, but I knew deep down it was. I really hated that he had that affect on me because I knew he wasn't going through the same thing. How could he when he has Grace?
"How much sleep did you get last night?" My dad asked as I downed the last red bull in the fridge. Hope no one wanted that.
"Two hours. Maybe. That's a rough estimate."
"Take a day off." He instructed. "I am."
"I can't."
"You can. You need a personal day."
I guess I could take a personal day and spend it with Jamie..

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