Oh Juliet

I slowly let a breath out as I gathered all my things to go down to Houston. I checked - and rechecked - my dance bag, making sure I had everything I needed. I had multiple of everything in there mainly because I freak out if I don't. Forgetting something for a feis is what nightmares are made of.
Originally, I was supposed to go down with my family, but since Sawyer wouldn't be dancing until the day after me, Tyler was so generous as to offer to drive me and Grace down so that we could meet my brother.
Tyler started to put my dress in the back of his SUV, but I stopped him. "No! That goes in the back seat with me." I grabbed the bag that was covered in elephants and held it close to me.
"Geez. You act like that dress is a child or something."
"Three grand, Tyler. It is worth every penny, too." It wouldn't have cost as much, but I really like crystals.
"Are you getting a new one if you make it to the next one?"
"My parents think I should but I love this one so much that I don't know if I want to give it up just yet." I laid down the dress bag next to me in the spacious back seat. "We have to pick up my brother at the airport so you might want to get going.
Three and a half hours. That's how long I had to deal with all the cutesy shit that was happening in the front seat. There was not enough Dropkick Murphys on iTunes to drown out what was going on.
"Awesome. We're here." I opened the door as Tyler slowed down and pulled to the curb. "I'll go get Austin. Don't move."
I had gotten a text just a few minutes earlier that said he was waiting at baggage claim.
"Julie!" He yelled, waving me down. I ran towards him and attacked him.
"How's my big brother?"
"Tired, hungover, and more tired."
"Aww my big business man of a brother still can't handle his liquor?" I laughed, nudging his side.
"Not a whole bottle of it, no."
"Well, I have a lot to tell you." He grabbed his bag from the carousel and I walked him to Tyler's car.
"Jules, I'm scared to touch your dress. Can you move it?" I laughed and brought it over to my lap. A little bending for the short ride to the hotel wouldn't be a horrible thing.
We checked into the hotel rooms - all three of them - and made a plan to meet for dinner a few hours later. I unfolded my dress and left it laying on the bag in the corner of the room.
"So how did Grace end up with someone like Tyler Seguin? He's more of your type."
"Why do people keep saying that?" I whined as I buried my head in the pillow I brought with me.
"Because it's true. Why are you acting like that?" My brother sprawled out on his own bed and turned on the tv, flipping through the channels.
"Because I've had sex with Grace's boyfriend more than Grace has. The only reason they're together, is because of me."
"You set them up?"
"No. I didn't want a relationship with Tyler, but I really like him. He's such a good guy underneath all the tattoos and rumors. I got to know him pretty well."
"Then why don't you want to date him? Sounds like you two both really like drinking and sex."
"I also happen to really like dancing and I do want to date him. I just don't know."
"Someone's afraid of commitment." My brother taunted as he raided the mini bar.
"Dude. That shits way overpriced."
"Yeah because dad can't afford it?" He tossed me a mini bottle of vodka and drank one himself. "Besides I know this dinner is going to be awkward so a little buzz never hurt anyone."
Honestly, I think Tyler and Austin could be really good friends. They seem like they would get along. Austin just wasn't happy that Tyler would play his little sister like that, when really I was probably the one at fault in this situation.
"Where do we want to go to dinner?" Grace asked as we all piled into the elevator.
"I kinda want steak." Tyler spoke up.
"I want something really greasy. Like a bacon cheeseburger. Or barbecue. Maybe some barbecue chicken." I went on, thinking about what all I could eat and not be sluggish tomorrow.
"I thought you only ate healthy on competition weekends." Grace inquired. After all, she was the one that bought all the healthy food I would be eating until my last dance on Sunday.
"I eat healthier than normal on competition weekends. Meaning no grease. Tonight is not the weekend meaning I need to get this craving satisfied before the morning. Do you have a problem?" Okay, that was a little harsh. But her and Tyler being all lovey was getting annoying. This weekend was about me and I was going to get the attention I deserved damnit.
"We should go to that one place we go to whenever we're in Houston. It's just a few blocks from here." Austin suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds great."
I could tell my brother was just as nauseous as I was listening to the couple we went to dinner with. I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not. This is absolutely ridiculous. It's kind of like soft core porn.
Completely kidding about that.
The waitress asked me what to drink and I told her a vodka cran. A strong vodka cran.
"I thought you didn't drink when you're competing." Grace mentioned. She made her comment seem snarky. Being with Tyler has made her somewhat of a bitch. Apparently she thought she needed to be a badass since that's what her boyfriend was.
When he's actually not, he's pretty much a tattooed puppy.
"I drank a whole bottle of wine the night before this one last year."
"Maybe that's why you only placed third." My brother laughed, poking at my side. I honestly didn't think I was going to place that high even. I was coming back from an injury and didn't dance as well as I could have.
I looked up to see Tyler's eyes staring into mine. I swallowed hard and started playing with the silverware in front of me. I could tell he was watching me most of the night, but I tried to brush it off. He was dating my best friend. He should be staring lovingly at her all night instead of staring me down.
I was happy to get back to the room and put on a pair of baggy sweats before crawling in bed and going to sleep. It was nice being able to fall asleep easy, especially with these nerves. This was a bigger feis, but there wasn't anything riding on this. I knew I was going to the even bigger comps. I knew I had a fighting chance of making it to worlds, but this was different.
Getting up in the morning was easy. I was able to get right out of bed and do my makeup before going to grab breakfast alone. Austin would shoot me if I woke him up when he didn't have to be down at the stage for another four hours.
I shot a text to one of the moms, asking her to do my wig when she got there, taking in the sights. AKA the cute bus boy. Not knowing people were watching, I started going over my dances on my hands. Weird, I know. But it works.
Fast forward a few hours and I was warming up in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. A few girls had come to say hi to me, but most knew I was zoning out. I was about to start one of my dances when the headphones were ripped from my ears.
"Excuse me." I whipped around, trying to find out who would be so rude as to do that. "Monica! I didn't know you were coming!" I wrapped my arms around the Lousiana girl standing in front of me. She was the definition of southern bell.
"Yeah, it was a surprise all right. Are you competing?"
"No, just came to see your beautiful face. From your tweets it looks like you have a lot to catch me up on."
"Oh do I ever." I walked over to my bag, searching for one of my water bottles. "To start my best friend and roommate is dating the guy I've been hooking up with for the longest time but she doesn't know. That's about all that's going on with my life besides dance and work."
"There's more to that story but I'll let you get back to practicing. You'll be heading up soon. Can't wait to see that bright blue dress fly across the stage." She gave me a hug and started walking away. "Oh and if you win, you shouold convince them to let you to do the parade of champions to Dropkick Murphys."
"Do you know how hard that is?" I laughed, "I almost died when I did that in Boston." You see, every year on St. Patrick's day the Dropkick Murphys have their concert. They actually have a few of them over the span of a few days, but we went to the one on the 17th.
During these concerts, they bring out some dancers. My dance teacher called up the school that the dancers were from and somehow was able to get me on stage that night. The only downfall to the whole situation was that I didn't know what song that I would be dancing to so I didn't know what to expect.
"You were probably drunk." I actually wasn't.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Being on stage by myself was one of my favorite things. I'm not really an attention whore, but I loved that people had to watch me and only me. I knew that I had the talent to amaze people and I wanted everyone to know who I am.
I stood in the corner of the stage waiting for my music to start. I couldn't see anyone but the judges, but I knew that Tyler was out there watching me. Better not screw up.
As much as I loved flying across the stage and hitting trick steps like they're nothing, I was more of a hard shoe type of girl. Hitting every beat of my hornpipe and treble reels was indescribable. Maybe it was because I always was making noise as a child, but I put on those hard shoes and there was no going back.
Tyler's POV
Watching these dancers was ridiculous. The things they can do made me feel like scoring goals and winning the Stanley Cup were nothing big.
I had seen Juliet dance in my kitchen, but a majority of the time she half assed it. Seeing her on the stage, she was made to do this. She looked beautiful up there.
I didn't deserve her. Hell, I really didn't deserve Grace. Sitting here with her, silently fawning over her roommate and best friend. I know Juliet has feelings for me, or she wouldn't be acting the way she is.
At dinner, she was talking with her father. There was something in her eyes that looked so lonely. I felt like such an idiot for not waiting around for her. We would be great together.
"So are you ready for your hornpipe?" Juliet's mom asked.
"Physically? No. Mentally? No." She laughed, putting her fork back on the napkin in front of her. "Love my steps but that dance is always a killer."
"What about treble reel?" Her little sister asked.
"Gonna rock that."
I sat there listening to their conversations, focused mainly around Irish dance and Grace's life. Occasionally they would ask me something but they were usually questions about hockey. Like every other time I meet new people.
The next day, I hardly saw Juliet. She said hi to us when we got there, but that was all. I went to look for the restroom when I saw her pacing back and forth in her dress, mumbling something. I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.
"Tyler." She looked surprised.
"You doing alright?"
"Hornpipe starts in 5 minutes and I go on last. Not exactly calm right now."
"If it makes you feel any better, you did amazing in your last dance."
She laughed, "You wouldn't know the difference if I did bad or good. But thanks Ty." God, how I loved when she called me Ty. Not many people did but she has since we first met. "Well, I should get going. See you after awards."
I quickly walked back to my seat and sat down. I didn't want to miss her dancing.
"She's going to kill this," Grace leaned over and said to me. "She practices hornpipe at least an hour a day which is so much harder than other dances."
I looked between Juliet dancing and Grace watching her. The complexity of this dance was insane. I couldn't keep up with what her feet were doing. When she was done, the announcer said they would have a 5 minute break before awards.
She was switching weight between her feet the entire time they were announcing names. When they had called her name, she dropped to her knees. Holding her face in her hands, she had won. From what I've heard, this was the first time she had taken first at something this big. Apparently she gets anywhere from second to sixth on a normal basis. Her sister mentioned that she would be the all-around champion now.
Juliet's reaction was so genuine. She was wiping the tears with a huge grin on her face. That's when I realized I had made a mistake settling for Grace.

Notes