The Understorey, Book One of The Leaving Series (25 page)

Dang it! Danny!
I said glancing in my
rear view. Danny was my mom’s youngest brother.

    “Danny, what do you want?”
I asked impatiently.
    “Nothin’ Elliott. Just want to know where the
fire is?”
    “I pissed off Jules somehow and she left for
school without me,” I offered as an excuse.
He started chuckling and slapped me on the shoulder.
    “Boy, you better get used to that. Women are
funny like that,” he said.
He didn’t know Jules though. She wasn’t the type. We’d never had so
much as a cross word since the day we got together, not seriously
anyway.
    “I think I really offended her though. It’s not
just a girl thing,” I said, looking for advice, even from my
‘clueless about women Uncle Danny. How he married my lovely aunt
Becky I will never know.
    “Well, if you really did, then you should have a
pretty good idea what happened that made her that way,” he said
intelligently.
    “I have an
idea
Danny.”
    “Well, go fix it son but it’s better you get
there in one piece. You hear me boy? Slow down!” He demanded in his
best sheriff’s voice.
    “Okay, I will. Thanks Danny.”
    “Alright, bye Elliott.”
    “Wait! Uncle Danny?”
    “Yes Elliott?”
    “Don’t mention this to my mom. Please?” I
pleaded.
    “Mention what?” He said with a wink while
walking back to his cruiser.

I started back toward Bluefield, this time at
a snail’s pace. When I finally got to school, the parking lots were
pretty full. I drove around Lot A, where Jules’ car would be and
saw it parked toward the front. I had to drive to the other side of
campus to my lot and was almost late for my first class. I was
going to have to wait until lunch to see her.

    I paid little to no
attention in Economics or Algebra. I only faintly remember Mr. Cook
calling on me in Algebra and asking me if I’d forgotten to turn in
my homework. He had counted one short and called out everybody’s
names on the headings to take attendance and find out who skipped
out. I apologized and handed it in. I sat back down and zoned out
again. I was okay with having to teach myself the lesson later from
my book.

After second period, I walked into the lunch
room and Jules wasn’t there.
Damn it Jules! What is going
on?
I sat down next to Jesse. I was still slightly bitter about
Jesse’s date with Jules, not to mention his strange new behavior
spilling out of the woodwork. I regretted his getting to know Jules
more because, ironically, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be
friends with him anymore.

    “Where’s Julia?” He
asked.
    “I pissed her off. She’s avoiding me. The
problem is that I don’t even know what I did,” I said.
His eyes lit up.
    “Really?”
Too interested
.
    “Yeah”
    “Tell me what set it
off.”   
I sighed.
Maybe he might help.
    “Well, we were making out in my truck in front
of her house.”
He sneered.
    “Do you want to know or not?” I asked with
little patience for his stupidity.
    “Go on,” he said.
    “And things got, well, sort of heavy pretty
quickly and I stopped but she didn’t want to. I kind of yelled at
her to stop and I think it hurt her feelings.”
    “No kidding. You were making out with the girl
and she wanted to keep going and you yelled at her to stop? And you
think
you offended her? Elliott, no offense, but you’re a
moron.”
    “Why’s that?” I asked defensively.
    “Because, if a girl wants to keep going, that’s
her problem, not yours.”
    “You’re a jackass,” I said. “Don’t you get it?
Jules isn’t some
chick
dude. Jules is the love of my
life.”
    “Please, Elliott. You don’t find the ‘love of
your life’ in high school.”
    “Maybe you won’t, but I did. Plus, what kind of
attitude is that dude? You’re trying to tell me that if a girl
wants to keep going in that moment that it’s her problem and not
yours? You’re just as responsible for her as she is for herself
Jesse. Grow up. Where are your morals dude?”
    “Morals, schmorals,” he joked.
    “I’m not kidding Jesse. If you’re not careful
you’re going to make yourself miserable for the rest of your life.
That’s the kind of blasé attitude that allows you to punish
yourself in cruel ways. 

“Think about it this way, you have sex with
some girl you barely know and she gets pregnant. Say, you marry
this girl and she’s turns out to be awful because you married
someone you don’t know. You’ll be miserable and so will your kid,
if she turns out to be a psycho. Say, you don’t marry that girl,
you’ll still be miserable because you’ll have to share custody with
a kid you feel belongs one hundred percent to you. That’s a
torturous fate my friend and all for what? For sex with some girl
who let you? It’s not just about her future, it’s also about yours.
Is it worth it?”
    “God, you’re a nerd.”
    “Also,” I continued, “what if you do know the
girl well and she is the girl you want to marry. Would you want to
compromise her by messing it up with a stupid thing like sex? Dude,
when you’re married you’ll have all the time in the world for that,
a few years without it is not going to kill you. In fact, it makes
you both that much stronger. I’ve got something with Jules that I
don’t think even thirty year olds can find.”
    “Okay, okay Elliott. You’ve made your point but
I don’t think you’ve converted me to your celibate lifestyle
there,” he said mockingly, brushing me off.
    “Don’t insult me Jesse Thomas,” I said, standing
up, raising my voice. “You think that just because I keep from
doing that crap, it means that I’m naive. You can be innocent and
simultaneously not be naive dude. I’m not stupid. Just because you
have sex doesn’t make you older, smarter, or even more mature. In
fact, it makes you just the opposite. You’re juvenile, stupid and
below capacity.”

I stormed off with Jesse’s mouth gaping open.
The whole cafeteria caught the end of our conversation and I felt
eyes burn into the back of my neck as I headed out the double
doors.

    I heard Jesse yell loudly,
“Jules broke up with him!”
I didn’t even bother correcting him, I was so ticked off. I went to
the band room and practiced my drums.

I had joined percussion freshman year and
worked my way up to varsity band last year. It was awesome because
I didn’t have to play during the games and wear their ridiculous
uniforms because I was the quarterback. Every now and then, I would
join them when I had some down time during the games, but I wasn’t
required to or anything. I had the best of both worlds.

    People eventually started
streaming into class after lunch. Taylor Williams and her little
creepy crew came in. They all played flute. Her followers couldn’t
even pick a different instrument. Taylor flitted to my side.
    “I’m sorry to hear that you and the Jacobs girl
broke up,” she said.
    “Go away Taylor,” I said as I tapped my
drumsticks over a snare drum.
    “I’m still sorry to hear it Elliott,” she said,
a cruddy grin on her face.
    “Go away Taylor!” I yelled.

She sat back down in her seat and she and her
little posse started whispering and laughing. Class began and it
took my mind off things. Music always did that for me. There was
something soothing about playing the drums.

After class, I rushed to Chemistry and sighed
when I saw Jules sitting at our lab table. I plopped beside her and
turned my stool her direction.

    “Jules,” I said.

“We can’t talk about it just now Elliott,”
she said.

I turned my head and saw twenty pairs of eyes
focused in our direction. I fixed my stool and didn’t say another
word until the end of class. She darted out as quickly as possible
toward her car.
    Over her shoulder she threw out, “I’ll meet you
at your truck. Just let me get my car.”

I felt a little better that she sounded so
reasonable. I sat on the hood of my truck waiting for her to come
around. I saw Taylor and Marisa walking my direction and prayed
they would walk right past me.
    “Feelin’ lonely?” Taylor asked.
    “Not at all,” I said. “Go away.”
    “So grumpy Elliott. I wonder why,” she said
glancing at Marisa.
    “Go away Taylor,” I said.

I wanted to act as neutral as possible with
her. Taylor was exactly the kind of girl that mistook negative
attention for good.

    “Well, after that little
speech today, Marisa told me that she thought you might want
someone to talk to.”
    “Sure she did,” I said.
Taylor tried to sit next to me on the hood but I put my hand
up.
    “Don’t even think about it Taylor.”
She stopped and stood a few inches beside me legs. She rested her
arm on the hood and let her hand inch closer to my knee.
    “What are you doing Taylor?” I asked, jumping
off the hood.

Jules came driving around and parked in the
empty space beside me. She got out of her car and Taylor and Marisa
stood firmly together.

    “What’s going on?” Jules
asked tucking her hands in the back of her jean’s pockets, probably
trying to restrain herself.
    “Nothing,” I said, glancing over my shoulder,
“Taylor and Marisa were just leaving.”
    “Yes,” said Taylor, “I just came over to offer
Elliott some assistance.”
    “Assistance?” Jules asked, her brows
pinched.
    “Yeah,” said Taylor. “After Elliott’s little
speech to Jesse Thomas today at lunch I thought that since you
weren’t doing him any
favors
that I might be able to
help.”
    “Favors?” Jules asked fully comprehending. “So,
Elliott, you told Jesse Thomas that I don’t do you any
favors
?”
    “He told the whole lunch room,” Taylor
interrupted.
    “Is that true Elliott?” Jules asked, pain
flashing across her face.
    “No,” I said, “not exactly”.
    “Well if it’s not true, then how would Taylor
get wind of something like that?”
    I started to explain again but turned toward the
harpies instead, “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”

When I turned back around, Jules had already
worked her way to her car and was in the driver’s seat. She slammed
the door shut and started the engine. By the time I got to her she
had started to drive off. I pounded my fist on the driver’s side
window but she raised her hand and closed her eyes, when she opened
them I saw the tears. I let her drive off and ran back to my
truck.

“You’re a horrible person Taylor Williams,” I
said before turning to Marisa, “and if you’re not careful Marisa
you could become one too.”

As I drove off, Taylor’s expression was one
of smugness but Marisa looked genuinely concerned. I hoped it
helped her see Taylor’s deceitfulness and maybe change the
direction her life was heading toward.

I went to Jules’ house first but she wasn’t
there and no one answered the door. I stopped by my house and my
mom said that Jules never came by. I peeked into Thatcher’s then
Sadie’s windows but she was nowhere to be found. I was hoping that
she wouldn’t have gone to the rock bridge but was pretty certain
that was the first place I should have gone. It was a dangerous
place to go by yourself.

I drove toward the creek and felt ill to my
stomach. I trekked through the forest to our little secluded spot
and saw her standing there on the edge of the bridge, her hands
folded into herself, her hair flurried with the changing wind. She
closed her eyes and breathed in the crisp air.

“Jules!” I yelled a few feet away.

She turned my way, her eyes were swollen from
crying. I’d seen other girls cry before and the result was never
something that attractive. Her salty tears had a youthful affect on
her. Her eyes were brighter as well as her cheeks and her throat
looked flush with life.
    “Oh Jules, please babe. There’s been a
misunderstanding sweetheart. Please let me explain.”
    I finally made it up the flat marble of the rock
bridge. She stared into the creek below. The sun was starting to
set and I cursed myself for forgetting my flashlight. She stood
quietly waiting for me to speak.
    “Jules, listen, I was really upset with what
happened last night and wanted so desperately to speak with you
about it. I had tried to pick you up for school but you had gone so
that just increased the irritation I had for myself and at lunch
you weren’t there and that just sent me over the edge. I basically
took it out on Jesse at lunch. I know I should have chosen a more
private venue for the conversation. Plus, our topic wasn’t the one
Taylor gave you the impression it was.

“I was trying to talk to Jesse about how
upset I was so I told him what happened,” I watched a tear fall
down her cheek, “but I was discrete about it! I told him what you
meant to me, that I am just as responsible for you as you are for
yourself. I wanted him to know how it’s supposed to be and that the
way he is acting is self-destructive.

“He got really defensive and condescendingly
brushed me off. I stood and let him know what I thought of him and
the cafeteria caught the latter end and it spiraled out of control
from there. That’s why Taylor was out there, she was trying to take
advantage of a weak moment. Please don’t let her do that to us
Jules.”   

    Jules turned toward me,
wiping her eyes as dry as she could get them. I took her hands in
mine and they were freezing. I warmed them by bringing her body in
closer for a hug. I was wearing a t-shirt with a button up flannel
over it so I took her hands and put them inside my open shirt and
onto my back. I wrapped my jacket around her body and kissed the
top of her head.
    “Jules?” I asked after a moment.
    “Yes Elliott?” She asked, her voice cracked from
crying.
    “Why did you leave me last night?”
    “Because,” she said.
    “Because why?” I prodded.
    She sighed, “Because I was ashamed and so
embarrassed, not that what you did was wrong or anything. It’s
just, there is nothing more humiliating than being rejected,
especially when you put yourself out there like that.