Chapter 19: Chapter 19

"Oh, that makes sense." He laughs almost with this much sadness. "It will get easier." He assures me. I didn't believe him, and that's something I'll never get used to. "What did you say your number was?" He pulls out his phone and asks, and I blink to try to shake it off.

"What do you mean when you say that it's pretty normal?" I have to ask, and I hate myself for doing so. It's clear that this guy is trying to talk to me, but I'm not paying attention.

"It happens every time our group goes to a party or drinks." He says, repeating what Abby told me. "What's wrong is that he never talks to her or acknowledges her. Instead, he uses the fuck out of her, and she thinks she's with him or something."

"Has he done something like that to other girls?" I needed to know the truth, even though I knew Abby had been trying to be nice.

"Since the first day I met him." He shakes his head. "Some people have really bad memories or secrets come to the surface when they drink, and I think that's what he does to try to push it all back down again. I just don't get why girls keep coming back for it.'

"Well, not everyone thinks things through," she said. I mumble. "Sorry for all the questions, but he's just hard to live with and won't talk to me."

"I believe it." He shakes his head. "Sometimes he needs time, and with some people he just doesn't warm up. Don't worry too much about it, and don't make his s**t your problem."

"I'm good at ignoring his crap." I tell him it's okay by tapping my beer can against his, and he laughs. "I was coming home from work the other night, and he insisted on walking me home, even though I was in a busy part of campus."

"What do you do for work?" He asks, and I smile, glad that the conversation is changing.

"The pool at Coleman's." What I said. "I am a lifeguard and teach people how to swim."

"That's crazy cool." When he tells me this, I laugh and feel my cheeks getting hot. I didn't think it was that great, but he seemed to think it was. "So you like to sit on the chairs and stuff?"

"Yeah, it's nothing like Baywatch, though. It's mostly just telling people to walk and trying to tell the difference between a splash fight and someone drowning."

"Have you ever gone in and gotten someone out of trouble?" He asks, and I just shrug.

I admit, "Only twice." "The first was a free swim, and these kids dared their friend who couldn't swim to join them in the deep end. He couldn't get back and started to panic. There wasn't enough time, so I just got in and brought him in."

"Whoa, that sounds scary." He says that, and I agree. "Just a kid and all," she said.

"Yes, it made me very nervous. When you save a child, things change." I sigh. "The second time, a guy's leg was completely cramped and locked, and he couldn't swim back from the middle of the deep end. It wasn't as scary." I agree and then shake my head. "I'm sorry, but this is very sad."

"No, it's all right. I like listening to you talk." When he smiles, my smile grows. I don't remember anyone telling me that before. "As you were telling the story, I could see the slow-motion happening."

"Ha-ha." I laugh out loud and roll my eyes. "How about yourself? "Do you work, or what?"

"I don't really have time to work because I get a full scholarship and everything for school is taken care of for me. I just train a lot." He gives a shrug, and I nod.

I ask, "What kind of training?" He laughs.

"Everything: hot yoga, team lifting, sprints, cardio, and I have private ones once a week where I just kick goals into the net." He tells me, and I cringe. I didn't want to live like that.

"You sure sound busy." I shrug.

"There are spaces in my schedule." When he tells me this, his eyes light up, which makes me smile.

"So...you are a forward?" I ask him, and he shrugs.

"Yes, center forward," he said. I nod when he tells me. "I score goals from time to time."

"Well, that must be the most fun part of a soccer game." When I laugh, he smiles and rolls his eyes.

"You should come see one of these some time." I smile when he tells me this. "Which brings me back to the number?" He takes out his phone and asks.

I didn't know what to think of this at first. I thought he was just talking well. But things are getting too friendly, he doesn't like me, does he? Of course not, no. I don't even remember the last time someone hit on me. Guys don't think of me that way. I'm not saying that to get your attention; I really don't think anyone thinks that.

I smile and reach for his phone, and he smiles and gives it back to me with a smile. How long have I been talking to him like this?

"Hi, Chase." We both raise our eyebrows when Kent walks into the kitchen and joins us. "You met Julianna."

"I did." He smiles. "She's awesome."

I was a little flattered by that. Chase was looking back at me, and Kent was standing next to us in a scary way.

"Can we help you in any way?" I ask, giving Kent a sideways look while I type my name into the contact bar.

"We should leave." I raise my eyebrows when he tells me.

"What?" I ask, not understanding.

"Yeah, we're going back to the apartment, and we're not leaving you here." He says this as he takes Chase's phone from me and gives it back to Chase.

"What do you mean that 'we' are leaving? Who the hell is 'we'?" I ask because Kyle was playing a great game of ping-pong and Mark was talking to Abby. "We've been here for only an hour and a half so far."

"Julianna, get on with it." I shake my head when he says this.

"No, I'll come home later. Go away." I tell him this as I reach again for Chase's phone.

"Julianna-"

"I'm talking to someone." I tell him in a direct way, adding my phone number to the end of the contact. If you need to go home to beat your brains out with Piper, you can. But I'm not going with you, and I won't be sitting in my room sober to watch you two fight."

Oh, that did it! He doesn't say anything. He just presses his lips together.

"I don't need you to watch my kids for me."

"I'm not fucking babysitting you, I just want you to get back safe. So let's go." I roll my eyes when he says that.

"Kent, she refuses to go." Chase takes over, which makes me feel better.

"And doesn't that work out well for you?" He comes back mad. "Julianna, please."

"I don't want you to take me home." I tell him the truth, and his lips slightly part. "I just want to relax and enjoy my evening without having to watch you stick your tongue down someone's throat. And where the hell is all this nonsense worrying coming from? I'm fine, and you don't care about me. You just want to ruin my night and get what you want, which I don't like. Now leave us alone, Chase can take me home."

It felt like we were having a standoff in the kitchen because he was looking at me and I was looking back at him. My chest felt like it was vibrating, it was getting harder to breathe, and my mouth felt dry. Normaly, it was hard to stand up to him, and the drinks didn't help.

He reaches out and grabs my shoulder, pulling me away from Chase. I sigh and shake my way out of his grip.

"I'm not taking Piper home." He is firm. "I'm leaving and going home, Julianna, because we've only been here for an hour and a half. We've been here for about four years, and we're all going to leave." He tells me, so I pull out my phone to see what's going on.

He wasn't lying, that much was clear. I had no idea what time it was, and it was getting late.

"Mark is saying goodbye and thank you to Abby, and Kyle is wrapping up his game. We are all leaving, but we won't leave you behind. I'm not being a jerk, but I don't want some guy you don't know walking you home drunk."

Mark and Kyle were all together and heading our way when I closed my eyes.

"Is Chase not a friend of yours?" I ask. "I'm not in danger."

"Stop fighting with me, Julia. Chase is not what you think -"

Because you're such a good guy, right? I ask while putting my phone away, and he looks a little disappointed by my answer. I push past him and wave to Chase before following Kyle and Mark to the door.

"Julianna!" As I walk out the door, he calls after me. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You have a good name, Kent." I murmur as he gets closer to me. The summer air was starting to get chilly. Soon, school would start, and you could feel that fall was coming.

"Yeah, and who said that to you? Chase?" He asks and I laugh at him.

We walk home in what seems like the blink of an eye, and I sigh as I get out my keys. I take my shoes off in the foyer.

"I don't get you." I say it softly. "You've been treating me badly for days, and now you're worried? You worry about whether I'll get home safely or if I'm okay?" I ask him, but all he does is stand in the doorway and watch me shake my head. "You need to figure out who you are and stop doing strange things. Either you want to be my friend or not."

"Juliana, I don't want to be your friend." When he says seriously, my stomach starts to turn. I didn't know what to say because my eyes felt like they were burning.

"Wow, okay." I say something quietly, and he chews the inside of his cheek. "Hey, why don't you just stay away from me?" I mutter, working hard not to cry in front of him.

I walk down the hall to my room, mad that he ruined everything for me. He had to ruin a great night for me. Why did he act so bad? How could he say that right in front of me? I didn't get it, and I could never do something like that to someone.

I just put my feet up on my desk and pull out a makeup wipe. I'm done trying to get along with Kent, so eff him. I don't know why he's been acting so strangely—so weirdly protective, then so horrible, then like a complete jerk. I was annoyed and started to doubt my decision to move in.

"Julianna?" I put my lips together when I hear Mark call through the door.

"Don't enter." I answer. "I'm going to be."

"Don't worry, Julianna, he didn't mean it." He says something, and I sigh, shake my head, and walk to my door. Mark looks surprised to see me when I pull it open.

"I don't care, but that doesn't mean it's okay." What I said. "I just want to be left alone. I don't know what his problem is, but he needs to stop annoying me."

"Alright, I'll give you some room." He sighs and scratches the back of his neck, and I put my head on the door frame. I wasn't trying to make trouble in the apartment, but that's what was happening.

"I'm trying, Mark." I say softly as I try not to cry.

I hated it when people hated me, especially Kent, who seemed to hate me for no reason. It was getting hard on me.

"I know you are, and you are not to blame." When he says yes, I sigh and cross my arms. "I'll talk to him, okay? Don't let it bother you." I nod quietly and look at my feet as my chest tightens.

"My apologies."

"Sorry?" When he asks, I say yes. "Julianna, what are you sorry about?" He says it with a small smile and I sigh.

"I feel bad because I think I'm to blame for all this trouble, and I know that things were easier when Carlo lived here." I admit it, and he just shrugs.

"Things change, and Kent can't stand that. He's been taking it out on everyone, not just you, and we're all trying to deal with it. Everything will be fine, things will calm down, and neither Kyle nor I are mad at you. I'm pretty sure Kent isn't mad at you either."

"Then why would he do that?" When I ask, he gives me a small smile.

"I don't think he's used to worrying about someone. He wants you to be safe and careful because if something happened to you while you were living here, he couldn't handle it." He tells me, and it makes me feel better. "He doesn't hate you, he's just odd."

I laugh a little at that because "weird" is not even close to the right word for Kent.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better." I sigh and run my fingers through my hair as I do so. "And for treating me nicely."

"Why do we need roommates and friends?" He asks, and I smile. The fact that he thought of me as his friend after such a short time made me happy. "It's not true that we hate you, Julianna. You make cookies, clean up everyone's messes, and saved us money on rent by moving in. You might be better than Carlo."

"Probably." I agree, and he laughs.

"So don't worry about it; Kent will be who he is, but Kyle and I? We're on your side." I smile when he tells me this. "And I don't want to see you fucking cry, it's going to break my heart."

"My apologies." I mumbled, knowing that I no longer wanted to cry. Mark was an excellent friend. "I won't."

"Good." He tells me. "Hug?" When he asks, I say yes and watch as he opens his arms.

The bad thing about leaving home was that I missed my family and hugs a lot. Mark gave me a nice hug, and it made me feel much better to know that he and Kyle didn't agree with Kent's ideas.

"Many thanks, Mark." I mumble and move away, and he nods.

"Anytime Julianna." He smiles, and I smile back. "Rest up, tomorrow is a new day."

I give him a nod, and he waves as he walks back down the hall to his room. He was right. Tomorrow was a new day, and this nonsense with Kent would calm down eventually. It wasn't just that he was mean to me, because I could deal with that. But sometimes he would be nice and want to do something just to do it and then pretend it never happened.

That was what I couldn't handle: the back-and-forth inner monologue that he couldn't figure out. The best thing to do next would be to get ready for school, pick up shifts at work, and just stay away from him. Because every time I'm with him, I feel terrible about myself.