Juliet

“Why?”

“I just met Ms. Sandria, and she said for you to come see her sometime today. Did you do something bad?”

“Please.”

With our last names falling in the H category, Grey and I both saw the same guidance counselor. Add that we ended up in the same homeroom together, and we saw a lot of each other.

After relaying the message from Ms. Sandria, Grey started chatting away about nothing, which kept him from noticing Abigail staring him down with crossed arms.

“Did you give Romeo that tour yesterday?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I was wondering if he had any interest in football.”

“I don’t think he does.”

“Hm…”

“Is the team lacking players?”

“No… It’s just he said he did rowing, and that takes stamina. Our team’s defense is on the weak side, so I was hoping to try him out as a safety.”

“You ask him. I just gave him a tour, dunno much more than that.”

Grey chatted a bit more nothing before he left, leaving Abigail with a frown.

“Why’s he so buddy buddy with you?” she complained.

“He doesn’t like to flaunt his popular quarterback status.”

Abigail went out with KJ from the team since 8th grade, until their relationship ended last year. About three years, all in all. The team was pretty close knit, so thanks to her connection, I came to learn of quite a few of the guys.

She tends to go heavy on makeup to the point of looking like a Hollywood actress, so many think she must roll through the guys. She was serious about her relationship, though.

I’ve often said that taking Biology in 7th grade was the best choice KJ ever could’ve made. That was where he met her, and once they became a thing, she was like a heaven-sent angel. If you stacked all the clothes she bought him in front of a door, you couldn’t get through. His popularity came more from her than him. He was a big guy, that’s about it.

Despite how impressive it is that a popular girl and normal guy stayed together for three years, KJ doesn’t get credit for that. In fact, he did the opposite. Vanessa once held a party where Abigail caught him making out with a girl named Cynthia, so their relationship ended there.

Nothing good happens at parties, they make people do weird things. Hermione’s time turner would’ve been a godsend with all the mistakes I’ve made, particularly during my freshman year. As a result, I instinctively started to avoid parties, so I wasn’t at Vanessa’s. But I got the call from Abigail, and after driving over once I heard the story, I wish I hadn’t.

Abigail wasn’t herself for the next couple of days. It was so bad she wore the same clothes to school two days in a row! When I mentioned it, the same girl would who would never wear a coat twice in a row didn’t care in the least:

“Yeah, they’re the same clothes as yesterday.”

It’s worth noting the kiss didn’t happen out of nowhere. The two texted frequently, flirted, and kissed in places where they didn’t think they’d be seen. Abigail was sure the entire team must’ve known. I knew… And as her best friend, for better or worse, stayed silent.

She had a fallout with the team after. The biology class that I frequently called KJ’s best choice ever, became her worst. To top it off, if KJ and Cynthia loved each other to the point of creating such chaos, surely they’d still be going strong, right? Nope. They didn’t last a month.

It was then that I realized how long three years was to an 18 year old. She threw out everything… A coat, diary, gloves, scarf, handkerchief, even a half-knit yarn airpod case meant for KJ. I really felt for her when I saw her room, devoid of any evidence of the relationship.

You could make a five season drama with all the aftermath. KJ tried to get on Abigail’s good graces again, to which she screamed a stab threat at him during class and earned her first ever detention. When they passed by in the hall, the tension felt like a Beethoven battle symphony roared in the background. To prove he had no more feelings for Cynthia, the crazy fool went and slapped her in the face for everyone to see. Add some sex, drugs, and murder, and you’ve got the perfect drama for someone in their high teens.

Just like with clothes, Abigail never did anything twice. Others fight and make up, not her. Once it’s done, it’s done. In her case, along with her fallout with the team, he despised Grey for staying friends with KJ.

“Don’t get too friendly with him,” she warned. “He’s no loyal terrier. I don’t like the way he flirts with you.

“Flirts?” I laughed. “What flirting? He and Veronica are going out, aren’t they?”

I remembered Grey and Veronica being stuck together all last semester. Abigail replied with a cold laugh.

“Do you think he cares? Those guys are happy to flirt around, even if they’ve got a girlfriend.”

I knew since the beginning that if Grey really had an intention to flirt, he wouldn’t do it like that, so I just shrugged. I couldn’t prove otherwise, so saying anything would likely start a fight.

The sky became overcast later that afternoon. I thought about how all over the place the weather is, and headed to the counselor’s office.

Ms. Sandria was seated at her computer with her back to the window and had the blinds down. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice me, so I tapped on the door.

“May I come in?”

“Ah, Juliet. Come in,” she said as she took her glasses off.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“Yes. Have a seat.”

As she motioned towards the chair, I sat on the opposite side of the desk.

Ms. Sandria was a counselor, and one of the younger teachers here. She looked young enough  that nobody would question it if you said she was a senior that’d been held back two years. I heard that this was her first proper job, but had never asked her directly, so I’m not sure.

My previous counselor, Mr. Gurden, couldn’t even remember my classes, much less recommend ones that fit me. Ms. Sandria, however, cared about her students and did her job with a lot of passion. With kids, though, that’s not always a good thing. Adults’ viewpoints change from when they were kids, so they don’t generally relate as well.

“I was. How are you?”

A blue tornado-shaped school badge on her chest, the first i’d seen any administrator wear, caught my attention while I responded:

“Other than it being too hot in these parts, I’m good.”

“Is there anything troubling you’d like to get off your chest?”

“Not that I know of…”

I suddenly got nervous. Have I caused trouble? I thought I’d been a good girl in school. I’ve never even got detention.

“Why do you ask, though? Did someone spill the beans about my pot smoking?”

“You smoke pot, Juliet?” Ms. Sandria responded with a shocked face.

“Of course not!”

Ms. Sandria smiled at my response.

“If it’s not that, why was I called in?” I asked with a furrowed brow.

“I’d like to discuss your higher education.”

“It’s good you don’t do pot, though. If you did, this’d take much longer,” she said, laughing as she took out a pamphlet.

I made a face at the absurdity and looked at the pamphlet titled Drugs: You Use, You Lose!.

“Even if I lit one up here, surely I could just drive a couple of hours and be fine? I heard people smoke all over the streets of Denver with no worries.”

“Even if it’s legal in Colorado, they probably wouldn’t permit minors to use it.”

I shrugged as I put the pamphlet down.

“So, what’s this higher education discussion about?”

“That’s an excellent question.”

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Ms. Sandria smiled as she took out a folder.

“I had a look at the report left by Mr. Gurden, and you had no college preference noted. Did he forget to write it, or did you not tell him?”

“I said I wasn’t sure. That’s probably why.”

“What about now? Are you still undecided?”

It always amazes me how high schoolers are expected to know their exact career paths so they know exactly what to major in at exactly which school. Is 17 years enough to determine that? I have enough trouble just deciding what to eat for lunch everyday.