Julie should have dumped him herself months ago.
Now she was out of small-town Ohio, out of that below-average high school, and out of a social circle dominated by girls blindly cheering on their sports-playing boyfriends.
Boston could be different. It would be different. She could be who she was without worrying about dumbing down her vocabulary or hiding her interest in school.
Julie took a last peek at Jared and his new college-wrestling buddies, silently wished him well (or mostly well), and promptly removed him from her list of friends. Her new status update?Julie Seagle Have survived streets of Boston with no permanent injury (save for crushing ego blow regarding stupidity of renting unseen room via nefarious internet site) and am currently in safe haven.
Julie leaned back in the desk chair. She hesitated for a moment, then checked the Gmail account that she'd set up. Her father was the only person who had that email address, and her inbox was empty. He'd write when he had time. She closed the laptop.
She sighed, blew her bangs out of her eyes, and picked up a framed picture from the desk. The photo was of someone bundled up in winter gear on a snowy hillside, snowboard in hand. It didn't look like Matt, although it was hard to make out who it might be in the blurry picture.
Julie unpacked a few things from her suitcase, folding her clothes neatly and setting them into the dresser and hanging a few casual dresses in the closet. As much as she hated to keep all her clothes stuffed into suitcases, where they were getting permanently wrinkled, it didn't seem right to unpack everything she had as though she were moving in for the long haul.
After dinner she would go online and start trying to find somewhere to live. Whitney's freshman orientation was on Thursday, so that gave her all day tomorrow to come up with something. She'd really love to take care of this quickly, and, in a city this big, there simply had to be something decent available.
She glared at her reflection in the mirror and quickly rifled through her luggage until she located her makeup bag and flat iron. A few minutes later, she practically resembled a normal human being again. Maybe not by cheerleader standards, but she'd get through dinner without frightening anyone and then take a good long shower before bed.
"Julie? Do you need anything?" Matt knocked as he opened the door.
"I thought you were supposed to be studying," she teased. "Thanks, I'm all set. Whose room am I in, by the way?"
"Finn's." He stared over her shoulder, looking vacantly into the room. "He's away. Traveling."
"Finn is your brother?"
"Yup. He's my brother."
Julie smiled. God, Matt was so... odd. "Older or younger?" she prompted.
"Older. By two years."
"Making him...?"
He dropped his head, his hair falling over his eye, and laughed softly. "Twenty-three."
"So you're twenty-one. And a junior? When is your birthday? Did you take a year off from school after high school?"
"I did. You know, you seem to have your own interest in math. This flagrant fascination with numbers might mean you're headed for a new major."
Julie crossed her arms. "Unlikely. I haven't been fitted with your newfangled compression filter."
"I could put in a good word with the developer. Maybe get you on the list for the next model?"
"I'll pass, but thanks."
"Yeah. This beta version still needs some tweaking."
Julie smiled. "No kidding. But it's all right."
Chapter 3
"Dinner will be here in a few minutes. You must be ravenous." Erin reached into a kitchen cabinet and retrieved a stack of ceramic plates. She had changed into a linen vest and dark jeans, and retightened her long hair into a neat twist at the nape of her neck.
The air conditioning in the house relieved the heavy air Julie had been suffering through all day, and she knew she should enjoy it while she could; the odds of renting an apartment with central AC were extremely unlikely. Julie took the plates from Erin. "I'll do this."
"Thanks. Matthew has the placemats and silverware." She nodded her head toward the dining room. "Oh, Julie? Did you reach your mother?"
"I did. And she asked me to thank you again."
"No more thanks necessary. It's a good thing she hadn't shipped out the rest of your things yet. They would be sitting on a street corner. I told her to just send everything here, and Matthew can help you move them when you find a place."
Julie moved to the dining room as Matt set down the last fork. She set the plates on the table and frowned as she re-counted the setting. "There'll be five of us, right? You, me, Erin, your dad, and Celeste? We've got an extra place set." Julie went to remove the plate.
"No. Just... um..." Matt cleared his throat. "Just leave that one. I should probably tell you," he started, while busying himself with the napkins, "that Celeste has this thing she does. She has this... I guess, it would be considered..."
Julie waited while he started and stopped a few times, and finally she leaned in to whisper, "I'll need to hear more actual words in order to understand you."
"I don't know how to explain it to you." He sighed. "Celeste - " The front door opened and Matt mumbled something.
Julie looked questioningly at him. "What?"
He shook his head. "Just try to go with it."