“JC—Julius Chavez,” Seri said out loud.
She moved back to the bed and tossed the phone to the bed where she stayed with her elbows on her knees, head down, waiting for Quill. She couldn’t believe it. She had been seeing him all along. She should have known. What the hell was she supposed to do? Manny would kill him, well, probably not. Julius could break him, but nonetheless. He would be pissed. What the hell was she thinking?
“Merry Christmas,” Quill said, coming in to the bedroom with wet hair, wrapped in a towel. “What’s wrong?” she asked, seeing the disappointment all over Seri’s face.
“Nothing’s wrong, Quill,” Seri said, dropping the wrapped gift on the bed. “Your family is waiting for you to come to breakfast and open gifts,” she stated with a long face, leaving her alone.
“What the fuck?” Quill said to her empty room. She sat on the bed and opened the box, not understanding what just happened. She held up the silver keychain, reading the inscription. (You and me – A single soul dwelling in two bodies).
Quill pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head and quickly dressed. She wanted to talk to Seri. Something just happened. Something was going on, but what? Seri stared at her with a look that Quill couldn’t read as she entered the dining room with the rest of her family.
Seri sipped her coffee, keeping her eyes on Quill while the family listened to Reese talk about cheerleading camp in… JUNE. Quill stared back with a puzzled look. She wasn’t interested in Christmas anymore. She wanted to know what the hell Seri’s problem was.
Quill endured the chatter around the table, and then moved to the living area around the massive Christmas tree that they all helped decorate the night before. Seri was fine then. They had a ball the night before.
As soon as the last gift was open, Seri stood and looked directly at Quill. “Bundle up, Quill, let’s go for a walk,” she demanded.
“Sarah?” Manny questioned. All eyes were on Seri, wondering what the attitude was about. Manny sensed it earlier, but refrained from saying anything, not wanting to ruin the gift exchange.
“We’re fine. I just want to talk to Quill ALONE.”
Quill slid on her boots and warm coat. Had the circumstances been different, she would have whined about the cold. She didn’t. Seri was pissed about something and she was anxious to find out what.
“What the hell, Seri?” Quill asked as soon as they were away from the house.
“How the fuck is Julius? Quill?”
Well, fuck.
“Um, excuse me?” What did she know?
“You’ve been seeing him this whole time, haven’t you?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Seri?”
“JC called while you were in the shower.”
“You talked to Julius?”
“No. I didn’t answer. I thought JC was the boyfriend from school that you lied to me about. It wasn’t until I read all of the text messages that I figured out that JC was actually Julius Chavez.”
“You went through my phone?” she almost asked how she got into it, but didn’t need to. Seri was trained to do shit like that.
“Yeah, Quill. I did. I can’t believe you.”
Quill didn’t know whether to be pissed or what the hell to think. “What do you want me to say, Seri? I love him. I’m going to be with him.”
“And are you just going to hide behind lies while you SEE him?”
“I don’t know.”
“What the hell, Quill? You could have told me.”
“Told you what? Oh, by the way, I’ve been sneaking around, seeing Julius. Would you have given me your blessing?”
“Fuck no. And neither would your mother and father.”
“Exactly my point, did you think I was actually going to tell you? You’re engaged to my dad. Do you keep secrets from him?”
“You know I don’t.”
“Hence the reason I didn’t tell you. Are you going to tell him now?”
“Jesus Christ, Quill. Fuck. I don’t know. He’s going to be livid. I can’t believe you put me in the middle of this shit.”
“I didn’t put you in the middle of anything. You shouldn’t go snooping through people’s phones if you don’t want the truth.”
“Where is he?”
“Why?”
“I just want to know. Is he living close to you?”
“Are you going to go after him?”
“No. I told you, his name is clear as long as he stays out of trouble.”
“He’s not getting into trouble. He’s not doing anything. He doesn’t even smoke weed, and gets mad at me for doing it. He’s clean.”
“So he is living near you?”
“Yes.”
Seri shook her head, un-fucking-believable. “Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Nothing, keep your mouth shut. I’ll be 18 in less than six months.”
“And then what, Quill? Are you going to run away with him?”
“I don’t know what, Seri. I love him. I can’t live without him. Can’t you understand that?”
Seri ran her gloved hands over her face. Yes. She could understand that. She felt it for the first time in her life with Manny. Her father understanding, that was going to be a different story.
“I’m so mad at you right now. Why couldn’t you go off to college and fall in love with someone that your father would approve of? I have to live with him.”
“I can’t fall in love with anyone else. Julius has owned my heart since I was a little girl. Julius and I have a bond that can’t be replaced by some guy in college. I don’t know how to get you to understand that. Julius and I are always going to be tied together. I can’t change that. I don’t want to change that.”
Seri placed her arm around Quill’s shoulders, trying to understand and be her friend, not the adult that she was turning into since Manny came into her life. “We’re still a single soul dwelling in two bodies,” Seri said, bumping her head with hers.
“Thanks, I loved that, but I don’t get it,” Quill questioned.
“Get what?”
“Why the keychain? Where’s the keys and the car? You told me my dad was going to buy me a car for Christmas.”
“Shit, Quill. You ruin everything. Why do you always have to put things together? You’re dad’s going to kill me.”
“I’m getting a car?” Quill asked excited.
“No. I didn’t say that.”
Quill did get a new car, well not new, but new to her. It was a used white Honda CRV, and she loved it. She hated having to drive Reese to school every day, but loved not having to share her mom’s car. She spent a lot of weekends with Whisper (Julius), and Seri kept her secret. She was glad that Seri knew. Although she still didn’t like it, it was nice to have her friend to talk to when he pissed her off or she wanted to share something funny that they had done.
“Let’s go somewhere this weekend, Julius,” Quill suggested, wanting to get out of his house and do something outdoors now that the weather was cooperating. She really did hate winter, and would probably never get used to that.
“I can’t. I’m going out of town tomorrow.”
Quill sat up from, leaning on him on the sofa. “Where you going?”
Julius pulled her back to him. “It’s a secret. I can’t tell you.”
“No. Fuck that. We don’t have secrets. Where are you going? What are you up to?” she argued, pulling away again.
“Okay, it’s not a secret, just a surprise, and I’m not telling you, so lose the attitude. I’ll be back tomorrow night. You can come over then if you’re allowed.”
“Is it a surprise for me?”
“Yes. Now, stop. That’s all I’m saying.”
“I hate you, Julius Chavez.”
“I don’t care. I love you.”
“I’m going to graduate high school again next month,” Quill said, laughing at the fact.