His grin widened.
Playfully annoyed, I snatched his notebook.
“Don't break it,” he joked, as if that was how I handled books.
A few cold raindrops hit my nose and I looked at my cell phone clock.
“I've got literature history coming up, could you give me a ride back?” I asked Julian, who looked up to where the intertwining towers of clouds were making ominous thunderous noises.
“We should get back anyway, before the storm takes us out of traffic.”
Once we were back on the road, I remembered one more thing I'd been meaning to ask him all along.
“Do you think I should apologize to Emely?”
Julian continued to look at the road.
Light rain was pattering on the windshield and the sound of the windscreen wipers calmed me down a little. Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation played softly on the radio.
“Don't worry, I'll talk to her.”
“She doesn't like me, does she?”
Julian laughed. “She doesn't like Quatura in general. It's even worse with Ruisangors. But it's in her blood.”
“In her blood?”
“According to the legend of the indigenous Senseque of Blairville, the Esadowas, the goddess of the moon created them to free humanity from the plague of Ruisangors. And it really seems like these two species were created to hate each other to the death.” I looked thoughtfully at the radio, which was switching to another soft indie song from a local band. “But with you, it's just mistrust, believe me.”
“That's not the only reason...” I said, barely audible, thinking about how she always watched me when I talked to Julian.
“What do you mean?” he asked with interest. He seemed to have absolutely no idea. Maybe I was just imagining it, but I usually had a feel for this sort of thing.
“I think Emely is a bit jealous,” I said.
Julian laughed, “Emely? Jealous? No way!”
“What makes you so sure?” I asked, seriously interested.
“I just know Emely. All she cares about is the pack.”
That sounded harsh, and I was sure that if Emely had been here now, it would have hit her.
“You better not say that to her face,” I said and looked back out onto the street. We were back in the town center.
Julian seemed thoughtful because he was silent.
“Fuck...” he said suddenly. “Do you really think she could be into me?”
I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head slightly. “She totally is.”
Julian hesitated, flabbergasted.
“It wouldn't make sense to me, you know? She's a lot more dismissive than she was back then.”
“She's with you all the time,” I countered, “...even though she already has a group of guys.”
“The only reason she's always with me is because she wants me in the pack or because of the thing with you...”
There we had it.
“She wants you in the pack. I see. Why do you think that is?” I helped him along.
Julian didn't answer, just stared at the road in thought and dodged a branch in the lane.
“Would she have any reason to worry?”
I wheeled around to face him, startled and already feeling the blush rising again.
“No, what do you think?” I punched his shoulders again. Julian dodged, grinning.
“Don't tell me you don't think I'm hot?”
And there he was again. Julian Bardot, my annoying neighbor.
We were standing at a traffic light, so he turned and stretched his head toward me, only to ask with a wry puppy dog look, “Not even a little bit?”
“Julian!” I laughed and pushed him back into his seat. “Concentrate on the road!”
