All That Remains (8 page)

She gives them both looks of disdain. “There’s nothing to tell. We’re friends.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“You know my ‘Jules BS Meter’ can smell that lie a mile away,” Katie points out.

“Your ‘BS Meter’ is faulty then and not appreciated right now,” Jules counters and gives them both stern looks that clearly state the subject is off limits.

“Fine. Then tell us about West,” Katie prods again.

“No.”

Katie’s eyes go wide. “No?”

“No.”

“Jeff said West was pretty upset seeing you two together the other night. He said-.”

Jules slides off her bed, “I don’t care what he said. Jeff kept his damn mouth shut all summer and all last year where West's concerned. He should continue to do so.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No? Life’s not fair.”

Katie and Jules stare at each other; Katie’s face goes red as Jules starts messing with random junk on the desk that sits at the end of her bed.

Katie slips off of her bed and walks to the bathroom, “You told us not to get in the middle. I thought you meant it, but clearly you didn’t.”

The bathroom door shuts behind her and Jules lets out a sigh. She looks at Jess, who is still leaning back in the chair with her feet propped on the edge of Jules’ bed.

“Don’t look at me for support,” she says raising her arms in surrender.

“I know,” Jules sighs, knowing she’s been a bitch. She’s always shared everything with Katie who, along with Jess, had been there after the wreck. They’d been there when West wasn’t. They’d watched her cry herself into a mass of skin and bones, as depression and misery took over her life. They’d been there and now she is denying them some simple answers. It is wrong.

Jules knocks on the bathroom door and tries the handle, finding it locked. “It’s only our first day as roommates, K. Don’t you think we should wait until day two before we fight?”

No answer.

“I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, and I don’t blame Jeff.”

Still no answer.

“Fine!” she yells, slapping the door with her palm. “I couldn’t look at him.”

The door opens and Katie’s blonde head pokes out of the crack, her blue eyes somber as she fixes her stare on Jules.

“Jeff is his best friend. He couldn’t betray his confidence any more than I could have betrayed yours. We kept your secrets and we kept his. I thought you knew that.”

“I did,” Jules replies and she means it. “I’m sorry I took my frustration out on you.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t look at him?”

Jules almost laughs at the way Katie bypasses her apology and goes straight to her original question.

“I saw him standing there and I could barely look above his shoulders. The simple sound of his voice nearly sent me to the ground,” she admits as Katie pulls the door wider. “It hurt, K. It hurt and I don’t know if I can deal with it yet.”

“Awww,” her best friend rushes her and pulls her into a hug. “I’m here for you. Correction,
we’re
here for you.”

Katie leads her back to the bed and Jules explains the entire confrontation at the party Thursday night, but she leaves out the conversation she had with Austin. One boy drama at a time is all she can handle right now.

“You and West obviously still have feelings for each other.” Jules shakes her head and Katie grabs either side of her face to stop her. “Don’t be stupid. You know it’s true.”

“He left me. Did you forget about that? He left me; he didn’t tell me where he was going, he didn’t return my calls, my texts. He told everyone…
everyone
, to tell me nothing. He’s been out for what, two or three months now? He could have come after me if he wanted.”

“You still love him, Jules.”

“Of course I do. He was everything to me. My strength, my love, my first… I will always love him, but-.”

“But nothing. Don’t close the door for good,” Katie begs.

Jess nods and adds, “Not until you know the whole story.”

“Austin said the same thing. Let him tell the whole story. What is the whole story? What more could he possibly say that he didn’t say in that letter?”

The girls shrug and Jules frowns at them. Their intense conversation is interrupted by a voice in the other room.

“Hello?”

Jess jumps up and rushes through their shared bathroom to her adjoining dorm and Katie and Jules follow behind. Standing at the door, a huge duffle slung over her shoulder, is a small brunette with black glasses.

“Hey,” Jess is giddy with excitement and Jules and Katie laugh. “I’m Jess and this is Katie and Jules. They are in the other room.”

“Cassandra,” the newcomer replies, with a timid smile. Her accent clearly identify her southern roots. “You can call me Cassie. Most people do.”

“I took a bed already. Hope you don’t mind?” Jess asks, and Cassie shakes her head.

“We’ve pretty much set up all of our stuff. Can we help you unpack?” asks Katie.

Cassie looks around the room, taking in the color explosion of purple and teal Jess has decorated with. Pulling her bag from her shoulder, she drops it onto the twin bed and smiles. “Well, I guess we will have quite the teal room,” she hints, popping the lid from one of her boxes and pulling out a teal and white chevron throw pillow.

They spend the next hour helping Cassie pull things out and organize her side of the small room. Jess, Katie, and Jules had agreed to not decorate their bathroom until they met Cassie so once they’re done with the room the four head to the local shopping center. They pick up a few necessities they forgot, agreeing on a vintage ‘powder room’ shower curtain and shabby chic accessories. Katie, ever the crafty one, drags them into a craft store where she picks out multiple paints, stamps, and other items for projects to complete.

* * *

Deciding to skip the parties and mixers for the night, they stop at a local burger joint where they sit and chat.

“So, you three went to school together?” Cassie asks with disappointment in her voice.

“Well yeah, just this last year.” Katie explains they’re from Tyler and Cassie straightens immediately. She is already aware of the ‘Tyler tornado’ and recalls the story of the schools being combined.

“I saw that on the news. It was all the talk in Dallas; our club sent supplies to y’all.”

“Hey, eye candy!” calls one of Austin’s teammates as a group of guys walk into the restaurant and Jules sinks down into her seat as eyes from all over the dining room swing her way.

Cassie’s brow quirks at her. “Are they talking to you?”

She doesn’t get a chance to answer as the guys stop at the booth; they’re all wearing tee shirts and sports shorts, typical jock attire.

“Hey girl, Austin with you?” the tallest of the bunch asks, his eyes scanning over their table and taking in her friends.

“Nope, must be sowing his wild oats before he’s on lockdown," she fabricates playfully. "Is that what you guys are up to, too?”

“Ha! You know that’s not really the rule.”

“Yeah, sure,” she teases with a wink. Many of the players try to live and die by the rule that game week is all business. The coaches ask that they adhere to a curfew and stay down as much as possible. Typically, the veteran players, and the ones like Austin who are vying for a spot in the NFL, follow the rules more strictly than the others.

Jess gives her a look from across the table, along with a swift kick to the shin, and Jules offers up introductions.

“These are my roommates, by the way. Jess, Cassie, and Katie. Ladies, some of our fine ball players here. This is Scott, the goofy looking one is Chris, and that’s Darren.” She points at each guy as she introduces them. Jess sits straighter, puffing out her chest, and smiles flirtatiously at each guy while Cassie looks around with disinterest and Katie nods.

“You're Parker’s girl,” declares one of the guys Jules doesn’t know as he pushes himself next to Scott. “I saw you with him earlier. Damn girl, he talks about you all the time.”

“That’s my boy.”

“JP, huh?” Scott asks, calling Jeff by the nickname Austin told her they gave him in practice earlier in the month. Scott looks at Katie differently. “He’s good. He’ll be an asset to the team.”

She beams, and Jules feels a tug of envy for her best friend. When she dated Stuart people would stop and tell her how talented or awesome he was. It was hard not to let it get to her head, the constant compliments for something she had absolutely nothing to do with.

“Football players, huh?” Cassie asks when the guys leave a few minutes later.

Jules noticed her disinterest while they were talking and wonders if she has a boyfriend at home.

“Nah,” she answers when Jules asks her.

“Not a football fan then?” Jess chimes in. Her eyes are still following the guys as they stop at several tables and cause commotion at each one.

Cassie’s cheeks tint pink and she shrugs, “Football’s okay. It’s the players that get on my nerves.”

Jess, Katie, and Jules exchange glances and Cassie rolls her eyes. “You’re all dating players, aren’t you? Well, hell, I guess I can’t expect you to be perfect.”

“Was dating,” Jules says pointing to herself.

Jess interrupts, “I’m single, honey, but I’m not discriminating. These two though,” she teases nodding across the booth at Jules and Katie. “They can’t seem to get away from the jock strap crowd.” Jess giggles and Katie throws a sugar packet at her.

“Hey! Jeff and I have been together for over a year now, thank you very much.”

“What about you, Jules? Who’s Austin?”

Jules shakes her head, “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah,” Katie agrees. “Way too complicated for our first meal together,” she inserts, and Jules could kiss her for helping her get out of that question.

“As a matter a fact, let’s toast!” Katie picks up her cup, and the others follow suit. “Here’s to the best damn freshman year we can ask for!”

“To old and new friends,” Jess adds with a smile.

“To new friends,” Cassie repeats, tapping her cup forward.

“And new beginnings,” Jules adds as her cup hits her roommates’. Cassie’s eyes hold Jules for a moment longer than the others, and there appears to be understanding there.

“New beginnings!” they all repeat and take sips of their drinks.

Eleven

Jules

Jules puts both Austin and West out of her head as the first week of school starts. The motto ‘new beginnings’ becomes her chant when she wakes up each morning until her head hits the pillow at night.

Wednesday night Jules is sitting cross-legged on her bed fixing her notes from the days lecture in History while Katie rummages through their closets looking for the perfect outfit for the Greek mixer she’s attending.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” she asks for the millionth time in the past hour.

Jess and Katie have decided to attend three house mixers this week to determine which house they’d want to rush. Jules knew Katie would want to rush, they’d always talked about going Greek together, but she was shocked when Jess said she wanted to check it out, too. Jules’ mom is a Delta Zeta and she’s been fielding requests from their chapter all summer.

“Which house is tonight?” Jules asks, feigning interest to placate her best friend as she walks into the bathroom.

“Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Sig, and then you are not backing out of going to the Delta Zeta house with me tomorrow, right?”

Jules sighs.

“Promise me, Jules,” Katie calls out, poking her head out of the bathroom and glaring at Jules.

“Ugh, I promise.”

Jess steps out of their shared bathroom right before Katie and they both pose, waiting for approval from Jules on their outfits.

“Perfect southern belles,” Jules offers as she looks at their little sundresses and cute sandals.

“Here, here… take a pic for us?” Katie asks, grabbing her cell phone and handing it to Jules, all giddy with excitement.

“Okay, but no duck faces!”

They snap ten pictures before Jess and Katie decide on one that is social network acceptable and then they’re off in a flurry of air kisses and laughter. Falling to her bed once they’re gone, Jules takes a deep sigh of relief. Just then, her cell goes off.

Austin: Hey, candy girl. Dinner in the commons?

Jules: Rain check? I really wanted to chill tonight.

Austin: You can’t avoid me forever.

Jules: Have you seen your brother?

She deliberately doesn’t say ‘West’ as if using his name is bad luck. When he doesn’t reply right away, she sends another text.

Jules: You can’t avoid him forever…

Austin: smart ass

Jules: yeah, we’re both kinda screwed, huh?

Austin: maybe. Rest and meet me for coffee in the am. Whats your schedule?

Jules: communications at 9:25

Austin: 9:25!!! AM? Overachiever

Jules: Us ‘regular’ students actually have to schedule classes. Sleep in slacker and we’ll catch up for dinner tomorrow before I have to go to a rush mixer.

Austin: deal.

Plugging her phone into her docking station and turning on some low music, Jules crawls back onto her bed and loses herself in her classwork. Two hours later, Jules is pouring herself a second bowl of cereal for dinner when she hears Jess and Cassie’s door open and close.

“Hey, Cassie, is that you?”

Keys jangle and a thud is heard before Cassie appears in the bathroom door. “Hey, Jules. You didn’t go to the party, huh?”

“Nah, I just wanted to chill tonight. What about you? Where have you been?”

“Library. I know it’s antiquated these days to study at a library, but it’s what I’m used to. I find peace there. Or I usually do.”

“Usually?”

Cassie groans in disgust and takes a seat in Katie’s chair. “Yeah, it was packed and seemed more like a meat market than a place to study.”

“Welcome to college,” Jules deadpans, remembering good and well how the first week of summer semester felt like one giant dating game until people settled in. “It’ll calm down.”

“I hope so.” She eyes Jules’ bowl. “Cereal for dinner, huh?”