I approach the stupid doors that trap me inside for too many hours, and I open them. I walk down the lighted hallway of my school: the same hallway I've walked down for three years. There are lines of posters on the beige wall: sports posters, club posters, even a poster for this year's school play. Even though walking down this hallway freshman year was bad, the circumstances for me right now are much worse.

Put on a brave face, Juliet. Don't make him think you are weak, I think to myself over and over again.

But all my thoughts of acting brave wash away when I actually see him.

My breath catches at seeing Asher Lewis. His beautiful gray eyes I had always loved to get lost in, his sandy hair I had loved to run my fingers in, his perfect smile that had always been directed to me but was now directed to a group of giggling girls. Quickly walking away from the scene, I pull the hood of my jacket up onto my head and hurry off to my locker.

"Why did he have to do this? Why did he have to make me feel this way?" I mumble to myself as droplets of tears fall from my eyes.

"Jul. Babe," I hear his voice call. The voice that had always seemed like music to my ears was now starting to feel like a hammer, banging relentlessly against my brain.

I quickly wipe my tears away and turn around. Asher is standing in front of me, accompanied by his popular jock friends.

"Jul, why didn't you respond to my text? I wanted to know what you thought about the other night," he says, winking at his friends.

Although I feel like bursting into tears right in front of him, I hold back the feeling and decide to give him a piece of my mind. "Nothing happened. At least not with me. Why don't you tell them how Jessica was?" I retort.

All Asher's friends' jaws drop, and some of them let out long, awkward whistles of surprise. Some of them even laugh. "Awkward," I hear one of them sing.

The tears start to sting at the back of my eyes and I turn around and run away from all of them. I look behind me, and I see Asher running after me, which makes me run even faster. Unfortunately for me, he's too fast and he soon catches up with me.

He forcibly grabs my wrist and twists it, causing pain to strike through me. "What are you talking about?" his husky, mad voice asks.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, pull up the picture, and I look at it for a second. I then shove the phone in his face.

Asher runs a hand through his hair as he stares at the screen. "Shit. You weren't supposed to see that."

"Well, I did," I respond, the tears once again threatening to make waterfalls out of my eyes.

"Jul, babe... nothing happened. You know how Jessica is. She's just jealous of our relationship," he assures me, wrapping his muscular arms around my small waist.

Everything, all my doubts and feelings, flew right out of my brain. He was hugging me, like he had always done when I needed comforting, and despite me trying my hardest not to, I still loved it. He would always be able to take my breath away. I know that I might be making a huge mistake right now, a mistake that could affect me for the rest of my life, but whenever he puts his arms around me, all I can think of is him and how much I love him.

I give into his hug. "I forgive you."

His face lights up. "Happy Anniversary, Jul."

I wait for the "I love you", but after what seems like forever, it never comes. This is the first time he hasn't said "I love you" to me on our anniversary. It hurts like hell, like a piece of me knows that the reason he didn't say "I love you" to me is because all his "I love you"s have been wasted on Jessica, but I just push the feeling down.

"Happy Anniversary, Ash. I love you," I respond, smiling.

"Asher!" I hear one of his friends yell, and he rushes off. He doesn't even respond or tell me he loves me too.

"Bye," I whisper, but once again, he doesn't respond.

"Juliet!"

I put on a smile and try to perk up as my two best friends approach. "Aw, honey," Cam drawls out, pulling me into a hug. My face hits her shoulder, and I start to sob.

Cam Goodwin has been my best friend since the beginning of junior high. She was new back then, but she still managed to notice the shy girl in the corner. She had been my first real friend, and now we tell each other everything and know everything about each other.

"I'm so sorry," Casey, my other best friend, says, as he wraps his arms around both of us. "He doesn't deserve you. Are you doing okay?"

We became a trio last year- our sophomore year - when Casey Ham joined our school. He was outgoing, but also reserved like most of the new kids. Cam, being the bold person she is, introduced herself and eventually Casey and I met through her. Although we haven't been friends for that long, he, too, seems to know Cam and I really well.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. We had been dating for two years. I thought we were doing okay, but then t-that happened," I respond, falling into their hugs.

"Well, he really doesn't deserve someone as awesome as you," Casey says, looking at me.

"Thanks guys. But he's pretty awesome too."

Their heads whip to me, both their faces looking at me like I'm crazy. "What?"

"I mean, sure, he hurt me, but he has done a lot of other amazing stuff before."

"Jul..." Cam starts.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't forgive him, did you?"

"Yes, and we're back together." I look down at the floor of the school hallway.

"Juliet..." Casey starts.

"It's okay, guys. I'm just going to give him one more chance."

Right then, the first-period bell rings, and I slam my locker shut. I glance back at Cam and Casey, who currently have expressions of both confusion and rage.

"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I had to forgive him. I love him," I mumble.

"Jul, it's not your fault. I just hope he decides to treat you right this time. Now let's hurry to class before Mr. Rickman freaks out." Cam lets out a small laugh.

Casey snorts as I let out a small giggle. They link their arms with mine and we walk to English class together.

"I love you guys," I choke out.

I really have no idea how I would live without them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My friends and I mzeet up by my locker after school. "We should get together to hang out soon," Cam says.

"Yeah, we should." I grin, walking with them out the school doors.

"Oh, yeah!" Casey agrees. "That sounds awesome. Maybe this weekend?"

"I can't wait!" I excitedly hug my friends and head to my brother's car.

My brother is waiting inside his car. As I get closer, he looks up at my face and sees my smile. His face contorts to a hopeful look. "I see you forgot about Asher," he states, starting to break out into a grin.

"Not exactly."

"Then, what happened?" he questions, his smile turning into a frown.

"He came to my locker to talk to me, and hugged me, and I forgave him..." I trail off.

"Oh, so you're back together?"

I shake myself back into reality. "Yup!" I respond, jumping in his car.

Jak gives me a look, a look of confusion and a bit of... disappointment. He tries to hide it, but I see it anyway. He then forces a smile at me and starts up the car.

"Jul..."

"Jak, I'll be okay. I love him, and he loves me," I reassure him.

"Oh ok, Jul. But if he does anything, you promise to tell me?"

"I promise," I answer, sure that Asher won't hurt me again.

"Well," he starts to change the subject. "I'm craving a shake from Bobby's. Sound good?"

I look at his face, still filled with disappointment. I admire him for changing the subject, and not freaking out.

"That sounds awesome. I've been waiting to have another one of those Chocolate Chip shakes," I grin.

He starts the car, driving out of the school parking lot, and heads toward Bobby's. Bobby's Ice Cream has been our favorite ice cream place since we were little. Dad used to take us to Bobby's all the time. Jakson has told me many stories about dad at Bobby's. Apparently, dad used to order the Chocolate Chip shake too. As soon as I figured that out, I decided to try it. I ended up loving it, and drinking that makes me feel closer to dad.

Dad and mom also met for the first time at Bobby's. (add somewhere else)

As we pull up to the drive thru, he rolls down his window, and looks at the menu. "Hello. Welcome to Bobby's. How may I help you?" we hear the speaker ask.

"Can I please get a medium chocolate chip shake and a..." Jak looks over the menu.

"A medium banana shake!" he decides.

He looks over at me, and I make a gross face. "Hey, I gotta keep up my streak," he shrugs and grins.

I laugh. Jakson always gets something new from Bobby's. He picks something new every single time. After we pay and get our shakes, we start on our way home. "Yum! Thanks Jakson," I say, taking a big sip.

"You're welcome," he grins, and we click our shakes together. "Cheers!" he exclaims.

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