╔ ——————————————— ╗
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"the human equivalent of 
stubbing your toe"
╚ ——————————————— ╝
(different but same)

"COME ON, BABY, hit me in the face." 

Hawk shot Jules a very offended look as the two sparred in the park. The sun was beating down, and Jules' hair was beginning to stick to the back of her neck since she didn't get the chance to tie it up. In front of her was Hawk, who had previously been having an awfully good time hitting kids half his size. 

 "What?" Jules taunted, holding her fists out in front of her. "You can hit a fourteen year old but you can't hit me?" 

Hawk kicked his leg out, but Jules blocked and jabbed her fist into his chest, sending him stumbling back a few feet. He swung his fist at her, which she ducked under, twisting his arm and kicking the back of his knees so that they hit the ground. 

 The girl snorted, releasing her grip at the pained expression on the boy's face. She brushed her hair from her face and sent him a mocking pout. "Aw," she cooed, flicking his mohawk as he rose to his feet. "Did the hair not give you super-powers?" 

 The boy shot her a glare, "you're a bitch, you know that?" 

 Jules shrugged, "obviously. I'm a badass, not an idiot." 

Hawk scoffed, crossing his arms. "It was lucky, I'll beat you soon." 

 "Only in your dreams, Moskowitz."

"Hey, guys!" Hawk stalked over to where Demetri, Aisha, and Miguel were gathered on a park bench. Jules grinned to herself as she followed, sticking her thumb in her mouth, and then in Demetri's ear as she leaned over, earning a yelp. 

"Hey!" The raven-hair boy crowed, rubbing his ear. "I told you to stop doing that!" 

 Jules leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Can we please watch The Walking Dead today?" She asked, sending the boy a pleading look as he adjusted his shirt. "We left off at the part with the prison being overrun, and I want to see Michonne again." 

 "It's not my fault you have a crush on Michonne!" Demetri shot back, crossing his arms. "Oh, and I did find a cosplay with a sword, but I don't think it's actually sharp." 

 "Then what's the point?" 

 Hawk, who was watching the two with an indistinguishable array of emotions on his face, shook his head lightly. "Nerds," he muttered under his breath, poking Jules on the arm. "I thought you were over all of that shit." 

 The girl blinked, pulling a face. "Why would I be over hot women with swords killing dudes?" 

 "I agree," Demetri piped up, "Daryl's not bad either, but that crossbow looks really heavy." 

 Jules nodded enthusiastically, "right?"

Hawk rolled his eyes, addressing Aisha and Miguel, "Monroe thinks she's better than me." He said, making the girl herself laugh good-naturedly. "You guys think that if I train more, I could beat her, right?" 

 "No," Miguel said, not even looking up from his phone. Jules's smile only widened, a laugh slipping past her lips as Miguel turned to smile at her. Aisha snorted, looking over at a disgruntled Hawk. "I agree. I once saw her make a random guy cry at the mall." 

 "He was catcalling me!" She defended, crossing her arms indignantly. "And he was like, thirty - I should have hit him instead!" 

 "I don't know, the yelling was pretty funny."

"Come here," Hawk beckoned the girl over, and Jules lazily sauntered to where he was standing, taking the liberty to stifle a yawn into her palm, pursing her lips as she watched the red-haired boy hype himself up. "Ready?" 

 "Yeah." 

 "That little bitch!" 

 "Wait-" Jules held up a hand, turning her head at Aisha's loud cry, only to stumble forward a few steps when Hawk swung his leg up, hitting her directly in the side of the head with enough force to make her curse, pain blooming behind her eyes as she rose a hand to her head. "Fuck!"

 She whirled around, vertigo building beneath her eyes at the direct and unexpected hit to her temple. "What the hell was that?" She demanded, smacking her fist against the boy's chest, her face contorted into a scowl. 

 "Always be ready," the boy shot back, his tone condescending - only making Jules' anger increase. She curled her hand into a fist, but before she could do anything, she felt a hand on her arm, and looked over to see Miguel staring down at her; concern evident on his features. "Are you okay?" 

 "I'm fine." She said, although a headache was already beginning to churn beneath her eyes. She took a threatening step in Hawk's direction. "But you better hope you never meet me in an abandoned alleyway." 

 The boy laughed as if she was joking, but caught on to her expression and took a step backwards. She turned to Aisha, ignoring how Miguel's hand was still on her arm. "What's wrong, Aisha?" 

 "Look at what Yasmine commented on that video of me breaking that board-" the girl walked over, Jules having to squint to see what was written on on the screen. Across the screen, the words 'impressive, can't believe the belt could even make it around your waist.'

 Another spike of anger shot through Jules's chest. "I'm surprised she could even string enough words together to type that message." 

 "Do you need an Asprin?" Demetri piped up, digging around in his pockets, "because you're doing that thing you do whenever you have a headache, and I'm pretty sure I have-" 

 "I'm fine, 'Metri." She said, smiling at the boy as Hawk walked closer to the group. 

 "I say we kidnap her, and have my boy Rico tattoo 'bitch' on her face." He smirked, only to recoil as an object was thrown at his face. "Ow!" He shouted, narrowly avoiding being pelted by Jules's iPhone. 

 "It didn't even hit you, asshat." 

 "I gotta go something," Aisha clenched her fist, shaking her head defiantly. Jules had an array of suggestions already on her tongue, half of them involving eggs, but before she could speak up; Aisha continued. "And I know what." 

 She showed the group her phone, a smile breaking out on Jules's face as she saw the post advertising the girl's birthday party being held later that night. Jules may not be the nicest person out there, but if there was one thing she enjoyed, it was making a rude bitch angry. 

 "I hope one of you has a fake ID." 

***

"HOW'S YOUR HEAD?" 

Jules glanced over at Miguel, smiling slightly and shrugging. "It's fine, I can take a hit." 

Miguel sat down next to her, the wind blowing through her hair as she sighed. The rest of their friends were going to get snacks and drinks for their last-minute party, but Jules decided to hang back and get some fresh air for her headache.  

 It was true, she could take a hit. But directly to the temple at full force? Well, that was bound to hurt. It wasn't too bad, though, and she was thankful for Demetri and his pocket-Asprin. 

"I've never really thrown a party before," Miguel admitted, smiling sheepishly at Jules as she combed her hair away from her face. "Or, been to one." 

 "Aw," Jules teased, chuckling slightly as their arms brushed together. "How lame of you, Diaz." 

 "Come on," Miguel tilted his head back, a smile on his face. "Don't tell me that you like to party."

"The coolest party I've ever been to was for Demetri's birthday." She snorted, closing her eyes and deeply inhaling the fresh air. "And that wasn't cool either, trust me. But he's my best friend, and I guess I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." 

 "So you are a softie," Miguel shrugged as Jules opened her eyes, shooting him a playful glare and gently punching his arm. "What? I knew it, I called it from the beginning-" 

 "You're so funny, Diaz. Really, I-" 

 "We got beer!" Bert ran out of the mini-mart, an ecstatic grin on his face as he gestured wildly to the group, where Hawk was struggling to hold a bunch of bottles and boxes full of alcohol. "Hawk's fake ID really worked!" 

 "Gross," Jules couldn't help but laugh. "And Bert, you will not be drinking any of that shit." 

"Why not?" The younger boy demanded, Jules raising to her feet and offering Miguel her hand, pulling him up and ignoring the way it made her hand feel all tingly. She shot the younger boy a glare. 

 "First of all, it's disgusting. I tried beer once and I immediately wanted to kill myself." She cocked an eyebrow, "second of all, it will melt your brain. Do you want your brain to be melted, Bert?" 

 The boy scoffed, glancing around nervously. "It doesn't melt brains." 

"Wanna bet?"

Miguel chuckled from beside her, he leaned forward, his voice a whisper. "Softie." 

"I will literally kidnap your grandmother." 

 "That's such a weird threat!" 

"Are we going or not?" Demetri asked, rubbing his arms as if he was cold. "I don't want to be out too late. Plus, you guys have your little karate performance tomorrow morning." 

 "It's a competition, not a performance." Hawk shot back, making Jules curl her lip. Sure, she was pissed off at the boy for giving her a headache, but she was also mad at him for the way he has been acting; especially toward Demetri. A week ago he was this sweet kid who was making Doctor Who references, and now he was the human equivalent of stubbing your toe. 

Aisha lifted her head, smiling broadly at Jules. The Monroe girl couldn't blame her. Yasmine was a bitch to her for years, and now she would finally be able to get revenge... that must feel pretty damn good. 

 So she spread her arms out, a grin on her face. 

 "Let's get a move on." 

***

JULES WASN'T EXACTLY IN the party mood. 

The sun had long-since set, and she was sitting on a log surrounding a fire that Demetri had crafted earlier on. She had since tied her hair back, the wind doubled due to their spot by the ocean, and the fire was the only thing keeping Jules from literally freezing. 

She couldn't stop thinking of the All Valley. It was T-Minus fourteen hours away, and Jules couldn't help but wonder if all of her hard work would pay off in the end. She had never been in any form of organized sports, but Johnny's words kept replaying in her head. He thought that she and Miguel were his only chances of winning... she may not be Johnny's biggest fan; but, as weird as it sounded, she didn't want to let him down.

"You look like you're having fun." 

 She glanced over at Miguel, shrugging as she stared back to the flickering fire. "I guess I'm just nervous."

 "Same," he sat down, resting his arms on his knees. The surroundings were pulsating with sound and color, crowded with bodies of various teens, some of whom Jules had never seen in her entire life. She did catch sight of Hawk making out with Moon, and scoffed lightly to herself. "But it will be fine," he glanced over at her, "now you get to punch people in a controlled environment." 

 Jules laughed at that, some of the tension in her chest dissipating. "I guess so." 

It was weird, the effect Miguel had on her. Even with the whole 'just friends' thing, it wasn't as weird as she thought it would be. He was just... so real, so different than anyone she had ever met. He made her feel safe, which - as dumb as it sounded - was something she needed. 

 He rose to his feet, extending his hand. "Come on." 

 She eyed his hand for a moment, before accepting it. "Where are we going?" 

 "To play a game." He grinned, Jules brushing off her pants. "There are some that involve throwing a cup into another cup, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but a bunch of drunk people are having fun, so I think we can too." 

Jules laughed, shaking her head slightly as she followed him. "You're a dork, Diaz." 

 The boy shrugged. "All the best people are." 

 They walked in silence for a moment, before Jules stepped forward, kicking the waves from the ocean lightly, ignoring how it soaked water into her sock. "I like the ocean." She said, her voice thoughtful and her head light from all of the noise. "When we were little, my Ma used to take me down whenever Pa was in the hospital."

 "I was always afraid of the ocean." Miguel admitted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and smiling at the look Jules shot him. "What? I watched Jaws when I was seven because it was the only DVD my Yaya would buy. Ever since, the deepest I'll go in the water is when my feet can still touch." 

 "I don't know a lot about sharks," Jules shrugged, "but I do know about fears. And the best way to get over a fear is to face it-" she darted to the side, shoving Miguel's shoulders with enough force to send him staggering backwards. He lost his footing, falling on his back right into the cold waves with a splash. 

 Jules burst into laughter, clapping her hands together and leaning her head back. Miguel spit out a mouthful of salty water, trying for a glare, but Jules could tell that he was struggling to keep a straight face. "I hate you." 

 "Aw," She put a hand to her heart, "I hate you too." 

He outstretched his hand, pouting as Jules continued to laugh, leaning down to grab it. Before she could pull him up, a sharp yank made her feet fly out from under her, her forearm pressed into the wet sand to keep their foreheads from smacking together. Their legs were awkwardly tangled together, and Jules was thankful for the darkness to hide her blush as she found their faces centimetres apart. Her voice was barely above a whisper, "uh t-thanks for catching me."

 They stared at each other for a second, Miguel's cheeks just as red as she was certain hers was, neither of them moving. Jules didn't know what to do; she was hit with a sudden, nearly irresistable urge to lean down and kiss him. Maybe it was the music, or the atmosphere of the party, but she almost did. 

 Until she heard her name being called. 

She turned around, rolling off of Miguel and directly into the freezing cold ocean water. Aisha stood at the shore, beckoning her over. The girl stood up, actually pulling Miguel to his feet this time. She didn't know what to do, so she shot him finger-guns, before immediately making a fist and cursing herself out. "I'm gonna-" she gestured towards Aisha, chuckling. 

 Miguel nodded, "yeah, yeah-" 

 "Okay, bye!" 

 She shook her head as she walked away, pulling off her sopping wet flannel and tying it around her waist. The end of her ponytail was wet from where it touched the water, and her jeans were definitely going to smell like salt for days. She stopped next to Aisha, "'sup?" 

 "Look at Yasmine," the Robinson girl smirked, eyeing the blonde, who was standing by Demetri and looking like she wanted to kill herself. Jules sighed. 

 "Demetri does have that effect on people."

 "She looks pissed." Aisha tilted her head upwards proudly. "I finally struck back." 

 "Hell yeah," Jules held up her hand, which Aisha slapped gleefully. "Because you're hot, and badass, and that blondie has nothing on you." 

 "You think this is funny?" 

 "Fuck-" Jules whirled around, expecting Yasmine to be ready to start another fight. Instead of glaring at her - as she was used to - the blonde was staring down Aisha, her arms crossed defiantly across her white top, a scowl on her pretty face. 

 Yasmine continued, "crashing my party?" 

 Jules blinked, unsure of what to say. Finally, she raised her hand. "I, personally, find it hilarious." 

 "Yeah?" Yasmine gave her a once-over, "good thing I wasn't talking to you, Marilyn Manson." 

 As Aisha took a step forward, Jules' eyebrows furrowed as she mouthed a confused 'what?', glancing down at her black shorts and red shirt. She wasn't even looking particularily emo that day, but she didn't say that aloud; as Aisha spoke up. 

 "It's not really your party," she said, an edge of confidence in her tone that made Jules grin. "Because we were here first." 

Yasmine sneered, "I know you and your little-" she turned around, her eyes raking over Hawk, who had his arm around Moon's waist. "Karate gang think you're cool, but we all remember who you really are." She took a threatening step forward. "You're just a fugly bitch and your friends are all freaks."

 "Yeah, at least we don't have the personality of a paper towel dispenser." Jules snarked, stepping up so that her and Yasmine could stand face-to-face. "You know, Yas, it's funny-" she put a hand to her chin in mock-thought, pursing her lips. "You're really, really pretty. And you wear clothes that seem like they were imported from some sort of rich thrift-store in Beverly Hills. It's real interesting that you can get all this nice stuff, but can't afford to not be a bitch every once and a while." 

"Yeah," the blonde shot her a look, "what? You gonna get your little boyfriend to come fight for you again? Real brave, Monroe." 

 Jules clenched her teeth, along with her fists. "First of all, he's not my boyfriend. Second of all," she shoved the girl's shoulder back. "Fuck you!" 

 "Hey!" Moon appeared between the two girls, putting a hand on Jules and making her lower her fist. The brunette's gaze shifted between the two, her eyebrows pinched together. "No fighting, we can all be friends here." She turned to face Yasmine, "I apologized to Aisha for what we did, and you should too." 

 The blonde stared at her friend as if she couldn't even recognize her, while Jules wondered how Hawk managed to score a girlfriend who was nice and incredibly hot. She knew she liked Moon, and this was just confirming it. 

 Yasmine obviously wasn't having similar thoughts. "You deserve them, Moon."

 "And you deserve to be hit in the head with a chair." Jules widened her eyes, her lips pulled into a sarcastic grin. "Isn't it passed your bedtime? Nighty night, bitch." 

 With that, she spun around and began to walk away, not interested in getting arrested the day before her big competition. Before she could get far, she heard Moon shout something, and then two hands on her back shoving her harshly forward. 

 Jules fell forward, her hands hitting the sand and her forehead smacking off one of the logs situated around the fire. For a moment, she didn't feel any pain, raising her hand to her forehead. She pulled it away, the fingers coated in red, and then a sharp shot of pain shot down her head. 

 She groaned, turning around and blinkly rapidly to clear her eyesight. She rose to her feet, swaying slightly due to the dizziness that had corrupted her mind. She was about to say something to Yasmine, only to see that the girl in question was on the ground, her arms wrapped around her midsection as if she was in pain, as Aisha stood above her. 

 Jules blinked. She must have missed something important. 

 "Jules!" She heard Miguel's familiar voice shout, and then his face was in her vision, still slightly blurry. He put his hands on either side of her arms, before he lifted his thumn up to gently wipe some blood from her forehead. "You're bleeding." 

 She blinked, wincing, "no shit." 

"Jules, are you okay?" Aisha demanded, practically body-checking Miguel to the side. She glanced at Jules' forehead, the girl herself growing concerned at the expression on her face. "Is it bad?" 

 Aisha paused, "no."

"You hesitated." She groaned, embarassment replacing a good ninety percent of her pain as she comprehended that someone like Yasmine managed to actually cause her pain. "I want to go home. Can someone grab my bag?" 

 "I will!" Miguel yelled, before literally sprinting away. Jules almost smiled, but her attention was diverted by a familiar face from her peripheral vision. 

 "I'll be right back." She said to Aisha, before walking across the sand. She could tell that she was stumbling around like a maniac, because when Sam saw her; her eyes widened comically. 

 "Lia, are you drunk?" 

 "What? No-" she moved her hand to reveal her cut. "I got pushed into a log." Sam's face dropped, so she quickly continued, trying to ignore the pounding behind her eyes. "It's no big deal-" her eyes raked over the boy next to her friend, who had his arms wrapped around her like he was trying to keep her from falling. "Who's this?" 

 "This is Robby," Sam took a half-step away, making Jules furrow her eyebrows. "Hey, are you okay?" She put a hand on her shoulder, leaning closer to inspect the cut. "That looks like it hurts." 

 "It's fine, really." Jules squinted, scrunitizing Robby. He was cute, in a scruffy, skater-boy kind of way. He had long hair that swished around his ears whenever he moved, and smiled at her in a sort of nervous way, his eyes glued onto her forehead as if she was going to bleed out right in front of him. 

 Jules didn't know why she was so bothered by Sam coming to a party with a boy. Then it hit her; she literally went out with Miguel less than a week ago. The protective nature in Jules' personality was coming through; making her wonder how Sam could possibly move on so quickly. 

 Plus, her head really hurt... and it was beginning to cloud her judgment. 

"I'm sorry... what's the relation here?" 

 "Oh, he works for my dad." Sam explained, before a confused expression dusted over her face. "What's with the tone?" 

 "Nothing," Jules shrugged, watching as Robby removed his arm from her shoulder. 

 Sam laughed, although there wasn't any humor in her tone. "Lia. I know when you're lying." 

 "Fine," the Monroe girl shrugged, brushing some blood off her forehead before it could drip into her eyes. "I just thought you went out with Miguel a few days ago..." she paused awkwardly, "and that it didn't work out." 

 Sam scoffed, "what are you implying?" 

 Jules was not in the mood for an argument right now. In one day she had been both kicked in the head by an asshole, and pushed into a log by an even bigger asshole. Dealing with this? Not on her to-do list. "Why are you getting so defensive?" She demanded, raising her voice without fulling realizing it. 

 Sam jabbed a finger into her chest. "Because I know you, and I don't think it's fair for you to be judging me! There's nothing going on between me and Robby, I met him like, an hour and a half ago." 

 "Well congratulations!" Jules florished her hands sarcastically, "now I can die in peace, because this is exactly what I hoped to get out of this conversation!" 

 "You know, it's pretty rich of you to bring up Miguel." Sam crossed her arms, "the only reason he broke it off was because he likes you. Anyone with two eyes can tell that." 

 "Guess what? I didn't ask him to do that. I also was the one who listened to you ramble on and on about your date, when you weren't even sure if you liked him or not!" 

 "Hey, I got your bag-" Miguel skidded to a stop next to Jules, picking up on the tense atmosphere and freezing, his voice awkwardly trailing off as he looked over at Sam and Robby, Jules's bag clasped between his fingers. "Oh," he waved nervously, "hi, Sam." 

 The girl snorted, "At least one of us is sure." 

 "You know what, Samantha?" Jules challenged, taking a step forward. Sam mimicked the movement. 

"What, Juliana?" 

"You're naïve," she spat, speaking at rapid pace, wanting to get this over with before she passes out or something dumb like that. She didn't even realize that she didn't mean what she was saying, she just spoke. "You want to find love so bad that you date whoever shows even a mild interest in you. Even if they're a dickhead whose hair stands up so straight that he could be mistaken for a traffic cone." 

 "Yeah?" Sam crossed her arms, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Well you're mean. You always have been, you always will be. You can't have a good friendship with anyone without running your mouth and screwing it up!" 

 "At least I don't feel the need to be liked so bad that I turn in to a little Yasmine clone!" 

 Miguel cleared his throat, his voice an octave higher due to his nerves. "Maybe we should-" 

 The girls spoke in unison, "shut up, Miguel!" 

"We're leaving." Jules grabbed Miguel's hand, almost falling over immediately, adjusting her grip so that she was practically hanging off of his shoulder. 

 "Well so are we!" Sam turned away, "come on, Robby!" 

 "We're leaving first, you have to wait until we're gone!" 

The two groaned, Jules cursing as she turned her back, Miguel being the only thing keeping her on her feet as she stalked away, not quite sure exactly what she managed to fuck up this time.