“Day two. Fifteen hours. Ellie is showing signs of going crazy and Julius is braiding the said girl’s hair.”

            My eyes went from staring at the static on the T.V to Anthony, who was holding his fist to his mouth like he was talking into a microphone. “I’m going crazy?”

            “Yeah, you’re staring at a blank T.V.”

            “Actually, it’s a snow storm,” Julius countered, pausing with his twisting of my hair. “Get your facts right, Ant.”

            He rolled his eyes. “Snowstorm or not, she’s still just staring at the T.V.”

            “Isn’t the first sign of craziness talking to yourself?” I retorted, reaching for the remote to turn on the television. “At least I’m having some imagination going on.”

            “Hey, I am too,” he protested, holding up his fist. “I’m pretending to make a recording.”

            Julius snorted. “Are you two?”

            “Are you human?”

            “I have a headache,” I complained, placing my palms to my forehead. It’d started after we finished playing videogames about an hour ago. It wasn’t that surprising, really. I wasn’t accustomed to playing six hours of videogames in a day. A headache was nothing. It could’ve been a migraine.

            Julius started undoing the braids he’d already finished. “Let me get rid of these. They’re probably making it worse.”

            I turned my head to smile at him. “Maybe a little.”

            He grinned back, untwisting my hair. “Brat.”

            “So, Ellie, remember the time we were trapped in Walmart and—”

            “Anthony,” I interjected quickly, my eyes widening.

            His eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

            “O-of course I remember,” I told him, my mind racing for a way to change the topic. “You, umm, taught me how to play basketball a little.”

            “Did he?” Julius inquired. “How did you manage to do that?”

            “The basketball hoop we set up in the back,” Anthony informed him. “That’s how I found how Ellie is a virgin.”

            Because I sucked in air too quickly due to Anthony’s comment, I choked on it, my eyes watering as I coughed. Julius patted my back roughly, which didn’t help at all. When I could finally breathe again, I glared at Anthony. “Don’t say it like that!”

            “You didn’t try to rape her, did you?” Julius asked, his hand still resting on my back.

            Anthony laughed. “No way. No means no. But yes, on the other hand..."

            Julius covered my ears. “Hey. Innocent ears here. Stop talking about that, Anthony.”

            Anthony rolled his eyes. “Sure thing, Julius. But don’t you want to know how I know?”

            “Not really.”

            “You sure?”

            “I’m sure.”

            I struggled to pull Julius’s hands off me, but he was pressing them too tightly against my head. “Julius!” I said warningly.

            “So you don’t want to know?”

            “No.”

“You know there are quite a few ways to find out if someone is still a virgin or not,” Anthony told him, examining the tips of his finger tails. “Some verbal… Some physical.”

            Julius’s grip tightened. It wasn’t helping my headache at all. “I still don’t care. Ellie wouldn’t do anything like that.”

            “You sure?”

            “Julius,” I groaned, my head pounding. Why was Anthony egging him on like this? Didn’t he understand by now how protective Julius was about me?

            Finally Julius realized what he was doing and yanked his hands away. “Ah, lo siento, Ellie.”

            “Esta… bien?” I tried hesitantly.

            His expression brightened. “Yeah! That’s right!”

            “Oi, puedo hablar español también,” Anthony said to Julius, a frown on his face.

            I blinked. “What did Anthony say?”

            Julius chuckled, patting my head. “He said he could speak Spanish too, but I guess he doesn’t know you can barely speak a lick of it?”

            “You can’t?” Anthony repeated in surprise.

            I shook my head. “Julius speaks it all the time, but I never pick it up. Like I told Julius earlier, I only took Spanish one and two; both in ninth grade.”

            “I took Spanish all through my high school career,” Anthony told me. “But I quit when I reached college because the last year kind of killed it for me. Too much grammar.”

            Julius smirked. “Spanish never defeated me. One day I’ll be a—”

            “Spanish teacher, we know,” Anthony and I chorused.

            He frowned. “Well, yeah. All the high school girls will be all over me.”

            “You can’t date them, you know,” Anthony told him.

            “Don’t need to. I’ll have a girlfriend by then,” he responded easily. “I just appreciate the attention.”

            I rolled my eyes. “You shouldn’t let your good looks get to your head. They might go away one day.”

            “Would you still love me if I’m ugly?”

            “Of course I will.”

            “Even if I’m bald?”

            “Well…”

            He chuckled. “Ah, I can still be handsome and bald.”

            “Then let’s shave your hair,” Anthony said wickedly.

            “Let’s not and say we did,” I interjected quickly. Shaving Julius’s head would be his waste. His hair was so soft and luscious all my friends and myself were jealous of it… And it added to his looks.

            Anthony frowned. “Damn.”

            Suddenly Julius’s phone went off, blaring some rap song I didn’t recognize. “That’s Emerson’s ringtone!” Julius cried excitedly, reaching over me to grab his phone. He hit the answer key and pressed it to his ear. “Dude! I thought you were dead!”

            Anthony and I grimaced at his greeting.

            “Wait, really? Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in like twenty minutes. I think the road is clear. Do you need anything? Sure. Nah, I’m at Anthony’s with Ellie. Yep, she’s alive. Sorry for bothering you earlier.” He paused to laugh awkwardly.

            I raised an eyebrow at this. Why would Julius think Emerson knew where I was? Did he call everyone looking for me? My eyes widened when I realized this was very possible. Was he that worried about me?

            “Yeah, bro. I’ll be right over then. ‘Kay, bye.” He ended the phone call and turned to me. “I gotta go help Emerson clean out his driveway. His mom’s house got hit pretty hard so he’s gotta go pick her up and he needs some help. Will you be alright here alone?”

            I smiled and nodded. “That’s a dumb question. I’ll be fine here.”

            “Okay,” he responded, a tiny frown on his face. “Anthony, make sure to lock the door after me. Don’t try anything funny. I shouldn’t be too long.”

            Anthony waved him off. “Good riddance.”

            Julius scowled at him for a moment before jumping up. “Okay. I’ll pick up some food on the way home.”

            “Like what?” Anthony inquired.

            “Dead bodies. Dead dogs. Whatever is on the streets.”

            “Julius! That’s awful!” I gasped. “I don’t even want to think about all the— no, there are no dead animals. All the owners were good owners and brought them inside before the hurricane started.”

            Julius grinned. “That’s right, Ellie. Think positively.”

            His words sent a jolt of nostalgia through me. How many times had Anthony told me to think positively while we were stuck in Walmart? It really rubbed off on me. Usually I would go straight to the worst case scenario.

            “It’s rare for you to be so positive,” Julius continued, as if reading my thoughts. “You usually expect the worse…”

            “I got her out of that habit,” Anthony declared proudly. “No need to thank me.”

            “I won’t,” Julius promised him, smirking. “See you two later.”

            “Be safe!” I called after him.

            Anthony just scowled at his back as he left the room, closing the door loudly behind him. “That guy…”

            “Is crazy,” I finished with a grin. “I can never get tired of him”

            “Yeah, and I bet he can’t ever get tired of you, either. He’s totally in love with you.”

            My head snapped toward Anthony so fast my neck cricked. Cringing, I rubbed it. “Why do you think that?”

            Anthony stared at me dumbly. “You can’t tell?”

            “No! I mean… He’s definitely not in love with me, Anthony. He’s like my big brother. I think you’re confused.”

            He shook his head. “You’re blind, Ellie. He totally likes you. That’s why he’s so jealous of me.”

            “Jealous? I think you’re the one that’s jealous,” I returned, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your irritated expressions.”

            “Now you’re defending him?” Anthony responded, completely ignoring my accusation. “Maybe you’re unaware of your own feelings.”

            “I’m not! You’re just reading too much into it.”

            “A blind man could see how much he loves you!”

            “You’re wrong!”

            “And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to realize you like him too! You never shut up about him in Walmart.”

            I gaped at him in disbelief. “What’s your problem, Anthony? You’re acting like a jealous brat!”

            “What if I am a jealous brat?” he snapped at me. “An apparently violent, jealous brat?”

            His words caught me off guard so much, I didn’t know how to respond. “What?”

            “What do you mean what? Of course I’m jealous, Ellie! I thought it’d be obvious by now. I like you. If I didn’t, why would I have kissed you? Why would I have held your hand while you slept?”

            A confession was not what I expected at this moment. Anthony liked me? So it wasn’t just my imagination! My whole body suddenly felt as light as a feather. Hearing your feelings reciprocated was a wonder feeling. My cheeks warmed up and, even though I tried as hard as I could, I found I couldn’t meet Anthony’s eye. “I… Um… Well…”

            “I wanted to tell you as soon as we got out of Walmart, but Julius was there. So I decided to wait until you revealed your real age to me, but once I saw how you acted around Julius I thought I had to reconsider your feelings. You seem to like him a lot more than you like me.”

            I shook my head. “Anthony—”

            “And who knows what Julius told you? So I got into a fight with one guy. That doesn’t make me violent, does it? And I’m not good at expressing my jealousy,” he continued, running a hand through his hair. “And I definitely look like a loser right now.”

            “Anthony, you’re not violent. And it’s okay that you can’t express your jealous,” I told him honestly. “In fact, it’s kind of cute.”

            He didn’t smile. “Do you like Julius, Ellie?”

            I shook my head. “No.”

            “Are you positive?”

            “Yes.”

            “You can’t see the chemistry between you two?”

            “Anthony,” I groaned, exasperated, “you’re the blind one!”

            He set his jaw. “Oh really? Are you going to tell me that I’m in love with him or something?”

            Annoyed, I pushed myself off the couch and marched over to the chair he was sitting on. My heart started to beat a little harder in my chest. “Stand up.”

            “What?”

            “Stand up.”

            After a second of hesitation, the brunet stood up. “Now what?”

            “This,” I told him and, after a split-second of hesitation, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his face down to mine.

            Our lips met for what felt like the first time. In a way it kind of was— the two times we’d kissed before were barely anything. This was a real kiss though. I could taste the watermelon gum he’d been chewing. His lips were still as soft as velvet, molding together with mind perfectly. After a few moments I pulled away, only slightly out of breath.

            “So I take it you do like Julius?” Anthony said with a grin.

            “I like you,” I murmured, my actions catching up to me and embarrassment settling in. “But I don’t want Julius to know that yet… So please don’t say anything, Anthony.”

            “Why don’t you want to let him know?”

            I shuffled my feet. “Thanks to you, I’ve got the silly idea that Julius likes me stuck in my mind and I’d feel bad if he knew you liked me too…”

            “Why?”

            “Because he knows I like you,” I admitted. “I’ve liked you since you started working at Walmart two months ago.”

            A sharp bark of laughter escaped his lips. “Really?”

            “What’s so funny?”

            “That’s about the time I started liking you,” he told me. “From day one Julius was telling me stories about you. All the other little facts I know are from what I asked.”

            I felt a smile spread across my cheeks. “It’s too bad we didn’t become friends earlier.”

            “It’s okay, isn’t it?” he responded, reaching for my hand and squeezing it. “Somehow fate brought us together in the store we first saw each other… Huh. I feel like that’d make a slightly cheesy, but popular movie.”

            Laughing, I nodded my head in agreement. “I think you’re right.”

            “But Ellie, one day Julius will confess to you.”

            “I know.”

            “And I want you to be my girlfriend.”

            My eyes snapped to his green ones. “You do?”

            He cocked an eyebrow. “Duh. Do you expect me to just be satisfied with you knowing I like you? I want to go out on dates and stuff.”

            “Me too!” I said excitedly. “I want to be your girlfriend.”

            “Then done. You’re now my girlfriend,” Anthony told me with a grin. “Should we seal it with another kiss?”

            Shyness took over now and I hesitated. “Umm…”

            “I’ll take that as a yes,” Anthony decided, lifting my chin up with his finger. “I’m going to make up for the three days I had to resist the urge to kiss you.”

            “Okay,” I mumbled just before his lips met mine again.

            He pushed me backward until I tumbled back onto the couch. After some awkward movements, he managed to adjust his body so that he was hovering over me. As I broke away for air, he redirected his kisses to my jaw and throat.

            “Hey Anthony?”

            “Hmm?”

            I squirmed a little under his gentle lips. “Why does Julius think you’re a bad influence on me? Is it because he thinks you’re violent?”

            Anthony chuckled. “I’m not really violent. Like I said, I only got into a fight that one time. I like to talk tough though, so Julius always thinks I mean what I say. I mean, I do mean why I say but the person challenging me always chickens out.”

            “You threaten people?”

            He grinned. “In a way. Threaten makes it sound worse than it is though. And it’s only the little brats from rival teams who think they could beat our lacrosse team in a hand-to-hand brawl. But they’re scrawny little… Sorry, I’ll stop ranting.”

            “Is that the only reason Julius thinks you’re a bad influence?”

            Anthony’s eyes lit up mischievously. “Well, there are a few other reasons, but I’m sure you’ll find them out for yourself.”

            “You’re a playboy?”

            “No! Is that what Julius told you? No way. I haven’t dated anyone since I moved here. You’re the first girl I’ve been interested in. I can’t seem to bring myself to trust anyone else after my last girlfriend.”

            I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

            “Well, to be honest, I kind of knew you went through the same thing I did,” he admitted. “Julius told me.”

            I grimaced. “Julius really does talk about me too much.”

            “That’s how I figured out he likes you… but I couldn’t stop myself from liking you either. I guess that kind of makes me a dick.”

            “You can’t help who you like,” I apprised him.

            “I know,” he sighed, brushing his lips over my cheek. “It just sucks that it’s my best friend’s crush.”

            “He had his chance,” I whispered. “And I hate to say it, but I don’t like him like that anymore.”

            Anthony nodded. “It’s okay, Ellie. I think he knows I like you. He’s probably already prepared to lose you to me.”

            “I can’t tell if that’s you being cocky or sympathetic.”

            “A little of both,” he responded before kissing me again.

            It’d been awhile since I last kissed anyone, so kissing Anthony felt amazing. His cold hands slid under my shirt and I grinned a bit at the feeling. It’d taken Nick three months to gather up the courage to do anything to me other than kiss me. Even that had taken him two weeks— for just a peck. I banished all thoughts of my ex-boyfriend out of my head as Anthony continued to kiss and caress me. It impressed me how good of a kisser he was. Not that it was too surprising. Anthony was handsome. Before the girl that cheated on him he probably dated a lot.

            “Do you think your brother will care?” he asked as he broke away for air.

            I shook my head. “No. Mason’s chill.”

            “That’s good,” he responded in relief. “And your mom?”

            “She loves you almost as much as she loves Julius.”

            His expression became confused. “But I only met her a few times…?”

            “Well… I told her about you,” I confessed, breaking my gaze with him. “There was no one else I could really talk to. My friends would all tease me, so…”

            He laughed. “That’s fine. It’s good to know she won’t try to chop off my head when I meet her as your boyfriend.”

            I smiled. “Will that be soon?”

            “I hope so.”

            “Well… There’s still Julius.”

            Anthony gave me one last, quick kiss before shifting into a sitting position. I sat up as well, fixing my shirt and hair. “You’ll have to tell him soon,” Anthony informed me.

            “I know…”

            “He might be hurt, but it’s better than giving him false hope.”

            “I know,” I sighed. “It’s going to be hard though.”

            Anthony squeezed my thigh. “You can do it. Think positively, remember?”

            “Yeah,” I agreed, putting my hand over his. “Everything will be okay. I never thought I’d ever get a chance to get to know you, but I did. And now we’re dating. If that doesn’t prove anything, I don’t know what would.”

            Grinning, he nodded. “Right.”

            “But I’m still going to wait a little while.”

            He rolled his eyes. “You’re such a chicken.”

            I held up my nose. “At least I’m not a jealous brat.”

            “Hey!”

            “Hi.”

            “Ellie!”

            “Anthony.”

            He shook his head at me, slumping back onto the couch. “If you don’t tell him, I will. In a very visual way.”

            I narrowed my eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

            “I would. It’s a little incentive to make him tell you. And if he asks me if we’re dating, I won’t like to him.”

            “Anthony!”

            “He’s my best friend. I’m not lying.”

            “You lied to me!”

            “You lied to me.”

            I scowled. “Touché. But still—”

            “No buts. I’ll give you two weeks tops, Ellie. And during those two weeks, we’re all going to hang out so you’ll have to worry about him asking at the same time.”

            The thought of telling Julius Antony and I were dating almost broke my heart. I didn’t want to tell him that. Especially when he probably liked me as more than a friend. Clenching my hands into fists, I hung my head down, sighing deeply. I knew I had to do it. It was life. People got their hearts broken all the time.

            But Julius was not people. He was one of my best friends.

________________________________________________

 I kind of feel bad for Julius. What do you guys think will happen? Will Ellie stay with Anthony? Or will she feel too bad about Julius? Or maybe Anthony has a point and Ellie does still like Julius, but just doesn't realize it? Hmmm. Questions, questions. Anyway, my Facebook is in the external link! Ve!

Today's song is So Much Love by The Rocket Summer! It's such a good and catchy song! :D

And today's story is Shakespeare Got It All Wrong by InCloudNine! Here is the summary!

Juliet Kevix lives in the world that her parents lay out for her. She's poised, polite, and cooperative - sometimes - and ready for anything thrown in her direction; everything except falling in love. So when she meets Vincent, the overconfident, cocky asshole, she never expects to fall in love with him. While she finds herself falling for Vincent, her family does everything in their power to stop it - even if that means forcing their daughter into a loveless marriage.