Page 12 of Now and Again

Riley unlocked the door and let Juliet in. ‘Well, I’m off to work, so… I’ll see ya.’

‘Yeah. See you around,’ Juliet said, stepping past Riley. Once she was in the house, she turned to look at Riley as though she might say more. But nothing was said as Juliet went deeper into the house.

Riley turned around and headed for work. Amazing. Of all the people that could be coming here to this house to look after her little sister, it had to be Juliet.

Riley didn’t have time for this. She had other things to focus on. Getting a new place to live was top of the list. It would solve two problems: getting out of the house and out of Juliet’s way. Once Riley found a new pad, she’d likely never see Juliet again. Riley hadn’t been a regular visitor at her dad’s, and that situation was likely to resume once she didn’t live there.

As she rode the train to work, she was hitting Rightmove hard, looking for a place that someone who worked in marketing for a non-profit who wasn’t exactly making the big bucks could afford. Which ruled out living alone, unfortunately. She just had to hope she could find a place with relatively normal people. Somewhere clean and comfortable and in her price range, surely a basic ask. Though, as she flicked through various properties, it began to feel like a big demand. It was either nice and way the hell out of town, or a well-situated dump. She had a decision to make. She could either take a shithole and get out of her dad’s ASAP or hold on for something better.

Tough call. Even without her dad’s enraging presence, being around Juliet was going to be weird and uncomfortable. They simply had way too much history.

THEN

Riley was sweeping resentfully. She shouldn’t be here, neither of them should. The only person who should be punished was that wang, Jack. He couldn’t accept she was breaking up with him, could he? Be cool about it, accept her decision like an adult. He had to make a big drama, act like a shit. That was the reason she’d dumped his arse in the first place. He didn’t care about what she wanted. He never had. She was a trophy to him. Once she’d agreed to be his girlfriend and the chase was over, he’d taken so little personal interest in her, it became almost funny. She’d started saying ridiculous stuff to him just to check if he was listening. ‘Hey, Jack. I’m thinking I might not want to go to uni, I’m probably gonna go into porn instead. Really niche stuff, maybe scat.’ ‘Yeah?’ Jack answered, looking at his phone. ‘Sounds good.’

He also talked about himself constantly. Boring stuff that he thought was fascinating. The more Riley got to know him, the more obvious her initial mistake was thinking that Jack was a real person with feelings.

She was so happy to be free of him, it was sort of worth the chaos it had wrought. Though she did feel bad that Juliet had gotten dragged into it all. She was a bit of a mystery to Riley. She didn’t speak up in class unless she was told to. She hung about with those two idiots who were always bleating on about boys they fancied, but she never heard Juliet say anything of the sort. In fact, she never seemed to be dating anyone. Turned out she was amusing too, that thing she’d said in the library. But the big thing was her tripping Jack, all for Riley’s sake. Despite the fact she’d been sat at a table with her friends, no one else had bothered to interject on her behalf. And Juliet had gone further than that. Riley didn’t know how to feel about that. Or rather, she wasn’t sure sheshouldfeel the way she did, in fact, feel about it.

She liked it.

Riley glanced over at Juliet picking bits of baked potato out of a wall display. ‘Hey, I’m thirsty. I’m gonna get a can from the machine. You want one? On me?’

Juliet looked over. ‘Oh, yes, thanks.’

‘What’s your poison?’

‘I’d love a Ginger Beer.’

‘A woman of refined tastes,’ Riley smiled, going over to the machine. She grabbed two cans and took them over to Juliet. Juliet dropped a handful of cold potato into the nearby bin and took the can. ‘Thank you.’

They cracked the cans open and took sips. Riley felt like she should say something about the Jack business, but she wasn’t sure how to put it. ‘Thank you for tripping my ex-boyfriend over’ was a bit lame. ‘How are you getting on with that book I recommended?’ she asked instead.

Juliet’s eyes popped in excitement. ‘Oh, yeah, it’s pretty fantastic.’

‘It’s old school spooky, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ Juliet agreed. She took a pause. ‘I like the central character. I kind of relate to her.’

‘Yeah?’ Riley asked, interested.

‘Yes. She’s very… She’s on the outside of things.’ Juliet looked embarrassed.

Riley smiled. ‘I related to that too.’

Juliet laughed. Riley bristled. ‘What’s funny about that?’

‘Sorry, I just didn’t think… Never mind.’

Riley raised an eyebrow, trying to relax a bit. ‘Go ahead.’

‘You’re kind of…’ Juliet paused, and Riley could tell she wasn’t sure if she should say it. But she did anyway. ‘You’re theItgirl. Like if this was a John Hughes film, you’d be Molly Ringwald.’

Riley burst into laughter. ‘What?’ she spluttered.

‘Come on, you mustknowthat,’ Juliet said, which was bold for her. But Riley wanted to encourage it. ‘So, who wouldyoube?’

‘I think it’s obvious. I’m an Ally Sheedy type. Pre-makeover,’ she added quickly.

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