Julian met my gaze, his expression sincere. “Darling, I’ve been your shadow today. The coffee, the torn shirt, the bird, your hair! —”
“Okay I get it, you can stop,” I moved my hand that was behind my head and set it on his side.
Julian took a breath and continued. “The mani-pedi, the massage, if we can even call it that— fuck it, the whole spa fiasco,” his tone had turned angry, and rightfully so. “And then there was the dress, and the other dress, and the car—”
“Okay, Julian, stop! Please,” I said near tears. “I get it, okay? Today sucked.”
“Holy hell, Kat.” Kimber scooted up against Julian, and leaned over him. “What happened to you today?” Worry fell from her every word.
I wiped the tears from my eyes with an angry growl. Kayley grumbled along with me and held onto me tighter. “I’ll tell you, but you’re getting the short version.”
I wrapped one arm around Kayley and set the other by my side. Julian reached for the hand that was closest to him, forcing me to uncurl the fists I hadn’t even realized I’d clenched my fingers into. I realized I was doing the same with my other hand too, so I forced my fingers open and set them flat across Kayley’s back.
“The plan was basically Mom’s best day ever with a marriage proposal and a great big party to celebrate. So, Mom and Erik like to do these canyon run things and then watch the sunrise, because they’re crazy morning people. So, I got up before dawn, picked up coffees, drove up the canyon, and hiked up to the end of the trail, with the coffees. Mom was super surprised, it was all amazing and then I started back down the trail with my coffee, that was still really hot for some reason. I slipped, the coffee spilled, it sucked, but it wasn’t a big deal. There’s a visitors center right there that sells clothes, so I got a T-shirt and sweatpants for way too much money and changed, and I was just going to go commando until I could change again, or find a store that sold underwear, but I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time for another stop with all the other stuff packed into the day so I called Julian.” I stopped to take a breath and Julian gave my hand a light squeeze.
“Go on,” Kimber nodded.
“I had a bunch of errands to run to get stuff ready for the proposal, flowers, Mom’s favorite candy, all that stuff. So while I was doing that, Julian got me some underthings, and met up with me at the florists shop. I used their bathroom to change and somehow ended up ripping the shirt I was wearing, so Julian gave me his, and everybody got to see his rockin’ bod and they were like, ‘Ooh, your boyfriend is really good looking.’ And I was like, ‘I know, right? Except he’s not my boyfriend, he’s just a friend.’ And then the super effeminate guy who worked there, who’s also much too skinny for Julian’s tastes started getting all flirty, and I didn’t want to be late, so I left. Then, after I dropped off all the flowers and candy and stuff at the restaurant a bird pooped in my hair.”
“Omigawd. I. Would. Die.” Kimber was shaking her head, her hands up in surrender.
“Yeah, it was super gross, but we had a spa day planned so I figured, I could just get a wash and a blowout and it’d be no big deal. Except I got stuck with maybe the stupidest person alive doing hair, I told them what had happened and this girl says, ‘Well, at least it’s not gum,’ and somehow the idiot doing my hair took that to mean I had gum in my hair and decided to cut it out and I didn’t even realize what was happening until I heard scissors and looked up and freaked out and I would have freaked out more but I really didn’t want to cause a huge scene in the middle of Mom’s amazing day, so I called Julian again—”
“Wait. I’m confused,” Kimber cut in. “Why did you call Julian?”
“Because having her hair lobbed off is a big deal,” Julian explained. “It’s in her contract that it be kept long. She has to have permission to cut it, or dye it, or anything. She called me so that Linda and I could go to the spa and explain their fuck-up, and make them understand that they needed to fix it, without it ruining Angie’s amazing day.”
“But your hair looks fine,” Kimber leaned in. “Same as always.”
“These, are extensions,” I sighed. “My hair is now chin length.”
Kimber sucked in a gasp, covering her mouth with her hands. “Omigawd! Seriously? I can’t even,” she ran her hands over her own locks. “I literally can’t even.”
“It get’s worse,” Julian said, offering his hand out to Kimber.
“How could it possibly get worse?” Kimber strained, taking hold of Julian’s hand, for moral support.
“Well, they cut her toe during the pedicure,” Julian growled. “And then painted her nails and toes bright red.” He lifted my hand, to show Kimber, as if she hadn’t already seen the bright red tips. “They were supposed to be a pale pink!” his voice pitched, and he was breathing hard.
“Julian,” I called on whisper. “I’m okay.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. He just shook his head, seething with anger.
“Uhm,” Kimber looked confused by Julian’s outburst.
“It’s not that,” Julian said. “It’s what happened after.”
“What happened after?” Kimber was equal parts intrigued and terrified, as she pulled Julian’s hand close to her. Cradling it in her arms like a cuddly snuggy.
I took a breath trying to decide the best way to word what happened.
“Do you want me to tell her?” Julian asked, impatient.
I let out a low sigh. I knew it would sound so much worse coming from him. “The guy doing the massages got a little handsy. I mean, he stopped as soon as I called him out and told him I was only 16…” my voice trailed as I realized the horrible lameness of what I was saying.
“Woah, Kit-Kat,” Kimber huffed. “We do not defend molesters.”
“I know, and I promise I’m not trying to defend him, it just really wasn’t that big of a deal to me. I get what he did was wrong, and I totally reported him to the other staff, I just am kind of used to people touching me though, so I’m not like… upset, if that makes sense. I mean, Julian grabs my ass all the time.”
“It’s about motivation, Darling.” Julian’s tone sounded like he was trying to restrain himself from an angry outburst.
“I know it is,” I shot back. “That’s why I reported the guy, I’m just saying, I didn’t feel violated by it. I feel more violated about what happened to my hair actually…” I said softly. I’m not even going to remember some rando’s hand on my ass in a day, but my hair, I’m going to be thinking about that every day for years.
Julian squeezed my hand, and I squeezed it back.
If I hadn’t been so incredibly exhausted, I might have started to cry, but I was too tired, and slightly jealous of Kayley who was drunkenly snoozing on my chest. “And then more shit happened,” I sucked in a breath and went on. “The proposal went off perfectly and Erik took mom to buy a dress for the party and I went to pick up the dress I’d ordered in weeks ago, because I like to plan ahead like that. And they ordered the wrong size, so it was too small, so I had to quick pick another that happened to be completely see through, but I didn’t notice that it was completely see through, because I was more concerned with it fitting. What I did notice was the nice new dent in my car after I left the store. So I called Julian again, to see if he thought I should call the cops or whatever and we were FaceTiming and he noticed that my dress was see through. Fortunately, I was close enough to his place I just drove over there and that’s how I ended up with this dress, which is amazing. The End.”
“Wait. Julian just keeps women’s formalwear at his house.”
“Yeah, he designs it,” I smiled over at him, with pride. “This is a Julian Romero original.” I waved my hand over the dress, but I was mostly waving my hand over Kayley. “Drunk girl sold separately.”
“Wow, Julian, it’s gorgeous,” Kimber nudged him with her leg. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything earlier when I was gushing all over it.”
“It’s not one of my favorites, it’s just what I
had.”
“And now it’s being destroyed by grass and drool,” I chimed.
“And you’re being optimistic about that too,” Kimber accused.
I was starting to think that Kimber didn’t really understand what optimism was. “Guys, I’m too damn tired to be upset about anything. I’ll cry about it all tomorrow, okay? Promise.” I yawned.
“Would you like me to take you home?” Julian offered.
“More than anything.”
He rolled to his feet and helped Kimber up. It was a bit of a group effort to get Kayley upright, but then Julian scooped her into his arms and she nuzzled against his neck. I gathered her shoes, Kimber took care of the now empty water bottles and we headed back to the clubhouse. Kimber and I went to tell our respective parents that Kayley had fallen asleep and that Julian was taking us all home, while Julian took Kayley to his car.
My mom whipped her arms around me and pulled me into a big hug. “Thank you for the most amazing day ever,” she said at my ear. “It really was.” I smiled. Erik must have told her what we were calling the day, and I loved that they didn’t have secrets. Not really anyway because surprises don’t count.
There were a few other goodbyes that needed saying, so by the time we made it to the front of the clubhouse, Julian was waiting just out front, leaning against his car. Kayley was already belted snuggly in the back seat. Julian opened the two passenger doors for me and Kimber.
Kayley looked so peaceful, drunkenly sleeping in the back seat, I was envious of her ability to sleep practically anywhere, and look so comfortable doing it. “You take front,” I yawned toward Kimber. I doubted I’d be able to fall asleep, but even just closing my eyes and resting for a few minutes sounded ah-mazing.
We’d barely left the parking lot when Kimber started up a conversation about me, “I know she seems okay, but do you really think she’s going to be okay?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Julian answered. “I’ll make sure of it. I always have. I always will.”
Kimber sighed, wistfully. And then, almost like a warning she said, “That’s a very romantic statement, Julian.”
Julian used the topic of romance to steer the conversation in the direction of her love life and they spent the rest of the ride discussing just that. Kimber had at least a dozen different guys she was interested in, and was eager to hear Julian’s advice with all of them. Mostly stuff along the lines of ‘This guy, does this one thing, what do you think that means? Does it mean he likes me, or he’s just being nice?’ And Julian did his best to answer, no matter how ridiculous the question, because Julian is a saint.
When we got to Kimber and Kayley’s Julian retrieved Kayley from the back seat and carried her to her bed, while Kimber hurried ahead of him opening doors. I got out of the car intending to help, made it two steps, opened the front passenger door and climbed inside.
A few minutes later I saw Julian and Kimber at the front door. They were too far away to make out exactly what they were saying, but it looked like Kimber was thanking him for all his help. Julian smiled and then he leaned in for what looked like a hug, and kissed her. And I knew he’d done the thing because when he pulled away Kimber looked several shades redder than she had been seconds earlier and completely dumbstruck. Julian said goodnight, and Kimber went inside grinning ear to ear.
“Scoundrel,” I called him as he slid into his seat next to me.
Julian just chuckled.
・❀・❀・❀・
Dear Diary,
I don’t mention The Kyle very often, and that’s for a good reason — it’s because he’s not worth mentioning. Weird thing, I’ve had to mention him out loud twice this year, and that got me thinking, I’ve probably never actually mentioned him in any of my Diaries. And I’m conflicted about that. It’s totally a waste of resources — ink, paper, time. But it also seems like an oversight on my part, and I’d hate for anyone to assume my thoughts and get it wrong, so here goes:
Technically, The Kyle — AKA Kyle Duncan — is my father, but it’s mostly a genetic thing so it hardly counts. The Kyle is the kind of guy that when you make reference to him being a dad, you use air quotes around the word ‘dad.’
For reals and for instance, Kyle is the kind of “dad” in quotes who sends birthday and holiday cards signed in what looks an awful lot like Mom’s handwriting. — I’ve asked her to stop, but she just shakes her head, gives me that mom look that moms do, and says she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.
Need one that’s actually him and not Mom? The Kyle is the kind of “dad” in quotes who insisted I call him Kyle because Dad makes him feel — in his words, “Weird and old.”
Uhh-yeah. Lemme just hazard a guess and say it also makes him feel responsible which — ugh, responsibility! Amiright? Forced chuckle, eye-roll, knee slap, lowly disappointed sigh…
In case you can’t tell, I hate the guy. And that’s really all you need to know about dear old “dad” in quotes, The Kyle.
With regrets for tarnishing these fine pages, and a small side salad of daddy issues.
-Katarina Franks
Chapter 3
True to my word, the next day I showed up at Julian’s, bright and early — okay, it was 11:30 because I was determined to get caught up on sleep, and I did. And then I spent the next few hours crying my eyes out. Julian made me hot cocoa and eggs, and I took out all my extensions and admitted I’d been thinking about chopping my hair short for a while now. Then Julian and I played with styles for my new short do, and discussed adding colors to the extensions to coordinate with our costumes.
We talked about how much it was going to suck to be so far away from my mom and Erik, how I was actually kind of nervous to be going to a new school, and living with my cousins, sharing a room with them even, because I was used to home meaning I had my own space. And we even talked about what a complete shit-show the day before had been, but from Mom’s perspective it had all gone off without a hitch and that’s what mattered most.
And when I’d gotten it all out of my system Julian sat across from me and told me I was the best, strongest, and most resilient person he knew and that he loved me dearly, because that’s just how Julian is. And then he told me I should probably find some more tears and go cry to Kimber and Kayley. Though he totally got why I wouldn’t want to. Real world dramatics have never been my thing. When they come up, because life happens, my tendency is to take a step back, walk away or ignore it until it passes. It sounds like a copout, but it’s actually pretty effective and sanity saving.
Besides that, there’s very few dramatic moments that legit require my attention. All the crap that happened to me the day before was stuff that needed attending, and I was, and am always, beyond grateful to have someone like Julian in my life to help me with it all. He’s basically my best friend who’s actually a superhero.
As amazing as our relationship is, there are always people who have a hard time understanding what I have with Julian — and that right there is a perfect example of drama I can’t be bothered to care about.
So, backstory, when I was real little, my mom made money by watching kids at a rate cheaper than daycare and Julian was one of those kids. So I’ve basically known Julian forever. I was a few months old and Julian was five. So he’s always been a part of my life, he’s always been looking out for me and we’ve always loved each other.
Julian is why I love dancing and spinning. According to my mom, we’ve always been dancing and spinning. Before I could walk Julian would spin us around in my walker, and my bouncy thing, and at first my mom worried that it would make me sick, but I only ever laughed, and wanted more. Julian came from a family of performers, of spinners, it’s in his blood, and he shared that with me, and we were always spinning and dancing. Chairs, swings, bannisters, posts and poles, they were all something to twirl ourselves around. I couldn’t officially start dance lessons until I was three, but Julian had been teaching me all the way along. It was how we played.
There
were other kids my mom looked after, including Kimber and Kayley, but Julian was different. He was the most constant, for sure, but he wasn’t just there to play and do activities and stuff, he wanted to be part of things, he wanted a family. Julian’s mother had been battling cancer since he was two, and died when he was four. Most of his memories of her involved hospitals. His dad was rarely home from the start, and that didn’t change after his mom died. His aunt Linda had most often been the one to step in when his mom was too sick or his dad was away, and she took on the majority of his care after his mom died, but she was also trying to keep her studio active, so she didn’t have a lot of time for him outside of lessons.
Julian loved being with us. He loved being a part of family life, even all the mundane day to day stuff. My mom called him her little helper, and the best big brother ever. And he was, even though technically, he wasn’t.
Eventually my mom finished school and found herself a really good paying job, which meant I was going to need someone else to look after me while she was at work. I was mortified at first but Mom made sure I would be with Julian, and after that, wherever I was going to be didn’t really matter.
Growing up, people usually assumed we were siblings. Now, most people assume we’re a couple. When they find out we’re not, things tend to get awkward. It’s like there’s this weird need people have to push us into a relationship category they can understand. But what Julian and I have just doesn’t fit all pretty and papered into a perfectly labeled box like that, and I wouldn’t want it to.
Julian and I are as close as any committed couple, except we’re not intimately intimate with each other. We’re best friends, but it’s more than that. We might as well be siblings, but most siblings don’t kiss like we do or continue to see each other naked after a certain age. I’ve never really felt like soulmate fit for us exactly, because it’s more like we’re two parts of the same soul. He’s my partner. That’s our relationship, we’re partners. We get it, I’ve never really understood why other people need to understand it on their terms, or be so ruffled by it.
Kit Kat & Katie Did Page 3
