With Julie, they were all breaking the rules.
And now she was his best friend. A truth that felt awful because she obviously didn’t feel the same way. She liked him well enough, he knew that, but she had friends and a life outside of this house. Matt had not invaded her world and her heart the way she had his.
His cell phone rang, jarring him out of his semiconscious depressed thinking. He pulled the pillow off his head and fumbled for his phone. He answered quickly without checking the Caller ID. Phone calls that came in at midnight had to be bad. Could something have happened to his parents?
“Hello?” General sleep deprivation combined with fear to make his voice soft and scratchy.
“What are you wearing?”
Matt relaxed. Whoever this crank caller was certainly wasn’t reporting any kind of crisis. “Um… Who is this?” he said sleepily as he dropped his head back onto the pillow.
“Matty, it’s me!”
He was awake now. “Julie?”
“Yes, Matty! Have you forgotten me already? What are you doing home? You should be out revelrying!” She was loud, her words running together but full of energy.
He laughed softly. She was such a nut. “I was sleeping. And revelrying? I’m not familiar with that term.”
“Yes. It’s a term because I say so. I’m creative like that. Oh my God, I’m The Terminator! Get it? Don’t you miss me and my delightful banter?”
“I do miss you,” he said, yawning. It was clear that he had become the victim of drunk dialing, and getting her off the phone quickly would probably be smart, although he liked hearing he was missed. “Sure.”
“That’s not convincing. You’re hurting my feelings.”
“Everybody misses you. Especially Celeste. Thanks for all the e-mails you’ve been sending her.” Focusing on how much Celeste missed Julie was the only good move he could make here without getting into uncomfortable territory. And his sister really was missing Julie, so it wasn’t a lie.
“Aw, my buddy Celeste.” Julie made some light grunting sounds. “There. I did it!”
“You did what?”
“I got myself undressed!” So much for not getting into uncomfortable territory.
“I think you got yourself drunk, that’s what I think.”
“So what? So what if I’m drunk? I’m still funny.”
“You are funny,” he agreed. “How is California? How’s your father?”
“My father is fan-frickin-tastic. He’s clearly aiming for Father of the Year with the way he’s spoiling me. It’s a really good trip.”
Even beyond the obvious and uncharacteristic alcohol consumption, Julie did not sound like herself. This level of enthusiasm was clearly forced and insincere. Matt was a bit worried about her now. “Er… Are you okay?”
“I’m perfect. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “Are you going to make it until midnight?” Based on her faulty speech alone, passing out might be the best idea.
“Of course I’ll make it to midnight,” she said defensively. “I’m gonna watch fireworks shoot out over the ocean.” Matt highly doubted she had the coordination skills left to get dressed again, much less figure out how to walk to find these fireworks. “Wanna come watch with me?”
He smiled to himself. He would love to. More than anything. “Sure. I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t start without me.”
“I can always count on you, can’t I, Matty? You’re the best, and you’re very helpful. I love you.”
“Now I know you’re drunk.” Under other circumstances, her words might not cut so deeply, but a drunk, meaningless delivery told him how far they were from being where he wanted. She had no idea what she was saying now.
“Calm down, silly boy. Not like I love you-love you. I just love you. You’re so smart. Oh, you love me too, and you know it.”
Matt couldn’t respond to this. Besides, making sure that she was safe was the only important thing. She clearly had no experience with drinking, and it was more than likely that she was going to be in terrible shape tomorrow, particularly with no one to take care of her. Where was her father? Why was she so wasted before nine o’clock California time? “Have you had any water to drink?”
“See what I mean? That is the smartest idea ever!” He listened to some plodding footsteps and then the sound of a faucet running. He had to laugh. Based on the sound of her walk, she must be staggering like mad. She could careen to the side, ricochet off a wall, and get a concussion. Or she could just look ridiculous. It would be one or the other. “Okay, here I go. Are you ready?”
“Go for it.”
“Now, hold on. Don’t go anywhere.”
Matt rolled his eyes. Julie had quite obviously stuck her entire face under the tap since he could hear every gulp and gasp and splash as she hydrated herself. If any of the water was making it to her mouth, he’d be shocked.
“Ta-da!” she announced.
“You also could have used a glass.”
“You didn't say to, and you’re the one in charge. Now I have to pee. Don’t listen, because that would be gross.”
Matt clapped a hand to his forehead. This was hardly the intimacy he'd been hoping for with Julie. “Believe me, I will not listen.”
“You talk, and I’ll pee. Talk loud to cover up the pee sound. Tell me something interesting. You always have interesting things to babble about.”
“I do not babble.” But Matt thanked her for the messenger bag and hinges that she'd given Celeste for Christmas. He had to give her credit because not only was Flat Finn close to being foldable enough to be totally concealed in that messenger bag, but the real gift was the time he spent with Celeste putting on the new hinges. If he knew Julie the way he thought he did, this had been her intention.
He dwelt on this as she started going on and on about something to do with how smart he was and how funny the shirts were that she’d given him for Christmas.
“I will admit that I sorta like all of your shirts,” Julie said.
“Obviously when you get drunk, you lie. And talk a lot.”
“I am not lying. They are actually a tiny bit adorable.”
“I knew you would come around.”
“I'm done peeing now.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
He heard her stumble around again. “I look crazy. I think I should go to bed now.”
“Probably a good idea. Happy New Year.” Matt started to pull the phone from his ear.
“Wait, don’t hang up yet! Tuck me in.”
What in the world was drunk Julie talking about now? “Tuck you in?”
“Yes. Tuck me in. Come to bed with me. Oh, wait, that’s not right, is it? Can you imagine?”
“Imagine what?”
“If we went to bed together. That would be bananas, huh?”
Matt sighed. Julie must be entirely out of her mind if she was mentioning the two of them in bed together. Not that he disliked that line of thinking, but…. Well, anyway, Julie was clearly a mess right now. “This conversation has officially taken an alarming turn.”
“You’re just figuring that out now?” She was silent for a few moments. “Matty?”
“Yes, Julie?”
“I have to tell you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“I like math.”
“I think that is wonderful.” Drunken thinking or not, he was happy to hear this. Matt had helped Julie with enough of her homework to know that, despite her near constant grumblings, she really had an aptitude for math.
“And there’s something else.”
“Shoot.” Maybe she had a secret physics fetish too? One could always hope.