juliet (![]() ![]() @ 2009-12-12 00:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | juliet, juliet/sunday, sunday |
Who: Juliet and Sunday
What: Juliet finally loses her cool and Sunday comes up with a solution.
When: Backdated to Weds., December 2nd, 2009.
Where: The halls of Ralston, and then Sunday's suite.
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13, to be safe?
Sunday couldn't believe it. She'd barely gone to Wal-Mart a week ago and she was already out of her soda. Then again, she had taken some home, and she also had given some
out to a distraught senior that lived above her and didn't know what he was doing with his life. Consequently, she'd had to go to Harper Cove to get some. As much as she loved the Cove, she didn't like spending money on overpriced soda when she could get it cheaper at Wal-Mart.
So here she was, braving the cold to get her beloved Sunkist. Sunday was hurring to get back inside, because damn, it was cold out here. She was so focused on getting in that she didn't realize her plastic lid wasn't quite on the right way, and she noticed someone behind her also trying to get in. Sunday swiped her card and then held the door open for the other person; as she did so, some of her soda spilled out, unfortunately falling on the person she was trying to hold the door open for. "Oh man, sorry," she apologized, cringing - and then cringing some more when she realized it was Juliet. "I totally didn't do that on purpose, okay? Sorry."
Juliet was too busy staring at her notebook which had endless to-do lists for the Snow Ball. She helped plan most of the events on campus, but Snow Ball was one of the huge ones. She had a lot more responsibility, and it seemed like there was a never-ending amount of stuff to get done for it. It was in a few days, but there was still so much to be done and .... ugh. So in one hand she had her notebook, in the other hand she had her phone, and then someone was holding the door open for her, but because she could even say thanks they were a whole mess of soda all over the front of her shirt and some on the notebook She gasped as this happened, feeling the cool liquid soak through her shirt and chill her and she couldn't help but glare. She was usually pretty good about things like that, but you could say Juliet was a little strung out right now. "Thanks," she muttered, shaking off the notebook (it'd only gotten mildly spilled on) and squeezing her phone which mercifully had been spared.
Cringing again, Sunday said, "I have towels in my suite." It was kind of a dumb thing to say - didn't everyone? - but now she felt somewhat responsible. "I'm glad it didn't get your work, though. That would be a bummer." She let go of the door so they could get inside, and then spared a hard look at Juliet. Usually she was perfectly put together, but today, it seemed like things were getting to her. "You okay?" Sunday asked. "Off day today?"
Juliet just wanted to retire to her suite, take a nice shower and sleep for a few days. She was generally go-go-go, thrived on stress and all those things that made people shut down. But lately ... it'd been harder and harder to keep it together, and worse, harder to keep that little fact from people, as made evident by Sunday's comment. "I don't have off days," she informed Sunday a little stiffly. "Listen, don't worry about it, my suite's down there--"
"Come on, nobody's perfect," Sunday chided her, albeit gently. Even if Juliet tried to be, but Sunday kept that thought to herself. "And my suit happens to be right here, so come on." She took Juliet's free wrist and guided her over to her suite. "Seriously, it's the least I can do since I spilled my drink all over you."
Sunday didn't seem like she was going to let up, so Juliet let her have her way. Juliet's thoughts mirrored Sunday's re: the perfect comment; she tried damn hard. "Fine," she sighed, peeling the shirt away from her now sticky skin for a second before letting it go again. At least it wasn't a white shirt. She realized she'd been pretty unpleasant for this entire exchange and that was just so not like her, so she bit her lip. "Sorry."
"Nah, it's no biggie," Sunday told her, shrugging as she unlocked her suite and grabbed the dishtowel from the kitchen, handing it to Juliet. Yeah, it was unlike her, but Sunday had had to deal with much worse before, so she wasn't fazed. "Is everything alright, Juliet?" she asked, curiously. Not that Sunday actually expected the other girl to open up to her, but it was worth a shot, asking anyway.
Juliet took the towel gratefully, patting down her shirt with it and dipping it below the neckline so she could wipe at the actual skin. She moved toward the sink to dampen it a bit and then repeated. "Everything is fine," Juliet said, scrubbing much vigorously than she needed to be. "It's not like the Snow Ball is in a few days and we're still having issues. It's not like my boyfriend wants to quit college to follow me to New York. It's not like finals and projects are only adding to that and it's not like --" She cut herself off once she realized what she was saying. "Sorry," she said again, embarassed by the outburst.
"Jeez, Juliet, don't be sorry," Sunday said, watching her as she attacked herself with the towel. "You're human. You can't be graceful and perfect under all this pressure all the time." She smiled wryly. "Sometimes you have to learn how to let go of things. Or delegate. Prioritize. I'm sure you know how to do that, but... sometimes you have to let things drop." Sunday shrugged. "At any rate, it sounds like you need a break," she told the other girl, as Sunday leaned back into the couch that was in the living area of her suite. "Maybe we can go grab a drink sometime, you know? Unwind. Not worry about projects or boys or... responsibilities." The blonde grinned as she put her feet up on the coffee table. "One night won't kill you."
Yes, yes she could. She usually was. Graceful and perfect under pressure, that was her thing. So why was she cracking now? "It's a nice thought, but I don't have time for a break. Even when I'm not doing anything, I'm doing something. Not that I don't want to," she added quickly, just so Sunday wouldn't think she was making up excuses.
Sunday glanced over at Juliet, eyeing the other girl carefully. "You know, Juliet," she began, slowly, "the people who always say 'I don't have time' for whatever? Those are the people that don't want to make time for whatever it is they 'don't have time' for." She raised an eyebrow at Juliet. "It's really about how you want to spend you time. You, of all people, should realize this." She tugged on a dreadlock absentmindedly. "What if, somehow, you were 'magically' not doing anything tomorrow night at, say, seven? Would you reconsider?" Sunday watched Juliet carefully to see how she would answer.
Was Sunday psycho-analyzing her? Really? She knew Sunday was an RA and that's what RA's did and all and that she was just trying to help, but Juliet was not in dire need of advice. She could really, really take care of herself. She smiled anyway. "If I wasn't? Absolutely. But I'll be decorating for the Snow Ball all night. I'm booked."
Sunday shrugged. "Alright," she said, nonchalantly - if Juliet was going to pretend to thrive on the things that were stringing her out, that was fine with her. She knew it wouldn't help her but you know, people were stubborn, especially when they thought they knew better. "But my offer still stands - whenever you want to go out, have a drink and some good times, you know where to find me." She cringed a little. "Pretend that didn't come out as sleazy as it did," she added, grinning. "Good luck with everything, though. Don't let it get to you so much."
Sunday really was just trying to be nice. And although Sunday couldn't hear Juliet's less than pleasant thoughts, they still made her feel guilty. It was the people-pleaser in her. "Next weekend," she said finally. "Semester break. I'll be free. Kind of."
Kind of. Sunday rolled her eyes internally and had to almost physically restrain herself to not actually do so. Still, it was something, right? "Deal," Sunday agreed. "We should make it epic." She paused, concentrating on something she thought Juliet had said earlier. "We could even go into the city. You know, New York. Hang around there, see what it's like, get away from all of this college stuff." It was something she'd probably be more comfortable doing with Zoey - the thought of doing this with Juliet and not Zoey sent a little pang through Sunday, and she was sure she'd never hear the end of it - but hey, why the hell not? Juliet could be irritating at times, but she wasn't evil.
She could instantly think of reasons not to do it - her Dad would maybe not be crazy about it, she had told the hospital she'd take up volunteer shifts, etc., etc. She could think of only one solid reason to go: she needed to get the hell out of Westmont for a little bit. That reason seemed to win out and she nodded slowly. "New York would be perfect," Juliet admitted. And maybe she could be more Fun Juliet than Basketcase Juliet and prove to Sunday that she was capable of not being completely crazy. "If you're really up for it."
"Of course I'm really up for it," Sunday told Juliet. What, were the tables turned all of a sudden? "I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't up for it," she told the other girl. She was still slightly surprised that Juliet even agreed to it in the first place. "So, next weekend, then? Sounds like a plan to me. Though I draw the line at watching those theatre things. I mean... yeah, no," Sunday said, shaking her head. If Juliet didn't like that, too bad.
"Next weekend," Juliet said with a slow nod. She burst into a smile and for a second, the weight of everything fell away. "And okay, I won't drag you to any Broadway shows. Although I promise some of them are fun--" Her phone started going off, and she grimaced apologetically. "Sorry," she said, before taking the call. "Hello? No, I know, I still have to call them ... well, they were closed earlier--" She started gathering her stuff, phone tucked under one ear. "I have to go," she mouthed to Sunday.
As Juliet checked her phone, Sunday couldn't help but roll her eyes a little bit. "Just go, just go," Sunday said, waving her hand towards Juliet. "And next weekend, don't forget!" she called after the other girl, not even sure if she would hear, but to make herself feel like it wasn't just something Juliet was saying to appease her - even if it did seem sincere.