Only With You (Knights #2)

6

JULIANNA

I should be happy that the weekend’s finally here, but all I feel is overwhelmed. Exhaustion is wearing down on me, my muscles feel like they’re on a tight coil, my head aches painfully, and my body doesn’t feel like mine.

This week has kicked my ass and I don’t even know where to begin.

Since Roberts took over, the syllabus Professor Ellis created has been thrown out the window. I knew better than to believe he would follow it, but I held onto hope.

I’m pretty sure it was never his plan to follow it despite him saying he would on Monday.

He stated today that every Friday he’ll be giving us quizzes to test us and to make sure we’re understanding the material. I didn’t do so well. Out of the ten questions, I got six right.

The only thing still keeping my grade floating above a D is the homework, but for how long, I don’t know. It’s only worth a small percentage of our overall grade.

Though, failing isn’t the only thing that’s been weighing down on me after overhearing the conversation on Monday. The girls haven’t said anything to me, but then again, I haven’t given them a chance to confront me.

I’ve been working every single day at the museum, and when I’m not there, I’ve stayed at El’s apartment. It’s a cowardly thing to do, but I can’t bear to see the disappointment and anger on their faces.

I’m not sure if they’re the kind of girls who will give me the silent treatment or do something petty. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing both when I lived at the sorority house. It’s why I had to get out.

Now, I might have to do it again.

My head and heart pound hard as I finally will myself to climb out of my Rover. I’ve been holding off on talking to them, but I know I shouldn’t do that anymore.

I’ll take accountability for what I did and tell them I’ll move out. I’ll be breaking the lease, but it’s better than making things miserable for everyone.

I shouldn’t, but I’m playing every worst-case scenario in my head, wondering if this will be a Sienna-level case or they’ll hear me out.

Gabby is sitting on the couch when I step inside, holding her iPad up. When our eyes connect, the smile on her face cracks wider.

Toeing off my shoes, I cautiously approach her and return the smile but gauge her expression for the inevitable facade to fade, but there’s nothing but genuine happiness.

“Dame un segundo, Mamá.” Gabby sets her iPad on her lap, motions me to come closer, and pats the spot next to her. “I’m so glad you’re here. I want you to meet my mom.”

I stagger, staring at her, confused and wary. I’d already made up my mind and kept my expectations low, but this…this isn’t what I expected.

Hesitantly, I set my bags on the floor next to the coffee table and take a seat next to her. Gabby picks up the iPad and holds it up so that we both fit in the screen. On the other side, an older woman sits with the same friendly smile Gabby is sporting.

“Juls, this is my mom, Rocío. Mamá, esta es Julianna .” She introduces us.

“ ?Hola! ” She excitedly waves. “ Me da mucho gusto por fin poder conocerte. Mi Gabby habla mucho de ti. ”

I smile despite not having a single clue what she just said. I may have taken two semesters of Spanish, but only a few words stuck.

“She said she’s happy to finally meet you. My Gabby talks a lot about you.” She translates.

“It’s good to meet you. She talks so much about you too,” I happily tell her and Gabby translates for me.

I may not be here a lot, but the little I’ve been around, Gabby’s either talking about her mom and dad or to them.

Nothing good comes out of being jealous of others, but this is the one thing I genuinely envy and I hate it. I’m happy she and her mom have an amazing relationship, but I wonder what that must be like.

Being able to call your mom just because. Talking to her without feeling like a burden…

I snap out of it when I hear, “ Adiós, Mamá ,” and Gabby waves at the screen before it goes to the FaceTime call log.

“I’m sorry. I hope you didn’t do that cause I’m here. I can leave so you?—”

She waves her hand dismissively. “No, don’t worry about it. I’ve been talking to her for almost two hours, and Dad will probably call later.”

I can’t remember the last time I spoke to Mom on the phone for more than five minutes.

“Will your parents be coming to Family Weekend next month?”

NCU has their annual Family Weekend at the beginning of October every year. My parents only came my freshman year, and already told me they can’t make it this year.

As much as it pains me not having them come, I’m also glad they’re not because it brings me nothing but crippling anxiety.

“No, she’s in Mexico, so she really can’t come.”

“Are you parents on vacation?”

Her beaming smile softens. “No, sorry, I should have specified, but they live there.”

I stare at her, confused. From what I remember, she’s from Montana and has lived there almost all her life. I know she said that Jagger and Landon got scholarships to play basketball here. And Polly got some scholarships, and Gabby was going to have to pay out-of-state tuition so she decided to follow them.

“I don’t think I ever told you, but I have DACA—Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.”

I try to think if I’ve heard that somewhere, but nothing comes to mind. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that is.”

“I’m not a US citizen, so DACA allows me to legally stay here, but I can’t leave the country, not unless I don’t want to come back. I mean, I can come back, but it’s a process. A very expensive and lengthy process,” she explains and brightens as Polly steps out of her room into the living room with the stack of menus. “We can talk about it later, if you’d like.”

“I would love that.”

“Juls! You’re back!” Polly’s smile stretches across her face like she’s genuinely happy and relieved to see me. She takes the sofa across from us and sets the menus on the coffee table.

That somewhat alleviates the nerves lodged in my throat and gives me the courage to say what I’ve been thinking this whole week.

“Would it be best if I moved out?”

Thick silence settles between us before Gabby cuts it. “Why? Did we do something wrong?”

I meet her stare, gauging her expression, but she looks shockingly upset that I would suggest such a thing.

Polly doesn’t look hurt but a little angry. She then pulls out her phone. “Did Landon say something to you? Because if he did, I swear I’m going to cuss?—”

“No, no, you guys didn’t do anything wrong and he didn’t say anything.” I pause, trying to gather my thoughts. I expected the worst, but now I regret it. “I know you guys know about move-in day when I hit Landon’s car and everything that transpired after that.”

I think back to a few days before move-in day. The argument Mom and I got into. The slap she gave me for raising my voice to her for the first time. The way Dad came to her defense despite not knowing what happened. How they called me ungrateful because I have everything anyone could dream off. How easy it’d be for them to take it all away. And their punishment.

They didn’t help me move in because they said I needed to think about how I acted and how I’d apologize.

I was upset and Landon was there. It’s no excuse, because I could have hurt him or anyone, but in the moment, I was so angry I didn’t see that.

I don’t tell them that, though. I’ll probably sound spoiled. Even though they didn’t come, they gave me the Range Rover. They said it was their good luck gift to me, but really, it’s to remind me how good I have it because of them.

“I figured you’d want me to move out. I know how much you guys miss having him around. I’m sorry I’m the reason he doesn’t come often.”

“Sure, it was a shitty thing to do, but it happened. It’s in the past.” Polly shrugs, laying her phone on her lap. “Don’t get me wrong. I would’ve been pissed, but that was almost four years ago. I can’t be mad at you for something you did then.”

“And regarding Landon, don’t worry about it. He’ll show up eventually, and if he doesn’t, we’ll see him around. We know where he lives. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t get rid of us,” Gabby adds with a grin.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my thighs, my eyes bounce between the two. “So you aren’t mad at me?”

Gabby shifts her body entirely to face me. “Mad? No, we’re just upset you think we want you to move out. We love having you here. Please don’t leave.”

“Seriously, don’t leave. Your arguments with Landon are hilarious. I haven’t been this entertained since Lola denied her feelings for TJ and vice versa. That was fun.” Polly sighs, staring off into the distance as if she were reminiscing.

“But I thought our arguments annoyed you.”

“At first, but now, they’ve grown on me. It’s kind of funny seeing someone rile Landon up so much.”

“I’m pretty sure nothing riles him up.” I would know. It’s him who pisses me off.

Gabby nods, her bun at the top of her head bobbing. “We’ve been best friends for a while. No one but you seems to bring him out of his silence.”

“I’m sure that’s not…” I trail off when Polly looks at me like she knows something I don’t, and when she looks at Gabby, her smile is borderline creepy. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason, no reason at all.” She shakes her head as Gabby giggles.

I narrow my eyes, wondering what the hell that’s about, but I decide not to put much thought into it. That’s not what matters anyway. These girls are not as bad as my old roommates. Maybe this year isn’t going to be too bad. I just need to figure out how to pass Calc.

“I do want you to know that I was going to apologize and pay for all the damages but—” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I just want you to know that I really regret what I did.”

“We’ll forgive you on one condition.” Polly grabs the menus and flips through them until she finds the one she’s looking for.

“Okay?” I tentatively reply.

“You come out with us tomorrow night and hang out with us more. Starting tonight with Frimance.”

A huge weight lifts off my chest, as does the lump that was stuck in my throat. I should stop expecting the worst. Not every girl is Sienna and her friends.

“Okay, deal.”

Gabby pulls me in for a hug, taking me by surprise, but I let myself melt into her. I almost forgot she’s a hugger. “Just hope you know, you’re not going to get rid of us. You’re stuck with us.”

“So, what’s Frimance?” I smile at the enthusiasm that exudes them.

She lets go of me and opens her phone to the notes app. “Every Friday, we watch a romance movie or a TV show, order takeout, and then we discuss it. Kind of like a book club, but without the books. We also have karaoke and drinks, lots of them. I have a list of all the movies and TV shows we’ve watched and everything we want to watch. I’ll share the note with you and you can add anything you’d like to watch.”

“You get it? Friday. Romance. Sounds cheesy, but we love our little tradition. Started it our freshman year.” Polly smiles proudly.

“Oh, then I don’t want to?—”

“Don’t you dare. We want you to be part of it.” She points a finger at me, staring at me like she’ll fight me if I walk away.

I chuckle, raising my hands in surrender. “Okay, I’m in. So what are we watching?”

“ I Want You Back .”