Human Blend (17 page)

“I, um... I must have fallen asleep,” Julie
said, still weary. “How did you get in here?” she asked.

“I'm sorry, Julie. When you didn't answer, I
feared you may be in need of something. I got the key from Mrs.
Gosley,” Eli explained.

“Oh, I guess that's okay,” Julie replied.

Eli's hand touched her face. “You've been
crying,” he noticed.

She wiped her face and sniffed. “Yeah, just
another memory thing. It's fine,” Julie said, not wanting to
explain further.

“I noticed you didn't eat anything either,”
Eli commented.

“Oh, shoot, I was going to and then the
delivery man came. I gotta stop doing that,” she said, getting out
of bed. Eli followed her out of the bedroom.

“Nice television,” he said.

“And stereo,” Julie added, “Austin's big
idea. I am, apparently, holding it for him until he gets his own
place,” she said.

“You fell for that one? I'm surprised. I
thought you were smarter than that,” he teased.

“Shut up,” she replied and laughed, punching
him lightly in the arm. “How's Michele?” she asked.

“She is doing remarkably well. We are
starting her on the final treatment tomorrow. I think she is going
to be just fine,” Eli said.

“That's music to my ears,” Julie said. “Can I
ask you a favor?” she then asked.

“Of course,” Eli replied.

“Would you mind if I came over and had some
of the food you bought? I'm really starving, now,” she said.

“Julie, I bought it for you, please eat it,”
Eli said and opened the door, catching Mrs. Gosley off guard.

“I don't know about this one, doctor. She
seems to be a handful,” Mrs. Gosley said, holding out her hand for
the key.

“That she is, Mrs. Gosley,” Eli said,
returning the key to her. Julie followed Eli into his
apartment.

“Thanks for that, as if she didn't hate me
enough already,” Julie said. Eli laughed and pulled out a pan.
Julie got the eggs and bacon from the refrigerator.

The two continued a light banter as they
cooked. Julie was surprised that Eli even ate a little. “I think
that is the first time I've seen you eat,” she commented.

After finishing off the food and cleaning up,
Julie checked the time. It was almost four o'clock. “I'm going to
head on back. Austin and his friends are picking me up soon. We're
going to the school carnival,” Julie said. She took out the key to
Eli's apartment. “Here's your key back,” she said.

“Keep it,” Eli replied. “For emergencies,” he
added.

“You mean if I get a midnight craving for
some of the cheesecake I saw in there?” she said and laughed.

“I forgot about that.” Eli laughed with
her.

“Thanks... for everything,” Julie said.

“Have a good time,” he said. She smiled and
went back to her apartment.

Eli stayed in his apartment for a few
minutes, listening to the silence. “Now, it's too quiet,” he said
to himself and decided to go back to the hospital.

Julie decided to wait outside for Austin. The
night was beautiful; perfect weather for a carnival. Before long, a
car that was going a little too fast entered the parking lot with
music blasting from its stereo. Julie cringed when it pulled up
front, and Austin got out of the back seat. “Hey, Jules,” Austin
greeted with a smile, and a kiss.

“Should we be letting him drive?” Julie
asked, partly serious.

“It'll be fine,” Austin promised. With
trepidation, Julie approached the car.

“Neal, turn it down,” Austin ordered.

“It's a good song,” Neal complained.

The girl in the front seat turned it down.
“Don't be rude, Neal,” she admonished. Julie decided that she liked
that girl already.

Austin began the introductions. “Everybody,
this is Julie,” he started. “In front with Neal, is Annie. In the
back here is Melissa,” Austin introduced. “Everyone else is meeting
us there,” he finished.

“Yeah, the smart ones, who refuse to ride
with Neal,” Annie said.

“Hah! You just called yourself stupid,” Neal
said and laughed as he put the car in gear.

“I'm apologizing for my brother ahead of
time,” Annie turned and spoke to Julie.

“Neal's your brother?” Julie asked.

“Unfortunately,” she sighed.

“Apologize for Rick too, he hit on her the
first day she was here.” Neal laughed, as he remembered when his
brother told him of the incident.

Annie gave Julie a sympathetic look. “Don't
hold it against me that I'm related to them,” Annie pleaded.

“Don't listen to her. She's Rick's twin,”
Neal piped in.

“Hello? Fraternal? Meaning not from the same
egg? Idiot,” Annie explained. Julie couldn't help but laugh at the
two of them.

Julie was sitting between Austin and Melissa.
“Are they always like this?” Julie asked Melissa.

“Always,” the cute brunette said and
smiled.

Neal did drive at a somewhat safer speed on
the way there.

Julie's eyes lit up as she saw the ferris
wheel looming large on the school grounds. The experience
intensified as they got out of the car. The sounds and the aroma
added to the sensations. Austin saw the excited look on Julie's
face. “Ready to have fun?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her
waist.

“Totally ready,” she said and smiled.

Annie walked beside Julie and Austin,
animatedly talking about the haunted house ride she had seen being
set up. “They have some pretty gruesome scenes!” the fiery red head
exclaimed.

“I'm not into gruesome,” Julie said. She had
seen enough real life horrors and had no desire to see anymore,
even if it was make-believe.

The group met up with four more friends.
Rick, Neal's brother and Annie's twin, whom Julie already knew,
greeted her warmly and friendly. There was no mention of their
first encounter. She was glad he seemed to have moved past it.

Rick was accompanied by Maureen, who seemed
shy. Next, she was introduced to Leif, a tall boy with long
chestnut brown hair. He was with a smaller girl with short black
hair whose name was Wendy. Julie hoped she would be able to
remember everyone's name.

A vote was taken as to whether to eat or go
on the amusements. Amusements won unanimously. “I would have
thought you would have said food first,” Austin whispered in her
ear, as they got in line to buy tickets.

“I know I have a strong stomach, but I don't
know if anyone else does.” Julie laughed.

“Good point,” Austin agreed. “Just for the
record, I have a stomach made of pure steel,” he gloated.

“More like aluminum,” Neal said, giving
Austin a playful punch in the stomach. Austin pretended to double
over in pain. Melissa giggled while Annie rolled her eyes. Julie
took note of the way Melissa looked at Austin. She smiled at
Melissa, who quickly blushed, looking as if she got caught with her
hand in the cookie jar.

After purchasing ride tickets, the next
decision was which amusement to go on first.

“Haunted house!”

“Roller coaster!”

“Ferris wheel!” were some of the suggestions
shouted out. Julie kept quiet. She was up for anything except the
haunted house. “Since Julie's the newbie, let's have her pick
first,” Leif suggested.

Everyone turned to look at Julie. “Feel the
pressure,” Neal teased her.

“Um, I'm up for anything... except the
haunted house,” Julie said, looking at Annie.

“Damn it,” Annie cursed. The group was still
waiting for her to make a suggestion.

“Roller coaster sounds cool,” she finally
decided.

“Yeah!” Rick and Austin shouted, giving each
other a hand slap.

“Total speed junkies,” Maureen said, cluing
Julie in on the reaction.

The group of nine made their way over to the
coaster. It was a decent size, considering that it was a traveling
one that needed to be assembled and disassembled on a frequent
basis. It had five attached carts. The seating was two per cart.
“Dibs on front,” Austin called. Julie was beginning to regret her
idea. Neal ended up being the one to sit alone, but seemed happy to
be in the very last cart.

“Last is the next best seat to the front,” he
justified.

As the coaster began its ascent, Austin put
his arm around Julie's shoulder. “Are you a screamer?” he
asked.

“I guess we'll find out,” Julie remarked, not
knowing the answer to that herself. As they rounded the crest of
the first hill, Julie's adrenaline kicked in at the sight of the
drop. She found out... she
was
a screamer.

The ride seemed over too quickly as they were
soon back on the loading platform. “We have to go on that again!”
Julie exclaimed.

“Yeah, as soon as my eardrums stop
vibrating,” Austin said, shaking his head.

She touched Austin's face. “I'm sorry. Did I
scream that loud?” she asked.

“Lucky man,” Rick said, punching Austin in
the back as he walked past him. Julie looked perplexed at first,
then saw Austin blush and figured it out. Austin draped his arm
around her shoulder; she was now as red as he was.

“C'mon.” He laughed and followed the
group.

After a few tamer rides, they were now
standing in front of the Haunted House. Everyone was getting in
line, but Julie held back. “You go ahead, I'm gonna wait here,”
Julie said to Austin.

“I'm not going on if you're not,” Austin
said.

“Oh yes, you are!” Julie argued.

“Then come with me,”Austin pleaded.

“I... can't, Austin. Please, just go on with
your friends. I'll be really upset if you miss out on something
because of me,” Julie stated. “Go,” she said, pushing him toward
his friends. He reluctantly joined the group, looking back to check
on her one more time before entering the attraction.

The sound of a child crying drew Julie's
attention. The child was being held by a man who was trying to
console the toddler. “Please, Daddy, please. Try again. I really
want it,” the little boy cried.

“I tried, buddy. I spent twenty dollars
already. It's a hard game,” the father replied.

“One more time, please, just one more try,”
the child pleaded.

“One more try, and that's it. If we don't
win, we walk away, okay?” the father said, putting the child down.
The little boy nodded sadly. Julie moved closer and saw the man
place a dollar on a number she knew was not going to win. She
quickly took out a dollar of her own and placed it on the number
she knew would come up.

“...And, we have a winner,” the barker
shouted when Julie's number hit. “Which prize do you want, pretty
lady?” the man behind the counter asked her.

“Oh, that's not mine, that's his,” Julie
said, looking at the man with the child. The father gave her a
puzzled look. Julie winked and smiled at the little boy. “Pick out
your prize. You won,” Julie encouraged him.

“We won daddy?” the little boy asked him.

“Yeah. I guess we did, buddy” he said. He
mouth the words 'thank you' to Julie. Her smile grew wider as the
little boy clutched the stuffed animal he had wanted to win.

“You're the best daddy ever!” the little boy
said, hugging his father.

“How did you know?” the man asked Julie.

She shrugged her shoulders, “It was just a
guess. I'm glad it paid off,” she said, rubbing the little boy's
back.

It was at that time that Austin and his group
exited the haunted house. He looked around and began to panic. He
didn't see Julie anywhere. Neal tapped him on the shoulder and
pointed to where she was. “Told ya. You shouldn't have left her
alone. Already, a guy's hitting on her,” Neal commented.

Austin quickly made his way over to Julie.
“Hey,” Austin said.

“Hey. How was the scary house?” she
asked.

“Lame, actually,” Austin replied.

“Thank you again,” the man said to Julie.
“You've got one lucky girl there,” he said to Austin before walking
away.

Austin looked at Julie. “You wanna explain
that one to me?” he questioned.

“I helped him win that toy for his son, no
biggie,” Julie answered.

Austin put his arms around her. “Well, he was
wrong anyway. I'm the lucky one,” he said, kissing her. The kiss
lasted longer than it should have.

“Get a room,” Leif shouted at them, breaking
the moment.

“Can we get some of that 'bad-for-you'
carnival food you mentioned?” Julie asked.

“Your wish is my command,” Austin
replied.

After eating, the group played some games.
Austin was quite good at winning. His accuracy at picking numbers
surprised even himself. “Man, I should play the lottery,” he
commented, winning again. Julie had not steered him at all towards
a particular number.
I guess some people are just naturally
lucky
, she thought.

After packing all the prizes won into the
car, the group went on one last ride on the ferris wheel. Julie and
Austin's seat was paused at the very top. “What was your favorite
part?” he asked, nuzzling her ear.

“All of it,” she laughed. “If I had to pick
one,” she continued, “I would say... this. Right here, right now,”
she replied snuggling closer.

“Not the roller coaster?” Austin teased.

“That was fun. A wild, crazy, intense, kind
of fun, but this is the best,” she said softly. “What was your
favorite part?” Julie asked.

“Seeing you smile,” Austin replied.

They all gathered together after the ride and
made their way to their cars. Plans to get together again were
discussed, but nothing definite was set-up. Melissa was dropped off
first, then Neal continued on to Julie's place. It took all four of
them to carry in the prizes Austin had won.

“Nice place,” Annie remarked. “We have to do
a girl's night here soon,” she decided.

“Sounds good to me,” Julie said. She had
never had a girl's night before, but it sounded fun.

“Make sure you invite me,” Neal said. Annie
whacked Neal lightly in the back of the head, and Julie
laughed.