Falling In Love... Was The Best Idea I Ever Had.

We went to Spencer’s first. Gerard bought an amazing charcoal-gray fedora and a black studded belt.

“How many of those do you need?” Mikey demanded, gesturing at the belt.

“My old one is falling apart...” Gerard whined. Cal and I laughed. Mikey just rolled his eyes and went to browse the band tees.

When we left Spencer’s, Mikey announced that he needed a new pair of Vans.

Cal groaned. “I so cannot afford anything from Journeys right now. You boys go buy shoes - I’m going to see if Juice is around.”

Gerard sniggered.

“Juice...?” I asked.

Gerard opened his mouth, but Cal shushed him.

“She’s a... friend of mine... who works at the Jamba Juice in the food court.”

“Cal flirts with her every time we come here,” Gerard added.

Cal elbowed him. “Do not!”

“Yeah you do,” Gerard argued, rubbing his arm. “Or, at least, every time she’s working when we come here. That hurt.”

Cal shrugged. “She’s cute,” she said, as though that explained everything. Which, I guess, it did.

“I can’t really afford shoes at this point, either,” I admitted.

Cal laughed. “Tag along?”

“Sure.”

We parted ways with Mikey and Gerard, and I followed Cal in the direction of the food court. We chatted about New England, old movies, and our favorite veggie burgers. Cal was really easy to talk to. She was cheerful, but not so much that it was annoying. She just seemed like a happy person. And yet, somehow, she had this air of mystery. I don’t know how to describe it.

A grin spread across Cal’s face as we approached Jamba Juice. Behind the counter, with her back to us, stood this really pretty girl. She was tall and thin, with perfect, tanned skin and gorgeous, chocolate brown ringlets. She wore low-slung black sweatpants, a formfitting black t-shirt, and a green Jamba Juice apron. We could see a small strip of slightly paler skin on the small of her back, where pants and shirt met. A small, black bird, wings spread, resided in the center of this space.

Cal glanced at me. “See what I mean?”

I laughed. “She is... well... wow.”

Cal winked, then leaned on the counter. “Juuuuuice,” she sang.

The girl turned, revealing a soft, feminine face with kind, golden-brown eyes. Said eyes lit up when she saw Cal, though her perfect lips formed a frown. “Oh, God,” she said, “you’re back.”

“Miss me?” Cal asked flirtatiously.

“Uh, no,” she said, but a smile crept onto her face. She nodded at me. “This your boyfriend?”

Some small part of my mind noticed that this was the second time today that I had been mistaken for someone's boyfriend. Strange.

“I have eyes only for you, Juice, darling,” Cal replied without missing a beat.

The girl rolled her eyes and smiled at me. “I’m Julie.”

“Frank,” I replied.

“Nice to meet you. How’d you get stuck with Cal?”

“He moved in next to the Ways,” Cal answered for me.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Julie teased. She turned back to Cal. “So, are you gonna order something, or just waste my time?”

“Rather waste my time with you.” Cal fluttered her eyelashes.

Julie seemed to consider her for a moment. “Well... I get off at twelve thirty. Maybe we could grab lunch?”

Cal looked surprised. “Seriously?”

“You’ve been flirting with me for more than six months,” Cal blushed, and Julie smirked, “And yet you’ve never asked me out. Do you want to or not?”

Cal glanced at the clock. (It was 11:07). “Twelve thirty?”

Julie nodded.

“Well... I’ll see you then.”

Julie’s smile widened. “Sweet.”

“Killer,” Cal agreed, beaming.