I Am the Ocean, I Am the Sea

Juliet sat in her room reading the newest book Ricky gave her. Ashley walked in and gave Juliet a package.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I don't know. Open it, I wanna see." Ashley said eagerly and sat on the bed.

Juliet opened the package and pulled out a folder. She quickly skimmed through and a smile formed on her face.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"I got accepted!" Juliet screamed.

"Didn't you just get an acceptance letter last week?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. I applied for 2 schools in case I didn't get accepted into 1 of them." 

"Then which 1 you gonna go to?" 

Juliet thought for a moment. Which 1 of the schools was she going to go to? The University of Scranton? Or Alberta College of Art and Design? 

"I don't know. I'll have to think about this. I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm gonna go and talk to Ricky about it." Juliet said.

Ashley got up and left the room. Juliet began reading again but decided to give Ricky a call. No answer.

She got up and went into the kitchen to cook for her and Ashley. Juliet took out some spaghetti noodles and began boiling water. She sat at the table and began reading over the Scranton University papers. This was going to be a really tough choice for her.

"Jules, phone!" Ashley called.

She picked up the cordless and spoke into the device.

"It's Ricky. Sorry I didn't puck up before. What's up?"

"I got another acceptance letter." 

"I thought you only applied for the one here. Well where you gonna go?" he asked.

"I don't know. That's why I wanted to talk to you. Can you meet me at the coffee shop?"

"Yeah. Well I'll call you when in gonna leave." 

Juliet hung up the phone and went back to making supper for her and Ashley. 

Once supper was finished Ricky called and Juliet left to meet up with him. She put the forms into her bag and put her glasses on. 

Once at the shop, she walked inside and Ricky was at the back with some guy. She slowly walked over to them and once Ricky saw her, he got up and smiled.

"Hey Juliet."

"Hi." 

She sat down and didn't look at the guy sitting beside her. Ricky noticed Juliet's action and introduced them.

"Oh this is Balz."

"Excuse me?" Juliet asked.

"Name's Josh but you can me Balz." he smiled.

Juliet raised an eyebrow and tried holding in her laugh.

"I'd rather call you Josh. If you don't mind." Juliet said.

"Sure." he smiled.

"Well Ricky. As I was saying before I got another acceptance letter."

"Where?" he asked.

"ACAD. Alberta College of Art and Design. In Canada." 

Juliet looked over at Josh, who had a very confused look. She giggled a little and Josh looked at her.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"College." Juliet smiled.

"So which one are you gonna go to?" Ricky asked.

Juliet began to think. Which on was she gonna go to?

"I was thinking about ACAD. But it'd be so far away. And if I stay here then it wouldn't be so expensive. Ugh! I don't know what to do." Juliet whined.

"Go to school here." Ricky said. 

"I want to but then again, I really want to go to ACAD. I think I'm just gonna go to ACAD. If I do then I'll be gone 2 to 3 years at the most." 

"Going to school for that long? Why do you wanna go to school there anyways?" Josh asked.

"I wanna go for photography. I looked over the papers for Scranton but they don't really have programs I like." Juliet stated. "My minds made up. ACAD it is."

"Just go to Scranton. You lived here for a month and a half now, why do you wanna just leave?" Ricky asked.

"Well I'm gonna be coming back here. Once I'm finished. I'll be back, don't be mad."

"Don't be mad? What's that supposed to mean?" Ricky asked, anger filled his tone.

Juliet was shocked. Out of all the time she knew Ricky, he'd never gotten mad about anything. He wasn't the type of guy to get so mad about stupid things.

"I'm gone. See you later Jules." he said and left.

"Why are you so mad?" Juliet asked.

"I'm not mad." Ricky said. "I'm gonna head home now."

Ricky got up and walked out of the shop, leaving Juliet alone. She got up and started to head home. 

~~~

"So when are you leaving?" Ashley asked.

"In a couple months. I'll be back." Juliet smiled.

"I'm gonna miss you when you leave but I'm happy for you." Ashley smiled. 

Juliet smiled and headed off to work. Ashley quit her job so Juliet took over her shifts because her position had a better pay. 

She just recently began working at another salon 15 minutes away, due to problems at work.

"How can you stand working there? The atmosphere there is so dark." Ashley said.

"I don't know. I just can I guess. Well I'll see you after work." Juliet said and walked out the door.

She took out her phone and received a text. She opened it up and it was from Josh. He wanted to meet up with her after work and she replied with a yes.

Once at the shop, she went to her new spot at the front desk and sat down.

"Hey Jules."

She looked up and Robbie, the new guy sat down beside her. 

"Hey Robbie. How're you?"

"I'm doing fine but you don't look so happy. What's up?" he asked.

She crossed her arms and rested her head on her arms.

"I'm just really tired." she said and yawned.

"You'll get through the day. I know you will." Robbie said.

The door opened and in walked Ricky. It had been almost 2 weeks since Juliet saw or talked to him.

"Yes?"

"I'm here for my appointment." he replied.

Juliet looked down at the books and flipped through pages. She called Amber to the front.

"Your client awaits you."

Ricky followed Amber to the back and sat in the chair. Juliet took out her book and started reading. Every once in a while she'd look up at Ricky who was busy talking to Amber.

The door opened again and Juliet looked up, surprised to see Josh standing there.

"What are you doing here? I don't see your name anywhere in the book." 

"Just came to see you." he smiled. "Fucking boring at home."

Juliet looked over at Ricky who was staring back at them. She quickly looked away and went back to talking to Josh.