Seize Control

The entire week Juliette was watched like a hawk. After what had happened to Juice, Clay wasn't going to take any chances with her or her mother. He kept one of the guys with them at all times, twenty-four seven.

Chibs had been the one who'd followed her around for the first three days, but soon after, the men of Tacoma came down to help out. The surplus of Sons left Chibs free to get back to the more important Club business and left Kozik to take up the watch. Tig of course was unhappy with the arrangement but was too preoccupied with the Club to do anything about it.

Spending time with Silas or Kip was out of the question with Kozik watching her so closely. Instead, she attended her classes and then came straight back to the clubhouse to spend time with Juice. He was almost back to normal by the time the week was over. He'd started getting out of bed the morning after the day he woke up. Clay insisted that he not go on Club runs until he was back to 100% so he stayed in the clubhouse doing research and getting intel on his computer.

Finals were quickly approaching for Juliette, as was the decision her teachers were pressing her to make- college. She'd been putting it off for months. She knew she had originally decided to go to Seattle but she also knew that her family were going to try their hardest to convince her to attend Sacramento because it was close enough to home for her to be protected if the need arose. That was her main reason for wanting to move away- she didn't want to need to be protected. She wanted to be off on her own, not worrying about the Club and all the violence it brought to her and her family.

Juliette sighed in relief as the final bell of the day rang and she rose from her desk, grabbing her backpack from the floor. As she passed Mrs. Anderson's desk, she was stopped. "Don't forget what we talked about, sweetie. The rest of the teachers and I are really pulling for you to make the right decision."

She nodded her head at her teacher even though she was groaning on the inside. She already knew that she had to decide about college and she already knew that make the right decision meant choose Seattle and get the fuck out of California. It still didn't make things any easier.

Juliette silently made her way out into the hallway where Kozik was waiting for her, leaning against the wall of lockers. A group of younger girls had accumulated at the opposite end of the hallway, staring at the tall man as he stood up straight and took a step toward her. She rolled her eyes at the girls and gave him a push toward the main doors. She wasn't sure what it must've been about the men in her life that apparently made her fellow students go so crazy. After all, Kozik was about twice their age. Maybe it was the motorcycles or something.

She tossed her backpack into the passenger seat of her car and climbed inside, taking off toward the clubhouse while Kozik followed closely behind her on his bike. Mostly everyone was there, which was odd for three o'clock in the afternoon. They were apparently all in church because there was no one sitting around the bar and the doors to the chapel were shut. Kozik hustled into the room, shutting the door behind him and Juliette went down the hallway to the ladder to climb up onto the roof.

No sooner than she had taken a seat, she had completely zoned out, staring at the traffic on the nearby road and thinking about her future. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her.

"There you are. I've been looking for you for half an hour."

"I've been here the whole time."

"You're not supposed to go wandering off and someone doesn't know where you are, you know," he scolded jokingly.

"That's outside the compound. I'm perfectly safe up here."

Kozik sighed as he took a seat next to her. "I haven't been around you for very long, but I've figured out you come up here when you're upset about something."

She looked at him and chuckled as she ran a hand through her wild dark locks. "I'm not upset. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stupid teenage girl stuff."

"But I know you're not a stupid teenage girl."

Juliette shook her head. "It's-.....it's just this whole college thing. I mean, it's a big deal. I'm going to be the first. Mom had Jax pretty much right after high school. Jax didn't even finish high school. It's just not an easy decision."

"What's not easy?"

She sighed, not answering his question. "What's Washington like?"

"Cold mostly," he chuckled. "Why?"

"My decision. It's between Seattle and Sacramento. The whole family is pushing me to go to Sacramento so I'd be close to home."

"What do you want?"

She glanced up at him, somewhat surprised. "No one's asked me that before," she muttered. "But I want to go to Seattle. University of Washington's a great school. I've already been accepted. I've got scholarships. All I have to do is.....go."

"What's stopping you?"

"I don't know," she whispered sadly. "I hate Charming. I hate the Club. I hate the guns and the violence and being scared all the time. I want to get out. But.....at the same time, I feel this stupid fucking responsibility to this town. To my family. To the Club. How is it even possible to be this conflicted?"

"It's easy to see why, Julie. I know you hate the life. But I also know you love your family. Probably more than anything else in the world. And as much as you'd like to kick their asses most days, you love those guys too. And you wanna leave the life but you don't wanna leave what you love."

Honestly, she was surprised. She hadn't taken Kozik as someone so understanding and compassionate. A few teardrops dripped onto her cheeks and she nodded, chuckling as she wiped her hands across her wet face. "Jesus, I'm such a girl."

He patted her shoulder with a heavy hand. "You'll figure it out. You're a smart kid. Now come on, let's go see what everyone's up to," he added, rising to his feet.

They went back down the ladder into the clubhouse and Juliette immediately went to check on Juice. He was sitting propped up in his bed, the computer on his lap, looking intently at the screen.When she entered the room, he looked up at her and quickly shut the laptop, slowly rising to his feet. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing. Why?"

She took a step closer and he finally reached her, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking at her intently. "Your eyes." He was obviously able to tell that she had been crying.

She chuckled and shook her head, gently pushing his hands away. "I'm fine."

"Is it that boyfriend of yours?" He said the word with disgust.

"No, honestly, it's nothing."

"Because if it is-"

"Juice, I'm fine. Everything's fine. I promise."

He looked skeptical but he finally accepted her words and went to sit back down on the bed and continue his work. She sighed as she took the seat next to his bed and took out her laptop to do her own work. Every so often he would look up from his work at her to make sure she'd been telling the truth.