Chapter 34 Unspeakable Things

Chapter 34 Unspeakable Things
Julie honestly hadn't expected the situation to be resolved so smoothly. When she walked through her front door, it wasn't even 10:00 PM yet. Mrs. Carven was clearly thrilled by her punctuality; the look of stern motherly judgment on her face visibly softened.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Mrs. Carven reverted to her true form, practically shooing Julie into the bathroom to shower like she was herding a stray dog.
Standing under the warm spray, Julie finally had a moment to properly dissect the rumor.
It was ridiculous to analyze gossip, but showering was boring, and her brain needed something to do. The thing she couldn't understand was: Why her and Warren?
It made absolutely zero sense. She was on good terms with plenty of guys in the class.
Warren Gale wasn't even in the top five of guys she interacted with the most.
She ran through the roster in her head. Dan Butler was obviously number one, followed by Vincent Judge and his crew. Hell, she probably talked to Gary Blacker more than she talked to Warren.
The hot water washed the exhaustion from her muscles.
It was the perfect, relaxing temperature, but Julie suddenly shuddered violently, completely grossed out by her own imagination. Yes, rumors were toxic, but if someone had started a rumor linking her romantically to Dan, Vincent, or Gary, she would have been infinitely more enraged!
Because that would be a direct insult to her standards!
Every single guy she had dated in her past life was at least six feet tall. And she didn't just care about height—facial structure was an absolute dealbreaker.
Even if the guy was an idiot, he had to be an aesthetically pleasing idiot so she wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in public with him. It wasn't that Dan and the others were ugly. They were great guys, and they were her certified lifelong friends. But objectively speaking? They absolutely did not meet her high-end dating criteria.
She turned the shower off, putting an end to her nightly overthinking session.
She dried off, slipped into clean pajamas, and shuffled back to her bedroom in her slippers. She shook her head, forcing the entire ridiculous ordeal out of her mind.
Late that night, Aaron Carven finally returned home, grumbling under his breath about work. Before he could even pour himself a glass of hot water, Hettie dragged him into the kitchen for an aggressive interrogation. "Did you look closely at the kids in her tutoring class?"
Aaron sighed heavily. "They're just kids. I can't exactly stare at them like I'm interrogating suspects, Hettie."
Hettie narrowed her eyes. "So you're saying there wasn't a specific boy that caught your attention?"
Aaron nodded confidently.
The couple exchanged a look and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis was officially averted. They knew their daughter. If a guy wasn't insanely handsome, there was zero chance she would play the whole "secret crush" game. It wasn't that they didn't trust her, but her suddenly volunteering for extra tutoring was so bizarre and out of character that they immediately assumed she was plotting something devious.
"I haven't seen that really tall kid around lately either," Hettie whispered.
Aaron looked pleased. "I told you. They go to different schools. It was bound to fizzle out."
Thrilled by their deductive reasoning, the couple hid in the kitchen, whispering happily over a late-night snack. In the next room, Julie was completely dead to the world, sleeping deeply.
\---
Sunday morning. Warren and Gary had already informed their parents they wouldn't be home for lunch.
Bright and early, Gary walked into the Gale apartment wearing his backpack. Dr. Gale and Martha had already left for work. The families were so close that walking into Warren's house felt exactly like walking into his own.
Gary didn't bother knocking. He walked straight into Warren's bedroom and booted up the computer. He couldn't play games—the PC specs were garbage—so he pulled up a gaming forum to read strategy guides. He was deeply engrossed in a post when a sharp, medicinal smell hit his nose.
He sniffed the air aggressively, turning around in the desk chair.
Warren was sitting on the edge of his bed, one long leg casually propped up on a chair, using a cotton swab to apply ointment to the back of his hand.
"What are you doing?" Gary dropped the mouse, using his feet to roll the chair backward until he bumped against the bed. He stared at the angry red marks on Warren's hand, frowning. "How did you do that?"
Warren had intended to take last night's events straight to the grave. He wasn't going to tell anyone. Not even his best friend.
It wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
"I scraped it playing basketball. It's nothing," Warren lied smoothly. "Doesn't affect my writing."
Gary gave a skeptical oh. "I literally told you to chill with the basketball. If you break your arm, Miss Bell is going to eat you alive."
"You were out playing soccer," Warren shot back. "If you break your leg, do you think she'd throw you a parade?"
"Damn it," Gary laughed. "Don't curse me!"
Warren couldn't be bothered to argue with him. It felt like talking to a toddler. He focused entirely on rubbing the ointment into his skin. He had bought the tube from a pharmacy on his way home last night, but he hadn't dared to put it on while his parents were awake because of the smell. He stood up and pushed the bedroom window wide open to air out the room.
Time always moved twice as fast when you were surfing the internet.
Just as Gary's stomach started to rumble, the doorbell rang. Warren went to answer it. He didn't come back into the bedroom, just yelled down the hall. "I ordered pizza. Come eat. Wash your hands first."
Gary let out a feral howl, launching himself out of the bedroom like a starved tiger.
He rapidly scrubbed his hands in the sink. The second he stepped into the living room, the glorious, unmistakable smell of New Orleans roasted chicken pizza hit him.
He was just about to dramatically sing Warren's praises while putting on plastic gloves when a horrifying thought suddenly struck him. He froze. "Wait. Hold on. Let me process this." He checked his watch. "It's barely eleven o'clock. Why did you order a pizza right before we go to the buffet?"
Warren ignored him completely. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, tossing it lazily in the air.
When the apple landed perfectly in his palm, he walked toward the kitchen, looking entirely unbothered.
Gary grabbed a slice of pizza and followed him. He saw straight through Warren's sinister plot. "You're trying to fill me up now so I won't eat as much later, aren't you! Admit it! Admit it!!"
Warren meticulously washed the apple under the tap. He took a massive bite, the crisp crunch echoing in the quiet kitchen. He still refused to answer.
Gary actually understood the logic. It was a girl paying for the meal, after all. If he genuinely ate until he was full, he would feel pretty guilty about the bill. "Honestly, you probably shouldn't have agreed to go with Julie in the first place."
It was strange. The second he heard her name, a very faint, entirely unfamiliar emotion flickered in Warren's chest. It was impossible to pin down. It felt like... at some point, a name that used to sound perfectly ordinary, no different from any other classmate's, had quietly become... different.
"I already agreed," Warren said.
She had invited him so many times, and every single time she was incredibly earnest. She was so genuine that constantly rejecting her felt wrong.
So, in a moment of weakness, he had just agreed.
"How about this: when we get there, you sneak off and pay the bill first?" Gary suggested.
Warren had actually considered that last night, but ultimately decided against it. "There's no need."
"Fair enough." Gary didn't think it was a massive deal either. How expensive could one buffet lunch be? Even though they weren't super close with her, after being classmates for years, they knew Julie's family was well-off. "Tania told me Julie's dad and her dad both work in the same system, like public security or something. And I think her mom works for a government agency. I can't remember exactly."
Warren kept eating his apple, listening quietly without saying a word.
"Oh right, isn't her tutoring class somewhere around here?" Gary asked. "Should we call her and ask what time she gets out? We can just go together."
"Mm."
Gary annihilated a slice of pizza in three bites. "Then call her!"
"You call her."
"Sure thing." Gary reached into his pocket for his phone, then paused, annoyed. "Well, that's not gonna work. I don't have her number!"
Warren had just reached the core of his apple. He paused. "You don't have her number?"
"No..." They had gotten closer this semester, but they saw each other in class literally every single day. Why would he need her number? Gary muttered about texting Tania to get it, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Warren leaning casually against the counter. "Wait, don't you have it? You literally talked to her on the phone last night."
Warren gave a low "Mm," dropping the apple core into the trash can. He turned the faucet on, casually washing his hands. "Right. I have it. So what?"
\---
Julie was genuinely surprised when she received a text from Warren ten minutes after class ended.
Her brain was so fried from math that she constantly forgot he lived right down the street. It made perfect sense to meet up here and head to the restaurant together. The designated meeting spot was right outside the gates of the residential complex. From a block away, she spotted Warren and Gary waiting and happily jogged over to them.
"Have you guys been waiting long?" she asked, slightly out of breath.
Two voices answered simultaneously.
"No."
"Yeah, for a while."
The second the words left their mouths, Warren slowly turned his head, leveling a dark, freezing glare at Gary.
Gary, possessing elite survival instincts, instantly reversed course. "I mean, absolutely not! We just got here!"
Julie suppressed a laugh. "Should we just take a cab? Tania texted me, she's already there pulling a number."
This was why having best friends was mandatory for survival. Her beloved Tania had headed out at 11:00 AM specifically to hold their spot in line.
"Sure."
Warren agreed. The three of them walked out to the main road and hailed a taxi almost immediately. Julie took the passenger seat, while the two boys slid into the back. The subway was fast, but transferring lines was a hassle. Taking a cab was much easier.
Gary was an aggressively social person. He spent the entire ride chatting up the driver. Julie, who loved any kind of banter, immediately joined in. The car was filled with loud, chaotic energy.
Warren was sitting directly behind Julie. She felt carsick and cracked her window open. The rushing wind eagerly pushed its way inside, catching the scent of her shampoo and the bright sound of her laughter, carrying both to the back seat, tangling in the air right beneath his nose.
When they arrived at the mall, a tiny, predictable scuffle broke out.
Julie pulled her wallet out to pay the fare, but a long arm suddenly reached forward from the back seat, dropping a crisp fifty-dollar bill into the center console.
She turned around, looking at Warren with exasperation. "Warren, I told you I'm paying today."
"That doesn't include the cab," he stated firmly. He had barely spoken the entire ride, but he was incredibly decisive now, nodding to the driver. "Keep the change, sir."
The driver happily snatched the money.
Julie was about to argue when her eyes locked onto the back of Warren's hand.
It looked like a scrape, but it also didn't. Her heart skipped a beat. A sudden, horrified realization hit her as she looked up at his face.
What happened?
Is that... from last night?!
Warren took his change from the driver. Noticing Julie staring at him, he followed her gaze down to his hand. A flash of intense frustration crossed his face.
The second she stepped out of the car, Julie frantically asked, "Warren, your hand—"
Someone immediately interrupted her, answering on Warren's behalf. "Oh, that? He scraped it playing basketball. On his right hand, too. Unbelievable, right?"
Warren let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Gary's tone was so perfectly natural that anyone listening would assume he had been standing right there watching Warren trip on the asphalt.
Julie could tell Gary wasn't lying. The massive boulder of guilt sitting in her stomach instantly vanished. She pressed her lips together, letting out a bright, relieved laugh. Her phone rang—it was Tania telling them the table was ready. She answered it, walking briskly toward the mall entrance, leaving the two boys a few steps behind.
In her blind spot.
Warren threw his arm over Gary's shoulder, pulling him close. "I'm buying all your drinks next week."