Betrayal

            by Amanda Eyges

 

Julia stepped out of her boyfriend’s car, letting the ball of her bare foot touch the ground first.  “I had so much fun tonight,” she said slurring her words and cocking her head into a precarious position.  “Look at you, you’re so drunk.  Come out of the car and let me have those shoes of yours,” said Matt holding out his arms to her.  She teetered towards him, stopped in front of his face and smiled.  Then she closed her eyes and pushed her pink lips toward his, only to feel a stubbly cheek press back.  She opened her eyes and gave him a curious look. 

“Let’s go in your house and chill for a while to get you sobered up,” Matt said.

“Ok, but we have to be really quiet ‘cause my mom and dad are asleep,” said Julia in a sultry voice.

The house looked as though it was comfortably perched on the side of the cliff that it had been built upon.  It was large with no real walls, only windows separating the inside from the out.  The door was the only part of the house that you couldn’t see right through.

As Julia opened the front door she pressed a crooked finger to her mouth in a motion to keep Matt quiet.  They tiptoed past room after room to the kitchen at the center of the house.  To their surprise, Julia’s mother was standing by the refrigerator wearing nothing but a black silk robe, sipping a glass of water slowly.

“Oh, hey guys, back so soon?  Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your way in a minute,” she said smiling.

Julia looked at the clock to find that it was four in the morning; way past the curfew that her dad had given her.

“Sorry Mom, I lost track of the time and… Matt just forgot some of his stuff here so he’ll be leaving in a minute,” Julia said nervously.

“It’s ok, honey, I’m not mad,” her mom said after pouring another glass of water and beginning to walk down the hall to bed.  Then she stopped, turned her head and smiled at Matt.

“Goodnight,” she said and left.

Matt and Julia walked quietly to her room, where Julia jumped onto her bed and Matt stood in the doorway.

“Your mom is so tight, every time I come over she’s so nice to me.  How can you ever get mad at her?” Matt said, a little too loud.

“Shhh, she’s harder to live with I guess, now come over here and give me that kiss that I wanted earlier.”

“I love you kid, but I should go because unlike some people I have a curfew that I broke a long time ago.  Tell your mom I said bye,” said Matt.

He ruffled her hair with his fingers and walked away, leaving Julia with nothing but confusion.

      

 

 The next morning, Julia woke up to the sound of her mother’s voice.  She pushed away the bed covers, put on some clothes, walked out of her room and into the kitchen.  On her way there, she caught a glimpse of her mother on the deck, laughing while patting her father’s knee playfully.  Julia made some breakfast and stepped out onto the deck to join her parents but to her surprise it was Matt who was with her mother. 

“Good morning darling, how was your sleep?” said her mother pleasantly.

“It was fine, what are you guys doing out here, why didn’t you wake me up when Matt got here?”

“We just started talking and decided to let you sleep in,” Matt said, only looking at Julia for a second and then focusing back on her mother.

“Uhhhh, okay.  Anyway, what’s up?  What do you want to do today?” Julia asked Matt.

Matt stared at her blankly, blinked a few times gaining concentration, and then said slowly, “Umm, I wanted to take you to the movies, which one do you feel like seeing?”

 “ Ok that sounds fun, I’ll get my stuff and we’ll find a good one in the paper,” said Julia.

“Have fun guys and Matt since you didn’t have time today why don’t you stop by later and help me set up our new DVD player… since you’re so good with electronics.”

“For sure, I’ll stop by later,” Matt said with a modest grin on his face.

As Julia walked back to her room, she turned around for one last loving look at Matt only to see him gazing at her mother’s lips as she said the words “thank you.”

Squinting her eyes, she grabbed her purse and keys and walked out the door.

 

            The next day was Monday, school, but Julia was excited to spend time with Matt at lunch and in class but he wasn’t there.  He was sick and had stayed home from school to recover a little.  Julia wanted to show her sympathy, so as soon as school ended she rushed home to make chicken noodle soup to take over to his house to help him feel better.  She parked in her driveway, went inside and started boiling some broth when she noticed his blue backpack on a chair in the dining room. 

            Julia walked very slowly over to it, staying a good distance away as if it might bite her.  Then she reached out her hand, picked it up and let it hang down from its handle.

“What is this doing here?” she said to herself aloud.

“Oh, that must be Matt’s,” Julia’s mother said suddenly.  “He came over today to help me with those new electronics that we’re putting into the TV room.”

Julia turned around quickly, startled by her mother’s voice.

“Why? I thought he was sick today.”

“Well… I guess he was feeling well enough to help me out,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Ohhhh, he’s so sweet,” Julia said.

She finished making the soup, packed it all up and drove to Matt’s house.  His house was painted green and was very different from Julia’s.  It was hidden behind some trees and had only two small windows on either side of it because the whole thing looked as if it were part of the hill it was standing against.  She rang the doorbell three times before Matt’s mother finally answered. 

“Oh hello Julia, Matt came home from school early today because he was feeling sick as I’m sure you know,” she said with a pleasant smile emblazoned across her face.

“Yes, I do know and I brought him some soup to make him feel better.  Do you mind if I talk to him for just one minute?” Julia said trying to put on an even kinder smile.

“Of course, you know the way.”

She walked through the house without stopping once. As she came to his door, she could hear loud coughing coming from inside.  She then opened it slowly, knocking as she pushed, peeked inside to find Matt in his bed curled in a ball.

“Hi honey, how are you feeling?” Julia asked in a gentle voice, lowering herself onto the bed.

“Not good, I feel hella sick,” said Matt through a stuffy nose.

“Oh no, I hope you didn’t make it worse by going out today.”

Julia stroked his head with care and began serving him a bowl of soup.

“No, I stayed in all day just trying to get better.”

The bowl slipped a little from Julia’s grip, spilling some of the soup onto Matt’s leg.  He squirmed from the heat and looked up at Julia angrily.

“What the hell,” he said without sounding sick at all.

“I found your backpack at my house today, didn’t you leave it when you were setting up that DVD player?” Julia said, leaning away distrustfully.

“Uhh, no, it must have been from another day.  I wasn’t at your house,” said Matt, gaining back his sickly voice.

 

Julia stirred the soup slowly, staring into the bowl deep in thought.  She handed it to Matt to finish, explaining the amount of homework that she had in detail, kissed his forehead and walked out.

When Julia got home it was already dark and beginning to rain.  She ran to her front door and didn’t stop until she got to the door of her bedroom and without saying a word to anyone, went to bed.

 

Julia could not wait to go home and relax after school the next day.  She was stressed all day from how strange Matt had been acting the day before.  She knew something was up.  Maybe he is losing interest.  What if he’s seeing other girls, she thought to herself.

As she parked her car, a friend called her cell phone, wanting to hang out.  Julia thought she needed some time with friends so she told her she’d come over in a little bit.  She walked inside her house, into her room, started changing out of her dirty school close and into some nicer ones, but her mom had borrowed her favorite pair of earrings and they were still in her mother’s room.

She went to her parent’s bedroom, hopping all the way while putting on her shoes.  She tossed her hair and smiled as she thought of a joke she wanted to laugh with her mom about, but as she opened the door and her eyes focused on the naked bodies of her mother and boyfriend on the bed, the joke didn’t seem so funny anymore.