Wonder of You | Elvis Presley

Chapter 10

August 26th, 1956

JULIET WALKED OUT OF THE KITCHEN AFTER FINISHING BREAKFAST, MAKING HER WAY BACK UP TO HER MOTHER'S OLD ROOM— NOW, JULIET'S TEMPORARY ROOM.

11:30 last night, they'd arrived in Memphis. Juliet fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The room was covered in blue floral wallpaper. A four poster bed sat against the wall to the left of the door, the bedsheets were white with blue embroidered flowers in the middle.

It was much different from her room back in Florida.

She sighed, plopping herself down onto a plush chair in front of a vanity. A telephone sat on the table, along with old makeup from the 1920s.

Juliet was just happy to finally have her own telephone.

  She had just started lining her eyes in thick black eyeliner when the telephone began ringing. She picked it up immediately, saying, "Hello, Juliet Tilden speaking."

  "Hello, darlin'," greeted a voice she knew by heart.

  "Oh, hi, Elvis," said Juliet enthusiastically. She was happy to finally get to talk to him. "How are you?"

  "I'm good now that I'm talking to you." Elvis responded, a smile in his voice. "How are you, baby?"

  "Same as you," said Juliet, a wide smile appearing on her face. "I'm in Memphis, E. Can you believe it?"

  "No, I can't," laughed Elvis. There was a slight tone of disappointment in his voice as he said, "I'm still in California filming my movie."

  "Oh." Her smile dropped somewhat.

  "I've gotta go, darlin'," said Elvis briskly. "I've gotta go shoot a few scenes for my movie."

  "Bye, Elvis."

"Bye, darlin'. Talk to you later."

Juliet placed the telephone back onto the base and stood up, beginning her first day living in Memphis.

______________________

August 28th, 1956

Juliet examined herself in a full length mirror, smoothing down a loose curl. She was supposed to be starting at East High today, and she was so nervous.

  For her first day at a new school, she decided on wearing a black and white polka dot dress with a jewel neckline. She paired that with a thick, black belt around her waist, creating an hourglass figure.

  She jumped slightly when Mimi spoke suddenly, too lost in her own thoughts to notice her arrival.

  "Are you ready, Juliet?"

She glanced over her appearance again before turning to her grandma, nodding, "Yes, I'm ready now."

Mimi shot her a comforting smile, linking their arms together as they walked down the stairs.

"Everything's gonna be alright," said Mimi reassuringly as they both climbed into the car, Papa already sitting at the steering wheel. "You're a very approachable girl, you'll make friends within no time."

Juliet resisted the urge to scoff, knowing she was definitely not approachable. She gave her Mimi a smile, grateful for her kind words despite her doubt in them.

She could be a completely different person at this new school.

The car ride passed quickly and, soon enough, Juliet found herself staring at the school. She sat stiffly in the car for a moment, watching all the teens her age talking outside the school.

She hadn't been to a public school in forever.

She took a deep breath and pulled the door handle, exiting the car. Mimi rolled down her window.

"Have a good day at school, Juliet."

"Thank you, I'll try," said Juliet, leaning down to give her Mimi a quick peck on the cheek and her Papa a wave. She turned, beginning to walk away.

"We'll pick you up!" called Mimi, her voice going as loud as it could.

"Okay!" Juliet called back, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder at her grandparents and giving them one last wave before rushing up the steps to her new high school.

She entered her first class, English Honors, just as the late bell rang.

"And who do you happen to be?" A voice questioned as she walked in. It was a bit high-pitched and very southern.

Juliet turned to see an average height, middle-aged, woman. She had on a satin gray blouse tucked into a black, pleated skirt that fell to just above her ankles.

"I'm the new student," said Juliet, trying to appear as confident as she possible could. "Juliet Tilden."

The teacher slipped on a pair of reading glasses and skimmed her roster. She looked up at Juliet, a stoic look on her face.

"So it seems," said the teacher, placing the roster back down. "You may sit down now."

Juliet frowned slightly, walking towards the only empty seat in the classroom. It was the last row, closest to the window. She sat down, placing her books onto her desk and opening up the English book as the teacher instructed.

She was a little upset that the teacher didn't like her. Had she done something?

"Mrs. Braden is always like that," said a voice off to her left. She turned her head to see a pretty blonde with blue eyes looking at her.

"Is she really?" questioned Juliet, excitement swelling in her chest at the fact that someone was talking to her. When the blonde girl nodded, the Tilden released a quiet groan. "How dreadful."

"I'm Martha," whispered the girl after she'd composed herself from her laughter, which had been quickly silenced by the teacher— Mrs. Braden. "Martha Lane."

"Juliet Tilden."

They both shook hands, grinning at each other.

They spent the entire class period cracking jokes and laughing and talking. Mrs. Braden shushed them many times but gave up after the first five times.

They hurried out of the classroom as soon as the bell rung. Walking side by side, they walked to their second period, chatting up a storm.

"Bye, Juliet," said Martha when it came time for her to start making her way to her own second period.

"Bye, Martha," grinned Juliet, waving to her new friend.

Friend.

Her grin grew as she skipped into her Home Economics class, her books hugged to her chest. She probably looked like a madwoman but she didn't care.

She'd just made her first Memphis friend.