Soulless

S O U L L E S S: CHAPTER 22

"You're dating Cedric Salvador!?"

Julian dropped my stress ball with a stunned expression on his face, ricocheting from my bed, with his eyes wider than dinner plates, and his mouth hanging open like a dog. I didn't know whether I should be offended by his blatant astonishment or not.

"I don't know if it's dating." I admitted holding the blow dryer to my hair, I could feel an arm ache start to come on now. Maybe it was time to get that seasonal trim, "He asked me out, I said yes."

An amused smirk crossed my face at the irritated quirk that settled on Julian's brow, "Oh, so my many, and awesome, friends who I have recommended for you aren't good enough but the new kid is?" My best friend demanded like a prissy old woman, "The guy who is trying to steal my title as the captain."

"Are you kidding me? He's not trying to rob you, Julian."

"Yeah, he is! And he's even doing it in broad daylight!"

I was trying not to laugh at how ridiculous Julian was but my best friend was a sucker for dramatics, and it was possibly the most entertaining thing in my life, "You need to calm down, Jules." I chuckled, unable to hold back the humor in my tone, "You're always telling me to put myself out there!"

"Well, yeah! You're a total catch when you're not a mean hermit!" Julian nodded enthusiastically and I rolled my eyes at him, "But not with Cedric. Whatever happened to checking out Ethan? He's great!"

I felt my nose scrunch at the mention of Julian's other best friend, who he had been trying and failing, to set me up with for years. Don't get me wrong; I liked Ethan. He was a complete gentleman, and not an airhead jock like the majority of Julian's teammates are.

"Ah, Ethan." I smiled tightly, I don't know how many times we've had this conversation but I should've known that Julian's cupid stage would be making a comeback. Like a back 2000's song. "You know, it's kind of weird how you keep trying to push us together. Isn't he dating Bianca, or someone, just now?"

Julian scoffed at me like that was the funniest thing I said, "Uh, no. Dating is a strong word, Ade. Can't you see that he's just waiting for you to show some interest?" He drawled throwing an empty tub of gum at me from my bedside table, "As your best friend, I think you need to keep your options open."

"You are not giving me romantic advice, Jules!" I barked out through a burst of astonished laughter as I twisted my hair into a temporary bun, "Especially since your only longest standing relationships in existence, are with your mother, and me."

I liked the shocked look that crossed Julian's face, it made me confident that I was fulfilling my role as a lifelong best friend by being brutally honest. I turned from him to look at my clothes, I still had not the slightest idea of what I would be wearing tonight. It was times like these that I actually wished that I had a close girlfriend to talk to.

"True." Julian admitted stretching back onto my bed with a nod, "But, when have I ever gone wrong when giving you advice? Ethan is great! Low maintenance, he can pay for food, and he's crazy about you!"

I really hoped that Julian wasn't going to try out his guilting techniques on me, because I really didn't have the time to argue with him, and then try to make myself feel innocent. It was getting cold outside, but I wasn't in the mood to wear jeans yet, so I needed something casual since I didn't know what we would be doing; a strappy tank dress would be fine.

"Julian!" I scolded from my bathroom as changed clothes, and pulled on the maroon dress on. The last thing I wanted just now was to get into an argument with Julian because that could last hours, we once argued over the quality of an Oreo milkshake for a good two days, "Could you just shut up!"