Devil May Love

Jullien pulled his headpiece off his head and stretched. It was finally break time. He'd come in on time this morning but the boss had decided to punish him by making him work a few extra hours, which in the end delayed his break as well. He had no doubt his customer service rating had plummeted today. He'd had to ask people to repeat questions, told them to do the same step twice, switched over a ton of people who had grated his last nerve... He'd even accidentally hung up on one lady. It just was not his day. He stood up and made his way to the men's restroom.

The harsh florescent light showed the sleepy bags under his eyes. "Not looking your best their, Jullien," he told his reflection. Turning the water on, he splashed some cool water on his face and dried himself off with a paper towel. It helped, but not much. He still looked like he'd been drug to work. Judy still had his keys so he'd had to walk to work, which resulted in a messy wind swept look all day and no brush to remedy it. Sighing he gave up looking his best today and left the bathroom. The lounge was right across the hall and if he were lucky, it would be empty today. He wanted to call Judy and he didn't want anyone snooping in on his conversation.

Indeed there was no one in there. Most of them went out together to eat. After grabbing his bottle of water out of the refrigerator and buying a pack of M&Ms out of the machine, Jullien sat on one of the couches. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket he dialed Judy's number. She was always home during the day, so he didn't worry about not getting her.

She answered after just one ring. He could hear her crunching on something before she finally said, "Hey, Jules… something wrong?"

Jullien almost never called from work. "Well, not really. I mean, not exactly wrong. Something is bothering me though so I guess you could say there is."

"Jullien?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop babbling and get to the point before you decide you don't want to talk about it anymore."

Jullien smiled. She knew him too well. Taking a deep breath, he sat his bottle aside and began talking. "Remember that kid I told you about the other night?"

"Mm-hmm…"

"I'm worried about him."

There was a short pause before Judy said slowly, "Aaaannnd…"

Jullien sighed again. "You're going to think I'm nuts. But, really… I'm seriously worried about him. I can't get him out of my head. I have to know if he's okay or not."

"Jullien…” Judy’s voice took on a warning tone. "Is this just because he's cute?"

"What? No! Well, I mean, he is cute… If you had seen those sad pretty brown eyes… and his hair was so shiny and nice. B-but no, its not about that!"

"You positive? Because not only is this situation dangerous, but that is underage. You know what they say… Seventeen will get you twenty."

"Oh, Judy please. It's not like that. I'm just worried okay? He seems to have so much potential and his life is so hard. He kinda reminds me of me, you know? Plus, he's abused. That's just not right."

"Since when do you care about stuff like that," Judy mumbled quickly. "Listen, I don't know what to tell you," she continued, speaking in her normal voice. "I understand its bugging you and all but there's nothing I can do about it."

"Weeell… there is one teeny little thing…” Jullien waited for Judy to say something. When he got no other response than the sound of her crunching, he continued. "Amanda might know him, right? They'd be in the same grade. She might be able to tell us something."

"You."

"What?"

"You, not us. I'm staying out of this one Jules. Too many dangers in it for me. Listen, I'll talk to Amanda about it, okay? See if she might know him. If she thinks so, we'll drop by your apartment after I pick her up from school and you can squeeze all the information you want out of her."

Jullien felt a huge relief just knowing there might be a possibility. "Great! Judy, I really do love you."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, come on, don't be like that! I'll make it up to you. I'll uh… I'll get Kitsune to dance with you next time we're at the club. That sound god?"

Judy snorted. "Good luck on that one. She never comes out of her corner on her time off. But I'll think about giving you an A for effort. Now get back to work, I'm sure your break is almost over."

Glancing at the wall clock, Jullien cursed and said a speedy goodbye before hanging up and stuffing the phone back in his pocket. He rushed back to his desk and actually managed to get some work done. Despite his relief, Jullien felt like the minutes had turned to hours. His day seemed to go on forever; even longer than it had seemed this morning.

He waited a few minutes after work to see if maybe Judy would come to pick him up like she sometimes did when she confiscated his car. Though she was extremely lazy, she somehow managed to almost never be late. Once he was convinced she wasn't coming, he began the short walk home.

Gaibriel had talked so calmly about his abuse he suffered, like it was common or acceptable. No abuse of any kind was acceptable. Jullien knew that. He couldn't help but wonder if Gaibriel did as well. 'He certainly was a sweet heart,' Jullien thought to himself, a smile tugging on his lips. He blushed at the drop of a hat but didn't shy away. 'Eager but scared,' Jullien thought, his smile fading. 'No one should have to live in fear.' He personally had never lived in fear but he'd seen plenty that had. There was this one girl at the orphanage that was so scared of her parents, she felt like they were constantly breathing down her neck even though they were locked up in another state. He wondered if Gaibriel felt like that too. Maybe that was why he left so suddenly that night…

Jullien hurriedly made his way up the stairs to his apartment. The pink and pigtails caught his eye before anything else. Another smile tugged on his lips as Judy hugged him, followed immediately by Amanda.

"Nice glasses Manny… Didn't know you wore them though," Jullien commented.

She giggled. "I don't. They're just for looks."

Judy rolled her eyes as she took Jullien's keys out of his hands and unlocked the door. He noticed for the first time that she had a penchant for taking his keys… "She's in an Emo stage," Judy said, pushing the door open and tossing Jullien his keys back.

"Oh." Jullien followed Judy and Amanda inside. "Anyone want something to drink or eat?"

Both girls shook their heads no as they sat on the couch. Sitting side by side like this it was almost impossible to tell the two girls were related.

Judy was tall and slim, dressed mostly in pink and quite punk looking in her ripped jean shorts, pink and black stripy stockings, and a tattered pink sleeveless shirt. Her hair was reddish auburn, done up in short pigtails that just touched her ears. Her face was soft and pretty with brown eyes and heavy lashes.

Amanda on the other hand was dressed very monochromatic. Her pale blue jeans were neat and a sleeveless black fleece vest covered her gray T-shirt with a tribal design. She wore thick square black glasses and her short brown-blonde hair was slightly messy. She was on the short side and about average weight. Just last week, she was going through a hippie stage, donning bright colors, long hair and flowers. This was a big change, even for her.

"We should get straight to business," Judy said, looking none too happy. "Manny's gotta do homework and Ma will be home soon."

Amanda made a face, then looked to Jullien. "So, who is it you wanna know about?"

Jullien took a seat in the same chair he'd said in the night Gaibriel was there. "Well, I don't really know his name, except for his first. It's Gaibriel. He's kinda short… about your height actually. And he's really skinny and looks a lot younger than he is."

"Long-ish brown hair that's always in his face," Amanda asked.

Jullien nodded vehemently. "Yeah, that's him! You know him?"

"Not really. He's my homework buddy in SAT Prep."

"Homework buddy?"

"Yeah. I call him if I'm not there or if I forget the homework assignment. Stuff like that. I've called him a few times but he's never called me about anything. Perfect attendance and straight A student in every class."

"What else is he like," Jullien asked eagerly, leaning forward in his chair.

"Very quiet. I don't think he has any friends at all. I never see him talking to anyone. And he spends his entire lunch break in the library on the computers instead of eating. That's all I know really."

Jullien smirked and leaned back. "That certainly sounds like him… Do you anything about his home life?"

Amanda looked puzzled but shook her head. "No… the first time I called his dad gave me the third degree. Wanted to know who I was, how I knew Gaibriel and why I was calling… but that's all I've heard about or from them."

Judy tossed the cordless phone in Amanda's lap. "Call him."

"What?!" Jullien and Amanda both stared at Judy in surprise.

"Jullien wants to check up on him. His dad certainly wont let Jullien talk to him, so you've gotta call and get him on the line."

Jullien stared at Judy in shock. She avoided his gaze while Amanda dialed the number. Shifting his attention, Jullien watched Amanda closely.

"Hi, this is Amanda McNair from school. I need to get a homework assignment from Gaibriel please." She went quiet and gave Jullien the thumbs up sign. A few seconds later, she began talking again. "Hey, Gaibriel. It's Amanda. … Yeah, from SAT Prep. … No, no, hold on a sec. I, uh, didn't exactly call about homework. Can you talk freely without getting in trouble? … Good. Remember Jullien? He's been worried sick about you and asked me to call you. … Yeah, he's sitting right here. … Well, here, I'll just give the phone to him okay?" Not waiting for Gaibriel's answer, Amanda held the phone out to Jullien.

Taking it, Jullien took a deep calming breath. Why the hell was his heart beating so hard? "H-Hello? Gaibriel?"

"Yeah, it's me…"

The voice was timid and sweet, edged with just a tinge of fear. It hurt Jullien to hear it. "How are you?"

"Same as always," Gaibriel said after a moment.

"The exact same? Are you still being hurt?"

"Not recently. They didn't find out about the other weekend if that's what you mean. Nothing's happened."

Jullien didn't know what to say. He knew better than to try and convince Gaibriel to do something about it but he didn't want Gaibriel to have to keep living like that.

"I need to get off the phone soon. If I'm on too long he might get suspicious," Gaibriel said, his voice now quick and quiet.

Jullien didn't have to ask who he was… he knew Gaibriel was talking about his father. The increased fear was evident in his voice. Sighing, Jullien desperately searched his mind for something to comfort Gaibriel. When he came up blank, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Feel free to come back here if you need to, okay? If you can, call me and I'll make sure to be here."

He thought at first that Gaibriel wasn't going to answer but eventually he heard a very timid, "Okay…. What's your number?"

Jullien rattled off his cell phone number, then repeated it again to make sure Gaibriel had it right.

"Got it. I really have to go, Jullien. I'm sorry."

"Honey, don't be sorry. Just be safe okay?"

"I will…. Um… Jullien? …. Thank you. Bye."

Jullien didn't even get the chance to respond before Gaibriel had hung up the phone. Jullien turned his own phone off, setting it down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Jullien!" Judy's angry voice cut through the silence. Looking up at her, he noticed her hands clutched tightly on her knees and he face angry. "What was that about?! You were supposed to just check up on him! Not offer him a run away shelter!"

Jullien stuttered over his words, shocked completely by her reaction. "Wha? I… mean… you-" Jullien stopped and shook his head. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem? I'm the one falling for some doe-eyed kid that's up to his ears in issues! Jullien, this is dangerous! You could get hurt, and so could he! You could even be put in jail! I know you want to help this boy and all but I think you're getting in over your head."

"And I think you're just jealous!"

"Take us home. Now."

"Gladly!" Standing up, Jullien wrenched the door open, letting Judy and a stunned Amanda pass by. Taking care to slam the door behind him, Jullien took the stairs while the girls took the elevator. They were already sitting in his car by time he got out there. They rode to Judy's house in silence. She got out of the car, let Amanda out of the back seat and slammed the door shut. Jullien watched her stomp up the walkway and through her front door. Amanda made her way around the car and tapped on Jullien's window. He rolled it down.

"I didn't mean to make you guys fight," she said nervously.

He shook his head. "You didn't. Judy's being stubborn. And maybe I'm being stupid. We just need some time to cool off, that's all. This is hardly anything to worry about." He reached up and ruffled Amanda's already messy hair. "Go do your homework, okay? And thank you."

Smiling, she waved to him and ran inside as well. Jullien was still angry as he drove home again. That didn't stop Judy's words from circling in his head. This was quite a dangerous situation. If this man would beat on his own son like that, there was no telling what he might do to a complete stranger. Not to mention that Jullien was an adult and even though he had not sexual or romantic interests in Gaibriel, it would seem odd that he was so determined to help him. This didn't make sense to Jullien either… why should it seem odd to want to help someone? Shaking his head, Jullien decided to forget it. Gaibriel was okay… and he had Jullien's number in case of an emergency. So there was no reason to worry about anything unless his phone rang and that timid voice was on the other end.