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Nathaniel sketched the curve of Juleka’s arm, frowned, erased his lines, and tried again. “I don’t know what to do,” he said.
Juleka held her pose. “About your drawing?” Her voice came out too quiet, so she repeated herself. “About your drawing?” she asked in a louder voice.
Nathaniel tore the page out of his sketchbook, crumpled it, and started over. “No. Well, that too. I don’t know what to do about Marc. I think he’s avoiding me.” He gave Juleka an imploring look. “You’re his friend. Did he tell you what happened?”
Juleka almost shook her head, but remembered what she was doing in time and replied aloud instead. “No.”
It occurred to her that Marc had been very quiet on the Nathaniel subject recently. Unusually so, in fact. Normally, half of their lunchtime conversations were about things Nathaniel had said or done.
Juleka felt her forehead begin to wrinkle and took a deep breath, relaxing her facial muscles. “Did you have a fight?”
Nathaniel drew an oval for Juleka’s head, made a disgusted noise, and erased hard enough that his paper tore. “I don’t know! I didn’t think it was a fight! Maybe I missed something?” He started his sketch over for the second time.
Juleka resisted the urge to grab Nathaniel’s shoulders and shake him until he explained. She waited while he drew and re-drew her shoulders, visibly growing more and more frustrated with himself all the while.
“We met for a coffee date at our usual place,” Nathaniel began at last. “I had the character designs for our new project, but Marc didn’t want to talk about them. He was asking about this film festival he had an extra ticket for, and…”
In spite of herself, Juleka clapped a hand over her mouth. “He asked you to Horrorfest?” she asked, as if she hadn’t helped Marc obtain the tickets and gather the courage to confess his feelings.
Nathaniel nodded, looking more and more miserable. “So it was a big deal. I told him he should offer you the ticket, since horror isn’t really my thing.”
Juleka re-posed her arm. Part of her wanted to explain why the Horrorfest invite had mattered to Marc so much, but it didn’t feel like her place. She would have to talk to Marc herself.
Nathaniel was frowning at his sketchbook, but it didn’t seem like he was really upset with the drawing in front of him. “Did I mess everything up? Marc’s so amazing, Juleka. I don’t want to lose him just because I said no to one date.”
Juleka made a strangled noise. “You knew he was asking you on a date?”
Nathaniel looked up, seeming confused. “Yes? We’ve been together for months, after all.”
Juleka let out a somewhat hysterical giggle. “You have?”
Nathaniel’s confusion turned to worry. “I mean, it’s been a little casual. Marc hasn’t wanted to hold hands or kiss yet, but I’ve been giving him space to take things as slow as he wants. We go out for coffee all the time.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m the worst boyfriend ever, aren’t I? He planned a fun, romantic date, and I shot him down like a jerk without even realizing how much he cared about my answer.”
Juleka dropped the pose entirely, pulled her dress back on, and sat on the stool next to Nathaniel. She put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know how to tell you this,” she began.
Nathaniel moaned. “He wants to break up with me, doesn’t he?”
“Uh, not exactly.” Juleka wished Luka were there. Her twin was much better at comforting people. “When Marc asked you to go to Horrorfest with him…” She noticed her voice was going quiet and forced herself to speak louder. For Marc. “Nathaniel, he was trying to ask you on a first date.”
Nathaniel’s head jerked upright. “You’re kidding.”
Juleka shook her head.
“He didn’t know we were—” Nathaniel’s eyes were wide. “How do I fix this?”
Juleka left his side and put on her socks and shoes. “I think I have an idea.”
That night, Juleka called Marc. He answered on the first ring, sounding somewhat defeated. “Hey, Jules.”
Juleka spoke as casually as she could. “So Horrorfest is tomorrow. Did you ask Nathaniel?”
“I did.” Juleka could hear the heartbreak in her friend’s voice. “He shot me down.”
“I heard they’re doing an early screening of Lady of Blood and Ash 5.” Juleka glanced across her bedroom at Luka, who had helped her plan what to say. He gave her a thumbs up. “Do you want someone else to go with?”
“I don’t know.” Marc sighed. “I was really excited about seeing that with Nathaniel.”
Juleka looked at Luka again. She wished she had written down her lines. “I know you’re sad right now, but you shouldn’t wallow in it.”
“I could use a distraction,” Marc admitted. “Okay.”
Horrorfest was exactly as cool as Juleka had imagined. A two-day celebration of indie horror films! She and Marc hit up a screenwriting panel first. His excitement made her glad that the plan involved dragging him out of the house.
After the panel, Marc couldn’t stop gushing about the writers’ advice. “That woman with the lime green glasses wrote Night of the Scarecrow! I wonder if I could use some of their tips for my comic scripts. After all, everyone says comic scripts and movie scripts are cousins. It’s all visual storytelling.” His face drooped. “That’s if Nathaniel still wants to make comics with me after I embarrassed myself in front of him.”
“Don’t think about that right now,” Juleka told him. “Let’s buy some lemonade. I want a souvenir cup.”
She was able to cheer Marc up over lemonade and red velvet “bloody cupcakes.” Juleka avoided bringing up Nathaniel or the comic directly, but Marc was clearly thinking about him even when they talked about other things.
Finally, it was time for the Lady of Blood and Ash 5 screening. Juleka practically had to drag Marc there.
“They say Stavros Prince is going to sign autographs at the theater before it starts,” she pleaded.
Marc looked torn. “I humiliated myself and ruined a friendship over that movie. Maybe I’ll wait until it’s released. Maybe I’ll avoid the whole franchise for the rest of my life.”
“Please,” said Juleka. She took a deep breath. “You have to come with me.”
Marc caught something in her tone. “Why?”
“I talked to Nathaniel,” Juleka admitted. “He brought it up. He didn’t know why you were avoiding him.”
Marc groaned. “Juleka.”
“Listen,” said Juleka. “Nathaniel thought you were already dating. Now that he knows the truth, he wants to try again.”
“He thought we were already—” Marc shook his head wildly. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t face him by myself.”
Juleka held his gaze. “You don’t have to. How do you feel about a double date? Rose and I will be with you the whole time.”
The look of relief spreading across her friend’s face was like watching the sun rise.
Marc flung his arms around her. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re the best.”
Juleka hugged him back. “Come on,” she said, giving his hand a supportive squeeze. “Let’s go meet them.”