The windows rattled as the weedwhacker buzzed the morning silence away, not a care in the world that anyone was still trying to sleep. Jealous lawn workers must hate college students for their laid-back lives and the short hours they spend in class. Those were the thoughts crossing Julie’s mind as she sat up and looked out the window to see the creep staring back at her. But she was too tired to care.
Read from the start to get a better experience, Joker Joker Deuce Halloween Series Part I – A Monster Awakens…
She looked around the room at the half-cozy, half-chaotic universe she shared with a girl who grew up in a totally different world than hers. The other side of the room was always a mess with dirty clothes in piles and bags of new clothes from expensive stores, because college for her roommate was a vacation. Cans of empty energy drinks and bags of fast food cluttered the bed because it was more of a crash pad than a home.
On Julie’s side, it was an organized refuge where everything had a particular order and was well kept because things were hard to replace. The bed had blankets that were comforts from home, some things for her to cuddle with and smell when she missed the world she had left behind to find herself in a stack of books. Her clothes were neatly stacked in makeshift dressers Julie had learned about in a DIY tutorial. They come in handy when money’s tight, but you want your world to look like it was meant to be that way.
Julie cracked her back as she stood up, and her entire body yawned. She looked at the coffee pot that had been left on since 3 am, and a small hint of morning potion still remained. Not enough of a cup, though. Through the steam, she swapped out filters. Then, she grabbed the pot and headed to the bathroom to fill it up with fresh water. But that was a huge mistake. The coffee pot had already seen two world fairs and a goat roping by the time she had found it at a yard sale. Forget the fact that a coffee maker can be bought for next to nothing at a department store. This beauty went for a few dollars and came with a set of cups. How could anyone in their right mind pass up that deal?
She soon found out when she put the hot pot under cold running water and the glass shattered all over the sink. That is not a good way to start the morning. She wasn’t quite to tears, but she was in some kind of shock as she carried the handle back to the room. Coincidentally, her roommate had just stopped in to change her clothes when she saw Julie standing at the door with the coffee pot handle in her hand.
“What happened?” Tori asked.
“The thing,” Julie started. “The thing just broke on me.”
Tori looked at the coffee maker and back at Julie, “Oh, shit. That’s not good.”
“No. It’s not good at all,” Julie agreed.
“Well, we can handle that later,” Tori comforted. “Let’s just head to Starbucks and grab a cup before class. It’s all good.”
Julie stared at Tori with a blank look, “I’ll have to catch up to you. I’m not even close to being ready.” That was her own code language that only she knew, which meant she couldn’t afford Starbucks because she was on a tight budget.
“Okay. I’ll see you there,” Tori said as her hair bounced with the cock of her head, oblivious to the fact that poor people shared the same space with her.
Julie didn’t like the cafeteria coffee, but as her mom always said, beggars can’t be choosy. When she came into the office with her travel cup that she got for free for filling out a form to get a credit card, she noticed the coffee pot full of freshly brewed coffee. That’s when her mind clicked with thoughts of strangling herself.
“Get it together, Julie,” she scolded. “I’m not awake yet. I’m not awake yet. I’m not awake yet. I’m. Not. Awake. Yet.”
“What are you mumbling about?” Marcus asked as he crossed the office to the other side. Another student worker at the Financial Aid office, they both did basically the same job. But because there was enough work for them to share, two student workers were justified in the office where they handle all the money. How convenient was that?
“This morning has been a nightmare,” Julie answered as she settled into her desk and looked over at Marcus. “I broke my coffee pot.”
“Jenny! Not sweet Jenny,” Marcus mourned.
“Yes. Jenny is no more,” Julie confirmed.
Then, Marcus threw up his arms as he swiveled in his chair, “You know they sell those things for like ten bucks at a department store?”
“I’m well aware, Marcus,” Julie snapped back. “I’m also well aware that I’m drinking cafeteria coffee and right there is a freshly brewed pot of your magic potion.”
“Ew,” Marcus responded in disgust. “Well, go pour it out, baby girl. You can’t be drinking that nasty mud.”
“I spent credits on it,” Julie sighed.
“You poor people,” Marcus remarked as he reached for his cup of coffee. “Sit over there and suffer if you want. Or pour it out and embrace the guilt while you enjoy my cup of morning sunshine.”
Julie pondered her next move, and then swiftly poured the cup out into her trash can before she had a chance to reconsider.
“Not in the trash can,” Marcus protested. “Girl, you’re cleaning that up.”
It was at that time that Marcus went silent. To Julie, his eyes said it all. He was looking past her at something behind her, a clue that someone was back there. When she turned around, she saw him. It was Chad…again.
Chad was a senior at the college, about to graduate. He had no business in the Financial Aid office, his bills fully paid, and nothing more for him to do down in the basement of the Student Center. But he came through every day, almost right on time. He had been visiting the Financial Aid office regularly for about two weeks, and that first moment can easily be traced back to the time he first bumped into Julie at a party.
He stared at her awkwardly for about five minutes until he gathered up his courage to walk over to her. He asked some weird questions at first, but Julie was used to that. It’s what boys do when they don’t know what to say, but they’re struggling to strike up a conversation. So, she lets them get through that part. It’s the least she can do to help them become more positive contributors to society.
One of the questions he asked was where she worked, and she was starting to regret telling him. Two weeks later, and here he was, right on time. It was like he knew her schedule and came as if some kind of whistle had gone off.
“Hey, Chad,” Julie greeted.
“Sup, Chad,” Marcus had gotten to know him, too.
“Oh, hi, Marcus,” Chad answered out of courtesy before turning his attention back to Julie. Fiddling with a folded sheet of paper, “I, uh…I think I messed up my tax form thing. The dependent box or something. I’m not sure if it’s right.”
While Julie looked at him with a slight cock to her head and a mind racing with thoughts that this boy had filled out these forms every year since he’d been at college, and he wasn’t sure if he got them right, Marcus started having a little fun with it, “I looked at that for you already.”
Chad’s eyes shot over to Marcus with a nervous twitch, “Um, no. I don’t think you did.”
“Uh, yeah. I remember that,” Marcus recalled. “You brought that into me a few weeks ago, and I took a look.”
“I don’t, um,” Chad fumbled to find the words.
Julie tried to hide her smirk when she realized what Marcus was doing, and watching Chad squirm was part of the entertainment. Poor boy!
“Oh, wait,” Marcus added. “It was someone else.”
Chad drew in a deep breath as he could feel his heart beating out of his chest, “Oh. Yeah. Because I…”
Because I what, Chad? Julie was enjoying this moment a little too much as she thought of a whole different scenario where she was the one making fun of the guy who found a new reason every day to hang out at the Financial Aid office at the very same time that she came in to work.
But when she looked at him, she could see he was a good-looking fellow. His charm was his innocence, even though he was a senior in college who should’ve been over that. Not everyone gets the same education in college, and Chad was a prime example. There’s book learning, and there are extracurricular activities that add to the quality of life at college. Chad had missed a few of those other classes.
Julie looked over the form real quick, “Yep. Looks good to me.”
“Oh, okay,” Chad said with a hint of desperation that the day’s meeting was over that quickly. Now, he had to come up with another reason to be there, and he only had a few more minutes to do it because he had class soon. “Did you hear about that party they’re having?”
“Who?” Julie asked, seeming genuinely interested.
But Chad hadn’t heard about a party. He had picked up on this line from a friend of his, and it seemed to work. It’s how you get information on a party, and then you find the person throwing it to get the invite. So, it was really weird what came out of Chad’s mouth next, “I’m not really sure. But I’ll find out and get back to you.”
“That party was canceled,” Marcus threw from across the room.
Julie blinked her eyes hard and shook her head while Chad scrambled to find a comeback, “No. It’s not that one. I heard about that one. It’s another one.”
What were the odds of two people talking about parties that didn’t exist? Marcus studied Chad for a moment, “You heard about the one that was canceled?”
“Yeah, they canceled that one,” Chad started making up stuff out of thin air. “So, my friends are throwing one because of that one…getting canceled.”
“But I thought you said you’d find out?” Marcus was enjoying every moment of it.
Julie was just watching Chad’s head spin before he came up with the stupidest save ever, “I’m not sure where. So, I’ll find that out and then get back to you. Okay? Both of you! You’re both invited.”
“Yay me,” Marcus clapped sarcastically.
“Okay, I have to go,” Chad announced. “But I’ll get back to you about that. Okay?”
“No problem,” Julie answered as she shook her head. “Sounds good.” She pulled some paperwork together and straightened it out as she watched Chad walk away. Then, she turned and laughed with Marcus when Chad rounded the corner, out of sight.
“That was too fun,” Marcus cracked.
“You are evil,” Julie joked.
“The worst,” he agreed.
This particular delivery was out there, miles from the sub shop. There was an extra fee for deliveries this far out of town. For some reason, Jeph liked taking them even though it meant more time to get there and more time to get back, missing other deliveries in the meantime. But these rides gave Jeph time away from the world, where he liked to be on certain days.
He had spotted something on his way to the house, and even though there was a quicker way to get back, funny how roads around Bridgeport worked that way, he took the same route back to see the place he had eyed before. It was called Sandmont Hill, and there was an interesting tree right at the top of it. When he drove up on it, he stopped and took a mental picture as his imagination started to drift.
Her legs glistened in the sun as she reclined on the blanket he had spread out on the grass. Jeph had thought of everything from the wine to the cheese and even those long rolls of bread that make a picnic look more like a romantic tryst. She had kicked off her leather sandals and pulled her leg up so that the split in her dress divided just enough to be seductive.
Around her ankle was a gold trinket, a touch of class that drew his attention. He was finding out that he was definitely a leg man. There wasn’t any part of her body he didn’t like, but her shiny tan on those legs made his heart do flips.
He kneeled on the blanket and melted right into her as he gently pushed her back with a long kiss, his hands exploring every inch of her body. Her moans in his ear made sensations vibrate up and down his spine. They started to move together with a rhythm that worked them both into heated passion.
Suddenly, he got dizzy. His eyesight was out of view. When everything came back to focus, the tree stood alone on that small hill where an imaginary blanket used to be. With heavy breathing, he put both his hands and his forehead on the steering wheel until the sensation went away. Then, he shook his head and put the car into drive.
~
Back at the Financial Aid office, Julie was winding down her shift with a quick look on Wink. She was going through her messages, and all she got was one disgusting picture after another. The boys who were messaging her had no problem showing themselves off.
She swiveled in her chair and showed her phone to Marcus, who looked with a hint of interest. Julie shook her head, “What are you talking about? It’s nasty. These boys are nasty.”
“Yeah,” Marcus agreed. “That’s not always a bad thing.”
“Evil,” Julie joked.
“The worst,” Marcus agreed.
Julie deleted and deleted until she was bored with it. Then, she closed the app when she had had enough. Little did she know that Jeph’s message was waiting next. But it would go unread yet again.
Are you ready for Part V of the Joker Joker Deuce Halloween Series?
This series is inspired by Joker Joker Deuce, a psychological thriller set in a college town where students are being targeted by a serial killer. Available now on Amazon!
