Justin and Julie - Part 3

I'm telling the story of how Justin and I met and became a couple for our posterity.  The story is long, so I've divided it into three parts.

Start with Part 1 here.

Then read Part 2 here.

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I didn't want to be dating Jared anymore and I had blown it with Justin.  However with only 2 weeks until Valentine's Day I decided that instead of being alone I would not break up with Jared just yet, but would wait until after the holiday celebrating couples was over.  Justin was dating that other girl anyway.

Valentine's Day was a disappointment, as I expected.  I think Valentine's Day was on a Friday and I'm pretty sure that Jared and I were not supposed to see each other again all weekend.  I was happy about that.  I thought it would be better to break up the next weekend because I didn't want him to think it was all about him not getting me flowers even though I had told him that it was the only thing I wanted.

So I was surprised when Jared showed up at my apartment Sunday evening.  It was an awkward evening of him just hanging out at my apartment when I didn't want him there.  After a movie had ended, I asked him to leave so I could head to bed.  And then he suggested that we break up.  I was relieved, but wasn't I supposed to be dumping him for being such a jerk practically the entire time we dated?  I was also upset that I had wasted time on him and lost an opportunity with Justin.

The next couple days I was just sad.  I obviously hadn't been thinking before when I told Justin that I didn't want to date him.  Now he was dating someone else.

SiLynn, also from church, had also broken up with her boyfriend over Valentine's weekend and we decided that we needed to go out and have fun that Friday night by going to dinner and seeing a new comedy that was out (I can't remember what it was).  But then we decided it was lame for just the two of us to go out and we should invite others to go with us.  I suggested to her that I invite Justin, but she wanted me to invite Justin's roommate instead.  She planned to invite Jay who had a crush on her, but she wanted to only be friends with him.

Since I knew I was going to have lots of spare time on my hands, I went with Stephanie to buy fabric so we could begin quilting.  On our way to the store together I told her how Jared and I had broken up, how I was an idiot to have dated him ever since I had moved there and how he was a jerk.  She was a great listening ear and told me she was sorry.

But then Stephanie said - "Julie - I bet you want some time to yourself for a little bit.  But can I just tell you, that when you decide you are ready to date someone else you should think about Justin."

I knew that she was good friends with Justin, but maybe not as good of friends as I thought they were.  Did she not know that I had shot him down almost 6 months earlier?  And that I had seen him with the other girl only a couple weeks before?

I told her that I had gone out with Justin when I first moved into town, but that we were just friends and I was sure he wasn't interested in me.  Plus I thought he was dating someone else.

"Oh Julie.  I don't know about him dating anyone else, but even if he was I don't think it would matter.  That boy has been completely enamored with you since you showed up around here.  ENAMORED."

Was she right?  Did I still have a shot with him?  

In order to find out, I called him as soon as I got home.  He sounded tired and not very enthusiastic.  I asked if he had plans for Friday night and he said he was going to be watching a movie with a group at someone's place.  But he asked what was going on so I told him about SiLynn and mine's plan for dinner and movie.  He said he would join us instead.  We said goodbye, but I couldn't tell at all what he might be thinking.  He just sounded apathetic.

When the four of us went out that Friday night, SiLynn was very clear that this was not a double date - we were just four friends having dinner and seeing a movie.  But while we waited for the movie to start I told Justin that Jared and I had broken up.  He acted surprised and I found out he had only gone out with the other girl from school a few times and he wasn't seeing her anymore.

As the next week passed, we talked to each other a few times and when we saw each other at the Thursday night activity at the church we made plans to go on our second date the next night - exactly 6 months after our first date.

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In case you were wondering: 

Justin had a massive headache the night I called him to invite him to dinner - which is why he sounded so apathetic on the phone with me.  He said he was very happy to find out the next day from Stephanie that Jared and I had broken up.

Justin and I refer to the five and a half months I dated Jared as my "Justin Appreciation Course".

Justin read each of these posts before I published them so I could make sure I was remembering things correctly and not writing anything he wouldn't want published.

SiLynn didn't want Jay to think they were on a date when the four of us went out because she only wanted to be friends with him.  They got married three months before Justin and I got married and they have four children.

I think Jared thought we might get back together one day.  He called me every couple weeks to chat and would seem annoyed that I wasn't more talkative with him.  But, finally, I was the one to call him.  I told him, one day the first week of July, that Justin and I had gotten engaged.  Then he never called me again.