Being Julia (A Forever Novella) (9 page)

“Thanks, Dad,” I said as I laid my head on his shoulder.

****

As I stood at the podium and looked at my notes, I looked out into the audience and saw my parents sitting in the second row. My mom blew me a kiss and my dad gave me a thumbs up. I was nervous and started to sweat. I folded the white piece of paper I had in my hand and pushed it to the side. I gripped the sides of the podium, took in a deep breath, and closed my eyes as I began to speak into the microphone. I spoke about the last four years, London, and her death. I could hear the sounds of sniffling as I talked about what an amazing student and person London was. A tear fell from my eye as I read my closing statement and I received a standing ovation, not only for my speech, but because my painting won the art competition and I was the recipient of a $15,000 scholarship to Columbia.

I walked off the stage and took my seat with my fellow classmates as they wiped their tears. It was time for the distribution of diplomas and when London’s name was called, I proudly walked across the stage and accepted her diploma for her. I kissed it and held it up the air, with the hope that she was looking down and could see it. Once the ceremony was over, I met my family out in the lobby. My mom started to cry as she hugged me tightly, while my dad was grinning from ear to ear. As soon as my mom let me go and my dad wiped the tears from her eyes, Collin hugged me and told me that he was proud that I was his sister. After I made my rounds and hugged my entire family, Mason walked over to me with tears in his eyes.

“Princess, you were amazing up on that stage. I’m so proud of you.” He began to cry as he hugged me tightly and had a full breakdown.

I looked at my dad and he rolled his eyes. He tapped my mom on the shoulder and pointed to Uncle Mason. My mom turned around and smiled at me as she clasped his shoulders and broke our embrace.

We left the graduation and went straight to the Astoria for my birthday party. There were around 150 guests that showed up, including family and friends from school. The room was decorated with balloons in pink and lavender, my two favorite colors. Beautiful candle lit, floral centerpieces sat in the middle of each table. There was a DJ, and a table that sat in the corner with a birthday cake that represented my shopping addiction and tiers upon tiers of beautiful flowered cupcakes. I took in a deep breath as I put on my fake smile and thanked everyone for coming. My mom ran over to me.

“Here comes your dad. I know that look on his face and it’s about your dress. I’m just giving you a heads up.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I sighed.

My dad walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek as he put his hand on the small of my back.

“Happy birthday, baby. You look gorgeous. Did you pick out that dress yourself?”

“Thank you, Daddy, and yes, I did. Isn’t it the most beautiful dress you’ve ever seen? I love it so much, and I feel like such a princess in it. Tell me you like it, Daddy, please.”

Yes, that was me putting on the innocent act for my father to try and distract him from telling me that my dress was way too short. He looked at me, paused, and then smiled. “It’s beautiful, Julia, and it looks wonderful on you.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled as he started to walk away.

He stopped, turned around, and looked at me. “Your mom said something to you, didn’t she?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I flashed him a smile. He turned around and shook his head. My poor dad; at least he had Collin.

Chapter 10

We packed up everything we needed for the summer and drove to the beach house. As we walked through the door, I took my suitcases upstairs to my bedroom and laid them on the bed. The first thing I did was open my window to let the ocean breeze blow through. I ran down the stairs, out through the door, nearly knocking my dad over, and down to the beach. The minute my toes hit the sand, I felt like I was home. The beach was my place of solace here, like Central Park was back in the city. Collin came running down the beach with his surfboard and hit the water. I tried to surf once, but it just ended up being a disaster. As I stood at the shoreline, the water came up and soaked my feet. I ran back up to the house to grab my sketchpad and pencil. When I walked into the kitchen, my mom was sitting up on the counter with her legs wrapped around my dad’s waist as he had his hand up her shirt and they made out.

“You two seriously need to stop it!” I exclaimed.

“Julia, I thought you were down at the beach,” my dad said as he instantly removed his hand from under my mom’s shirt.

“I just came back to get my sketchpad. If you’re going to have sex, please do it in your room with the door closed. You have no idea how much you’ve scarred me. To think of my parents having sex is just gross!”

My mom started to laugh and my dad stood there and looked at me in shock. I started to walk away and I heard my mom yell, “Just you wait, young lady. You’ll find out what it’s like to have the love of your life and want to make love to him every day.”

“Ellery, don’t tell her that,” my dad said.

I smiled as I grabbed my sketchpad from my room and stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. My parents were kissing and smiling at each other. As I quietly watched them, I prayed what my mom said would come true for me one day. As I made my way back down to the beach, I sat on the sand, brought my knees to my chest, and placed my sketchpad on them. I began drawing the outline of London’s face. She would come to the beach house every summer with us and we would sit together on the sand for hours. I looked up as Collin walked over to me and sat down. He was soaking wet, so I threw him his towel.

“Thanks, sis. Whatcha drawing?”

“London. I’m drawing a portrait of London.”

“I know you miss her and so do I. Can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure; you can talk to me about anything,” I said as I continued to draw.

“Hailey and I had sex last night.”

My pencil stopped on the pad as I slowly turned my head and looked at my almost seventeen-year-old brother. “And?” I asked.

He smiled as he looked down and started drawing in the sand. “It was amazing.”

“How did Hailey feel?”

“She loved it. You know, it wasn’t her first time.”

“Yeah, I know.” I smiled as I bumped my shoulder into his.

“Where did you guys do it?”

“Her house.”

“Ah, while Peyton and Henry were out to dinner with Mom and Dad.”

“Yeah. We knew they’d be gone forever, so we weren’t worried.”

“I hope you used a condom?”

“Of course I did. I’m not stupid.”

I put my pencil down and hooked my arm around his neck. “Congratulations, baby brother, on successfully losing your virginity and thinking it was amazing.”

“Please don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“Are you kidding me? I would never tell them. Anyway, they’re too busy having sex in the kitchen to notice what’s going on around them.”

“Ugh, again? Those two never stop.” Collin laughed.

He got up and went back to the house while I finished my drawing of London. A while later, I walked up to the house and, when I stepped into the kitchen, all I could smell was Italian food. It was the aroma of my favorite Italian take-out place called Tivoli’s. They made the best pasta and sauce on the face of the Earth and their garlic bread was to die for.

“Oh, honey, I’m glad you’re back. Could you set the table please?” my mom asked.

“Is it time to eat now?” I asked as I grabbed the plates from the cupboard.

“Yes, and we ordered your favorite.” She smiled.

As I set the table, my mom picked up my sketchpad and looked at it. “This is beautiful, Julia.”

“Thanks. I drew it while I was down at the beach.”

My dad and Collin walked in, and my mom showed my dad the sketch of London.

“That’s a beautiful picture, Princess,” he said as he kissed me on the head.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said as I grabbed the bowl of pasta and set it on the table.

We sat down and ate dinner as a family, reminiscing of the days when we were younger. Little did I know that tomorrow would be the day that changed my life forever.

****

I awoke to a whole lot of noise going on downstairs. As I yawned, I grabbed my phone and texted Collin to come to my room. He opened the door and stepped inside.

“What?” he asked.

“What the hell is going on downstairs?”

“Did you forget that today is your graduation party and the caterers and planners are here?”

“Already? My God, it’s only eight o’clock in the morning.”

Collin shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room. I stepped out of bed and walked down the hallway to my parents’ room. I knocked on the door and my dad told me to come in. He was sitting up on the bed, checking his phone.

“Good morning, Princess.” He smiled.

“Morning, Dad,” I said as I cuddled up next to him. He put his arm around me and kissed my head.

“Is something wrong?”

I sighed. “No, I just don’t want to go downstairs yet with all that racket going on.”

“Ah, me neither. That’s why I’m sitting in here.”

“Mom’s okay with that?”

“I told her I was running up here to change clothes. She’ll realize it soon enough and come look for me.”

“I miss London, Dad.”

“I know you do, sweetheart. We all miss London, and I know it’s hard for you without her being here. But, today’s your graduation party and there’s going to be about 300 people here, so you need to try and at least act happy. I know you’ve been doing that a lot lately, but once today is over with, you’ll have the whole summer to relax.”

Suddenly, the door opened and my mom stood in the doorway, staring at us. “Good morning, sweetheart. Connor, why are you sitting up here?”

“I’m comforting our daughter, Ellery.”

She glared at him with knitted eyebrows as she walked over to the bed. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Connor, downstairs! Julia, why don’t you go take a shower and get ready for your party?” She smiled.

I sat up and looked at my dad as he winked at me. As soon as I walked out of the room and shut the door, I heard giggling. I rolled my eyes because I knew what that meant.

****

The party was a success, and I could tell how happy my mom was. People were everywhere. Tables filled the patio and backyard under the beautiful white canopy tents. The spread of food was amazing and could probably feed a small country. The DJ was awesome and played everything my friends requested. My mom had a play area set up for the smaller children and then games were set up down on the beach for the older kids and adults. I made my rounds and tried to talk to as many people as I could. It was nearing dusk and I needed to step away from the party for a while to gather my thoughts. With as many people that were here to celebrate my graduation, it still felt lonely without London. I didn’t want my parents to worry if they couldn’t find me, and I didn’t see my mom, so I told my dad I was going for a walk.

“Dad,” I said as I pulled him aside. “I’m going to go for a walk down the beach in case you’re looking for me.”

“All right, sweetheart, just be careful,” he said as he kissed my head.

I took off my shoes and headed down the beach. Once I made my way down, far enough away from the house, I sat down in the warm, soft sand. As I was thinking about my life and college, a dog came up and sat down next to me with a stick in its mouth.

“Hi there.” I smiled as I reached my hand over to pet the dog. “You’re so cute. Look at that face. Where did you come from?”

Suddenly, I heard a voice from a few feet away. “Mozart, there you are. What are you doing, boy?”

I gulped as I looked at the fine male that was standing in front of me, in just a pair of cargo shorts and no shirt. I couldn’t help but stare at his ripped abs and muscular arms. It felt like I couldn’t get enough air as I looked at him. My eyes finally traveled up to his face and, once again, my airway felt constricted. He was the hottest guy I’d ever seen in my life.

“Sorry about that. Mozart loves girls and, when he sees one, he wants to be friends.” He smiled.

That smile. I felt something when he smiled. It was the kind of smile that no matter how bad your day was, it made you feel better. It was the kind of smile that fixed you. I needed to speak, but the words weren’t coming out. I was stunned by this boy, this guy, this man. He had me speechless and that was not easy to do.

“That’s okay. I love dogs.” I managed to spit out.

He looked at me and cocked his head. “I know this is your typical crappy line, but I’m serious. I feel like we’ve met before.”

I laughed because at least he was being honest about it being a typical crappy line. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, Mozart, let’s go,” he said.

Mozart looked at me, laid down, and put his head on my lap.

“Mozart, what are you doing? Come on. Come, boy.”

“He obviously doesn’t want to go,” I said.

“He never acts like this. He always listens when I tell him we have to go.”