Between Now and Goodbye (5 page)

No matter how deep into exploring we get though, I can't ignore Julie's call from earlier. The casual tone of her voice as she spoke about ending her eight month long relationship, with a guy she's supposed to love, is bothering me possibly more than it should. It was bizarre. Surely she wouldn't give up on a relationship just because she's bored, before she's even tried to fix the problems she's having. He thinks they're happy, and I hate that I can't warn him that she's feeling a little bored.

I know that Natalie is probably right, she's probably just having a funny five minutes. A bit bored, wanting a change, and deciding on a whim that she'll break up with Charles. What if she actually does, though? He'll be heartbroken, and I'll have two best friends who may want me to pick sides. I can't do that. How do I choose between my two closest friends?

I'll have to call Julie first thing in the morning and ask her what's going on, force her to tell me what she's thinking, and see if there's anything I can do to help. She can't have fallen out of love with Charles, right? Not this quickly, because when I left, things seemed fine between them.

It's a mess and one I can't do a single thing to clean up, and that bugs me more than anything. I like it when things are good, ordered and nice and that's what we had. I had two best friends, and we were happy as a group. They were happy together. Charles still is happy and he doesn't even know he has anything to worry about with his relationship with Julie. It hurts so badly that I can't tell him what Julie's thinking, it feels like I'm being disloyal to him. What if she decides not to end things, though, and I tell him and they end up breaking up because of me? I can't do that. I can't say anything.

I wish now, more than ever, that I was at home and could properly talk to her about all of this.

Eight – Charles

It's dark outside and I've been asleep for a few hours, when I'm woken by my phone ringing at my side. I glance over at it. Julie.

'What's wrong?' I'm groggy, slow to respond, but as soon as the line connects and I hear her, and tell she's crying, I jump into action. I grab jeans, pulling them on and staying in my shirt that I'd worn to bed.

'I need you.' She sobs down the line. I pull on my converses.

'What happened?'

'I did something really stupid. Can you come, please I...I really need you.'

'I'm coming, where are you?' I ask desperately looking around the dark room for my keys, and leaving a hurried note for my mom which I'll leave on the table, just in case I'm not back by morning.

'I was in my dad's office building. It's bad Charles it's...I'm going to be...just please come, please Charles I need you. I messed up and I need you, please.'

'I'm on my way, stay calm.'

'They left me and I'm alone and it's so...so bad.' Her sobs grow louder, more heartbreaking.

'Do you need me to call your parents? An ambulance? Are you hurt?'

'No.' Her scream is so loud that I have to move the phone away from my ear as I'm walking out of the house.

'Ok. Ok, calm down. Julie, can you tell me what happened? Who left you?'

'Xavier and Carly and my other friends from school, they got freaked and left, but I can't leave because I don't have my car with me and...please come quick. I don't know what to do.'

'What happened Julie?' I ask, already with a sinking feeling. The last time I spoke to her, she'd said that they weren't going to use her father's office as a party location, clearly that had been a lie. I know it must be bad for her to call me like this, and as I pull away from the side of the road, I know it won't take me too long to get to her dad's office, but it already feels like I'm too slow.

'I messed up. You were right, we shouldn't have come here. I knew you were right, that's why I lied and said that we'd moved the plans to Xavier's house. I just...' She's crying harder and doesn't talk again for a couple of minutes, I wait. 'You're always right, and I'm so stupid. I messed up. I've messed everything up. I don't know what to do. I really don't know...oh my goodness.' Her voice goes shrill, scared and the line disconnects. I press my foot down harder and go as quickly as I can to the office.

I see the problem as soon as I turn into the street, and my heart stops on the spot. In front of me is her dad's office building, glowing orange and red and yellow against the dark sky. Smoke spilling from the blown out windows, and blacking out a chunk of the stars. I scan the outside of the building and I spot Julie. She's across the street, huddled on the ground and crying hard.

I grab my phone and dial 911 as I race towards her. I ask for the fire department, and they ask if anyone is hurt and I don't know. I just don't know, so they said they'll send an ambulance. I hardly take any of it in because I've reached Julie. I'm bending at her side and bringing her into my arms.

'It's ok, I'm here.' I hold her tightly, then pull back and check her over. She doesn't seem hurt, she looks tired, but that's all. Her face is stained with tears, but she's not struggling to breathe, and I don't see any burns.

I let out a long sigh of relief and hug her again. She clings to me and cries harder.

'I messed up. I'm so stupid, I messed up so badly.'

'Julie you need to tell me what happened here.' I keep one arm around her while I use my other hand to send a message to her dad. She won't thank me, she'll probably hate me, but he needs to know, he needs to be here.

'We were just hanging out, a group of us in my dad's office. Then Carly said she was cold, and we thought we'd just go down to the beach and have a bonfire, let off some fireworks, but we couldn't get the bonfire lit because it was too windy. So we came back here, and we just...it was stupid ok. But we decided to light a fire in a couple of trash cans. I thought...we all thought we'd be able to contain it. But...the fires got big and we were dancing and setting the fireworks off out of the window...'

'Julie.'

'I know it was stupid, please don't lecture me. I was dancing and I knocked one of the trash cans over, and the fire started spreading and people panicked, and they dropped the firework they were about to set off and it went off inside. I thought...we all thought we'd be able to contain it. But...the fires got bigger and it started spreading further, and all the desks and chairs and blinds started burning. They panicked and left, and I got out, but the place was just...it kept burning and I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do, so I just kept watching for ages, so scared, and then it seemed like the whole building was on fire, so I called you. Then, while I was on the phone to you, something exploded inside. I think it must have been the cases of alcohol that my dad's clients bring in sometimes, he keeps them at the office, never really drinks them, so they just collect up. The windows started smashing and everything kept burning. I messed up so big. I'm so...my dad will kill me.'

'He won't.' I say as I read his message. He's on his way. 'Did you call the fire department before you called me? Or after?' I ask.

'N...no.' She holds onto me like a drowning girl would cling to a life raft. 'I'm sorry. It was stupid, I was stupid, but...if I'd called them then my dad would know it was me, and I...I didn't want him to know.'

'Julie.' I exclaim loudly, 'You should have called them, what was your plan? Let the place burn to the ground? Is that why you waited so long to call me?'

'I...I just thought if the building was gone that...' She shakes her head, looking so helpless that I can't keep pushing her. I sigh and pull her gently to her feet.

'Come on.'

'Where?' She sniffs back her tears.

'You can sit in my car?'

'Are we leaving?' She asks hopefully.

'Not yet.'

'Why not?' Her eyes widen, she stops moving and clings to my arm. 'We should go, we should leave, now.'

'Are you sure that everyone got out?'

'Yes.' She nods, 'They all left as soon as the fire started spreading. Can we go now, please?'

'Not yet, we need to wait for the fire department and... and your dad.' I look to her, her fear is instantly wiped away and replaced by anger. She shakes out of my grip and takes a few paces backwards.

'You contacted my father?' She yells, her head snapping around, as if she expects her dad to pop out from behind a parked car or something.

'I had to.'

'Why? Charles why would you bring him here?' She shrieks, her fists landing against my chest. 'Why?'

'Because,' I grab her hands and hold them still, 'his building is on fire Julie. He needed to know and he deserves to know what happened here tonight.'

'I need to leave. I have to go, now. Take me home.' She screams.

'I can't.' I say firmly. I can here sirens now, blaring into the quiet night and causing Julie to stop struggling to get away. She freezes and stares towards the direction the sirens are coming from.

'He can't know I was
here.'

'Julie he already knows.' I reply. 'I told him I was picking you up here and that there was a fire.'

'Great.' She glares at me, 'So what am I supposed to do now?'

'Tell him the truth. Apologize to him, trust me Julie it would have been so much worse if you'd kept quiet and he'd found out later that you were involved. You made a mistake, own up to it and apologize.'

'He'll never forgive me. He didn't ever need to find out.'

'Julie the building is on fire, they'll be an investigation and they'll know that it wasn't an accident...'

'It was an accident.'

'I know,' I sigh and soften my voice, 'that's not what I meant. I only meant that they'll know that a fire was started in the trash cans. They would have found out.'

'Not that it was me.'

'Julie, how did you get into the building tonight?' I ask her, 'Did you break in?'

'No, of course not.'

'Ok, so...' I wait for her to catch on, but she doesn't seem to see what I'm getting at. 'Julie you used the code to get into the building, another one to get into your dad's secured office. They would have known that, and besides that there are security cameras. Footage that's automatically stored digitally, accessed from anywhere.'

'But,' the truth hits her and she deflates in front of my eyes, 'Charles what am I supposed to do?' She's crying again, no more anger only fear and sadness. I want to do more for her, make this better, but there's nothing I can do except be here.

'Tell the truth and apologize. Admit that it was a mistake.' I say leading her to the car and getting her sat down. I kneel down in front of the open door. 'He's your dad, he's not going to press charges.'

'I'm not worried about that.' She shouts, 'But he'll hate me. I'm going to be grounded for ages.'

'He won't hate you, and yeah, you'll be grounded. You set his office on fire.' I try to keep the exasperation out of my voice. She can't really expect to get off without any punishment. Not after this. She wouldn't be so naïve. Right?

The fire department is here. Unloading giant hoses and attempting to get the fire under control. Five minutes later, Julie's dad arrives.

Nine – Julie

I expected my dad to look angry, but he doesn't. Not right away, at least. He doesn't even look at me right away, his eyes train over the building and he looks shattered. I did that to him. I ruined his building and made him look that upset, that was all me.

I wrap my arms around myself. My dad shakes his head, disbelief and just a little anger creeping into his expression, but he's a sensible man, a reasonable man. He'll want the facts before he reacts.

I start crying even harder, because surely if I'm visibly upset by all of this, he'll go easier on me. I choke back a sob and he looks over at me again.

'Daddy.' My voice cracks as I look up and he just shakes his head at me. Turning to Charles. He doesn't even want to speak to me.

'Charles, I'm going to have to stay around here. Talk to the fire department and the police, get in contact with the insurance company and get things sorted.' He won't look at me, why won't he look at me? 'Would you be able to drive Julie home? Her mother is up and waiting for me.'

'Yes sir, of course.' Charles nods. I wonder briefly why my dad doesn't think that Charles is involved in this. The thought lasts about two seconds, because, of course, my dad wouldn't think Charles would have been here with me tonight when the fire started. Charles is far too good for that.