AN: Hey guys thanks for all of the reviews. I wanted to address those who have mentioned the long time between updates. First off, I apologize. If I could write everyday and update as often I would. Second, I think an update every week or two is pretty good considering I'm finishing up my last semester of college and work a part-time job. So, please keep in mind that I'm doing the best I can and will continue to update when I have time, but the next two months will be my busiest by far.

Anyways, I hope that is a satisfactory explanation for you. I hope you all stick with the story and continue to review – it does motivate me to write whenever I get a review. Sorry for the long AN. Without further ado, enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 8

Julie dressed in a pair of old, loose-fitting jeans and a brown, long-sleeve crew neck. She wanted to cover all of her scrapes and bruises without looking too different than normal. She had gotten up early enough to put on a light coat of make-up and cover up the bruises that snuck up over her neckline.

She met her parents in the kitchen as they were going about their morning routines. Tami was getting her work together as Eric fed Gracie, and the two adults discussed their schedules. At Julie's arrival the conversation broke and Tami handed her daughter a plate of food and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"How you feeling today sweetheart?" Eric asked as both he and Tami closely watched Julie's every move.

"I'm fine," Julie took a quick bite of the eggs on her plate. "How are you guys?" Julie continued to keep her mouth full hoping to appease her parents and turn the conversation on them.

The truth was that she was nervous about going back to school. She wasn't looking forward to the packed halls and the awkward small talk. She also wasn't sure if people knew about what had happened. The idea of everyone looking at her like she was some naïve girl who had put herself in a bad situation, or even worse, like a victim, made her want to crawl into her parents bed and never leave. But the idea of doing nothing all day, just sitting around with time to think about Anthony and the attack was a far worse option. She would gladly brave the Dillon High halls over being stuck reliving the experience in her head for another day.

Noticing that Julie had stopped eating after her first initial bites and was staring off into space, Tami decided to make sure that Julie wanted to go through with this.

"Hunny are you sure you're ready to go back to school? Everything only happened a couple days ago." Tami reached across the counter taking Julie's hand in hers as she spoke.

"What? Yeah mom I'm sure. I'll be fine. We should get going though." Julie got up and scraped the contents of the nearly full plate into the garbage. "I'll meet you in the car."

As Julie went to her room to grab her bag, Eric and Tami exchanged a concerned look.

"Follow her lead right?" Eric asked his wife, not fully convinced of the plan himself.

"Yeah," Tami replied slowly. "I mean yes, of course." She gave Eric and Gracie each a quick kiss before gathering her things. "Alright, well I'll see you later."

--

Julie said goodbye to her mom in the car park. She walked cautiously to the stream of students making their way into school and decided to dive right in. She kept her head down as she made her way through the crowd and to her locker. Tyra greeted her at the lockers.

"Julie," Tyra smiled seeing her friend and giving her an awkward little hug. "I can't believe you're back. How are you?"

"Tyra I only took one day off, and you saw me over the weekend. I'm fine, really I am. I just want to put it all behind me." Julie plastered on a smile to convince her friend.

"That's good Julie, it's just, you know, I've been through this before and I know how important it was for me to talk to someone. You know you can't just go back to the way things are."

Julie didn't want to listen to this anymore. She didn't like being told how she should feel or how she should be acting. "Tyra stop," It came out harsher than she intended but Julie needed to get her point across. "Just cause you went through something similar doesn't make our feelings and the way we deal with the situation the same. Just cause you couldn't go back to normal doesn't mean I cant. And furthermore, just because I'm not talking to you about how I feel, doesn't mean I'm not talking. So can we stop talking about this, especially with so many people around? Please," Julie's voice had grown softer and more pleading as she finished. Tyra could tell that Julie was clearly not okay, but she knew better than to push the subject.

"Yeah Julie, of course. I'm just concerned about you that's all."

"It's fine Tyra, let's just forget about it okay? I'm going to be late for class. I'll see you later." With that Julie grabbed her books and headed to her first class, leaving Tyra more concerned than before.

--

Julie made her way through her morning classes without major issue. It quickly became clear to her that no one knew what had happened to her and she was grateful to have avoided the Dillon High gossip mill.

She headed to the lunchroom as per usual. She entered the room apprehensively, slightly overwhelmed with all the people and the commotion. She never realized before how much the students treated lunch as their own midday party. A stereo played from the cheerleaders' table, and the rally girls flaunted themselves in front of the athletes. Julie had never really taken in the whole scene before. But as she stood in the entryway to the cafeteria, with her tray of food in hand, she felt increasingly uncomfortable as she continued to watch the daily scene unfold. She had been so caught up in the comparisons between the lunch scene and Friday night that she was completely startled by a boy who ran into her in his haste to meet up with his friends.

Julie let out a small yelp as she, the boy, and her tray of food all tumbled to the floor. So much for staying out of the Dillon spotlight. Julie fell on her back with the unknown boy partially on top of her. He started to apologize profusely to Julie as the cafeteria erupted in cheers and clapping at the clumsiness of the boy. Julie, quickly having come out of the shock of being bowled over, started to panic.

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AN2: Sorry it's a bit short. I'll try and get the next part out over the Thanksgiving weekend.