I've been holding up well lately. I'm home and I'm actually happy to be here. Mom is still a bitch, but Boris isn't so bad. I'm happy he's my step-dad. Everything has gotten better. I can't even remember the last time I binged or cut. That's a good thing. I'm really excited about getting back to school and seeing my old friends again.
I'm going to enjoy this last marking period of high school. I've missed so much of it. It's hard to believe I'll be graduating in three and a half months. It's all scary, but I'm ready for it. There's something I'm gonna miss about Mt. Horizon and I think it's probably gonna be the whole gang. We all came to become good friends by the end. I miss them so much and it's only been a couple of days. I think I miss Auggie the most. I even think I miss Shelby. I hate to admit that, but she was like a big sister to me. She was better than my real sisters to be honest. That's all kinda pathetic, I know. We were all like family. Scott, Shelby, Auggie, Daisy, Kat, Ezra, and me. Yup, just one big happy family.
It still hurts inside… you know, to be without them. Just when we were all getting along we get torn apart. Hard to believe that I lost a great boyfriend in Auggie because of what happened. Maybe we'll be together again…someday. I hope so! Anyway, my first day back is tomorrow. Wish me luck! Bye.
-Jules-
***
Sunlight poured into the open windows of Jules second floor bedroom. It was looking to be a beautiful day. It had to be at least 60 degrees already as Jules stepped out on to her balcony and stretched her body to welcome the fresh air and comforting morning light. Her long dark hair slightly flickered through the air. She enjoyed the playful breeze on her face and enjoyed the air awakening the rest of her body as it slightly rippled through her comfy cotton cartoon pajamas. Her bare feet on the concrete felt uncomfortable atop of the bits of gravel, so she moved onto the outdoor carpeting near the balcony railing.
Jules had nearly forgotten how beautiful her view was. She hadn't really been able to enjoy little things like this since coming home Friday night. A Friday night that seemed like things would never get better. Here she was though, it was a Monday morning and she was feeling pleasant again. Jules smirked at the idea of her not feeling miserable on a Monday morning. She would usually need to be dragged out of bed to go to school on a Monday morning. It was just a law of being a teenager. You had to embrace your blue Monday when it came, but not his Monday. Nope, Jules was feeling just fine.
"Jules? You getting dressed?" an exotic voice asked Jules from her bedroom door. Jules turned around to greet Esmeralda, her childhood and present day nanny. "Morning Alda," Jules said strolling back into her room and went to her dresser to pick out clothes before she took a shower. "Breakfast in fifteen kiddo," Esmeralda said through a warm smile. Alda left Jules to get ready and so she could finish helping with breakfast down in the kitchen.
Jules felt great after showering and primping in the mirror. She hopped downstairs in a pair of cuffed baggy blue jeans that fell perfectly over her Nike cross trainers, and a tight purple tee that was lit with artistic designs of white flowers across her stomach and chest. She wore her hair down and it bounced along with her as she arrived at the breakfast table.
She happily flounced down in an antique wooden chair and greeted her mother and "father" with a bright smile. "Good morning mom, morning Boris." Her mother didn't say anything, but the always polite Boris did. "Good morning."
Jules lost herself in the delicious smells of breakfast wafting its way from the kitchen. "Smells good, what are we having?" Jules asked the two figures who sat at opposite ends of the long wooden table. Both Boris and Jules mother didn't answer for a moment. There was obviously some tension about food, considering that was the reason Jules was sent to Mt. Horizon in the first place.
Before either of them could answer, Alda s scooped in with a breakfast and placed it in front of Jules with the answer "Blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs."
"Yum, my favorite," Jules eagerly snapped open a napkin from the table and placed it on her lap. "I thought you could use something special on your first day of school," Alda said, adjusting her shapely glasses. "You know me too well Alda, thanks," Jules said as she grabbed a fork from the table and dug into what seemed to be her first official meal back home.
It must have taken Jules a couple of minutes to be nearly done with her breakfast when she felt her parents eyes on her. She glanced up and sensed a bit of concern as she quickly glanced back at her disappearing pancakes. Are they okay? Jeez, they act like I'm just going to jam my finger down my throat and have a breakdown right here. Juliette smiled downward at her food at the funny image. And it was funny. In the end if you can't laugh at all the problems you've had, you have to wonder if you have really gotten over them. And Jules was over them, very much so. She was ready to move on with her life.
When she had finished her breakfast she gave the pair at the table one last smile. "Well, I don't wanna be late on my first day back to school." Jules made her way around the table to give her mom a peck on the cheek. "Bye mom, bye Boris."
Jules lastly went into the kitchen and gave Alda a huge hug. "Good luck Senorita Strong," Alda squeezed Jules tightly in her arms. I've missed her nicknames. Jules squeezed back. "Thanks Alda," Jules said to one of her best friends in the world.
A vibrant and energized Juliette skipped to the front door where her packed, off the shoulder messenger/book bag was waiting for her next to the small table she put the keys to her Jeep on.
She slid into the drivers side of her car and buckled her seatbelt. She adjusted the rearview mirror and looked into the other mirror to her left. This is your chance to show them what you're made of. Juliette prepped herself. She gave herself a coy smile. This is what it has come down to.
Jules turned on the car and slipped in her Cardigans "Gran Turismo" CD and blasted it, as she pulled out of her driveway, singing along to the first track streaming from her speakers.
***
A glitzy entrance, when going to Johnson High School is crucial. Everything is looked at when you make your way through those doors of that rich, snobby building. That kind of thing didn't matter to Juliette anymore. Juliette was entering the last quarter of her senior year. Soon none of this would matter, because she would be in the real world again.
Jules entered the school parking lot and found a good parking space. Before she stepped out of her car Jules touched up her lip gloss one last time in the rearview mirror. She then grabbed her book bag and was on her way.
As Jules walked down the wide pathway entrance to the main lobby of Johnson High, Jules could feel eye balls following her. She turned her head right to see a blonde preppy couple making out in a huge German import of a car. They ceased their make out session to cast their gazes on Juliette. Uncomfortable, Jules kept on walking until she reached the schools main entranceway. A bit to Jules surprise, she found her old buddy Bonnie sitting on a wooden bench with two Starbucks coffees in her hands.
Juliette's lips parted to form a huge smile as she walked up to Bonnie. Bonnie had to be Jules best friend, other than Alda. It was pathetic to have Alda as one of her best friends, but Juliette didn't care. Bonnie smiled back at Jules as she approached. Bonnie's loosely curled brown hair hung freely down to her waist and met her cowboy belt buckle and faded denim bellbottoms. Her tight black tee read the famous lyric, "I know what boys like."
"Wow, someone's styles changed," Juliette said still smiling. Bonnie shrugged her shoulders and gave Juliette a look over. "Well, lets say it's been a year and a half for the both of us." Bonnie handed Jules one of the Starbucks coffee containers. "A vanilla soy latte. Don't worry it's decaf. I figured you'd be excited enough today." Jules hadn't had a soy latte since she had been home. She had switched to it when she found out how many calories coffee had in it.
Jules didn't want to be rude by hesitating an acceptance of the offering from her best bud, so she snatched it up quickly and gave Bonnie a warm hug. "It's been too long, Bonnie," Jules said almost in tears. "I would have called over the weekend, but I was too much of a wimp to pick up the phone," Bonnie replied, almost in tears herself. "Nothings changed about you Bon," Jules laughed. "I saved all your letters. I counted them on Saturday. It came to a grand total of 168," Juliette continued, getting sentimental on her friend. "Really?!? Do you know how much money that is in stamps?" Bonnie joked. They both laughed, sighed, caught their breath, and sat down together on the bench and began to enjoy their beverages.
"So how does it feel so far?" Bonnie asked. Juliette only looked at Bonnie for a second, mesmerized by how much her friend had grown up and matured. Then a moment of sadness came over her, as she realized she was kind of upset about missing so much of her friends life. "It's weird-so much has changed around here. Everything looks different when you've been gone for so long." Bonnie pondered that reply for a moment. "It must be different living on a mountain for so long." Bonnie took a sip of her warm, but steamy drink.
"It was a nice change of pace," Juliette commented. "Well you look great," Bonnie tried to gradually change the subject. "Thanks, that must be why everyone is looking at me," Jules smiled and looked up at a few scattered students staring at her as they went into school.
"Are you kidding? You're like a celebrity here. You're the most interesting thing to happen to this snobby town," Bonnie explained. "Yeah, it's not every student who passes out in PE because she just finished puking her brains out 30 minutes before class," Juliette said lifelessly into the air in front of her as she watched more students stare at her on their way into the school. Bonnie looked at her friend with a smidge of concern. "Hey, I'm supposed to be the morbid one in this friendship." That lightened the mood. Jules laughed at her friends joke. Maybe I should be the snobby one instead," Bonnie joked again. Jules laughter morphed into seriousness for a moment.
"I'm not that kind girl anymore, Bonnie." Juliette stared Bonnie down, ensuring she was a changed girl. A girl who no longer cared about popularity... partially due to the whole school finding out she was a bulimic head case, but mostly because of Mt. Horizon. Even though her time there was cut short she had been completely enlightened. Juliette now knew what was important in life, and it wasn't high school superlatives.
"I know. It was only a matter of time before you grew out of that whole 'I'm more popular than you phase'," Bonnie said looking at her watch. "Mt Horizon will do that to you."
It was obviously time to go to first period by the look of the stumbling crowd, competing to get into the school lobby. "You ready for this?" Bonnie asked, playfully, as if they were about to get on some kind of roller coaster ride. "No sweat." Juliette looked at her unfinished container of latte and took a few gulps. It tasted as good as Jules remembered. "Thanks for the nourishment, Bon."
"No problem. I figured you needed one after a year and a half."
"Yeah," Juliette said, rising to her feet along with her friend, and joined the crowd in route to first period.
***
English class with Mr. Froman was a breeze for Johnson High students. You take the first five minutes of class to do the assigned essay and talk for the rest of the period. That's exactly what Bonnie and Juliette planned to do. The two finished their essays on socialism in Sweden and chatted about the past year and a half afterwards.
"Tell me about Shelby." Bonnie started. "You talked a lot about her in your letters. Something about her being a prostitute?" Bonnie asked as she moved her desk next to Jules. Jules giggled at Bonnie's innocence. She had to admit she felt more mature than Bonnie was. Juliette felt stronger after Mt Horizon. She had seen an amplified version of the real world and she had grown a thicker skin. There was so much the people of this town were unexposed to.
"I didn't like her at first, because we were competing for this guy," Juliette explained. "Scott?" Bonnie asked. "Yup."
"I have loads of pictures at home to show you," Jules smiled at Bonnie and reached out to grab a lock of her friends hair. "Your hair is so long now." Jules began to braid the piece of hair she grabbed.
As Juliette was braiding playfully, someone came up behind the two girls. "So Jules, you're back," the pretty boi jock stated. "Good to see your eyes work, Brad," Bonnie quipped before Juliette could reply to Brad's statement. That's some attitude she's giving Brad.
"Yeah, I got back Friday," Juliette replied, breaking away from the distraction Bonnie conjured up with her sudden nastiness. Juliette had never heard her friend talk to anyone that way. It really has been a year and a half. Then, all of a sudden, Jules caught a glimpse of Brad behind her. "Wow, Brad, you look so different. Sophomore year you were so quiet and…"
"Nerdy?" Brad asked, but answered for Juliette.
"No…"
"It's okay, I was a nerd back then," Brad said.
Juliette could see Bonnie rolling her eyes. "Well you look great. Doesn't he look great, Bon?" Juliette asked, wondering what Bonnie would say. She obviously had some kind of problem with Brad.
"Once a nerd, always a nerd," Bonnie said, with a shrug. "I guess I'll always have a special place in my heart for Algebraic equations," Brad joked. Juliette giggled. "Oh lord," Bonnie huffed. "Well it was good seeing you," Brad said to Juliette. "Yeah, you too."
Brad went back to his clique in the back of the classroom as Juliette decided to ask Bonnie what her deal was. "What's with you?" Bonnie just played with a few of the braids Juliette had concocted a fem minutes ago. Bonnie always played with her hair when she was hiding something. "I just don't like him. He's changed since you've been gone," Bonnie explained.
"I'll say! He's so hott now," Juliette said, looking in Brads direction in the back of the room. She felt a little guilty checking out a guy so close to braking up with Auggie. She still had feelings for her old boyfriend.
***
"That's Shelby?" Bonnie asked, not really forming her thought aloud statement a question. She looked at the group of pictures, examining all of Juliette's Mt Horizon buddies. "Yup," Jules answered. "She looks kinda… unpolished, if you ask me." Bonnie set the picture down and shuffled through the dozens of others that were spread all over Juliette's floral covered bed.
"So what's with you and Brad?" Juliette zinged an unexpected question in Bonnie's direction. "You really wanna know, Juliette?" Bonnie asked candidly, still shuffling through the profusion of pics. Juliette was almost too scared to answer. Could this be something serious, or was it going to be something silly, like she didn't like his hair. Juliette could never really be sure with her best bud Bonnie.
Bonnie lifted her head to meet Juliette's eyes. "It's no big deal, but me and Brad used to kinda date. It didn't exactly end well," Bonnie explained. "How bad? Did he pull a cliché teen after school special moment on you and tell all of his friends you were easy to get into bed?" Jules asked, jokingly of coarse. Bonnie shuttered at her friends remarkable guess. Sometimes Juliette could hit the nail on the head pretty hard. Bonnie snapped out of her shutter session to answer Juliette. "That's near perfect," Bonnie forced out a laugh.
"What??!!??" Juliette's question coming out as some sort of half laugh. Juliette couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Yup, he sweet talked me into bed with him and when he was done with me he told all his friends and hasn't really talked to me since," Bonnie explained.
Jules didn't really know what to say. She almost wanted to cry because of what had happened to her best friend while she was gone. This wouldn't have happened of she was here with her friend instead of somewhere else. "That's who I am now. I'm the slut of Johnson High," Bonnie said, going back to the pile of memories that sat in front of her. "That has to be Auggie. He looks just how you described him in your letters," Bonnie threw the conversation in another direction. Juliette didn't want to change the subject, but she knew her friend wasn't going to. "Yeah, he's cute, huh?"
***
I feel so damn responsible for what happened to Bonnie. If I were here this never would have happened. Me an Bonnie were a team. Nobody could hurt us when we were together. There's nothing anyone can do to hurt two best friends when their together. We used to be so strong, but I don't even know anymore. I wanna fix all of this, but I don't know how. What am I supposed to do. Everything that happened while I was gone is in the past and I can't change any of it. Maybe I can make the future better for Bonnie by approaching the past and giving it a good kick in the balls.
-Jules-
***
Jules couldn't even remember the last time she had been to a party. She didn't exactly miss the scene of it all, but what needed to be done tonight had to be done at the right time and place. A random party Brad would most likely be at was perfect for her plan.
Jules geared up for the mission ahead in some party clothes that still fit her from sophomore year before she left. She tried on some clothes that were too big for her back then, but fit perfectly now. Juliette decided to go with an all black ensemble. A spaghetti strapped halter top covered by a tight leather jacket for the nippy night air of spring. The bottom half of her body would have to bare a little cold air, being covered by a tight skirt that fell just past Jules' naked knees. The skirt was slit on both sides half way up her thighs, making it easy for Juliette to move around. Juliette thought it would be fun to clash the saucy outfit with a pair of black army boots that stood somewhat tall, but didn't exactly reach her knees.
Juliette gave herself the classic female look over in the mirror. She turned around to see if everything checked out. The outfit was perfect for tonight. The only thing that was left was the hair and makeup. Juliette went to her dresser to lightly apply some sexy black eye makeup and cherry lip gloss. She brushed her long dark hair straight to perfection. She blotted her lips a bit with a piece of tissue and was ready to go.
Juliette strolled down stairs to say goodbye to Alda in the kitchen before she left for the party. "Don't wait up Alda," Jules peaked her head in the kitchen, where Alda was placing some sort of whipped topping on a desert. "Wanna try my new masterpiece before you go kiddo?" Alda asked. "I've been working on it for a while," Alda continued. Juliette could never resist one of Alda's deserts. Juliette always thought Alda should have been some sort of pastry chef with her own restaurant. "Okay," Juliette answered. Juliette pulled up to the counter on a stool, where Alda was already cutting a slice of the pie she had prepared. She set it on a saucer with a fork and passed it over to Juliette.
"So what's the plan for the night?" Alda asked Jules, covering the pie with a plastic top. She never ate her own work before someone else tasted it first. "I'm just going to make an appearance at this party in The Valley." Juliette cut into her snack with her fork and lifted it to eyelevel. There was the classic graham cracker crust and a layer of Jell-O of all different colors, then a layer of some sort of cake on top of that, then the whipped topping. She put it into her mouth and her taste buds exploded with excitement. She had never tasted anything quite so flavorful in her life. The mystery cake was revealed to be cheesecake, which much to Juliette's surprise, was the perfect combo with all the different flavors of Jell-O.
"Wow!" Juliette exclaimed, choking on the enjoyment of this wonderful piece of art. "I dunno how you keep out doing yourself, Alda. One day your gonna get like pastry block or something, if you keep making things that taste this good," Juliette said inhaling another piece of the cake. "I sure hope not," Alda laughed. "But you really think it's good?" Alda continued. "Hell yeah!" Juliette finished off her piece and got ready to leave. "Be sure to save me a piece from the rest of the crew. Something tells me this is gonna be a new addiction of mine," Juliette laughed referring to the rest of the kitchen staff who also loved Alda's crazy concoctions. "You got it," she said, happily. "Have fun tonight, Juliette. It's your first party in a long time. You should enjoy yourself."
"Don't worry. I will." Juliette gave Alda a peck on the cheek and was out the door, on her way to the party.
***
A grand entrance at a party was also a must in Juliette's home town. So when Juliette pulled up to the artsy looking house, whose lard was already littered with plastered teens and red and blue Dixie cups, she strutted her stuff like there was no tomorrow. Men all over the world could have trembled at Juliette's feet just from seeing this fierce walk. Juliette needed to find Brad fast and get this job done so she picked up the pace to the house entrance way.
As soon as Juliette entered the house she could see half sober/half drunk faces staring at her lifelessly. Rock music was blaring from speakers that were planted all over the house. This definitely wasn't Juliette's scene, but like Abba say, she was for sure the master of this scene.
Men drooled and women turned green with envy or nausea. Juliette walked confidently around the house, searching for Brad and his clique. She eventually found the clique in some sort of family room, moshing. She didn't see Brad however. Juliette was growing impatient and was a few times tempted to groove to the heavy music a little bit. But this was a business call. I just wanna do this and leave. Juliette thought to herself.
A-ha! Juliette suddenly realized where Brad could be. It was all too obvious that Brad was in one of the bedrooms upstairs with some hussy. This could be better than I expected. Juliette ventured upstairs to where she would soon need to brace herself for a skin-a-max type scenario. She opened one of the closed bedroom doors hoping to find Brad with one of the sluts of Johnson High. Instead she found a drunk blonde girl with a black muscular jock type getting it on. "Sorry!" Juliette shielded her eyes, closing the door and left to the next bedroom.
This better be the one. I don't wanna see too many more of those. Juliette braced herself for another interesting encounter and opened the door. There Brad was, with mousy brown haired girl who looked like a freshman in Jules opinion. Let the show begin, Juliette thought to herself.
"Oh-my-God!" Brad and the mouse were startled by a louder than normal Juliette. "How could you do this?!?! Your are such a dog! You said I was the only girl for you, you damn liar!" Juliette exclaimed flakily. The mousy girl pushed Brad off from his missionary position and gathered her clothes and assembled herself quickly. She ran past Juliette in the doorway crying. The mouse could obviously put two and two together.
Brad put his pants on and zipped them up. People were gathering in the hallway of the second floor to see what was going on. "Why did you do that?" Brad said face to face with Juliette. "Are you crazy or something!" he continued. Slap. "No! You're the crazy one if you thought you could cheat on me!" Juliette kept up the charade. She turned away from Brad and walked maniacally down the hallway to the stair case. She could hear Brad following her. Brad grabbed Juliette's arm roughly and spun her around mid stairwell completion. "What the hell are you doing!" Brad yelled, bringing in an audience of sobering partiers. What the hell are you doing. You said you loved me and I come here and find you f*%!ing some freshman. I trusted you. Juliette said loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone in the house had their eyes on Juliette and Brad now.
"I thought we had something Brad," Juliette started, sounding hysterical. "We told each other everything. Your sixth toe, your fetish for big hairy man, your masturbation addiction. I thought you trusted me." Juliette could hear the crowd echo with the questions "Did she say what I think she just said?" and "Is she serious?". It was all coming together now. Juliette's plan was just getting warmed up and it was already working. She leaned in to Brad and whispered in his ear. "You didn't think you could just f#%k Bonnie over and walk away, did you?"
Juliette backed away and walked down the rest of the stairs and headed for the front door. "You crazy bitch!" Brad yelled down the stairs after Juliette. He ran up behind, grabbed her arm again, turned her around, and slapped her once to the floor. The crowd of teens was were baffled. Brad pinned Juliette down and readied his fist in the air, ready to attack Juliette. Before he could a muscular jock grabbed his wrist and threw him against a near by wall. He helped Juliette up. "Are you okay?" he asked, being every bit the gentlemen. Juliette shook her head. "Not after what he did to me," Juliette said referring to his alleged affair. The crowd was probably thinking she was referring to his enraged attack on Juliette. "You should probably get out of here," the kind jock said. Juliette nodded her head meekly.
The jock turned around and looked down at Brad on the floor. He reached down to the floor and picked him up by his shirt with both hands and brought him to his feet. "You wanna slap someone around, try doing it to someone your own size!" the jock threw Brad into another room where she could hear the classic sounds of someone getting jumped by a group of football players. Juliette walked out the front door as the crowd that was focusing on her went into the other room. The couldn't resist watching Brad get torn apart. Juliette could hear the word "fight" being chanted over and over again one her way to her car. My plan worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly. I didn't know I would feel this bad about hurting someone who hurt my best friend. I thought I would feel better than this.
Part II coming real soon! Look out for it.
