Spring had now arrived, and Julie and I were now more serious than ever, but I was starting to get curious on what her life was like when she was homeless, but I knew that if I asked her it would give her the wrong idea, so I decided to just leave it alone, but others didn't feel the same as I, unfortunately.
"Hey Julie, is it true that you were homeless?" A student asked.
"Yeah, what of it?"
"I heard that there was a prostitute ring in Cannery Row, and you seem to know about that place, are you hiding something?"
Julie stood up, and pushed him out of the way. "None of your damn business, louse!" Julie shouted, as she stormed out.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I asked, furious.
"You're dating a whore, Jem." He said, getting up.
"Don't call her that!" I shouted.
"Why do you think she reacted that way?!"
I ran out of the classroom, and I saw that Emily was about to come into the class.
"Jem, we need to tell you something, it's about Julie." Emily said. She looked shocked about something, and I was starting to worry about Julie.
I followed Emily into her office, and I found that Sam was there as well.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We looked at Julie's track record, and we found that she was dealt with illegal affairs." Sam answered.
I was beginning to feel scared about what I was about to learn.
"We told Atticus, Cal, and Maudie this morning," Emily admitted. "And we all agreed to tell you now."
"What was she involved in?" I asked.
"She never did anything direct, but she housed herself at the Bear Flag, a bordello in Monterey, California." Sam answered. I was shocked that she was involved in that kind of place, but I did my best to keep my cool.
"I sent a letter to the owner, and she told me that she only did chores like scrubbing the floors, and that she got most of her confidence from her, although she never did anything with the clients, she did lose the remainder of her innocence there."
"Her innocence is lost?" I asked.
"She lost it around your the same age as you." Emily answered.
I was beginning to see why I liked her now. It was because I was the only who could understand her; I couldn't understand being homeless, but I could understand the loss of innocence, and I was beginning to think that I need to keep her safe from the rest of the world.
"If she had stayed there, she wouldn't have this on her record, but she needed to get out before something happened to her." Sam stated.
"I can't believe it…" I said.
"Do you still love her, Jem?" Emily asked.
I was embarrassed to be dating someone that I did not know a lot about, but that didn't change the way I felt about her in the slightest. "Of course I do." I answered.
"She didn't break any laws, Jem, but she was involved with people who did do illegal actions and now that she is here she wants to forget about it." Emily said, sadly.
"I know that, but my innocence is lost too."
"That just means that you understand her more." Sam responded.
"I know," I said. "So I'll try to help her in anyway I can."
"You're a good man, Jem." Emily said, gently.
I began to smile, but I then hear something, and I saw Julie, she was smiling, but it was a bitter smile.
"Julie…"
"I'm moving out of Maudie's, please don't see me until you can decide on if you love me or not." Julie said.
Before I had a chance to say anything, she ran for it. As I tried to track her down, I started feeling something fading away from me, something that to this day I can never describe in detail.