Chapter 7

Moving Out, Moving In

Julia's head was resting on top of Eli's heaving chest. There was a light coat of sweat on him, which she didn't mind. She could hear the strong, steady heartbeat from the sex act they'd just performed in the back of his dingy, cramped hearse. The girl figured it would be more spacious but recalled how awkward it was to position themselves. Laying in his arms, she was brought back to bliss, unlike her state of utter distress only ten minutes ago. Her father and Diane discarded her like some faulty piece of equipment, but being with Eli was just what she needed. An escape from the state of decline her life was going in. However, it wasn't like the naked boy lying next to her didn't take some convincing, until he finally obliged her.

"Are you sure?" Eli asked above a whisper. Julia cautiously moved to the teen boy's neck, placing tender kisses along his neck. When she was done, she moved a little closer towards his lips.

"I just want you and me together," Julia answered longingly, tears still fresh in her eyes.

Now looking down at their naked lower halves, she wasn't as uncomfortable at the sight of being naked after having sex. Even so, she started reaching for her bra and underwear, slipping both items on quickly. Eli did the same thing and reached for his boxers, getting a reminder of their state of nakedness. They were still in the back of a hearse at a public parking lot during the middle of the day.

"I always knew getting Morty would be a girl magnet. It would come in handy for situations like this," the weird teen confessed light-heartedly.

"Did you really?"

Julia pushed her raven hair and gathered it to one side, eyeing him skeptically.

He smirked. "No, not really—but I can't say I'm not happy it worked out that way for this occasion." He wiggled his left eyebrows suggestively at her.

Julia's eyes rolled while a wide grin formed on her face. Her heart fluttered rapidly, making her bask in the way he made her forget so much of the negative aspects of her life. The teen girl wished he could just be forever by her side. That's when the features on her face fell. The moment of both ecstasy and happiness was gone because the reality of her current situation didn't allow for much else. Her mind went back to Diane and the vivid scene of her tossing out her clothes from her closet playing in a loop. Most importantly, she kept going back to when she said, "he's the one that suggested his good for nothing druggy daughter get out…." The words echoed over and over.

Eli reached out with his hand to hold hers, smoothing out her fair skin with his thumb. "Come stay and live with me—you sorta met my unconventional parents," he blurted, "you can stay until we figure something else out."

The way he said "we" with such tenacity would've made any girl giddy. Julia wanted to be excited, but she didn't buy his offer. Even if she did believe him, the world was so against Julia at the moment that it would never work in her favor. The teen girl was getting accustomed to bad news.

"Eli, c'mon—I can't just show up to your house and expect your parents to go along with that," the girl protested, "they don't even know me." You don't even know me, she thought. Julia wanted to say that out loud but stopped herself.

"That's true. But I know my parents," he said, holding her other hand, "And I think they'll both like and want to get to know my beautiful, fun, loveable girlfriend." There was a second long pause as the word girlfriend rang in the confined space of the hearse. Eli took her moment of silence to search her face for a reaction. She was sure she was in awe, and she didn't know why. Sure, she'd never had a boyfriend before, but coming from his mouth meant much more than Julia imagined.

"Girlfriend…," she sighed.

"—I mean, I know we met like a week ago, but it feels like I've known you forever," he rambled on, "It's not like it won't be a bit cramped in my room too…."

Overwhelmed by his offer, she threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Julia placed quick kisses all over his face, from his cheeks to eyelids, and finally landed back on his lips. Eli merely let out chuckles between kisses, wrapping his arms around her torso to bring her closer.

"So, I'm taking this awesome display of affection as a yes," he uttered, inching his face away enough to look at her delicate blue eyes.

"Yes, I'll move in with you!" Her eyes were bright with excitement.

"And the girlfriend part…" he asked a bit hesitantly.

"Eli, I would love to be your girlfriend. Are you kidding me," she announced, arms still wrapped around his neck. Julia wanted to keep kissing him, but there was still so much looming in her mind that she needed to ask.

"Then I want to ask you the right way," he insisted, removing her hands from around his neck and taking them into his own. "Ms. Stone...even though I only met you about a week ago, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Julia couldn't help but giggle. "Boy, you weren't lying when you said you're a weird guy. We're still half-naked," she stated, eyeing herself in her bra and underwear.

"And it's parfait," he assured in French, giving her a smirk.

"Yes, Mr. Eli—Hey! Wait! How do you know my last name? I don't even know yours!" Julia protested.

The teen boy let go of her hands and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. His gaze fell downward instead. "Umm—my friend Fiona sorta mentioned it on your first day at Degrassi."

There was an audible silence as she gathered the information in her mind. Julia calculated that he must've known about her since she stepped foot at Degrassi but maybe didn't care enough to look for her. "How come you didn't look for me?" She interrogated. There was an awkward pause in which the flustered teen gathered his thoughts. Julia didn't want to be pushy, but she needed to know why he'd been wary.

"Julia, don't read too much into that," Eli hesitated, nervously twiddling his fingers, "the last time we saw each other wasn't on the best terms. I wanted to, but I didn't think you would want to see me."

Blood quickly shot to her cheeks, recalling that she spent most of her first day keeping an eye out for him. In hindsight, it was so embarrassing that she didn't dare mention that now in front of him. "It would've been nice to know one person, though…" she mumbled.

Eli placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face toward him. "Elijah Goldsworthy at your service. You don't have to be alone anymore."

"Elijah Goldsworthy…" she repeated, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

The newly found couple eventually left the parking lot in search of food. They ate at a local diner, where they spent some much-needed time getting to know one another. Eli filled her in a little bit more on his parents and how cooky and unconventional they could be so that she could prepare herself before meeting them. Julia didn't mind at all. They sounded nothing like her parents, and for that, she was grateful. Eventually, the teen boy moved on from his parents and tried to pry her about her parental situation. The dark-haired girl was hesitant to divulge at first. Whenever she tried to make new companions at her old school, she never brought up her home life in fear that it would scare people away.

"Well, my mom's been M.I.A. for as long as I can remember…." Julia said hesitantly, shifting her fries around with her fork, "I don't know anything about her. She could be dead or living her best life somewhere." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed, relieved the deep-rooted subject was finally brought to the surface for once. "Only thing I know is that she sorta looks like me from this old picture I've seen."

"What does your dad say about her? Surely he knows something." Julia glanced up from her fries to find Eli firmly fixated in the booth across from her. She had to admit that it was nice to have someone to talk to and listen to for once.

Julia took another deep breath before speaking again. "Umm, well, that's the thing—he never talks about her. Even when I bring her up." All her life, the subject of her mother has been a big mystery. "My dad remarried when I was like five," she continued, "which brings Diane and my stepbrother to the picture. I guess the rest is history."

"I didn't know you had a stepbrother?" Eli inquired.

"—Yeah, he's the one that supplied the weed today," Julia joked, releasing a chuckle from her lips, "Gabe is a pretty cool stepbrother for the most part. He's just super unreliable." She recalled the numerous times he was set to pick her up from school when he promised and never showed up, forcing her to walk home alone. "You don't have any siblings, do you?"

"Nope!" Eli smirked, pleased with himself, "just me, myself, and lonesome."

"That explains a lot," Julia mumbled, taking a sip of her black coffee.

"—I heard that," the dark-haired boy exclaimed, jokingly scowling at her.

After eating, Eli gave her the heads up that it was time to talk to his parents about her staying. She could feel an invisible weight on her chest. Either move into the Goldsworthy's with her less than twenty-four-hour boyfriend or beg Diane to let her back home.

"Are you sure they'll like me? Do I look okay?" She asked as she pressed her black mini long sleeve dress free of wrinkles. She was glad she decided to wear something sensible to school that day. Julia grabbed the free hair tie around her wrist and pulled her raven hair back in a tight bun while adjusting her bangs.

"The fact that you're primping yourself to meet Cece and Bullfrog is the best thing ever." Eli gave her no warning and placed a kiss on her pale cheek.

"—Stop! No PDA right now!" Julia protested. Her anxiety was through the roof, and she couldn't wait any longer. "After you," she ordered, motioning to his front door.

"Bossy! I like it!" Taking out his keys, he opened the door to his house. Seeing the inside with lights on was a completely different experience than when sneaking in. The homey dark green color paint on the walls made her feel welcome instantly. There was a modest living room with a connecting kitchen and dining area. Eli's fuss about his parents being weird wasn't showing through in the decor. The funkiest thing she noticed was a stuffed duck placed in the living room corner, which made her wonder if it had once been alive.

"My baby boy! Why does it feel like I haven't seen you in days?" The sound of a woman's voice snapped Julia out of taking in her surroundings. She was blonde with a choppy haircut that barely met her shoulders. She had on a black leather jacket with a leopard print blouse. Her ears were adorned with big hoop earrings that dangled furiously when she embraced Eli.

"Hey, mom…," he said, a little annoyed, "where's dad? I need to talk."

She immediately let go of him. "Phew! Sounds serious!" That's when her eyes landed on Julia. It was her turn to speak up.

"Hi. I'm Julia." The teen girl stood behind Eli, awkwardly waving her hand.

"—Cece, I want you to meet my girlfriend Julia Stone." Eli intervened, sensing her apprehension.

"Oh—my—God! Aren't you just the cutest thing ever!" Cece exclaimed. She maneuvered herself around Eli and hugged Julia tightly. The raven-haired girl didn't know what to do, so she awkwardly hugged her back. "You go ahead and call me Cece. I don't want to hear any Mrs. Goldsworthy business," she informed, letting the petite teen go.

"What's all the commotion," a deep raspy voice spoke, announcing his presence from the staircase. His voice instantly rang bells in Julia's mind, but she couldn't place her finger on where she'd heard it before. The man was tall with a top-heavy build. He was sporting a simple black tee with skin-tight leather pants. He had a receding hairline, but the hair he still had was styled to be slicked back. Julia noticed him carrying a nice black guitar in his right hand.

He must play.

"Come meet Eli's girlfriend, Julia!" Cece eagerly motioned for her husband to come over.

With a bright smile, the tall, burly man placed down the guitar and walked straight for her. "Jules!" he boomed, opening his arms wide and wrapping her in an embrace. This time Julia was so engulfed in the hug she couldn't move. "Please call me Bullfrog!" He said when letting her go.

Julia meekly smiled. She couldn't recall the last time adults showed her this much affection. It was overwhelming and foreign.

"Guys! Please try not to scare this one away!" Eli took hold of Julia's small hands in his, their fingers interlocking.

"Oooh, young love!" Cece swooned, "you have to tell us more— like how you met!" The small woman motioned for the pair to sit down on the leather couches.

"Guys, there is something we have to talk about first…." Eli added as they sat across from his parents.

"—You're pregnant! I've always wanted grandbabies!" Cece blurted. She grasped onto her husband's arm and squeezed tightly.

"No, Mom! It's nothing like that."

"Oh, thank God! I'm still too young to be a bubbie," she mumbled.

Julia grimaced. She'd only just stepped into the house, and already baby talk was flying in the conversation. She mentally strapped herself for more.

"We wanted to know if it was okay for Julia to come to stay and live with us for a little while?"

"—I swear you won't notice I'm here!" She interjected, "I'm very organized and clean. I'm legally an adult, so you guys don't need to worry that I'm underage. I don't take up that much space, and I believe me it'll only be until graduation, which is right around the corner."

Julia braced herself in her seat for the final verdict from Eli's parents. She was expecting them to say no and started devising a plan b. The teen might be able to sneak into the old dance studio she worked at and sleep there until she figured her life out.

"Jules, of course, you can stay here. Mi casa es su casa!" Bullfrog was the first to speak.

"You know how long we've been trying to get a girl to stay over in his room?" Cece blurted.

"—Mom!" Eli interjected.

But Cece continued, "I just need to know that you two are being safe."

"Exactly," Bullfrog added, beckoning his wife, "you still have that box of condoms I gave you that one birthday?"

Eli ran his hands through his face in utter embarrassment. Julia shifted in her seat, her cheeks warming up as well. The teen boy wasn't lying about how unconventional his parents were.

"Guys, please no sex talk right now! We're good!"

"Julia, if you need anything, just let me know," Cece said, getting up from her seat across from them and hugging the teen girl again. This time she didn't feel as awkward receiving her hug. It was warm, and she felt good that an adult at least had her back.

"—I have to get out of here, kiddos! The bar isn't going to run itself," Cece announced, "Eli, your father does need to speak to you alone on your other matter." The middle-aged woman walked over to her husband and kissed him goodbye. "I'll see you later. Don't wait up!"

As soon as she exited the house, the vibe in the living room changed to a serious tone. Eli went from having rosy cheeks to looking white as a sheet. Even Bullfrog didn't have the same warm spirits from a few seconds ago.

"Uh…Julia, why don't you try and contact someone about your stuff. You can use my phone in my room." He shifted around and reached his pocket to pull out his mobile device. Taking it in her hands, she grimaced at the dark-haired boy before heading upstairs, remembering the path she took last time. She wanted so badly to be a fly on the wall and overhear the conversation that was about to happen, but she entered Eli's room.

Instead, she worried about the task at hand. She dialed the number to her brother's phone first. In her family circle, her stepbrother was her best choice at the moment.

"Hello?" Gabe answered skeptically.

"Hey Gabe, it's Julia."

"—Plum, what the fuck did you do that has my mom on a rampage?"

At the sound of his voice, Julia's breath was getting shaky. "Nothing…she just caught me and my boyfriend smoking a little of your weed."

"Amateur move," he said.

"—Gabe, I'm moving out. I can't be there anymore." Julia sat down at the foot of Eli's bed. Instinctively she pressed the black phone closer to her ear as if to hear him better.

"I would've left ages ago if I had been you."

Julia grimaced. He didn't have it easy with his mother, but at least he didn't always get her evil end of the stick. Gabe had a different burden to worry about with his mother, son, and addict dynamic. That probably wasn't easy, but at the moment, Julia would trade him in a heartbeat if it meant she still had a place to live.

"I need your help getting my things."

"Say no more Plum. I'll put your stuff in trash bags you can pick up."

There was a moment of silence where no one said anything. The million-dollar question was still looming in the back of her mind.

"Have you seen my dad at all?" She finally blurted.

"Your dad is nowhere to be found, which is not helping with my mom's episode," he informed, letting out a heavy sigh through the phone. Julia's heart sank. Of course, he was avoiding everything. He always did that.

"We have some fucked up parents…." Julia spoke into the phone.

"You can say that again, kid."

Julia stopped at the top of the stairs, perking her ears at the conversation happening.

"You have to tell her eventually," Bullfrog said.

"Dad, I'm not gonna scare her away like I did, Imogen…."

There was a long pause.

"I guess that's up to you—just keep talking to your therapist, take your meds, and everything should be okay."

What does he have to tell me that might scare me?

Julia didn't want to eavesdrop on their private conversation. Still, she didn't know what to do with the information she had already heard.

"Thanks Dad. I'm gonna go check on Julia," Eli announced, starting to tread up the stairs.

"I'm serious, Eli," Bullfrog warned.

"—Yeah, and so am I."

The petite girl rushed back into his room, pushing past the door with the ornate skull hanging. Sitting by the foot of the bed, she pretended she had just gotten off the phone as her boyfriend walked in.

"Is everything okay?" Eli asked, joining her by taking a seat next to her.

"Uh…yeah," she responded lightly, recalling what her brother told her. "My stepbrother is gonna throw my stuff in some bags so I can pick them up." Julia ran her fingers through her hair as her stress levels rose higher and higher. The thought of her belongings being gathered into messy quick piles was already jarring. Not only that, Julia lived in that apartment all her life, and just like that, she was leaving so suddenly.

"Don't worry," Eli reassured, "I'll give you a ride, and you can move in your stuff tonight." Getting up from the bed, he opened up his drawer and began rearranging heaps of his clothes. "You can have the top drawers and the other half of my closet."

The events of the past few weeks were flooding her all at once. Her life seemed to spiral out of control after just one wrong decision. She tried her hardest to swallow the dry lump in her throat but couldn't evade the fresh tears coming down her face.

Eli eventually turned to see her in a state of disarray. "I didn't think the closet was that bad," the teen boy mumbled.

"—you and your family are amazing, and I'm so grateful. It's just been a lot to take in these past two weeks," she spoke, trying to keep her voice from sounding too shaky. There wasn't much she could do about the loose tears

Eli didn't say anything. For the first time, there was a genuine silence that filled the room with so many internal thoughts bouncing around. He let out a deep sigh and made his way back to the foot of the bed.

"This is going to sound stupid and cheesy, but I really think you came into my life at just the opportune time," Eli explained. He reached out and wiped some of her tears away.

"And vice versa," Julia added.

There was a long pause. Julia didn't know what to say except the question that was bothering her since they ditched Degrassi earlier. Mustering enough courage, she asked the burning question she needed answers to.

"What happened today at school? Why'd you break that computer?"

The teen boy's gaze fell off into the distance. Almost as if her questioning put him in a trance. He didn't blink, and his breathing got more shallow.

"Are you—"

"Julia, I'm bipolar," Eli blurted, jumping up from the edge of the bed. He started pacing in the middle of his room.

Bipolar?

Julia had heard the term before but didn't know what it meant.

"What's that?" She asked naively, her eyebrows furrowed. Julia wanted to reach out and get him to stop pacing but stopped herself.

"I have a mental health condition, and sometimes like today, things get a little too jumbled up for me," he explained.

The teen girl recalled the way he yelled and frightened her. Recalling it in her mind sent a shiver down her spine.

"I take medicine, I see a therapist, I write in a journal, and that's all to hopefully keep me from getting all over the place."

What if I haven't seen the worst of it? She thought as she shifted in her seat.

Eli quit pacing. He reached for her hands and stood her up. "I needed you to know that, and I hope it doesn't scare you away now that you know my dark secret."

Julia grimaced. "Not at all," she assured him.

The computer smashing and yelling were looming in the back of her mind, but Eli was so forthcoming with this dark side of him that she couldn't let him down by making it a problem. They would deal with his issues as they came. Julia, however, couldn't say the same for herself. She didn't know how to muster the courage to tell him her dark past. The real reason she got kicked out of her old school right at the end of the semester. Why she quit dancing and why her life was spiraling.

Julia focused her gaze on his face, noticing how carefully he was analyzing her. She gave him a fake smile.

"You don't scare me." She said, placing a subtle kiss on his lips.