Watercolor Road ✔

Chapter 15: The Truth

*CW: Mentions of Suicide

Usually, car rides to Will's house were quiet because Julia didn't want to talk. Now, that's all she wanted to do, but sensing the tension radiating from Will, kept quiet. He was letting her talk to him, but Julia wanted to make sure it was on his terms.

"Ah, crap," Will said as they entered the house. Somewhere from inside came the sound of a vacuum cleaner. "I forgot the cleaners are here." Instead of going into the kitchen, he headed upstairs. "Come on, they don't go in my room."

Julia followed Will upstairs. She had never been in his room and was surprised that despite not allowing the cleaners in, everything was tidy and neat. Will sat down on his desk chair, and Julia awkwardly perched on the edge of his bed, trying to figure out where to start. She looked at Will.

"You wanted to talk, Julia," Will said. "So talk."

Julia nodded and looked down at her hands for a moment. "You know, I used to be like Daphne." She looked back up.

Whatever Will was expecting her to say, it wasn't that. The side of his mouth quirked upward, just for a moment. "I doubt that," he said.

Julia shook her head. "And you'd be wrong," she said. "I mean, minus the cheerleading part, cheer wasn't that big of a deal at my school. But the rest of it, the huge friend group, the guys, the clothes, the makeup, the popularity—all of it. That used to be me." Julia paused, trying to work up her nerve. "The bullying," she added quietly.

Will didn't say anything but watched her closely.

"And of course, there was a guy," Julia said, slightly relieved that Will hadn't kicked her out after her last confession. "His name's Dustin. And we were on and off and on and off. And maybe he's a bad guy, maybe he's just a jerk. I don't know. But that's what we were fighting about."

"Who's we?"

"Me and my parents," Julia said, her voice hollow. "They didn't like him, never did, and I had just gotten back together with him. He was throwing a party that night at his house, and I wanted to go, but they said no." Julia paused, swallowed hard, then continued. "And I said that they didn't ever want me to have fun, and they just wanted to make my life miserable."

Julia took a few deep breaths. "And, I don't know how but they were just so calm. They took whatever I said and just let it go right through them. Neither of them reacted. At all. And I just kept yelling and screaming like a toddler. And my dad, he was driving, and he never got angry. He should have gotten angry, but didn't." She stopped.

"It's okay, Julia," Will said quietly. "Take your time."

Julia swallowed hard again and nodded. "And my mom was telling me again that I couldn't go, and I started to kick up a fuss again, and then my dad, he just yells. He yells out, 'Jules!' And that was it. Next thing I know, someone was dragging me out of the car."

Will looked sick. "Jesus, Julia, I, I don't even know what to say."

"My friend, Alicia, or at least, I thought she was my friend, she saw the whole thing." Julia had cast her gaze down to Will's floor. "She just happened to be at the intersection, there was a Starbucks there that's popular with the kids at my school. And all I remember is her holding on to me, trying to keep me awake. But they were gone."

The pair sat in silence for a moment. "And the worst part of it," Julia finished, her voice barely above a hoarse whisper, "is that I don't know if my dad yelled my name because he saw the car coming, or if because he was, in that one moment, distracted, and yelled at me in anger." Finally, she brought her gaze back up to Will's.