"Friendship is not about who you've known from the longest or who you hang out with, it's about who walked into your life, said 'Hey, I'm here for you' and proved it. My friends proved it."
Everyone has secrets and Julie has one that has been eating...
Valentine's day formed a few new couples. Even after a week, Noah and Laura couldn't keep their hands off of each other. They were overly sweet, both wanting to make sure the other was pleased.
I still didn't know who had sent me that creepy note. I was almost certain it wasn't Manson, but you never know. Maybe he asked someone to do it, just to mess up with me, but I don't think he would waste his time with that. He wouldn't do something if he didn't win anything from it. But for vengeance?
But how was this vengeance?
Could it be someone else? But who?
Roses are red, Violets are blue, no matter where you are I'll always find you.
Who would write that? It wasn't romantic at all. I had to think of whom would want to find me and why...
"What's wrong?" Nick's voice caught my attention.
"Nothing."
He held my gaze for a moment, pressing me to share my thoughts with him, but I didn't bulge. He let out a weary sigh before turning his attention back to the lesson. What could I say? Someone I didn't know sent me a creepy note and I am lowkey scared? Maybe it was a ghost, haunting me.
I smiled at that thought but then remembered the ghost I had been running from all of my life.
Anthony...
That thought made something tilt in my brain. An old memory I had forgotten about. But it couldn't be, could it?
When I got to my locker later, I found another note. My heart skipped a bit as I read the words. This time I knew for sure it wasn't a lover's note but a stalker's.
Tik Tok on the clock
It's raining, it's pouring.
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he bumped his head.
And couldn't get up in the morning.
I tried to keep my cool. The message had escalated, and this note was a lot more violent than the one before. Only someone who'd hate me would do something like that, but who would hate me like that? I've never hurt anyone who hadn't hurt me first.
Could Rebeca be the author?
She's the only one I can think of having a grudge against me. She doesn't seem to be the type to write menacing notes though.
I took a deep breath. It didn't matter. It was probably a vicious prank from someone who had nothing better to do with their lives.
Justin, maybe? What happened at that party could have hurt his ego. Maybe he wanted to get back at me for it... But he was one of the guys who got a girlfriend during valentine's day, why waste his time on this.
The next morning, I was greeted with yet another note. This person was becoming persistent, and it was starting to worry me a little bit.
Ladybug, ladybug fly away home,
Your house is on fire,
Your children will burn,
Except for the little one.
Was I supposed to take this as a threat to my family? My friends?
My hands were shaking as I put the note inside of my Spanish book. I closed the locker and took a deep breath before heading to the restroom. Trying to look cool in case the author was watching me. Why were they doing this to me?
At lunch I kept silent, trying to figure out who wrote the notes and why. I thought of so many scenarios but none of them made sense. Could they be directed at someone else? Maybe they were put in my locker by mistake? Maybe they thought it belonged to their actual target. That meant someone else could be in danger, right?
My friends noticed my change but didn't press me to say what was wrong. Instead, they tried to distract me with karaoke parties, movie sessions, board games, whatever we did for fun. It worked, but only while we were doing it. Once I got home, or during class, the wheels in my head kept running.
On my way to therapy, I pondered talking about it. But what good would that do? It would only worry my parents for no reason since I had no viable suspects. To clear my head, I decided to go to the ice cream shop after therapy.
On my way there I started hearing steps behind me. I accelerated my pace and felt the person behind keeping up with me.
No matter where you are I'll always find you.
A hand reached my shoulder and I turned ready to fight.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You're Julie, right? Do you remember me? I'm Nick's mother," the woman, Claire, said. My heart almost exploded. I took a deep breath and forced a smile.
"I do, yes. Sorry, I was startled."
"Oh no, I'm sorry. I saw you from across the street and wanted to say hello. Would you like to have coffee with me?" I shifted awkwardly and pondered the offer. How mad would Nick get if he knew about this?
"I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry."
"That's okay. Where do you want to go?"
We went to a small coffee shop nearby. Claire jumped right in. She asked me about Nick, I told her he was fine. She let out a weary sigh before tears started falling from her eyes.
"I messed up. I should have never left him behind," she admitted in between sobs. "But I couldn't offer him the life his father could at that time."
"You could have called though," I pointed.
"I was afraid that if I did, I would go back."
"Would that be so bad?"
"Yes." Her answer was so certain that I wondered what could have been so bad. Was Nick's father violent? If so, how could she leave her son with him and believe he would have a better life?
"I felt suffocated back then. I married young you see. Mark was starting out his career and I got pregnant. He had to dedicate himself to building that career and I had to take care of Nick. No one forced us, it's just that at that time it seemed to be the best solution. I gave up college and my dream of becoming a businesswoman. Every year I postponed it. There was always something preventing me, a new job offer, a new promotion for Mark, and it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore. I felt that my life wasn't mine to live. My husband was never home, drowning in work, and I thought of why I was the one who had to give up on my dreams. I felt it was unfair, and one day I just couldn't take it anymore..." she confessed.
"I'm not saying this to justify my mistake. There's no excuse, but I want you to understand. I want Nick to understand that I didn't leave because I didn't love him or because of him. I left in spite of him. It was selfish but I had to do it. And now I've done it, and I wish I could say that I regret it, but I don't. I realized my dream. The only thing I regret is leaving Nick behind, but I didn't know better."
I sort of understood her; however, I knew she hurt Nick immensely. She wanted to make amends, but I don't think he would be open to it. Nonetheless, after our conversation I promised her, I would talk to him about it. Maybe they could meet up and talk. Nick could hear her out and decide later how to feel about it.
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