Watercolor Road ✔

Chapter 23: The End of the Beginning

The pair had an unspoken agreement the next dayto not talk about anything that happened the night before until they reached the comfort of Tina's. True to his word, Will had texted Julia the previous night, telling her he had gotten home, and again when he was going to bed. Julia felt relieved to receive them, but they did little to calm her mind. After her conversation with Rory, she stayed up almost all night, thinking of California, of her parents, of Alan Hall.

The two of them sat at their usual table at Tina's, still not speaking, until Tina brought them the weekend brunch menu and they ordered. Tina, sensing the tension, looked worried but didn't pry.

"How were things when you got home last night?" Julia finally asked.

Will shrugged. "My parents were busy talking to the last few guests. I assumed they had no desire to say anything to me, so I just went to my room. They were gone this morning." Will shrugged again at Julia's questioning look. "No idea," he said, "they always seem to have something to do."

Silence fell once again.

"You gotta talk to me, Will," Julia finally prodded. "Because I know you won't talk to anyone else. What happened while I was gone last night?"

Will scoffed, but his eyes looked empty. "More of the same, really, just you weren't there so my mother felt she could go on more about me. My soccer and my grades, all the different schools I had gotten into that were good but not as good as Georgetown." He shook his head. "And all I could think of were the arguments my parents would get into with Macy."

He paused and took a sip of orange juice from a glass that had arrived at the table virtually unnoticed. Julia waited for him to continue silently.

"She was smart, and talented, and popular," Will continued. "And like with me, our parents had their own ideas about what her life should be like, even though she was only in high school. And they used to argue and yell and scream about it, like, all the time. They just put so much pressure on her." He paused.

"But she also had problems. I remember there were some days where she wasn't there. Like, she went through her day and did everything she was supposed to, but she didn't enjoy anything. She didn't hate anything either, there was just nothing. And my parents weren't around enough to see the patterns, and she definitely wouldn't reach out to them for help. And then..." Will's eyes were unnaturally bright.

"So, when you felt the same pressure coming on to you that she was subjected to..."

"I snapped," Will finished Julia's thought. "Especially after everything she was saying about you, I just couldn't take it. I guess I've always kind of blamed them, even though I know I shouldn't." He looked down at his lap.

"But, you're okay, though?" Julia still couldn't get Will's comment about ending up like Macy out of her mind. "Like, actually, okay?"

"Yeah," Will said. "Really, I am. I'm sorry I worried you. I know I shouldn't have said what I said, no matter how angry I was at them. I was just so pissed."

Julia nodded. "Well, I don't want you to worry about me. It takes a lot more than what your mother said to upset me. You know that."

"Still doesn't make it right," Will said moodily.

Julia couldn't argue with him there.

"Well, that's me," Will said. "Your turn. What was that phone call all about?"

Their food had just arrived, and Julia took a chunk out of her pancakes before going through everything again. "It was from Officer Ramirez," she said, "one of the officers who responded to the crash." She told him about the phone call and Alan Hall. "I stayed up half the night talking to Rory," she continued, "and the second half lying in bed thinking about it on my own."