JULIA
Last night at the party, Melinda asked me help her clean up the next morning before her parents got back from a trip. Mel and I don't have alot in common but the one thing we do have in common is absent parents. Melinda's parents are both successful Conneticut real estate agents and created a joint agency together after they got married. When I was a bit younger, Keith and Sophie always seemed like the "cool parents". They let us watch R rated movies when we were pre-teens, they cursed around us, they snuck in alcohol in our cups when our parents weren't looking at us at dinner parties. But as an almost young adult I see them for who they really are now. They are just careless parents, is what they are. I should know, I have a pair myself.
When I get inside the house, its absolutely trashed. Red cups all over the place, unknown liquids on the floors, toilet paper flung over the living room, the living room couch flipped, multiple broken vases. Fuck. There was muffled rock music coming from (most probably Melinda's bedroom), and that just hit my last nerve.
"Melinda!" I yelled in frustration. "Get your tiny ass in here!"
I heard the music turn off, the opening and closing of a door and then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The dull-eyed ginger dressed in light blue fine silk pyjamas roamed her eyes around the living room and released an almost comical shocked scream.
"Oh my gosh! Mom's gonna kill me", her eyes zero in on a pink broken vase and she points at the broken pieces "That's an antique china vase my dead grandma gave us. How the hell am I going to fix that?"
"We can always just hot glue it all together. How many times do your parents even look or touch it?"
She thinks about it for a few moments. "They never really touch it but they like looking at and it being there and now it's in pieces. Great. I mean you know how they like not being at home so I doubt if they'll notice its absence".
There was a slight bitterness and touch of sadness to her voice.
"So should we glue it or get rid of it?"
"Let's get rid of it" she released a heavy sigh. "If they ask about the vase I'll pin it on that useless Vanessa".
I raised an eyebrow and she realised I didn't understand.
"Vanessa's the new maid we got a month ago. She's super incompetent and she gets on all our nerves all the time. So I'll pin it on her and say she broke it. I'm sure my parents will gladly get rid of her"
I released a forced chuckle before speaking. "Where is she right now?"
"She's in the staff quarters on the other side of the house. I told her last night if she wanted to keep her job she would have to stay there all night" she smirked to herself then started picking up the red cups. "We better start cleaning up right now or else we'll never get this mess out of the way"
I nodded and got to work with her. We finished the ground floor portion of the house after a hour and a half and then the second and third after three hours. In between all of that, we got take-out food to eat while we made sure every spot of the house looked clean and neat. By the time we were done with everything, the mansion looked sparkly and as good as new. Melinda and I, with our weary and tired expressions, sat on the clean living room couch with a loud sigh, propping our feet on the coffee table infront of us.
"Don't ever make me clean up with you after one of your wild parties again" I said, my hands and legs felt numb.
"And I should ask mommy and daddy for another maid and make her do that stuff for me" she replied, the remaining blue eyeshadow from last night gilmmering on her lids.
Almost like she summoned them, I heard a noise come through from what sounded like the front door. Chatter that seemed to be radiating with excitement and joy. The green-eyed girl and I made eye contact, our eyes wide with anxiety and fear. We almost immediately took our feet off the table. The echo of heels coming toward the living room drained out the pumping of my heart. It was Sophie.
"Hey kiddos you look tired. Did Melinda throw one of her parties again?" she added the last part with amusement.
We nervously giggled, casting awkward glances back and forth. I hate being so guilty for something so obvious.
"No no no she didn't anything of the sort. We watched uhm . . . movies all night that's the only reason we look so tired" I claimed, with a nervous smile and a doubtful tone.
"Yeah mom. I'm almost an adult. I don't do teenage shenanigans anymore" Melinda added onto my comment with an air of fake confidence.
"Sure thing sweetie", the ginger-haired woman said like she didn't believe us at all "Julia, Are you staying for lunch because I was thinking we could all go to that new Italian cuisine restaurant in SoHo. My friends have been raving about it and I've been dying to try it out. It could be like a girls lunch out. What do you say?"
I exchanged an unsure look with Melinda before speaking up.
"Uh no I've go to go. I'm helping my mom with some stuff. I'm sorry Sophie maybe some other time?" I lied while getting up from the sofa and cramming my hands in the deep pockets of my jeans.
"Oh yes I heard about the divorce. Is Doria okay? I haven't heard from her in a while" Sophie asked, with genuine concern.
Melinda looked at me with pitiful and empathic eyes; I didn't tell her about any of it but now she knows.
I'm suprised at first but I quickly mask that emotion with a look of reassurance. "She's doing fine. She's working things out for herself. She just needs time to be alone"
"What about your dad? Where is he going?" her forehead wrinkles prominent as her eyebrows creased.
"He's going to be moving to Hartford in a few days. He's moving his business consultancy there too" my voice cracks at the end of it and I suddenly felt extremely vulnerable.
How many other people know about the divorce?
"Anyways I have to leave. Bye Sophie and Melinda" I rushed it out, before making my way out of the house.
Replays of the conversation looped in my head while I walked by the giant angel water fountain in front of the house. I got in my car and threw my head back with a annoyed groan. This is all their fault. I'm so angry at them for getting a divorce yet I also believe it was the best decision for the both of them. Life is contradictory. I just wish I wasn't the one to be the pick up the pieces of the messy adults that are my parents.
Keeping secrets from my mother and father, being the product of their then marriage, the trauma of having such emotionally absent parents in my most important years - it's all catching up to me and I hate it. I hate it with an imaginable fury and a solemn sadness. I could feel my phone vibrating in my jean pocket, so I grabbed the object and checked who was calling. It was mom. I immediately declined the call, ran a hand through my hair and got far away from Melinda's house.
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With an empty mind, I arrived at Aurora's house. I needed to taste Rory's soft lips, needed to feel those hips under my hands, needed to hear her sweet and breathy voice. My safe space. There was no way in hell I was going back home to my mother and her bad habits. It's useless talking to her. However, I still feel bad for her because I don't think she deserved such a shitty husband and lover like my father. I ring the bell and desperately wait until I hear the door open and its not Aurora but an older woman who looks like her clone.
"Hi Mrs.Conway. I'm Julia. I'm here to see Aur-" I give my hand for her to shake but instead she turns it into a hug.
"Oh so you must be the girlfriend" she's got the same bump on her nose like Rory "You are a hot topic in our house young lady"
"A good topic or bad one?"
"Mmmm depends", she chuckled at her own sarcasm before letting me inside the humble abode. "My name is Susana, so don't say any of that Mrs.Conway bullshit. Makes me feel old."
I chuckled, taken aback by her humour and personality in a good way. The woman's husky and crisp voice led me to the living room where the twin brothers and Aurora were all intensely engrossed with the movie playing on tv until I spoke up. Rory is wearing a short-sleeved basic blue tee that slightly exposes her stomach and black sweatpants. Her bright blue eyes shimmer in the floursescent lights in the room; captivating and trusting.
"Hey guys" I greeted them, when their heads turned with an excitement.
"Hey Julia" the twin brothers replied before getting back to their movie.
"Julia, hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, as the brunnete a smile tugging on her lips.
"I need to talk to you. Alone." the stony and serious expression on my face made Rory frown.
The girl mumbled an okay before getting up from the couch, holding my hand and dragging me upstairs. I could feel her mom's eyes watch us from behind, and that made me a bit nervous.
"Don't close the door Aurora"
Rory's cheeks flared up from the comment. "Okay, mom"
As soon as we got into her bedroom, I placed a hand on the brunnete's waist and kissed her pillowy lips. Taken aback by the force of the kiss, the girl moaned in my mouth and used my bicep for support. She pulled back from the kiss to touch my face with her delicate hand and I leaned into her touch.
"Seriously though what's wrong?", the blue-eyed girl looked me right in the eyes with so much concern it made my heart skip a beat. "You seem really sad"
"So this is your bedroom. It's cute", I looked around her hot pink colored bedroom filled with things like books and family photos. "Aw you were such a cute little baby"
"You didn't answer my question Julia" desperation clouded her eyes and it hurt because more than anything I want to tell her what I'm feeling. "You can talk to me. You did say you wanted to talk to me. So talk"
Aurora sat on the bed and patted the place next to her for me to sit on. Hesitantly, I sat next to her and decided to keep my eyes straight forward.
"It isn't easy for me to say these things because I never really had a person to let me speak when I wanted to. So I never did", she didn't say anything so I continued "My parents are as you know divorced and my dad is going away to Hartford in a few days and I-"
I choke on my words and Rory starts rubbing my back. Unshed tears threatened my dignity and were ready to spill
down my face.
"I don't know how to deal with all of this. This shit that my parents created for me to clean up on my own. How the hell am I going to get closure if no one in my house even speaks to each other? Emma tells me to talk to the student counsellor. The student counsellor tells me to meditate and talk to my family about my issues more and for obvious reasons I am never planning on doing that because as if they would even listen. I'm lost. I'm a lost teenager. I'm turning fucking eighteen in April but I still feel like a child. A gullible and lost teenage child" I tucked my head in the crook of her shoulder spilling out my every current feeling, while Rory continously rubbed my back.
The comfort of her being there for me was indescribable and made me also feel immensely grateful yet also guilty.
"You know you don't have to do this for me," I removed my head from her shoulder and looked her in the eyes "You're not my therapist. You're my girlfriend"
The blue-eyed girl looked right back at me with the same intense stare and it slightly startled me.
"There is "friend" in "girlfriend" for a reason plus this is healthy for you to do. If you feel like this again feel free to come and open up to me. It's better to do that than wallow up these unwanted feelings in your mind"
"Yeah your right", I blinked back my tears and my eyes flickered to her lips "That shirt looks really good on you"
I played with the hem of her short shirt, while looking at her eyes and watched her bite her lower lip. She came closer to me, her lips just an inch away from mine.
"Well why don't you help me to take it off?" she smirked, that question surprised and excited the living daylight out of me.
I was about to do just that when her mother barged in through the door. Our cheeks turned red as we readjusted our hands to where they should be. Susana noticed that and smiled like she knew exactly we were about to do before she came in.
"Julia would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked smiling, as she leaned on the door with her arms crossed.
"Uhm sure" I awkwardly giggled, nervous and fidgety with my hands.
"Great! Hope you like lasagna" she said before leaving us alone again.
"You know you don't need to stay for dinner if you don't want to. Don't feel pressured" Rory said getting up from the bed as soon as I did.
"No its fine besides I need to get filled in on all the new things in Liam and Chris' lives. They talk alot for their age" I chuckled, while making my way downstairs and noticing all the childhood photos stuck on the walls.
"So we've all noticed that" she scrunched her nose and it was the adorable I have ever seen, a chuckle escaped her mouth at the expression.
◇
We ended up talking alot at the dinner table from pop culture to music to movies and so on and so forth. It was nice feeling welcomed and appreciated yet I couldn't shake the gut feeling off that I was still feeling sad. When I realised that feeling sitting there, I masked it up with a wobbly smile not that it did too much since I felt my girlfriend squeeze my hand and give me a reassured look. I'm walking towards my car when I feel a delicate hand enclose around my wrist, I knew this was Aurora without even having to turn around.
"I know your still feeling like shit" she tried to make me laugh and it worked. "Back there at the dinner table. You seemed spaced out a few times"
"Understatement of the century", I murmured "I thought I would feel better seeing you and it did but I still feel tired. Of everything"
She nodded with understanding and locked eye contact with me before giving me a quick kiss on the lips. Even for that one second, my heart went on overdrive. This girl manages to make me feel every single emotion in the span of just a moment. Aurora slid her hand down the valley of my chest, licked her lips and looked up at me with her earnest and soulful eyes, giving me the consolation and comfort I have secretly longed for.
"Just call me if you wanna talk. About anything", I knew she wanted to say more but the girl kept her mouth shut instead. "I think my mom's watching us"
My eyes went wide by the weird direction the conversation suddenly took. "Really?"
I looked in all the windows of the house until I saw the peeping head "hiding" behind the curtains of a window upstairs.
"Well I guess that means I have to say goodbye now or else your mom's going tease you about this" I emphasised on the "this" by pointing my finger toward the both of us.
"Bye then" she smiled and chuckled, removing her hand from my chest and taking a step.
I bid her a goodbye and got in my car. It was hard not to steer the wheel in any other direction besides home but I knew the trouble I'd be in if I didn't wake up in my own bed in the morning. Guess it's time to go home then, I think with my heavy eyebags and dull eyes.
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A.N. : chapter 14 is done!! im listening to high by the beach by lana del rey rn. i love lana del rey. anyways, i wanted to show how julia doesn't want to face her problems and instead runs away which is a response from the emotional trauma her absent parents brought julia in her formative years. also there's some cute rory and julia moments which i love. i love writing their scenes alot. hope you enjoyed this chapter ♡