May 14th, 1974
3:07 A.M.
McClanahan Residence
"Robbie! Robert, wake up now!"
Robbie sat up with a jolt, the sound of his mother's panicked voice waking him out of a deep sleep. His room was dark, it had to be the middle of the night. He could barely make out his mother's figure in front of him before his eyes adjusted and he saw her grief-stricken face.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked, breathless and scared.
"You need to come downstairs," his mother said urgently. Without another word, she quickly exited his bedroom, adjusting the cloth belt of her robe around her. He stared after her for a second, not entirely sure that he wasn't dreaming. Figuring it was better to be safe than sorry, he got out of bed, stepping into his slippers and putting on a robe. As he exited his room and made his way down the steps, he could see the glow of the living room lights. He heard low voices, and it suddenly dawned on him that this wasn't a dream. Something disastrous must've happened to convince his mother that it couldn't wait until morning. Could it be his grandparents? Or his great aunt Ruth? Thoughts of elderly family members rushed through his head until he made it into the living room and saw Herb and Patti Brooks sitting on the edge of their sofa. He knew instantly.
It was Julia.
Robbie stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his dark brow furrowed in confusion. Herb sat perched on the sofa, his head in his hands. Patti sat beside him, her eyes red and puffy. His parents stood in front of the fireplace, their faces wrinkled with concern.
"What's going on?" Robbie asked the adults, who all turned their attention to him.
"Robbie, have you seen Julia?" Patti asked quickly, a fleeting sense of hope in her voice. She and Herb had shown up at the McClanahans hoping to find their niece, but when a confused Robbie entered the room, they knew it was useless. He clearly wasn't harboring a runaway in his room.
"Not since this morning," he told them honestly. Earlier that day, he and Julie had risen with the sun to go fishing. Julie bragged the whole way home about catching more fish than Robbie, something she had never accomplished. He would never tell her that he had felt a fish on his hook on his very last cast of the morning, but hadn't hooked and reeled it in, purely to let his friend win their competition for once.
The adults in the room all visibly deflated, shaking their heads.
"Why? What happened?" Robbie demanded when no one explained to him why they were looking for his best friend.
"We got into an argument after dinner. She went to her room and we didn't hear a peep out of her the rest of the night. I couldn't sleep, so I got up to check on her about an hour ago. She's not at the house," Herb explained quietly. He didn't sound nearly as emotional as his body language exposed.
"Most of her clothes are gone. One of the suitcases is missing," Patti explained, fresh tears falling down her face.
"We were hoping maybe she came here. Or contacted you," Herb suggested, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"She didn't contact me at all," Robbie said quietly, shaking his head. Could she have really just run off like that?
"We went to the bus station and the train station. She wasn't at either one. No one even recognized her picture," Patti cried. Beverly moved to grab a tissue from the box on the coffee table, handing one to Patti. Patti dabbed at her eyes, shaking her head.
"Where else could she have gone?" Beverly asked quietly. She looked to her son, hoping he would have an idea.
"She's friends with Linda Carmichael. Maybe she knew you guys would come looking here first," Robbie suggested, trying to remain positive.
"I'll get the phone book," Paul offered, going to the kitchen to get the book.
"I'll make coffee," Beverly said, following her husband.
Robbie was now left alone with Patti and Herb, but he barely took notice. All three of them were wrapped up in their own thoughts. Robbie was trying not to be hurt that his best friend would take off without warning, but he couldn't help but be offended that she wouldn't have fled to his house. Could she really leave town without saying goodbye to her best friend? Maybe she left him a note in the mailbox? Yeah, she must've. Without a word to anyone, he ran outside. He was sure that he would open up the mailbox and find a note explaining everything to him. He rushed through the warm summer air, opening the mailbox so fast he nearly tore the door off. His heart dropped as he was met with nothing but emptiness. He closed the mailbox, counted to three, and then opened it again. It seemed like a cruel prank that he was once again met with empty, black nothingness. He looked up to the dark, endless sky wondering exactly where his friend was, and what the sky she was below looked like. He hoped they were at least looking up at the same stars and the same moon, but a sick feeling told Robbie that she was an entire universe away already.
"Hi, Sherry. It's Patti Brooks," Robbie heard as he made his way back into the house. "I am so sorry to bother you at this hour, but it seems Julia has turned up missing. We were just calling to make sure she wasn't at your house with Linda."
Patti paused, biting her lip. The entire room was quiet, waiting in agonizing silence for what seemed like forever. After a minute or two, Patti nodded, her face falling flat.
"Okay. Thank you for checking. Yes, thank you. Good night," Patti hung up the phone, shaking her head. Everyone sighed loudly.
"What now?" Robbie asked, looking to his father for an answer.
"Should we contact the police?" Beverly suggested.
"We already tried. She has to be missing for twenty-four hours until she's classified as missing," Herb mumbled. No one said anything for a few minutes. The adults sipped on coffee, their faces making it clear that their minds were somewhere else. Robbie sat down on the bottom step, trying not to shake the feeling of betrayal he had.
Clearly whatever had gone on had upset Julie, but that didn't mean she had to take it on him. He always knew that one day she was going to leave Minnesota, and she probably wouldn't do it in the most responsible way. He had always hoped she would've been much older when it happened. Sixteen years old wasn't really ready to take on the world. In Robbie's head, part of her leaving always involved her begging him to join her. He always knew that he wouldn't, he wanted to go to the U to play hockey, but that wouldn't stop Julie from giving him her infamous pout and trying to paint a verbal picture of all the amazing adventures they could have if they only left together. Robbie never imagined that she would actually leave without even saying goodbye, let alone asking him to join her. He didn't know what was going to happen, but Julie was sixteen, clever, and determined to get what she wanted in life. He doubted he would be seeing her back in Minnesota for a long time.
A whole two weeks had gone by since that dreadful night in the living room. Herb and Patti had contacted the police, who searched for Julie for about a week. Robbie couldn't walk through town without seeing his best friend's face staring at him from the 'Have You Seen Me?' posters plastered everywhere. It was always fame that Julia wanted, and she certainly had it now. The police didn't search much, simply deciding she was a runaway. Herb spent all his spare time driving around the state, showing a picture of Julia to every small diner waitress or train station ticket clerk that would take the time to look at it. Rob could feel the kids from school staring at him during the last lonely weeks of his sophomore year. Everyone knew that his best friend was missing, but Rob refused to let everyone see how bothered he was by it. He didn't miss a single class or homework assignment. He went on long runs after school and read books late into the night. It was during a snack break of one of these late night reading sessions in the end of May that the telephone rang. Robbie was in the kitchen grabbing an apple when the shrill ring cut through the night. The ringing of the phone always seemed so much louder at night. He wasn't sure who would be calling so late, but he had a feeling it was probably bad news. Regardless, he grabbed the phone, quickly bringing it to his ear.
"McClanahan residence," he said quietly, hoping his family had managed to sleep through the phone ringing.
"Oh, thank goodness you're the one who picked up," a voice sighed.
"Julia," Robbie gasped, dropping the apple on the floor.
"Hi, Mac," she said softly. "Look, long distance is expensive so I won't keep you long. I know you're probably really mad at me, and you have every right to be."
"You'd be correct," Rob said bitingly. Now that the initial shock of hearing his best friend's voice was wearing off, he was reminded that she ran away in the middle of the night, leaving everyone absolutely dumbfounded at her absence.
"I'm sorry I left the way I did, but I just had to go. I wanted to come say goodbye, but I was worried that you would've tried to talk me out of it," Julie explained. She had a point there, he absolutely would've stopped her.
"Where are you?" He asked her, ignoring her last statement. She paused, before sighing.
"I'm in Los Angeles."
"Julia! You're in Los Angeles? California? This is a new level of irresponsible," he chastised.
"I got a job here. I'm waitressing. I'm staying at this motel, but I'm going to look for apartments next week," she told him quickly. He almost dropped the phone out of his hand.
"A job? An apartment?" He repeated. "Are you crazy? You need to come home."
"I'm not coming home," she insisted.
"You've officially gone crazy," Rob told her. He was trying not to raise his voice, but sometimes Julie's lack of rationality nearly drove him to insanity.
"Are Herb and Patti mad?" Julie asked, changing the subject. Rob laughed out loud.
"You didn't seriously ask that, did you? Everyone's been worried sick. I'm sure as soon as everyone gets over their initial relief that you're safe, they'll be ready to blow a gasket," Robbie told her.
"I really am sorry. I know I hurt everyone. I know I hurt you. I didn't mean to, but I wasn't thinking about that when I left."
Rob wanted to curse the way his heart softened when he heard how sincere she was. He knew that she rarely did anything with malicious intent, it was more of a thoughtlessness that got her into trouble.
"I know. I'm glad you're okay. I still can't believe you think you're not coming back," he chuckled.
"I'm not, Mac. You wait and see," she insisted. He couldn't help but smile a little bit at the determination in her voice.
"Have you called Herb and Patti?"
"No. I'm scared. I wanted to call you first."
"Julia Rose Brooks, if you don't call them in the morning, I'll go straight there and tell them," Rob threatened. They both knew that he meant it.
"I will, I swear. I don't want you to be stuck with a secret. I just thought you might wanna know I'm not dead."
"I'm very happy to hear that you're not dead," he assured her.
"I've gotta get going. I miss you, Robbie."
"Yeah, Jules. I miss you, too."