My heart was thumping loudly in my chest because the stranger sat next to me was Braxton Ford. I didn't know how I didn't recognize him before, having looked at his pictures, heard the girls in my school fangirling over him, listened to their music and liked it.
I attributed it to my fright of the paparazzi crowd which were no doubt outside the library because of Braxton.
He hadn't said a single word since he started driving but I was looking at him every now and then, unable to keep my eyes off of the pop sensation from the band Astronomical Beats who had stolen millions of hearts with his singing and his skills with drums.
"I-Where are you taking me?" I asked but he looked over at me questioningly and I cleared my throat, willing my voice to be little louder because he hadn't heard me the first time. "Where are you taking me?"
"My house." He replied, as if it explained everything. "We have a lot to talk about."
I didn't know what he wanted to talk to me about when he barely knew me. This was the first time we were meeting but he behaved as if he had known me for quite some time. I remembered back in the library when he referred to me as Juliet.
"Please just drop me off here. Thank you for saving me from those people." I said politely as I waited for him to stop the car.
He didn't. "I'm not going to let you go anywhere. Not when it's unsafe for you to be out here alone and when the country is in uproar because you ran away for home."
My eyes widened. The whole country knew that I ran away from home? Braxton Ford, one of the band members of Astronomical Beats knew I ran away?
"How did you know?"
He rolled his eyes. "How can anyone not? You're all over the news."
"I am?" My voice was the loudest it had ever been.
"Why? I'm no one famous..." I trailed off.
"Let's just talk when we get home. Or do you want me to drop you off directly at your house?"
I shook my head wildly. That was the last place I wanted to be at. "Please, don't take me there." I pleaded.
"Hey, hey," he said softly, noticing my distressed expression. "I'm not going to take you there, okay? I'll just take you to my house. Is that alright?"
I went to shake my head. "Please just let me get off here. There's no reason for you to take me to your home."
He gripped the steering wheel firmly. "I'm not going to let you wander around alone. I'm taking you to my house and that's it." His voice had a tone if finality in it and he didn't want me to argue with me over this further.
"Sorry." I mumbled but I doubted he heard me because he didn't respond.
I made myself small in the passenger seat and kept quiet for the rest of the ride.
Eventually he pulled into the driveway and I looked up to see a huge house. It was magnificent and nothing like what I had ever seen.
I was gawking at it with my nose pressed to the car's window and I didn't even realize when Braxton got out and opened the door for me.
I immediately scrambled out of the car. "You didn't...have to do that...for me." I said timidly, looking in his direction from the corner of my eyes but not meeting his gaze as I nervously played with my back strap.
"You're different than what I remember of you." He said uncomfortably which only confused me. "Let's just go inside."
"I...don't think that's a good idea. I shouldn't."
He put a hand on my shoulder which startled me and I cowered back from his touch. "Please come inside. We have to talk." He reminded me, awkwardly lowering his hand.
He seemed adamant on having this 'talk' with me and so I decided it was best to hear him out on what he wanted to say before taking my leave.
He led me into the living room of his bachelor pad while I couldn't help but stare at everything we passed by. It made me feel a lot self conscious and I involuntarily tugged at my shirt and looked at my clothing to see if there was anything dirty on it.
He handed me a glass of water that he got from the kitchen and I accepted it by profusely thanking him for it.
He gestured for me to sit on the couch and I did so reluctantly, occupying the corner and making sure I wasn't using too much space to sit on.
He sat on my side as he watched me drink my water which made me uncomfortable so much so that some water spilled down on my clothes.
"I'm so sorry. I-I'll clean it up for you." I panicked. Some of the water that I spilled had also fallen on the floor and has wet the side of the carpet.
"Calm down." He said as he took the empty glass from me and set it on the coffee table. "Now will you please tell me why you ran away? It doesn't make sense. As far as I know you, you've had everything you could ever ask for and even if you asked for something, you'd get it without a doubt." He put a hand on my knee. "I know we aren't really close and that we've only just hung out a few times but if there's something going on, you can tell me."
He looked at me expectantly, waiting for a response while I just squirmed in my seat, not knowing what to say to that.
"C-Can I ask you something?" I said finally.
"Of course," he replied, retracting his hand and resting his forearm on his thigh.
"Uh...who are you talking about?"
His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "You obviously."
"And what's my name?"
"Juliet?" He said, sounding more like a question.
I shook my head at him. "My name is Julia."
"What?" He took out his phone and typed something. "Did I get your name wrong all this time?" Then after a few moments, he turned the screen towards me. "Who are trying to lie to? Your name is Juliet Jenson. What, is Julia your fake name you go by to not get recognized?"
I couldn't reply to him as my eyes stayed glued to his phone. There was a news article about a billionaire's daughter, Juliet Jenson who ran away from home on the same day as I had. I looked so much like her and that was why I couldn't stop staring at the woman. We could easily pass for twins except she was a hundred times beautiful than I was. All her photos had her looking mesmerizing in makeup while I on the other hand never wore makeup.
"I'm not her." I whispered but he was able to hear me.
"What?"
"Braxton, I'm not her. I'm Julia Sanders. I look a lot like her. But I'm no billionaire's daughter."
He looked visibly confused as his eyes flickered between me and the woman in the photo. "I mean with makeup you'd look exactly like her. Who are you trying to fool?"
"No, I'm saying the truth. I'm really not her. Please believe me."
He narrowed his eyes at me and I looked away, not able to look at him in the eye. He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "I can't believe you."
"I don't know how to prove it to you." I said quietly, looking down at the water I spilled. "Tell me how she was like and if something contradicts me then I'll tell you."
"Hmm...well she can't speak five sentences without a curse word."
"I never curse." I said quickly. "You must've noticed."
"But with a lot of willpower, you can control your tongue, so no that's not a valid reason." He said with a flick of his finger as if crossing it off of an imaginary list. "So next, she's damn good at fighting. She has learnt taekwondo, boxing, sword fighting and knows calisthenics. She has a short temper so she learnt these from a young age to channel her anger somewhere else."
"I don't know any of them."
"Let's put that to test, shall we?"
My eyes widened. "No, I-"
Before I could finish my sentence, he rose out of his chair and raised a fist in the air before I saw it coming my way.
"No!" I screamed, dropping to the ground with shaking legs, trying to get away before I got hurt. My eyes watered and tears began to flow as I cowered back from fear with my hands in front of me to take the blow. My back hit the back of the coffee table and I brought my knees to my chest, shuddering in anticipation of the hit. My hands shook as I tried to shield my face and head.
"Please, don't hurt me." I whispered, weeping silently.
"Julia." Braxton whispered from a distance as he crouched down to my level. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." He extended a hand in my direction as he indicated for me to calm down.
He made a small move to get close and I pressed myself closer to the table in response all the while begging for him to not hurt me.
"It's okay. You're safe. Nobody's going to hurt you." He whispered soothingly.
I felt myself weaken as stress and hunger caught up to me. I hadn't had breakfast, figuring that if I skipped some meals, I'd be able to save more money. So it was no surprise to me when I felt my body give in to the exhaustion and drag me into a dark abyss but not before two arms caught me before I fell to my doom.
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