It took me some time before I snapped back to the present and looked around the dark van. The windows were tinted black and it felt like I was being kidnapped all over again.
I felt a presence next to me and turned my head to see a heavily built man. I hadn't seen the man before and didn't know who he was. He was probably the one who pulled me into the van.
Right in front of me was another person. I noticed it was a female. She was typing away something on her phone, barely acknowledging my presence.
Just as I was about to speak, or yell for help, she put her phone down and grinned down at me.
"Hi, you must be Julie James, am I right?" She asked. I was dumbfounded. She knew who I really was? But I didn't know her at all.
I hesitated before responding. "No."
She waved a hand in the air. "Don't bother lying to me, please. I very well know you are Julie James."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Amelia! Didn't Heather say anything about me?" She
After that all of them started to pour out of my room slowly. Antonio ruffled my hair before going and Rachael hugged me once more. I gave Rebecca a kiss on the cheek. I hadn't expected her to wish me at twelve but I was glad. My parents kissed my forehead before they retreated back into their room. Ethan was already long gone.Now it was only Olivia, Amelia and Heather in my room."I didn't wish you a happy birthday because it's notyourbirthday," Heather said with a blank face. "I already wished my real best friend right at twelve.""Okay," I said awkwardly. Why was she telling me this?"Well, it might interest you to know that Julie's real birthday is today too and I wished her a happy birthday for her real one, not her fake one," Olivia retorted, "right at twelve." I was starting to think she wasn't much fond of Heather.Heather looked surprised for a moment before quickly composing herself. "Oh, I didn't know that."
I went back and buried myself under the covers for the third time and fell asleep well until nine in the morning. Everyone had had their breakfasts by then and when I came down for my own breakfast I was greeted by an excited unison of 'happy birthday's. Again.Everyone seemed to give me special attention today and I was surrounded by everyone, all of them talking to me at once and telling me about their plans for me. I smiled at everyone and before I knew it, all of my favorites were doled out in front of me. Keith stood quietly in the corner, watching me with an amused smile. I grinned back at him.I could sense he wanted to say something to me, probably wish me on my birthday but he held himself back for some reason.After I was finished with breakfast, I walked into the kitchen to talk to Keith. When he looked up and saw me there, he about jumped down from the counter he was sitting on and rushed to me. But before he could say anything to me, he was cut off
I must have gone deep and it took me a long time to resurface. I gasped for air."That was so fun!" Amelia screeched in the distance."Yeah, I missed this last year," Heather added, both of them swimming towards me.I didn't even know when the girls jumped. They must have immediately jumped after me.Strangely, I felt really good. I think it was the thrill and adrenaline and I wanted to do it again but I wouldn't because at the sight of the water, I was sure I'd chicken out again."You guys shouldn't have pushed me. I was going to jump in," I said."It was Heather, not me," Amelia said."You were taking too long and I didn't have all the time in the world.""Took you long enough. I though you weren't going to jump in anytime today," Ethan said, swimming closely."Whatever. Can we go now?""What's the hurry, birthday girl. Can't squeeze in some time for a little water fight?"Just as Ethan said that, my face
I could describe Juliet's birthday party as overwhelming and extra. A lot extra.The dinner was hosted at a five star hotel,SereneSerenade'sballroom. The whole place was decorated from top to bottom. It looked like a palace.If this was Charlotte's 'simple' dinner party, then I never wanted to see what her extravagant ones were like.Getting into the ballroom had posed a great challenge. When our cars arrived at the hotel, the entrance was crowded with the paparazzi. They were going crazy over what the celebration was about. I knew they had a slight inkling about it. Today was Juliet's birthday. The Jenson's are hosting a secret dinner party. What could be the reason?It was too obvious. Only a fool would not be able to guess that this was their daughter's birthday party.With that, rumors would spread. The paparazzi would speculate and try to find more information. Not everything would be in our control. Somehow
I didn't know what to say. I kind of expected that but I didn't know how to respond. But I didn't need to because Heather continued."My biological parents are dead. I don't even remember them.""I'm sorry.""You need not be. So Justin and Patricia took me in as their own. Patricia doesn't like me much. I knew that from the start. So don't mind her when she behaves rudely with you. She hates both mine and Juliet's guts.""Yes, according to her Juliet and Heather are very vulgar girls. And since I hung out with them, she started to see me as a vulgar girl too. She used to like me at first," Amelia added."Don't they have any children of their own?" I asked. We were stood in a quiet corner and currently no one was coming over to meet us."No, Patricia can't have children so they chose to adopt." Amelia answered."Justin and Patricia are so...different. I don't know them for long but Justin seems very pleasant to be around. Patricia, not
We both froze in our places when we heard the clear click-clack of heels against the marble floor.I held my breath in anticipation."Juliet, there's someone here to meet you!" Amelia's enthusiastic voice made my heart clench in fear.We didn't turn around and Amelia called for me again and grabbed my arm to turn me around.As soon as I turned around, I was met with the nightmare next to Amelia.She was smiling at me. Anytime now she would recognize me and then spill my secret in this room full of hundred people, and more were pouring in.She stepped forward and I thought she was going to hit me but instead, she hugged me. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.When she pulled back, she was grinning at me. "Happy birthday, Juliet.""Ashley," I breathed out."Glad to you know you still remember me." She giggled."What're you doing here?"She blinked at me, clearly looking confused. "What do you mea
The cake cutting happened soon enough and again I was embarrassed as the people sang the birthday song like I was a freaking kid.After that, we had a scrumptious dinner with the guests. I was really happy the way the day had gone. I thought my real birthday would not be celebrated at all but it was such a coincidence that Juliet and I shared the same birth date.It was well until midnight when we finally reached home. I was extremely tired, my cheeks hurt from all the smiling that I had been doing all evening, my feet ached because of dancing for the majority of the evening in heels. At least the dress fit me perfectly, it was so comfortable. Ethan chose the right size for me. I didn't get a chance to thank him for all the gifts or even talk to him for a proper five minutes for that matter. I decided to thank him tomorrow when I'd be feeling less like death."Juliet," a quiet voice in the empty mansion scared me out of my wits. I turned towards the source and s
Rachael's show was in a few days. Needless to say, she was a bundle of nerves. I couldn't imagine a beautiful, confident woman like her who carried herself with grace and elegance be this nervous for her first show. I knew that she was brilliant in her art and I knew everyone would love it but no matter how much I tried to convince her of it, she still considered herself a terrible designer.We were all scheduled to fly to Paris the next day. The Jenson family invited Olivia too and if they wouldn't have, I would've definitely requested them to bring her along. No way was I going to go to Paris with them for an entire week without my best friend.Everyone I knew here was going to be present for the show. Olivia, Mr. and Mrs. Jenson, Antonio and I were going to take Mr. Jenson's private plane to Paris. Rachael insisted she and Rebecca would come with us because she was too nervous for the show to fly alone. Another reason for that she claimed was that I made her feel co