Julianne thought hard on the email she received and hoped somewhere that it was real. She tried to believe the chances. She had only just got suspended after brooding over it last night and now, after all her mother revealed earlier, the strange email appeared.
Speaking of her mother, ever since she returned, she hadn’t seen her in the sitting room or kitchen or in the places she was always actively present. Instead, she was in her room, the place she hardly stays except for some nights when she just decides to. Most of the time, she just gets drunk and lay carelessly on the couch or on the floor.
It soon dawned on her that her mom was avoiding her. And even though she wanted it to be that way, a part of her felt sorry for her. What if she was right about everything? What if her dad truly left because of her? That could only explain why he didn’t inform her beforehand that he was leaving. What if he did that so she would not locate him and give him more bad luck?
And speaking of bad luck, has she always been that way? Her mom spoke about it like she knew what has been going on with her. Those things she wished she could tell her was wrong, about her not being normal like the rest of the other kids in her school, about being destructive all of a sudden… had she always known?
The next morning, her mom already left the house early before she would walk out of her room. Julianne spent the day wondering where her mom could have gone to. She checked the fridge, hoping to at least see a sticky note telling where she had gone, just like she did in the past, but there was nothing. She stayed up and got bored, and then started to wonder if her mom had left her too without informing her, but she checked her room and saw her belongings still in place, even the items she cherished. Her mom would never leave those behind even if the house was on fire.
It soon started to get dark and Julianne started to fall asleep. She was about to slip fully into unconsciousness when the door to the house opened and her mom walked in, heading to her room in a hurry.
Julianne stood up and as her mom had her hand on the door, ready to go into her room, she said to her, “I’m leaving.” She had only said that to have a conversation with her and maybe apologize about what happened yesterday and wished they would go back to their normal lives, but her mom was already nodding. Too fast. Too eager. Like she couldn’t wait to get rid of her.
Her chest tightened and she couldn’t believe her mom was serious. She wouldn’t even meet her eyes. She saw her walk inside her room and shut the door, even locking it.
Julianne felt her eyes start to itch and she turned her feet, heading back to her room. Nothing changed. A part of her wanted to scream. Another part wanted to cry, but she was mostly tired. Tired of pretending she was okay or that everything was going to return to normal. Tired of everyone not caring. Tired of people abandoning her. Tired of not knowing who or what she was anymore.
So she packed. Jeans, hoodies… a single photo of her and her dad before everything broke apart. And at sunrise, she left.
No goodbye from her mom. Just silence distance.
She made her way to the bus stand and arrived exactly 7:50 am. She didn’t know if what she was doing was right, or if what she believed was true. Each minute that passed felt like she was just wasting her time there and no one would show up. No bus or anything. There was not even another person at the stand except her.
By 7:55, she began to tear up. She thought about everything, how her life had managed to turn upside down, how there was no one who would care if she went missing or didn’t come back for a year. She wondered if Brooklyn would eventually accept that she was in the wrong and call her or send a text, apologizing. But then, apologizing isn’t Brooklyn’s style. She would rather let everyone hate her than apologize for something she did wrong while acting the victim at the same time.
By 7:59, she already gave up all hopes and while sitting on the bench there, she wondered where she would go next. She couldn’t return home anymore and yet, she couldn’t wander around like a lost child.
In reality, she was lost.
She buried her head down and her eyes watered.
“Why?” she suddenly asked herself. She gripped the sides of the bench and couldn’t care about anyone who may be watching as she yelled out in tears, “Why?!”
Then there was a horn. Very audible. And close. Julianne raised her head immediately and saw a bus right in front of her, painted black. She didn’t know how it suddenly showed up in front of her. She never heard a bus coming, but that wasn’t what she needed to worry about at the moment.
The entrance of the front door slid open and the driver was looking at her, as if waiting.
“Blackthorn Academy,” he finally said.
Julianne raised her eyes, surprised, but at the same time, grateful. She glanced at the clock that displayed inside the bus and saw it was exactly 8 am. The email was not a prank after all. Finally, she could get away from all the mess and start anew in a place she is yet to know.
She wiped her eyes and grabbed her luggage and got inside the bus.
“Thank you,” she thanked the driver who didn’t respond and she stared straight down. No one. It was just her, and the driver. But really just her. She went to take a seat at the back, pulling her luggage along, and she settled down next to the window.
The bus soon started to move and Julianne stared at what she was leaving all behind. A life that was never hers. A life of lies and betrayal. Of abandonment and pains.
The ride was long. Quiet.
Julianne watched the city fade into forest, then mist-covered hills. The roads became narrowed, and the trees thickened. Then they passed a sign:
WELCOME TO RAVENHOLLOW
Population: 9,017. And falling.
Julianne wondered who had decided in their right mind to hoist up a sign like that. She moved her eyes away from the window and glanced at the girl who the driver had picked up earlier at another bus stand. She just stared out of the window, unbothered.
Julianne’s eyes moved to the jacket she wore and she saw a ‘B’ on the arm. She guessed it stands for Blackthorn. The girl must be one of the students, she thought. Maybe she would even be in the same class with her, or maybe they would eventually become friends.
But if at all there was anything she wanted, it was to lead a quiet life and live through every day without anything going wrong.
After a long tiring day, Julianne returned to her room only to step on something the moment she entered. She glanced down at the small brown envelope lying down which must have been passed from the little opening below the door. She wondered if this was another letter from an unknown person, warning her, but it was when she opened the envelope that she realized it was something else entirely. No message or sender name, just a beautiful necklace staring back at her. She stepped outside again and looked sideways to see if the person who had dropped it was somewhere, watching her, but she couldn’t figure anyone capable of doing that from the faces she saw. Her eyes moved towards Marianne’s room, then she suddenly blinked and looked down at the necklace in her hand again.Just as she was figuring out the reason why the necklace ended up in her room, she turned her head to the other direction and saw Velvet entering her room. As soon as her door was shut, Julianne realized why the necklace
Maximus glanced over where Julianne sat in the cafeteria, alone. Ever since he got a whiff about her and Lucien, he knew she had changed.“Aren’t you going to call her or at least go sit with her?” he asked Marianne who was busy eating her food.Without looking up, she said, “It’s not like I don’t want to. It’s just that sometimes, we need to leave people to learn the hard way.”“But I miss her,” Remus said in a sad tone and both Maximus and Marianne looked at him.At the same time, Lucien entered the cafeteria and their eyes followed him as he took his tray of food and went straight to join Julianne.“Wow,” Remus let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t believe this snake. He’s number two for a reason.” He then turned to Cassian who was drinking a can coke and he said, “Won’t you do something about it?”Maximus noticed that Cassian had been quiet for a while now. From the outside, he looked like he was relaxed about the whole thing, but deep down, he knew he wasn’t fine with it. The other
For few seconds, Marianne saw Julianne as a different person and not the same person she knew before. Something has changed in her and it was evident with the way she somehow convinced her to ask Maximus about Cassian’s past, knowing fully well that if she were to ask Cassian directly, she wouldn’t get it from him.“What did Maximus say?” Julianne asked as her eyes searched her face as if looking for the very answer.Marianne swallowed and lowered her eyes, hesitant to reveal it. She doesn’t know whether to trust Julianne with something like that for now, knowing she must have a reason for asking and not so in a good way.“Marianne?”On hearing her name being called, she raised her eyes and looked at her. “Can’t you let it wait till tomorrow?” she asked. “Why?” asked Julianne. “Can’t you tell me now? There are just few hours till the next day.”Marianne took in a sigh and blinked. As much as she knew that Julianne had changed a bit, she was still her friend and there might be at leas
Julianne didn’t feel like her life was going all that smooth. Even though she looks sane outside and looks like she knows what she was doing, she really doesn’t. She is caught between trying to wrap her head around Velvet being a murderer and Cassian hiding a dark past and not seeing a wrong in what he had done. It was all too much for her to handle. And yet, there was Lucien who, despite her not giving all into what they started together, he still stood by her and would look for ways to cheer her up. She knew people were already talking about them. Even at the corners she heard them whispering, but unlike how she would have felt and reacted before, she now finds herself not caring. It was almost like ‘people would always talk about her and there is nothing she can do’ kind of attitude. It already started to feel…comfortable.Maybe it was okay to give the people something to gossip about. After all, it shows she was only human. That’s right! She is starting to become more human again.
Cassian drove in on his bike and turned down the long path, heading to the back of a building that had long been an abandoned project. He parked and turned off his bike before taking off his helmet. Knowing that he had missed some days at school and the need to be present, made him furious. School, indeed, was boring, and even though he had the freewill to do however he likes, he still feels trapped in this place. One reason was Headmistress Eldryn. Cassian isn’t quite a fan of her, but because of her, this school came to be, and he can be in an environment where he can relate to his old life again, or how normal he had once lived.Covering the bike with a sheath, he ran a hand along his hair and marched towards the main building, still in his leather jacket and black pants. The vine-like marks that was caused by whatever Julianne did, peeked out just a little from his exposed neck. Ever since that day, nothing had changed. It just remained there, but it was causing something to him w
Julianne hasn’t seen Cassian for days now since the freshman party. Although, she has seen Remus and Maximus walking together, but it was odd for some reason that he was not with them. Also, she noticed lately that Marianne has stopped covering up her neck and has been hanging out with the other two. What changed?Was it because, even as she was thinking about all that, she is walking next to Lucien?She turned her head to look at him and saw him already looking at her.“Ah, you didn’t hear that again,” he said and looked slightly disappointed.“Uh? Did you say something?” she asked, realizing she must have missed when he was talking.Lucien looked ahead and when they got to the place where they would part and head to their various directions, he said to her, “It’s Cassian, isn’t it?”Julianne could see the clear disappointment in his eyes, like he knew she was thinking about Cassian all along. She pulled her brows slightly and asked, “What are you talking about.”Lucien let out a si