Ripped and Stitched

12: Hormones

Julia was anxiously twisting the ring on her finger as she and Hailey walked out of school. So it was all true. They had found Brady and Alison alive. She had checked her phone when school got out again and saw that Mrs. Carson had called her, twice. Julia shut her phone off and looked over at Hailey who was now also well aware of what was going on.

"I can't believe it," Hailey said, shaking her head. "Of course she's alive, I mean it's Alison freaking Hart, of course she would find some way to make a grand entrance like that, she is such an attention seeker."

"What are you talking about?" Julia asked.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "You really believe that crap?" she asked. "I mean come on, there's no way they were just stuck in a basement being tortured by a freak this whole time. That's just too unreal for this lame town."

Julia frowned.

"You think they're telling the truth?" Hailey asked when she saw Julia's face.

"I don't know," Julia mumbled.

Julia took a deep breath. In all the years that she had known Alison and Brady, they had never been liars.

Julia spent her entire ballet class thinking about the rumor that started when school began after Alison and Brady had gone missing. The rumor that Alison and Brady had secretly loved each other and had just ran away to be together.

When Julia had heard that, at first she scoffed. There was no way, Brady and Alison were polar opposites. Alison had always been angry and bitter. A girl who acted out because her parents didn't give her enough attention at home. Julia didn't mind though she adored her fiery best friend, but Brady was different. He was a bundle of joy, always laughing, always smiling, if Alison was seen as a fighter, Brady was a peace keeper. There was no way it was true.

Still, the thought had always crept in from the back of her mind, that maybe Julia's best friend did run away to be with Julia's boyfriend.

As she arrived home and began getting ready for her date with Jackson tonight, she thought about Max. She wondered if he heard the rumors too. Did he think they were true?

Julia thought about all the things she and Alison used to tell each other about their boyfriends. It was pretty clear to Julia that Alison loved Max. Just from the way she spoke about him, although Alison would never admit it out loud. But even though they had only been fifteen, Alison had once confided in her that the only person that made her feel like her life was worth living was Max. If that wasn't love then Julia didn't know what love was.

It was funny. If you had asked Julia when she was sixteen and dating Brady if she loved him, Julia would have said yes. Except now she wasn't so sure. If she loved Brady, then would she not have been excited to hear that he was alive? All she felt was dread.

She thought about all those nights where she would tell her parents that she was spending the night at Alison's for a sleepover only for the boys to also come over and for Alison and Max to disappear into her room and for Julia and Brady to sleep on the extra bed in the basement.

All the nights where she and Alison would spend hours getting ready for the boys beforehand. Alison had taught her how to shave and what kind of expensive underwear to buy because her older friend, Kate, had shown Alison. The way Alison would do just the right amount of makeup on Julia and teach her secrets for her and Brady when they were alone.

Julia still remembered the last sleepover at Alison's house before they went missing. It had been only a few weeks before they had gone missing. The night hadn't really gone to plan. To her dismay, Brady wasn't interested in losing his virginity in Alison's basement.