Smoke & Mirrors (A Justin Bieber Story)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four:

I wake up to the smell of pizza. My vision is a little blurry, but soon it focuses on a strange room. The couch is white. There's a giant TV, and a fancy kitchen. Inside two people are talking.

"Yeah I found her and brought her here," one voice says.

"Thank you so much," another voice says.

"It's no problem at all," the first voice, I now recognize as Justin's, says.

"Seriously, let me pay you," the second voice, my dad, says.

"No way, sir," Justin replies. "She's my friend."

My dad. What does he know? What even happened? The last thing I remember is being in Jake's living room and now... I'm here.

"I have to go to work," my dad says. "Do you mind if she sleeps here? I'll pick her up after work."

"Sure, she can stay here as long as she needs," Justin says.

"Thank you so much." I hear footsteps coming towards me. I quickly shut my eyes and act asleep.

"Goodbye baby," my dad says. He hasn't called me a name like that in a long time. He kisses my forehead. He hasn't done that in a while either. When he leaves, I can't help but smile.

I keep my eyes closed. I hear footsteps come close, and Justin sits on the couch. The TV turns on. It's on a news show.

A timer in the kitchen goes off. My eyes snap open, and my heart skips a beat. Loud noises scare me.

Justin gets himself a slice of pizza and sits back on the couch. He notices I'm awake.

"Hey Juliet," he says. "I bet you're wondering why you're here."

"A little bit," I say, half smiling. I sit up.

Justin stands up and sits right next to me. He wipes some hair out of my face. "Well after you called I rushed to that house. I knocked on the door and these two drunk dudes said you had left already. I saw your car, but it looked empty. I looked in your window and saw you passed out. Your door was locked, so I smashed a window with a rock. Then I reached in, unlocked the door and tried to wake you up. You were completely knocked out. So I carried you into my car and brought you to my house because I had no clue where you lived. Then I used your cell phone to call your dad and tell him you were safe."

"Does he know?" I ask.

"Know what?"

"That I was drunk?"

"Yeah," Justin kind of laughs. "He's known you've been drinking for a long time."

My heart drops. I never cared that I was drinking, but I always knew it would kill my dad if he knew. Maybe that's why he's been so stressed.

Suddenly another question comes to mind. "What day is it?"

"It's Tuesday. It's about 5:00," Justin responds, laughing.

Suddenly, I get a whiff of myself. I smell like beer, barf, and sweat. "Can I take a shower?"

"Of course," Justin interlocks fingers with me. At first it's alarming, but then it's comforting. It's nice to have a real friend. He leads me to the bathroom. He gets me a towel. "Do you want some clean clothes? I'm sure I can find something in my mom's closet."

I smell my shirt. "Yes please." He goes to his mom's room and comes back with a t-shirt and some girly pajama pants.

"Thank you," I say. "You've been way too nice, considering the way I treated you."

"Don't mention it," he says. He kisses my cheek and leaves me to take my shower.

Why is he so nice? He's so real. I always pictured Justin Bieber to be too cool to care about me, but he cares for me more than anyone ever has, besides my mother. I start the shower and wait for it to heat up. I look in the mirror. I look like a total mess.

My hair is tangled, my eyes are baggy, and my teeth are yellow from barf, I assume.

I look hideous, and it's how I always look after being drunk. It is barely worth it. I get in the shower and feel 100% better.

---------------------------------------------

I go back to the family room. Justin is alone, finishing another piece of pizza.

"Wanna piece?" Justin asks.

"I'm okay," I respond. I sit on the couch by Justin. He puts his arm around me and gives me a friendly squeeze.

I smile. There's a knock on the door. Justin opens it, and it's my dad.

"Hey Jules," my dad says when he sees me.

"Hey dad," I respond. It's the nicest we've been to each other in ages.

"Ready to go home?" My dad asks.

"Yeah," I answer. I stand up. "I'll bring your mom's clothes to school tomorrow, Justin."

"Keep them," Justin says, being his usual nice, perfect self.

"Thank you," I say, looking in his eyes. "For everything."

"No problem," Justin responds. My dad tries one last time to pay him, but Justin declines.

I go outside and get into the passenger seat of my dad's car. My dad gets into the drivers seat.

"Are you mad?" I ask.

"Why would I be mad?" My dad asks.

"Because... Because... I got drunk and couldn't get home."

"You figured it out. Listen, Juliet, I know since your mom died, it's been hard. I know you've been drinking and smoking to get away from that pain, and if I didn't have to take care of you, I'd probably do the same. But it doesn't make anything better. I'm not going to punish you because you're eighteen and it's your life. But just know, I'll love you no matter what."

"I love you too, dad," I say, with tears in my eyes.

~

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