The Way My Life Sucks

Chapter 8

                  I walk into English the next morning while thinking about Natalie's sister, Julia. She has been in my class all this time, but she sat in the back all alone. She looks kinda creepy but I sit next to her anyways. She looks up at and asks, "What?" I just stare at her and she glares at me then looks back down. There is a moment of awkward silence and I decide to break that by tapping her shoulder. She glares at me. I hold my hand out and introduce myself. "Hi my name is Joanna but people call me Jo." She just stares at me in disbelief then puts her head back down. I poke her again. "I think your name is Julia?" 

"So what's it to ya?" She replies nastily.

"Well I know your sister and she old me that... I...uh....i mean....you..." I stutter. I always stutter when I get nervous.

"Duh duh duh!" She raises her eyebrows after she finishes mimicking my stuttering.

I sigh. "Anyway I don't mean to be rude but your sister said you had no friends." I hold my breath for a moment because to be honest this girl scares me.

"Well my sister should mind her own damn business." She mutters angrily to herself. I just sit in silence.

"Oh really? Then why do you sit by yourself." I question and cross my arms.

"Because.....because...." she sighs. "I have no friends." 

"Well you do now!" I fold my hands and put them on the table and turn forward with a slight smirk on my face. I turn to see if Julia is still staring at me and she is.

"But I'm so.... me." She gestures down her body.

"So?" I raise one eyebrow.

"So most people think I'm a freak because of my piercings and the way I dress."

"Well I don't think your a freak." I pull up my sleeve to show her my scarred arm. "Even if you are, it doesn't matter to me because I'm a bigger freak then you."

She stares at my arm then me in disbelief. I pull my sleeve down making sure no one else saw.

"But your so popular and pretty. Why?" 

"I'm no where near popular. No one likes me." I mutter.

"Are you kidding? You should hear all the girls and guys that admire you." 

"People admire me?" She nods her head. "I thought they just ignored me for my looks and what not." I say in shock. 

"Of course not. Maybe you spent your whole life ignoring them." 

The teacher walks in ending my conversation with Julia. Wow people actually admired me, I thought they just hated me this whole time. Julia is actually a really nice girl I wonder why she has no friends. It can't just be because of her looks. There has to be a reason and I'm going to find out. After class I grab Julia and tell her we should go ditch school for the rest of the day and hang out. She doesn't disagree like I had figured. 

Julia and I sneak out after class has started. No one foud out we left thank Jesus. We run up the street to the pizza parlour and grab a slice. We talk about everything. What we like to do, our favorite music, animals, food, color. I could have talked to her forever. This is the start of a beautiful new friendship. Who needs Gwen, screw her. I have Julia now. 

Julia pulls something out of her bag and I ask 'What is that?" I see she is holding a little stuffed dog. It's a little bit bigger than a squirrel.

"It's Bom Bom." She replies petting it, creepy. I think to myself.

"Whats Bom Bom?" I ask suddenly freaked out.

She looks around to make sure no one was listening and whispers, "Bom Bom is my first dog. My parents got her for me and Natalie when I was 4. She was mostly mine because I would always play with her. She died last year and I was so devastated." I heard her sniffle. "I missed her so much so," she looks around again, "I got her stuffed."

I stare at her in disbelief. "You mean like, taxidermy." She nods her head. I try to process what she is talking about. I gulp. "Um.." I take out my phone, it's 3:34. " I gotta get home, my mom will be uhh worried about me." I slowly edge out of the seat and see Julia's smile fade into a death glare. I'm almost out the door when I turn around and say "I'll text you later." She nods slowly and I turn and walk out the pizza parlour. Once I'm out of vieew from the parlour window I run all the way home. I can hear my feet slapping agaisnt the pavement while I think about what I had just done. I get home and slam the door shut while i try to catch my breath.

I slide down the closed door and think to myself. Was it wrong for me to just leave her there? After I told her wasn't a freak and that I would be her friend?