Diamond Names (ON HOLD//EDITING)

Three

Hunger was the least of her worries.

Julia had no interest in sitting by herself in the cafeteria. Already she had had enough of people staring at her throughout the day. But what would she do for the next half hour? She couldn't exactly walk off campus; this place was loaded with security cameras.

As she caught the sound of a familiar laugh, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh! Julia, come here!" Emory called. She was standing with a girl whom Julia immediately recognized from her biology class, and another woman who must have been the girl's mother. They did look rather similar.

Her mother swiftly looped her arm around the small of Julia's back. "Honey, this is Shawna Pels and her daughter, Eva."

Mrs. Pels shook her hand. "So you're the famous Julia Castle," she said with obviously fake enthusiasm. Julia wondered if her mother had recognized it as well. "I've heard so much about you."

"I wouldn't say I'm famous," Julia laughed awkwardly.

Mrs. Pels patted her on the shoulder. "Maybe not yet, but by senior year, perhaps you'll be as...unique as your mother."

This conversation had taken somewhat of a sharp turn. As Emory's grip tightened on her back, Julia sensed some sort of grudge being held between the two women.

"She definitely has potential," her mother cut in. "Julia, Eva is transferring in as a sophomore as well. Maybe you two can be friends."

Julia watched as Eva looked her up and down, not bothering to hide the look of utter disgust on her face. She clearly wasn't interested in the idea.

An awkward silence filled the air for a few minutes.

The grip on Julia's hip finally loosened. "Well, it was nice to run into you again, Shawna!" Emory said, as nicely as she could muster.

"It was nice to see you too." Shawna perfectly matched her fake tone. The two women walked away in opposite directions.

Julia was the first to break the tension. "You're in my biology class, right?" she asked, pretending not to have already noticed her.

"Yeah," Eva muttered.

Julia nodded awkwardly. "Cool. So that's one class we have together-"

"Look, princess," Eva cut her off. "Just because your mom pretends to like my mom doesn't mean you have to follow in her perfect little footsteps."

"Hey, I'm nothing like my mother," Julia started, even though it was a total lie. "I just thought you'd want a friend too."

"I already have friends," Eva shrugged. "Guess you're on your own, Castle." She walked off with a smirk, abandoning Julia in the slowly crowding hallway.

It took several minutes for Julia to compose herself. I can't cry in front of all these people, she thought.

Suddenly a bright flash caught her eye. Time seemed to slow. She would recognize that platinum blonde hair anywhere.

Author's Note:

Ooh, a cliffhanger...

I hate feeling like I live under somebody's shadow, so I did the best I could to portray it. Plus I'd hate if I tried to make a friend on the first day of school and she just shut me out. Thankfully this kind of stuff doesn't normally happen IRL.

Do, who do you think Julia's gonna see? You'll find out in the next chapter...

Vote, comment and follow! xxx

Song: Tennis Court by Lorde