Diamond Names (ON HOLD//EDITING)

Twenty One

"Alright, pull out your copies of The Iliad." Emory stood up from her desk and picked up her grade book. Realizing what was happening, everyone groaned.

"Hey, don't give me any of that," Emory teased in response. "I told you guys that we were starting the book this week. It's just five participation points."

She walked around the room, surveying the rows of tables to see which students had brought their books and which hadn't. Julia pulled out her book and placed it on top of her desk, waiting for her mother to come around.

Allie's desk was empty this period. She must have decided to take another skip day because of the heist.

"I need to talk to you before you leave today." Julia jumped at the sound of Emory's voice; she hadn't seen her come over. She looked angry - Miss Lance must have told her about what happened with Liam. Hopefully she wouldn't get punished too badly...

Emory didn't say another word on the subject then. She glanced at Julia's book, made a mark on her clipboard, and continued walking up and down the rows of desks.

The dread about facing her mother began to slowly take over Julia's thoughts. She would most likely just get the standard lecture: "I expect better from you, Julia." Emory said that so often, and she hated it. As if she didn't feel enough pressure already...

Before she knew it the bell was ringing, signaling the end of class. The other kids all slowly filed out of the room, leaving Julia by herself. Emory closed the door behind the last student a little too loudly, and turned around to face her daughter with arms crossed over her chest.

"What were you thinking?"

Julia looked down at the floor instead of meeting her mother's eyes. "I wasn't."

"Exactly." Emory walked closer to her desk, still fuming. "I just...I just can't believe you. Skipping class? Since when?" she asked repeatedly, waiting for an answer.

Julia had no idea what to say. She didn't want to tell about the Light's Men and the heist. Not only would she get in even more trouble, but the others would kill her if they found out what she had done.

"Were you with Tyler?" Emory asked, her voice growing louder.

"No!" Julia retorted, nearly matching her tone.

"Well I know for a fact that you wouldn't do this on your own." Emory now stood only inches away from her daughter. "If you weren't with Tyler, then who convinced you to skip classes?"

"Nobody," Julia answered. "You don't know him." She wasn't going to throw Liam under the bus, either.

She could tell that her mother was growing more and more frustrated. "Well, regardless of whoever your accomplice was, you're going to apologize. There is a faculty Christmas party on Friday, and I expect you to be there - in more appropriate attire this time as well - and you will tell Miss Lance and Mr. Oakley that you will never pull this kind of stunt again. Are we clear?"

Julia still wouldn't meet her mother's eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Okay." There was another minute of awkward silence. "You can go now. I don't want you being late to your next class," Emory said finally. Julia picked up her backpack and stormed out of the room.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"Hey, Jules!"

Julia turned around at the sound of her name and saw Allie skipping toward her. She had changed her hair color again; this time it was a pale blue.

"Hey, Allie." Julia smiled. "Where were you in English today?"

Allie groaned. "The lady who did my hair yesterday did such an awful job! I had to go back and get it redone in a different color."

Julia couldn't help but laugh. "That sucks. What color was it originally?" The two girls continued walking towards the dorms.

"Well I was hoping to get it done purple for the formal because that's what the color of my dress is, and it looked good at first but then I guess it mixed with the green from last time and it turned black! It was pretty bad, but I like this color on me too." Allie twirled around in order to show off, making Julia laugh even more.

"Oh hey! I meant to tell you," Allie said, linking arms with Julia, "Kristen said she wants to have us all over for a sleepover tonight! She cleared it with the DA's so it's okay. Are you free?"

"Yeah, I think so," Julia replied, after thinking it over. "Sounds like fun!"

"Sweet! Let's go." Allie pulled her arm and began walking faster towards the main dorms.

"Wait, what?!" Julia tried to stop but Allie was pulling too hard. "I don't have anything with me for a sleepover, I can't go now!"

"Nah, don't worry about it!" Allie said cheerfully. "There are beds in her room, obviously, so you don't have to worry about a sleeping bag or anything. Plus Kristen will probably make us sleep naked again anyway." She wiggled her eyebrows goofily.

The color drained from Julia's face. "We have to what?"

Author's Note:

I'm updating almost twice in a week! Granted it's really only a filler chapter, but it's still progress.

The next chapter will be all the happenings of the sleepover, and we'll get to learn some pretty interesting things about some of our characters...

Please remember to vote, comment, and follow me if you don't already! Share this story with other people if you think they'd like it too. The only reason this story has as many reads and votes as it does is probably because I do a lot of promoting on Instagram... (no shame) xmxjxj

Song: Wild Things by Alessia Cara