You Again (Completed) ✔️

9.

After 6pm Veronica and I climb out of bed and get changed. She looks at me. "What do you want to do tonight?"

"I was thinking about spending some time with my parents before heading to the local nightclub. Are you in?"

A smile spreads across her face. "Of course I'm in when it comes to drinking and dancing. Do you think there will be any cute guys there for me?"

I shrug. "I have no idea who's around here anymore. Wish me luck with finding a guy that wants to make out with me in a corner of the nightclub."

My bedroom door opens and I see Liam and Antwon standing next to each other with their arms crossed. "You're not making out with anyone tonight."

Liam looks at Veronica and adds. "Neither are you."

"Dinner's ready." Mom yells up the stairs.

"We'll be down shortly, Mom." I yell. Looking at my brothers I say. "You're not going to stop me dating whoever I like." I shove my brothers out of the way and walk out of the room.

Veronica follows me out of the room and we walk down the stairs.

Dad puts the newspaper on the table and a smile spreads across his face. "I hope you're rested up sweetheart."

"I am." I kiss him on the cheek before sitting next to him at the table. "Veronica and I were thinking about going out later on."

He looks at my brothers. "Liam and Antwon will be going with you. I don't feel comfortable with my little girl running around town without some kind of protection."

Veronica pulls out her mace can from her pocket. "I never leave my house without this beauty. You know a lot of things happen in New York, but it never seems to reach you in Los Angeles."

I hit her arm. "You don't need to tell them that. They'll probably keep me inside the house and we can't have fun tonight."

Mom places the food on the wooden table with six plates around the table. She looks at me. "Julia, you can serve yourself first."

I take the potatoes off the plate and put it on mine, followed by a few pieces of pork and cabbage.

Veronica is the next to serve herself. Followed by the rest of my family.

Mom looks at me and a smile spreads across her face. "I'm glad you're home, sweetheart."

"Me too, Mom." My eyes land on hers and a smile spreads across my face. "I really mean it. After what happened on the Island I realized that my family was important and I didn't want to die without them knowing how much I love them."

"We love you too, Julia." She looks at me and says. "Why didn't you tell us about moving the Nova Island?"

I sigh. "I didn't think you cared that I left the country because you weren't visiting me much while I was living in New York and we stopped talking over the phone too. I was the one doing all the calling towards the end."

Mom looks at the ground. "I'm sorry we started to lose touch with you. We were getting busy and the time zone was different. I didn't think you'd be too happy with me calling late at night."

"I wouldn't have cared what time you called, Mom. I would have answered your call in a heartbeat. I loved hearing your voice before I went to bed." I start to eat dinner.

Antwon places his fork on the table and leans forward. "Are you going to tell us about the Tsunami?"

I'm not ready to talk about it with my family.

"No," I push my plate of food away from me. "When I'm ready I will, but right now I need to wrap my mind around what happened." I stand up and walk out of the kitchen.

Walking up the stairs I head to the bathroom and slam the door shut. I sit on the side of the tub and look around the bathroom. My brother's things are sitting on the counter and there's shaving cream on the cupboard door and draws.

They're grubs.

Opening the cupboard I pull out some disinfectant and start cleaning the mess on the cupboard.

There's a knock on the door and I say. "Who is it?"

"It's Veronica. Can I come in?"

I stand up and open the door for her.

Veronica walks into the bathroom and she sits on the floor across from me. "I know you're not ready to talk about what happened on the Island, but whenever you are I want you to know that I'm here for you."

I lock the door and keep my back to Veronica. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it. I do, but every time I'm about to say something I can see the murky water behind my eyes and it feels like I'm choking on the water again. I know it's not real, but to me I'm reliving the moment I was close to death."

She wraps her arms around me. "I'm sorry, Julia."

I don't say anything as I feel safe in the arms of my Best Friend.

My stomach begins to rumble. "We should go back to dinner. Thanks for checking on me. I really appreciate it." I open the door and head back downstairs to my family.

Mom, Dad, Liam and Antwon are still sitting at the table when we walk back in. They don't say anything as I sit with them and start eating.

After awkward silence I say. "Are you boys going to tell me what you do?"

A smile spreads across Antwon's face. "I'm a mechanic and I work closely with..." he cuts himself off and I know exactly who he was going to say.

Cole.

I shouldn't let my brother not talk about his friend.

"You can mention his name, Antwon. I'm not going to kill you for speaking his name. Just make sure that he's not here when I am. I'm not ready to see him again."

"Okay," Antwon says. "If you're going out tonight I want you to know there is a chance that Cole will be at the club. If I have to I will be your buffer."

I laugh. "I think we'll be fine, Antwon."

After dinner I walk onto the kitchen and help Mom with the dishes. She looks at me. "Julia,"

"Yes, Mom."

She sighs. "Are you going to ever forgive me for not being there for you after you graduated from college and your first job?"

"I forgive you, Mom. I didn't make things easy for Dad and you when I didn't come back because of the threats that Cole made."

She hugs me. "I know you don't want to hear this, but the things that Cole did to you in high school was because he didn't know how to handle his feeling towards you."

"What do you mean his feelings towards me?"

"He loves you, sweetheart." She runs her hands through my hair. "I've seen him looking at pictures of you around the house. He looks completely lost when he looks at it."