My Reason to Smile

Chapter Two

 "Julia! We have to go school shopping for you!" I heard Judith yell from the kitchen.

I was in the garage, under my car, trying to ignore the fact she was yelling.

   "Julia Wright! Don't make me use your last name!" She screeched.

I huffed and pushed my skateboard out from under my car and got up, stomping into the kitchen.

Before I could even say anything, she started screeching. "Don't you dare get my clean carpets dirty, Julia!"

 I rolled my eyes. "I'm not on the carpet. Anyway, do we have to?"

   "I could send one of your friends." She offered.

 I gave her a 'are you bat shit crazy?' look. "I have one friend, and he's a guy. Can I go by myself?"

 She sighed and set her cup of coffee down. "If you must. Go with your friend though."

 I laughed. "Don't worry. I wouldn't go near a mall without him."

 She handed me her credit card. "Just enough. No extra spending."

 I hugged her and picked my house keys and my purse off the counter. "Promise. Thanks!" I called, running down the gravel drive.

 I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Seth, my bestfriend.

I lied when I said I only had one friend. I had two friends, but only one of them was technicall allowed around me.

 See, my other friend, Alex, is a party animal. She drinks all the time, does a few drugs, and smokes cigarettes.

 A lot of me had rubbed off on her, and quite a bit of her, had rubbed off on me.

  I had gotten her to stop doing any hard drugs, but she had gotten me to relax, and I drank a beer whenever we were at her house, along with a smoke. I wasn't really hooked, but it did calm me down.

  "Yo." Seth answered.

 "Hey man, Judith's makin me go school shopping." I said, turning left at the end of my road.

 "I'll be ready by the time you get here. We goin in the beast?" He asked.

 I laughed. "Of course. I hate having to drive her car."

 He laughed. "I know. Okay, see ya in a few."

 "Bye."

   Seth was the one person I trusted my life with.

 He stood up for me at my first day of school, when the kids brutally ridiculed me for my father being in prison, when he didn't even know me. He save me from getting raped from my ex. He held me while I cried on the anniversary of my mother's death. He knew me better than I knew him, and he loved me for me, the broken, fucked up mess I was.

 And when I say love, I mean in the brother sister way. He's almost six months older than me, and he acts like my big brother.  Him and Alex are actually together now. Which is really good for her. She needs a guy who isn't going to have his way with her, then ditch.

  I looked up and noticed I was walking down the cement walkway to the Seth's house.

Well, it wasn't actually his house. He slept in the apartment above the garage, and had his 'shop' in the garage.

 His parents didn't understand him, and didn't really like him for that fact, so he moved out there so he didn't have to deal with them on a daily basis.

 "Hey!" I yelled as I climbed the stairs to the apartment, breathing in the familiar smell of engine oil, gas, cigarette smoke, and Seth.

  I threw myself on the couch and waited for a response.

 "Uh, is anyone alive in here?" I asked, sitting up.

 "Yeah! Just a sec!" He called.

 I frowned. Something was up.

  I pushed open the door to his bedroom, and burst out laughing at what I saw.

 Seth was standing on his bed, in only his boxers, trying to get his pants untangled from the ceiling fan.

  He glared at me. "Shut up."

 I leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "Someone had fun in here last night."

 He glared at me again, and finally pulled his jeans free.

  Like I said, Alex was a party animal, and she tended to rub off on people. (Though if you ask me, Seth is that way deep down, too.)

  He puled a Linkin Park t-shirt over his head and grabbed his wallet, throwing his car keys at me.

 Seth loved cars, but he wasn't that big of a fan of driving. Me, on the other hand, I love driving. Maybe a little too much.

  I've gotten pulled over for drag racing six times, getting a ticket only twice, thankfully.

 What can I say, I have a knack of getting out of trouble.

   "I am armed with two gold credit cards, and a silver one. What are we hitting first?" Seth asked as I backed out of his garage.

 I grinned and sped down his driveway. "We'll just have to see when we get there."

                                                              - - - - - - - - - -

   It was eight thirty, and the back of the beast, as well as some of the front was piled high with bags and boxes, making me use my side mirrors only.

  "That, was actually fun." Seth commented as I drove back home.

 I smiled. "It was. And this time, I didn't even feel bad about using your parent's credit cards."

 He burst out laughing. "Finally!"

   Seth's parents were filthy rich, and he always insisted on buying me everything. Judith, for some reason, wasn't aware of it, and I indented to keep it that way.

 "Earth to Julie." Seth slapped my arm.

 "Sorry, what?" I asked.

 "Jeez, I almost had to call you Jules. Anyway, I know it's waay past your birthday, but I was thinking, One Direction are having a show in Philly in two weeks, right before school starts, and I was wondering if you wanted to go."

 I thought about it for a minute. "You'd have to go with me."

 He shrugged. "They're not near as bad as I make them out to be, Julie."

 I smiled. "I figured."

 "So, you wanna?" He asked.

  I pulled onto my driveway. "I think that would be amazing."

 He grinned and helped me carry all my stuff upstairs, being quiet so we wouldn't disturb Judith's Saturday evening bookclub.

  "I'll see if I can get tickets." He smiled, handing me a handful of bags.

 I slapped him. "I know you already have the tickets, you bloke. They've been sold out for months."

 He grinned sheepishly. "I guess I know you  really well?" He said it as a question.

 "I guess so." I smiled.

 "Now get home before it gets too dark." I said, kissing his cheek.

 He pulled me into a hug. "Love ya."

 "You too." I said, watching him drive down the road.

   I shook my  head as I quietly climbed the stairs. He knew me way too well.