The Guardian

Chapter Nineteen

The next day was just as bad as the day before. Students were pointing at Julianna in the halls, death threats were left on her desk and offers of a sexual nature were given to her, both anonymously as well as to her face. She gritted her teeth and endured, and her other wrist became abraded from the use of her elastic. She was happy to go home at the end of the day. "Jules", said Aggie as she let herself into the house, "you need to be aware. I heard a rumor today that someone was going to put drugs in your cola at lunch again, just to make it seem like you were drinking alcohol. They're trying to pin this one on you, make it seem like you were drunk rather than high, and that it was your fault."

"This is ridiculous", said Allyson as she came into the room and overheard Aggie's comments. "I need to call Guidance and talk to them." She disappeared from the room.

"No, wait!" said Julianna as she flicked her elastic worriedly. "I can tough this out. You don't need to make a big deal of this. Now that I know, I'll be extra careful with all my drinks. I'll only drink water and will leave the bottle cap on at all times."

"And keep it in your hands", said Aggie. "I don't trust those guys. They're just trying to make you seem foolish."

"I heard Jason had his bail hearing today, and he was let out on his own recognizance but having to pay a lot of money for bail", said Lexie.

"And I heard his mother wanted to pay the bail, but his father is furious with Jason and is making Jason pay the bail himself", said Josie. "His father has grounded Jason even though his mother has said that boys will be boys. Apparently, his father is a judge and he's the disciplinarian in the family. He knows that Jason broke the law. As Jason was walking out of the courtroom, his father turned to him and said that he was lucky you had such a strong constitution and survived being drugged. Otherwise, he would've been looking at a murder charge and there's no lawyer in the world who would have gotten him off."

"I hate that this has turned into such a rigmarole", said Julianna as she wrung her hands. "It isn't fair. If Jason hadn't made such a big deal of this, just gone with what happened and kept things quiet, it would have blown over. Since he didn't, it has become the scandal of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't in the yearbook."

"I know", said Allyson as she walked back into the room. "However, as Gabriel said, you have to go with it. You can't change what has happened, so you'll have to find ways to deal with things."

"Did you talk to Guidance?" asked Aggie.

"No. They weren't answering their phones. I think they've already left for the day. I left a message and asked them to call me tomorrow."

"Why did you show up at school late this morning?" asked Josie. "Allyson woke me up and told me to let you sleep. How come you got to sleep in?"

"Julianna wasn't feeling well last night", said Allyson. "I wanted to let her get more sleep in the hopes that she would feel better this morning."

"Do you feel better?" asked Josie. "You didn't look like you were feeling bad last night."

"It came on me suddenly", said Julianna. She felt bad for lying to her friend, and she looked at Allyson, not sure what to say. "Allyson and I were up for part of the night." Allyson smiled at her.

"Don't you have to go to your appointment?" asked Allyson. "I won't be able to drive you today."

"That's all right", said Julianna. "The walk will do me good. It's a nice day out today."

"It will take you a few minutes to walk that far", said Allyson. "Michael's office is about a fifteen-minute drive, so about a forty-five minute walk. You should leave soon."