Only you

Chapter one;

Julia

«It's only you baby» We start laughing. Meredith tells us about her steamy night with some college student who lives in a town nearby. «I know, he was such a cliché!» Josie and I give each other the look. This is just a normal Sunday for us. We all meet outside the local café and listen to Mer talk about last nights catch. Mer is different from Josie and I. People think she doesn't give a crap about school, or her future in general. Which is somewhat true, but she wants to live life as much as she can. She doesn't give a damn about what people think of her. I love that about her, and because of it, we get to hear about her crazy life. «I think you should see him again» Meredith looks over at Josie like she is talking gibberish. «She might be on to something» I softly push Merediths shoulder. She just rolls her eyes at me, but I can see Josie giggle in the corner of my eye. «Not everyone can have a perfect relationship like you and Thomas, Julia» I blush slightly. Thomas and I have been dating since kindergarten. My first everything has been with Thomas, and he is absolutely the love of my life. We met through our parents, they have been good friends since they were teenagers and therefore Thomas and I. We are destined to be together and I have always known that. Mer always makes fun of me for it, but I know that my future is Thomas. «I mean it Mer, maybe this guy could be the one?» Josie pushes the other side of Mer's shoulder. Josie is the complete opposite of Mer. She likes control, her education is her life, and being the best is her first priority. Josie says it because of the fact that she got Asian parents. But they understand, respect and love each other. «I dare you to ask him out on a new date» Mer just laughs. «Are we in middle school again?» She stands up and faces me and Josie. «He actually attends West-Brooke, so you will probably meet him again during your week» We jump up in excitement. «Wait, then you have to come and meet him!» Mer just laughs and we slowly start walking back to the car.

West-Brooke is the best college in the state and every year they host 35 seniors students from Howells High School out of thousands of students. Both Josie, Thomas and I were chosen, but Thomas declined his spot. They host multiple schools during a year, but it's known to be really hard to get into the program, and only 20% of the students who visit West-Brooke during their senior year as a one-week host student will be offered a place in the program. So right now we have to pack for the week. The school is just about 40 min away, but we are required to stay at the campus the whole time. I have thought about attending West-Brooke before, but since Thomas wants me to join him when he goes to Harvard, it would be difficult. We have talked about me applying to Harvard as well, but I know I wouldn't get in. As long as I am with Thomas I don't really care where I go.

Meredith drives Josie and me home and we say goodbye. Mer lives twenty minutes away from us, so she is usually the one driving. "I will see you tomorrow Josie" I give them a wave and close the door. Mer starts driving and she quickly pulls out a smoke. I can see my brother hooking up with some girl through his window on the second floor. Why can't he just roll the damn curtain down? I roll my eyes, how am I even related to that boy. Loud music fills my ears when I enter the door. My mom is making dinner, while my dad is trying to provoke her my eating everything. "Hey honey, how was it out with the girls?" My mom turns down the music, she nods her head for me to come to her. Dad kisses my forehead while walking out. "Good, what have you been up to?" She continues cutting the carrot on the table. "Just the usual" I nod, smile and start walking out again. "Wait" she stops. "I forgot, but Thomas is waiting in your room. We thought it would be a good idea for you two to start planning your party. I know next week is going to be hectic, so you should start now making the guest list" I smile at her and nods once more. Thomas and I are going to have a party to celebrate our anniversary. The Connors is known for loves making a big deal out of everything. They have a lot of money, and they do everything to show it off. I really appreciate everything they do for me, and how they treat me like I am their own. But stuff like this isn't really my cup of tea. I walk upstairs, I can definitely hear something going on in Landon's room. Ew, just ew. I walk into my room and there he stands, looking at my pictures on the wall. I just look at him, he is so incredibly pretty. Blonde curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. He notices me watching him and turns around. "You look gorgeous today" He walks over to me and kisses my lips gently. "Thanks, Thomas" He caresses my cheek and drags me to my bed. He then flips me over and starts kissing me. I love how he kisses me, but when he tries to be "impulsive" or "manly" by throwing me on the bed, I can't help to think how much I want to throw him off me. I try to speak while his tongue is making its way down my throat. "Baby, we need to plan the guest list" I hear a big sight and he stands up. I can sense he is disappointed. I know he wants to do stuff like a normal teenage boy wants to, but I want it to be romantic. And throwing me down hard and pressuring me, is not romantic. "Come on Julia, you know we don't need to do it right away. Let's just chill for a while." He starts leaning down throward me again. I roll away to the side and walk to my desk to get a piece of paper. "I know we don't have to do it right away, but it would really help to get it off my chest" I feel bad for him. He deserves way more than what I give him. But I have those days when I feel claustrophobic when he is too close to me. Fortunately, he understands me and respects me when I feel like that or have those days. "Fine, let's get started then".

I am so fricking tired at this point. I look over to the other side of my room at my alarm, it lights up 01.00am. We talked about the guest list all night, I think we got most of the people we wanted on the guest list, or at least almost everyone. Thomas and his family are making such a big deal out of this, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Though I have to admit, that when they told me about the idea, I thought it would just be his and my family. It isn't for another two months, but I am already very excited. The only thing Thomas and I can't agree on is whether we are going to invite Meredith. Truth is, I don't know everything about what happened. Neither Thomas or Mer likes to talk about it. What I do know is that they have the same biological mother, but she abandoned Mer and her father to marry Thomas' father. Of course, I want my best friend there, but I also know that bringing her would be trouble. I need to breathe for a second. I set up my hair in a ponytail and remove my makeup. It's weird how I feel like such a mess, without being a mess. I look at myself in the mirror, "Of course" I shake my head, why, why, why?! I see multiple pimples starting to show. "You know to touch them won't make them less irritated" Landon is standing beside my door, with his arms crossed over his chest. If I didn't know better I would think he was trying to impress me with his "bad boy" vibe. "Shut up" the pitch in my voice doesn't sound as annoyed as I tried making it sound. But I can't really be mad at him. He really is one of my best friends, no matter how gross he is. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" He finally stops being so tied up and leans towards my closet. "I'm not actually going to college, Landon." He gives me a quick smirk, "I know, but there is a chance for you to win the scholarship", I tried not thinking about that. Whoever is the "best" senior student will be granted a scholarship at West-Brooke. I know I won't win it, and even if I did win it, I wouldn't take it. "I'm not going to West-Brooke, I already told you that." Landon lets out a big sight. "You should keep your options open sis" This is the thing I hate most about Landon. He thinks he knows what's best for me, and therefore thinks I should do everything after what he recommends. And he thinks me going after Thomas to Harvard is a bad idea. He has never been 100% on my relationship with Thomas. Not that it ever affected me in any way. "I have to sleep now, can we talk tomorrow instead" I start making my bed, showing him I am no longer interested in talking about this. "Yeah, of course, sleep tight" He gives me a goodnight kiss and walks out. "Try not being too loud with the new girl" We both laugh, and he closes my door.

He is right, tomorrow is going to be exciting. I have worked hard my whole life, and in some way, this is just recognition for my hard work. As I have told everyone, I won't go to West-Brooke even though it's a good school. A message pops up on my phone.

Thomas <3

-Good night babe, I love you so much. I hope you have a great week, but don't have too much fun without me;) Going to miss you!

-Haha, you know it probably won't be fun at all, I love you too and I will miss you so much!