A little while later Lance was pulling into the driveway of his parents’ house. JC turned around and looked at Rey sitting in the back seat. “You,” he said pointing to her, “Stay here and don’t move,” he instructed. “You want me to sit in here by myself?!” she exclaimed. “If you go in there you’re going to do nothing but cause trouble,” JC replied. “No I won’t,” Rey said unbuckling her seat belt and opening her door. “Rey,” JC said in warning, but it didn’t work, she was already following Lance to the front door.
Lance knocked lightly before walking in, “Hey, we’re here to say goodbye,” he announced and a few seconds later his parents were by the door to greet him. “Where’s Jules?” Lance asked after he noticed she wasn’t downstairs yet. “I think she’s still upstairs getting ready,” his mom replied before going to the stairs to call her down.
Julia was standing in front of her mirror when she heard her mom call to her that Lance was there to say goodbye. She sighed and tried to push away the tears forming in her eyes. She was upset about Lance leaving when she had no idea when she’d get to see him again, but she was more upset about saying goodbye to JC. In a way it was like she was saying goodbye to the JC she had fallen in love with before she tried to move on. “You can do this, Julia,” she whispered to herself. She grabbed something off her dresser before heading downstairs.
“There you are,” Lance said as Julia walked into the living room. Her heart sank when she saw JC sitting next to Rey on the couch but she tried not to let it show. “He’s happy with her now and you’re getting over him,” she told herself but a part of her didn’t believe it. “You know me, always late,” Julia gave him a slight smile as she sat on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. “Where are you guys going now?” she asked, trying to avoid looking at JC.
“We’re off to New York for a little promotion and the album release in a few weeks and then down to Orlando for tour rehearsals,” Lance replied. “I can’t believe you guys are going to be back on tour already,” Julia replied. “I know, it seems like we were just coming home from the last tour,” Lance remembered. Julia thought back to that day when they came back from their last tour. She remembered being so excited to see JC and her heart soaring when he had hugged her tightly when he saw her. She shook her head lightly to try and push the memory aside.
“Well we really should be going, our plane leaves in about an hour,” JC said looking at his watch. Rey stood up quickly, like she couldn’t wait to get out of there. They all walked to the door slowly and Lance turned to say goodbye to his parents. Julia looked down to her hands, not sure of what to say to JC. “Bye Julia, I hope your arm gets better soon...oh wait, no I don’t,” Rey said with an evil laugh. JC shot her a dirty look but she only smiled innocently. “You know what Rey, I think I might have forgotten to pack the plane tickets, can you go out to the car and check for them in my backpack?” Lance lied. Rey shrugged, “Yeah, whatever,” she replied taking the keys from Lance and going out to the car. Lance turned back to his parents and continued his goodbyes.
“I’m sorry about her,” JC apologized to Julia once Rey was gone. Julia shook her head lightly and kept her eyes focused on JC’s feet, “It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” she whispered. JC reached out and lifted Julia’s chin gently. He raised her face so her eyes were meeting his. As much as Julia tried to look away, she couldn’t bring herself to. JC couldn’t help but notice her eyes looked a little different. He couldn’t remember them ever looking so sad and hopeless.
“Here, I guess I should give this back to you,” Julia’s soft voice pulled him away from his thoughts. He looked down to her opening her hand slowly to reveal the blue beaded bracelet he’d given her for her birthday to show her how much he loved her. He felt like his heart stopped the second his eyes landed on the bracelet. He had honestly forgotten that she still had it but seeing it in her tiny hand brought back memories of the night he gave it to her.
***************Flashback**************
JC opened his fist and revealed a small blue and white beaded bracelet. He lifted her arm and slipped the bracelet around her small wrist, “Happy birthday, Julia,” he whispered before smiling tenderly at her. She didn’t know what to say, she just stared at the bracelet in shock. She tore her eyes away from her wrist to look back to JC, “So does this mean?” she asked hopefully. He smiled brightly at her, “Yes, it means I’ve fallen in love with you, Julia Bass. I love you,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.
**************End Flashback**************
JC tried to shake his thoughts as he looked back to the bracelet in Julia’s hand. Julia was kind of hoping that JC would tell her to keep it. As much as her head was telling her to forget about JC, her heart was telling her to keep holding onto that little last bit of hope that she had. If he told her to keep it, it would mean that the possibility of them getting back together wasn’t impossible, but if he took it back, she knew it was over for good.
JC coughed nervously before reaching toward her hand, “Oh, um...thanks,” he said taking it out of her hand slowly, not taking his eyes from hers. As soon as the bracelet left her hand, tears filled her eyes but JC pretended not to notice them. “Goodbye, Julia,” JC said softly, holding his arms out to her. Julia bit her bottom lip as a tear fell down her cheek slowly, “Goodbye, JC,” she whispered, falling into his arms. JC hugged her tightly, making sure to be careful of her broken arm.
She pulled away slowly and reached up quickly to wipe the tears off her cheeks. She looked down to the ground again as JC said goodbye to her parents and left. She couldn’t even bring herself to look up as he left the door. “Bye, Jules,” Lance’s deep voice made her look back up. “Bye, James,” Julia replied, hugging him.
Lance pulled back a little and looked at her, “Don’t give up hope, Jules,” he whispered as more tears fell down her cheeks slowly. “Okay,” she whispered as Lance walked out the door. She went to the window and watched Lance’s car pull away and stared at JC as thoughts of him filled her mind, “Too bad I already have,” she whispered to herself.
*Chapter 41*
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