When we were done with shopping, we waited for outside for a while for the car to arrive. During that period, my eyes never left the mall as I kept checking for Julian. I had left him back at the beverage area after exchanging contacts.
"Jessica, come on, let's go," Nanny called and it was then that I realized that the car have arrived and all the things we shopped have even be put in the boot. How long was I out for?
I rushed from where I was standing and hastily got into the car, not wanting to delay them anymore. Before the driver drove off, I took one last look at the store hoping to see him but still, there was no sign of him.
The drive wasn't long since the distance from the store to our house wasn't much. I dashed into my house and when my phone beeped, I freaked out. I hurriedly brought it out and just like I had thought, it was him.
Julian Gade.
From: Julian Gade.
Introvert,
Have you reached home?
Anyways, I just wanted to make sure that you really saved my contact.
And if you didn't, I forgive you. Save it now :)
A wide smile formed on my lips as I read his message but immediately I noticed it, I forced it out of my face. I felt like a freak doing that. Why was I smiling? What is so hilarious about the message?
Sighing, I began to walk to my room while replying him. As I entered my room, I halted hearing sounds from my bathroom but immediately relaxed when the door opened and Belinda walked out.
"Don't you know it's wrong to be in someone's room when they are away?" I raised a brow at her and she smiled.
"Right. As if this is not my abode too." She said, jumping to my bed and I returned my focus to Julian who I was chatting with.
His messages were so funny that for a moment, I forgot that Belinda was in the room. I laughed out loud, and instantly regretted it. I knew I was screwed.
"And who is that?" Belly asked, trying to sneak through my phone, but I quickly hid it.
"No one. Sorry I got distracted. Why are you here?" I asked, adjusting my hair.
"That's the first time in years you're asking me this question which proves that you're nervous." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, then her face lit up.
"Omg...that's a guy isn't it?" Belinda smirked, shifting closer. "Who is he?"
"No one. It doesn't matter." I muttered and she chuckled.
"If he doesn't matter then you'd have said his name. The only reason you're hiding it is because he does mean something to you." She accused and I groaned internally.
That's something about her. Once she found out, she won't let go.
"Alright, fine. His name is Julian Gade." I said and her phone in her hand slipped out of her hand. Hell yeah, this girl was dramatic.
"Like the Gade's? Like the Julian Gade? The son of Alice Gade and Bernard Gade?" She asked in a high pitch and I scowled.
"How am I supposed to know his parents and what's with the dramatic intro?" I said, signalling for her to calm down, but she brushed my hand off.
"Right. Is he the owner of J&K Academy son?"
"Yes. I heard so." I replied and her mouth once again hung open. Belinda's eyes widened as if I had just told her that I was dating the president's son.
"You don't know a thing Jessica. Now, I think you should really thank your father for changing your school. Don't you know how powerful the Gades are? I heard his mother is a fashion icon." She said, then she leaned in, with her face very focused, as if she was sharing the biggest gossip of all time.
"If Alice Gades breathes on a dress, it becomes a trend. People worship her. And you..." She pointed at me dramatically. "You are here acting like you met a random boy at a Shop n Save." She said, but well I wasn't surprised.
Belinda liked power like people liked new handbags. She saw these kind of people as something to hold, something to match her energy and something that made sense with her future plan.
She didn't see influential people as fantasies— she saw them as opportunities and she knew how to align herself with them. She knew how to make them notice her without looking like she tried. That was something admirable, but that wasn't me.
"Okay...and? That doesn't make him any less human and I don't want anything to do with Julian. He's just a friend." I defended and Belinda scoffed loudly.
"Jessica, you're impossible."
"I am serious." I insisted dropping my phone to the bed.
"I have goals Belinda. Princeton is not going to admit me because I am busy running after boys. I already have a plan mapped out, and I need to follow the rules I have set. No boyfriends. No distractions." I explained, but it was more like I was reminding myself.
Belinda rolled her eyes. "Rules, rules, rules, rules. You and your father rule book."
"I have corrected you a thousand times. They are not his. They are mine. I follow them because I agree with them. Not because he's controlling me." I defended, but even I knew that was a lie.
Maybe that's why Belinda never takes the correction.
She stared at me for a moment then she exhaled. "You know sometimes you should try to live a little. You're seventeen, not seventy. A harmless crush won't destroy everything you've planned."
"A harmless crush is a distraction." I countered then I bit my lip. "And Julian...Julian is the type of distraction that comes with consequences." I added and Belinda lifted her hands up in defeat.
"Fine. Don't take my advice. You never do anyways."
I raised a brow. "Right. And you take mine?"
The teasing smile on her face disappeared as if knowing where I was going to.
"And?" She urged and I sighed.
"I am just saying. If we're talking about ignoring advice, let's talk about Nelson." I said gently and she stiffened.
I knew that was a sensitive topic for her, but I don't understand why she was making it a big deal. She was making their relationship complicated, when she could have it in a simple way.
"Belinda, you flirt with him and hook up with him, then you disappear. You let him think he has a chance, then you push him away again. You can't expect someone to stay forever when you keep doing that." I said calmly.
I wasn't being judgemental. I was just a friend who wanted her to be happy. She deserved that. She was the most supportive person in my life.
If not for her presence in my life, after my sisters death, I would have stayed depressed, but she did all she could to pull my out.
And just like she led me out during my darkest moment, I want to lead her out of her insecurities about being in a relationship, even if I knew nothing regarding it.
She fell silent for a while, then she swallowed hard. "You don't just get it."
"Then explain."
She hesitated before sitting up then she hugged a pillow to her chest. "It's not that I don't like him." She said quietly.
"I do. Maybe too much, but he only wants me because I am the girl he hasn't had yet. Because everyone else in the school throws themselves at him and I don't." She replies and my gaze soften.
I knew where the mentality was coming from.
"That's not true." I argued, but she shook her head firmly.
"Yes, it is. If I give in too easily, he'll lose interest. I have seen the way men treat my mom..." Her voice cracks a little, then she clears her throat.
"They want her, until she gives them what they want then they disappear. I don't want to be like her."
"Belinda..." My voice softened. What hurt me more was the way she looked so convinced about it.
She wasn't just being dramatic for fun. She grew up watching love fall apart like a hobby. Miranda Howard—her mother was on her fourth marriage and each crumbled faster than the last.
The one man she loved was Belinda father who abandoned her with Belinda when she was a teenager. This made her choose her lifestyle. She needed to survive and she brought the Howard name to this level by sleeping away her way up the ladder.
"Come on..." I started, but she cut in.
"No, Jess. I know what I am doing. If he doesn't get all of me, he can't hurt me." She claimed, and I took her hand in mine.
"I would never tell you to jump into a relationship—never. But don't guard yourself so tightly that you ruin something that could be good. Take time. Watch him. Study him and if he truly cares, then decide." I said calmly and she blinked rapidly taking my words in.
"You talk like an eighty years old therapist." She muttered and I laughed.
"And you behave like someone who does not care but cares way too much." I said and she threw a pillow at me.