C H A P T E R 7 4
I shot up into a sitting position once my eyes opened.
I immediately regretted sitting up so abruptly because the room spun at great speeds.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingers into my temples.
It took some time for me to recall the last thing I could remember which was the argument with Heather.
I sighed. I was again torn between what was the right thing to do and what I was forced to do.
I noticed an Advil on my nightstand. I immediately chased it down with water, grateful to whoever put it there for me because my headache had just started to set in.
The atmosphere at the breakfast table was tense. I had woken up late and everyone had already had their breakfast. Ethan had left for work and I regretted not being able to catch him before he left.
I didn't remember much from last night after my argument with Heather. I just hoped I hadn't done anything stupid but if looking at my parents and even Olivia who were sitting at the table even when they didn't need to were anything to go by, I did do something big and stupid.
I quickly swallowed down my breakfast even when I had no appetite and scrambled out of there to put away my dishes where I quickly whipped out my phone which was vibrating like crazy all this time.
I ignored the thousands of notifications andgoogled Juliet Jenson.
THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS HAS FINALLY BEEN FOUND AND SHE HASN'T GOT ANY BETTER
JULIET JENSON MAKES A WILD AND DRAMATIC DRUNK COMEBACK. WHERE HAD SHE BEEN ALL THESE YEARS?
IS JULIET JENSON DATING ETHAN EVANS?
THE SCANDALOUS QUEEN IS BACK. SOME PEOPLE NEVER CHANGE
CLOSE FRIENDS REVEAL JULIET JENSON WAS FOUND MONTHS AGO AND DIDN'T WANT TO FACE THE WORLD AFTER ALL HER SHAMELESS ANTICS
"No." I screeched quietly. All the articles were about my outburst outside the party. My pictures were all over. I was crying and my makeup was a mess.
Apparently I had stormed out of the party to encounter the paparazzi who recognized me and in a drunken fit I had yelled that I was Juliet Jenson and then proceeded to admit all the things that the real one had done.
It was all very dramatic and I was very embarrassed.
I didn't want to face anyone after this.
I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole, never to see the light of the day ever again.
I took excessively long to do my dishes and then escaped to my room stealthily because I smelt a confrontation waiting with my parents.
This was it. This was the end. I was going to get caught and thrown out.
There was no way Juliet wasn't going to come across the articles.
I didn't even get to tell Ethan the truth.
I was going to tell him after the party but then I got drunk because of what Heather told me to do and now everything was going to go down.
I wondered how long I had until Juliet showed up.
I needed to get out of here before that happened.
Before I could take a drastic decision there was a knock on the door. I approached slowly, fearing it were the parents.
"Julie," Olivia whispered. I almost broke the door with how forcefully I wrenched it open.
"Olivia, I fucked up."
"No shit. Heather's going to come over to talk."
"It's over, isn't it? We're going to get caught. We'll have to return back to our old lives." It almost pained me to think about going back.
She shrugged. "It's for the best anyway. I was kind of waiting for this day. I'm sick of being here. I'm sorry you didn't get to tell Ethan. But there's still time. You might be able to tell him."
I shook my head. "You weren't there at the party last night. I can't do that anymore."
"Why not?"
"Heather told me I can't tell him."
"Why would she say that? She wanted you to tell him more than anyone."
"I don't know. She told me that she needed to search for Juliet.
She said that Juliet lied to her about her whereabouts and that she might be somewhere worse.
She thinks she's not safe there and she wants to search for her where her private detective suspected she was.
And so she didn't want me to tell Ethan because she wanted me to pretend for a few more days until Juliet was found.
I couldn't wait for more days! I'd die from all the guilt so I accidentally got drunk and fucked things over. "
She put a hand on shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I'm sure Heather has a plan. Let's just wait for her."
Heather came right before lunch. All that time I had refused to go out, forcing the parents to go about their work.
"Man, it looks like the paparazzi has made a home outside. They won't budge. I'm surprised I didn't run anyone over." Heather's greeting did nothing to soothe my nerves.
I rushed towards her. "Heather, want are we going to do?"
"Julie, it's already done. There's nothing we can do to rectify the situation unless you want to go out and apologize about your...unceremonious reveal."
I fervently shook my head. "No. I don't want to go in front of them ever."
"Then there's really nothing we can do but wait until the situation calms down. Don't look up articles. They are saying all mean things about my friend that I don't want you to look at."
I sat down on the bed, hugging my legs to my chest. "This is scary. How did Juliet handle all of this from such a young age?"
"Mostly she just didn't care what the world thought of her. It used to bother her a lot when she was young but gradually she became indifferent to gossip and rumors about her." Heather had a wistful look on her face.
"Where is she?"
"I was planning on going today to look for her but this happened and so had to stay back to make sure you were okay."
"Thank you. And I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Maybe telling you that you shouldn't tell Ethan at the party wasn't the right place or time. I understand you were angry and were frustrated at the situation. I just didn't want any more problems until I sorted out Juliet's whereabouts first."
"Is she really in some sort of danger?"
"I'm not entirely sure. She gave me the name of a small town she was staying in and although she ordered me not to engage a detective to look after her, I still did because I was worried about her.
This detective had been trying to search her for an year now and I just thought that he was a lousy one or that she was really good at hiding because he couldn't find her so I hired two more and even they couldn't find her.
When all the three failed I realized she was lying to me.
She wasn't staying in that town which meant she didn't want me to know where she lived and the only reason I could come up with for her lies is that she's somewhere she shouldn't be. " She concluded.
"Maybe she's just worried you'll tell her parents." I reasoned.
"I doubt it. She trusted me enough to call and I haven't said a single word about us keeping in touch to her parents so she must know that she can trust me with anything.
Anyway one of the detectives came up with something.
It's from a town on the completely opposite side of the town she told me she was in.
He found a girl who looks just like her and suspects she might be Juliet.
She goes by the name of Julia Sanders. She's a high school student about the same age as you two.
She was adopted. That's what he gathered but I suspect it might be a cover up done by Juliet.
I really doubt that there's another girl who looks like her. "
"That's...strange."
"Very much so. Hopefully, there aren't any more clones. I've had enough with you as it is. Once I'm sure everything is under control here, I'll go in search of Juliet."
"Will that be necessary? I'm all over the news. Even if Juliet doesn't keep up with the latest news she's bound to hear it from someone, especially when it's about her."
Heather seemed to think it over. "Now that I have no idea where she is, that's highly possible."
"And before that happens shouldn't I just disappear?"
"No. At least not yet. Even if she does hear about it, she'll contact me first. I don't think she'd want to come back when she's unintentionally the hot topic right now."
I sighed. "What am I to say to the parents?"
"They're pissed. If you keep being holed up in your room, they'd probably be mad at you for being a coward and that is unlike Juliet."
Taking her words into account, I promptly approached them just before lunch.
"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked.
That wasn't what I had expected for them to say. I was pretty sure they were going to lash out at me.
"I'm fine." I managed to say. My eyes shifted to Alistair who looked equally concerned.
"Why were you crying last night?"
I hesitated, rapidly coming up with a lie. "I just had a silly argument with my friends. Nothing serious." At least that was the truth.
"Honey, I wanted you to have a good reveal. I wanted you to look good to everyone. I know you don't care much about what people think of you but I do." Charlotte looked into my eyes. "I don't want others to badmouth my daughter. It hurts me when they say hurtful things about you."
"I'm sorry." I said, lowering my gaze as I found it difficult to look into her eyes for long when she was looking at me like that.
"Don't apologize. It's just that we wished you'd stop doing things like that. I know you're a good person Juliet but you don't have to put up this fa?ade which isn't you. Show your true self to the world and I'm sure they'll love that side of you."
I really didn't know how to answer so I just nodded. Even I didn't know exactly what kind of person Juliet was.
Our interaction was brief and I could tell they were disappointed in me. They weren't my parents yet I still felt terrible for letting them down.
The rest of the day was pretty much spent in my room.
I consciously avoided going out. Ethan came to talk but I didn't want to, fearing my secret would bubble out of my mouth.
He was soon chased away from my door by Heather who had decided to stay here for a few days.
I suspected Olivia behind her decision. I was certain she thought I was going to run away which sounded really tempting right now what with my phone constantly blowing up with notifications from people I didn't know and last night's events constantly on replay on my mind.
My parents hadn't given an official statement over the matters and it seemed to make it worse because that meant a wildfire of rumors spreading.
Despite Heather's warning I found myself going against her and refreshing the page where I got new articles about how my parents were ashamed of me and deciding on disowning me.
There were a few more about my relationship with Ethan.
Apparently a nosy person happened to catch us smooching at the party and was desperate for some attention from it.
But I wasn't planning on running away unless Heather told me to and I certainly wasn't leaving without Olivia.
I was really uncertain about the extent of our stay here so I got a bag and stuffed all my things in it like my old phone, the dress I was wearing that day, the shoes, the accessories and my purse. I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen and that included a hasty escape.
I told Olivia to do the same and she told Heather who thought I was overreacting but she wouldn't understand because she wasn't in my shoes.
Maybe I was overreacting but I truly wouldn't be comfortable with this type of attention on me. In school and even in college I wasn't popular so having tenfold of that all dumped on me suddenly made me incapable of handling things.
After dinner I couldn't avoid Ethan even if I tried to. He was in front of my door before I could get there.
"Juliet, what's wrong? Why are you avoiding me again? What did I do?"
I didn't answer. I knew it was wrong of me to avoid him like that without any explanation but I couldn't help it. If I was in his presence, I might break down from the guilt.
Still, I forced it all down. I knew my days here were limited.
I wasn't going to waste it again especially when I could spend it with Ethan.
I knew I was going to regret it deeply when I get out of here.
I was going to curse myself every time I thought of how much precious time I wasted lamenting myself when I could've always done that later.
So instead I gave him a bright smile. "I'm sorry. I was just embarrassed about last night."
He sighed and unexpectedly pulled me in a hug. "It's okay. You don't have to pretend to be okay. I know you're probably scared and not used to this. You can talk to me."
His words held the comfort I needed but I pulled away. He was oddly enough saying things he shouldn't to Juliet. She wasn't not used to this. She wouldn't be scared so I tried sounding as uncaring about this as I could.
"What are you talking about?" I scoffed. "I've done this a lot of times. I'm not scared and I'm definitely used to this."
He exhaled out loudly in irritation. His expressions told me he was fed up of something. He looked like he was about to say something important but thought better of it.
"Are the articles about us dating bothering you?"
"No."
He didn't know what else to say to make me feel at ease so I decided to make things easier for the both of us.
"Come inside before Heather chases you away again." I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.
He walked in after me and shut the door behind him. I led him to the bed and we sat close to each other.
I wanted to tell him I loved him but that would probably complicate things.
But I might not get to tell him that ever again if I didn't pluck up the courage right now.
I reminded myself once again about how I might regret not telling him later.
Telling him right now might not be a good idea but it was certainly worth not regretting it later.
I took his hands in mine and he gave me his full attention. "Ethan," I started, watching his expressions, nervous to know his reaction to my words. "I love you."
His face gave nothing away and he didn't react for a few seconds. I wasn't really good at reading people by just looking at their faces so I was wracked with nerves.
"I think it's too soon to say it. We've only just started dating but I wanted to tell you because it's the truth and I'm sure of it. It's the only amount of truth I can tell you." I knew I was confusing him with my words but I didn't care, I needed to tell him.
If he was confused he didn't show it. A small smile played on his lips. "You love me?"
"Yes, I do." I was probably inflating his ego but I needed to let him know that I was completely serious and genuine about my feelings towards him. If that meant that I had to tell him that I loved him a dozen times, I was willing to do that.
"I love you too." Those words after a stressful day was like sweet happiness. I loved hearing those words from his mouth directed at me.
Once we were both in bed, I decided to push my luck.
"Ethan, would you still love me if I was a different person? Like I had a completely different personality but I still looked like myself?"
"The type of person you are right now is the total opposite of the type of person I knew you to be two years ago. If you were still the same as two years ago, I wouldn't have fallen for you."
That didn't give me much of an answer except that Juliet wasn't his type. I was confused if how I acted was more like Juliet or more like myself. I did have everyone else fooled and thinking that I was the real Juliet and that I had just changed a bit.
"What if I was someone else? What if I looked like myself but I wasn't Juliet, hypothetically.
Like I was her lookalike and say I was just pretending to be her for some reason and lying to everyone about my identity, even you?
" I knew I was venturing into dangerous waters and I just hoped I'd know when to stop before I got in too deep to return back.
"That depends. Why are you not trusting me enough to tell me the truth?"
I took a few moments to structure my sentences appropriately.
"Let's say that I'm just not allowed to.
Some people just don't want me to reveal the truth because they don't trust how you'll react to it and they think you'll blow my cover but I know you enough to know that you'll understand, hypothetically. "
"You might be right about me understanding you part. I just want to know that when you pretend to be someone you are not, are you doing a good job at imitating that person's personality completely?"
That was a question I didn't know an answer to myself but I knew myself enough to know that majority of my act is just me being myself. "Not really. I'm just being myself for the most part."
"Then it's possible that I don't love the person you're imitating but rather the real you."
That answer sent a flurry of butterflies in my stomach. "And what if the real me isn't as privileged as the person I'm pretending to be?" I promised myself that this was the last thing I was going to ask him about this matter.
"I don't see how that's important if I love you. It's not like we take material things with us when we die so I wouldn't limit myself to such expectations when I could get something far more precious than that - like the love of my life, as cheesy as it sounds."
That put any of my lingering insecurities I had about myself to rest. I knew for a fact that Ethan wasn't a hypocrite and that he wouldn't act any different when the time came for him to learn the truth.
He didn't question me about the origin of my strange questions which I found a little odd. It wasn't normal of people to ask questions as specific as I had asked which made me wonder if he already knew something.
I snuggled into him and drifted off into a peaceful sleep in his arms. I was able to get a nice sleep thanks to Ethan next to me.
After breakfast I was just lounging in my room, trying to do anything but overthink things when there was a knock on the door.
Samara entered, looking uneasy.
"Someone's waiting for you in the living room."
I sat up at her words. "Samara, what's wrong?"
She hesitated. "She looks exactly like you."
I feel like I've been ending chapters on cliffhangers a lot haha.
There are more three chapters and an epilogue remaining.
I'm so excited that I'm finally finishing this book after three years and three months.
I first started writing this book in March 2017.