Being Julia (A Forever Novella) Read Online Free PDF Page B

came into the kitchen and scared the shit of me.”
    “What did he say to you?” I asked.
    She looked over at me and smiled. “Your father had a list of rules and he thought that I had broken one of them.”
    “That’s weird. What kind of rules did he have?”
    “That’s something I don’t think your father would want me to talk about with you.”
    “I’ve heard stories, you know. Stories about him and all the women he dated when he was younger. Some of the stories aren’t so nice.”
    My mom took my hand and interlaced our fingers. “All that stopped when he met me, and your father became the man he was destined to be. Listen, Julia, your dad loves you and this family more than anything in the whole world. He’s acting out of anger right now and he’ll eventually calm down. But we need to talk about what went on here today. I want nothing but an open and honest relationship with you and I thought that’s what we had. To be honest with you, I’m very hurt that you felt you couldn’t come to me and talk to me about having sex with this boy.”
    Tears started to fill my eyes again as I looked up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t talk to you because you would tell Dad or you’d lecture me and try to talk me out of it. I think I love him, Mom.”
    “Oh, Julia, love is so complicated. You may think you love him, but at sixteen, it’s hard for you to understand what love is. You’re going to have so many more boyfriends that you think you love, until that one special person who knocks the breath right out of you, looks at you.”
    “I bet you had a lot of boyfriends at my age.”
    “I dated a couple of guys, but nobody wanted to get involved with the girl who had cancer. To be honest, before I met your dad, I had one boyfriend, and we dated for four years. His name was Kyle.”
    “Wow, four years and you broke up? Why?”
    “That’s another story that I’m not ready to get into with you yet. I’ll just say that he left me in our tiny apartment, and it wasn’t too long after that I met your dad.”
    “Obviously, you loved Kyle if you were with him for four years,” I said.
    “I did love Kyle. But there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I was with Kyle out of convenience, and I didn’t have anyone to guide me and tell me otherwise. He was there when my father died and he was a source of comfort, so I just stayed with him. I just wish you would have waited to have sex and talked to me about it first. This was your first time, right?”
    “Yes, Mom, it was my first time, and I don’t see what the big deal is. Sex isn’t anything special or great. It hurt, it was awkward, and I’m feeling lousy about myself. I thought I was supposed to be glowing and feeling great. God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this to you, but you and Dad must have amazing sex because you’re always glowing.”
    She smiled at me and laughed lightly. “You want to know the truth? We do. Your father is an amazing man, in and out of the bedroom.”
    “Mom, stop it! That’s way too much information, ew.”
    “Julia, you’ll know when the time is right, and you’ll know when you meet the man of your dreams. You’re only sixteen, sweetie. You don’t need the complications of a boy or a relationship in your life. You’ll have plenty of time for that,” she said as she kissed me on the head and got up from the bed.
    “Hey, Mom,” I said as she went to leave the room.
    “Yes, sweetie.”
    “Am I still grounded?”
    She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Yeah, baby, you’re still grounded.”
    “Can I ask you one more thing?”
    “What is it, Julia?”
    “Why did you come home?” I asked.
    “The plane was having mechanical problems, so we never left the airport.”
    “Oh,” I said as she walked out the door. Just my luck.

Chapter 6
    I stayed in my room the rest of the night and thought about what my mom and I had talked about. The next morning was Sunday.