Unease…
A couple of hours later, I looked with satisfaction at the work I had completed and exhaled a relieved sigh. It had taken some effort but not nearly as much as I’d expected and I felt pleased with the result. Hoping it was worthy of an ‘A,’ I packed it away before organizing my guitar and the music I would need for band practice. Then, abruptly realizing the time, I rushed out of the house, slamming the front door closed behind me and raced for the bus stop.
My parents had left earlier to take Matt to his basketball game, so I had no option but to catch the bus. While this was not usually a big deal because Blake’s house was only a short bus ride away, as usual, I was running late. Because I’d left my house at the last minute I was forced to run the twenty meters or so to the bus stop in my street. If I didn’t make the bus that I could already see pulling into the kerb, I’d be forced to wait for the next one which was not due for another hour.
With my guitar in its carry bag slung over my shoulder, I could feel it banging against my back. But ignoring the discomfort, I ran the distance, hoping that the driver had seen me waving frantically for him to wait. Breathless and with my heart pounding from the effort, I looked gratefully at the driver as I climbed aboard.
Quickly showing him my bus pass, I made my way down the aisle in search of a place to sit. Aware of the bulky item on my shoulder, I took care not to bump any of the passengers as I passed by. Surprisingly the bus was very full and my only alternative was to go to the rear where thankfully, the entire bench seat at the back was empty. Sitting down in the middle and trying to catch my breath, I placed the guitar alongside me. It was actually the perfect place to sit as there was plenty of room for both my guitar and myself.
But when I glanced up again, I was instantly aware that another person had boarded the bus after me, although I had no idea where he had come from because the street had appeared deserted.
A feeling of dread worked its way into my stomach as I watched him make his way down the aisle. Realizing that the only spare seat was next to me, I stood up and shuffled past my guitar, pushing it towards the center of the seat and then sat alongside the window. Luckily I was able to use my guitar as a divider. If I was going to have to sit near him at least the guitar was between us.
Focusing all my attention out the window in an attempt to avoid his intense stare, it took all my effort not to look his way. I pretended that I hadn’t recognized the boy sitting beside me, but even though I was trying my best to ignore him, I could feel his eyes on me the whole time.
When I finally reached my stop, it was with relief that I was able to squeeze past him, once again taking care not to make eye contact. I then headed down the aisle and off the bus. As it pulled away however, I could not help but look up towards the spot where he was sitting. The nauseating feeling in my stomach worsened when I realized he was watching me and the awkward grin that formed on his face made me feel more anxious than ever.
I had no idea why Ryan Hodges made me so uncomfortable. Surely he was just a weird kid who enjoyed staring at people and surely, I could manage to take Millie’s advice and ignore him.
For some reason though, the uncomfortable feeling went deeper than that. It was as though a little voice inside was trying to warn me; and the voice would not go away.
The discomfort soon worsened when I sat down on a chair in Blake’s garage and pulled my music folder out of the front pocket of my guitar bag. That action in itself was not what caused the alarm bells in my mind to ring. Instead, it was the sight of blue note paper that fluttered from the bag onto the floor in front of me. It had obviously been put there at some point and I knew instinctively when that had happened and by whom.
The clincher was the traces of red scrawl that were showing clearly through the folds of the note and while I had no idea what it said, I knew for sure who had written it.
The whole scenario was beyond weird but for some reason I was reluctant to mention it to my friends. In particular, I didn’t want Blake to know. There was no point in upsetting him and I also wasn’t quite sure how he would react. Grabbing the note quickly from the floor, I shoved it roughly back into my guitar bag, hoping that no one else had noticed.
Then, attempting to focus on the laughter around me as the others organized themselves for our rehearsal, I picked up my guitar and began to strum.
And when I caught Blake looking towards me, that beautiful smile of his making him more handsome than ever, all thoughts of Ryan Hodges disappeared.
For the time being at least.
Confrontation…
Over the course of the weekend, I managed to put all unsettling images of Ryan, his intently staring eyes and his random notes out of my mind.
Even though the second piece of blue notepaper that I’d found contained another weird message, I chose not to dwell on it.
When I first read the note, I was worried at the sequence of events that led to him hiding it in my bag. Especially as I was sitting only a couple of feet away from him on the same bus but was completely unaware of what was going on at the time. Sneaking notes into the school bag of a girl who you didn’t really know was one thing, but the bus scenario was another level altogether. The fact that he had managed to get on the same bus as me and have that note ready to pass on, had to be more than coincidence.
After giving the matter some thought, I wondered if it was because I’d actually been friendly to him on the first day he started at our school. Thinking back, I recalled the morning when I’d been passing by the office area on my way to class. Ryan had just enrolled and our school principal, Mrs. Harding, had called me over for an introduction.
“Ryan, this is one of our school captains, Julia Jones,” she explained. “Julia, this is Ryan Hodges. He is a new student to our school and will be going into class 7J.”
I had replied in my usual friendly manner, and tried to make him feel welcome. As school captain, one of my jobs was to help new students settle in. But ever since that morning, I’d pretty much had nothing to do with him. He seemed to have found a group of boys in his class to hang out with and apart from checking in with him during lunch break on that first day, to ask how everything was going, I hadn’t said another word.
I was sure that I hadn’t been overly friendly and I certainly hadn’t done anything since to encourage him. I was also aware that until his outburst in class, which was something the whole grade had been talking about, I’d forgotten that he even existed. And besides that, as far as I was concerned, Sara was by far the prettiest girl in our school and if anyone would be on his target list, surely it should be her.
I still hadn’t mentioned anything about his random notes to Millie though, knowing she would insist that I tell Blake. I was mainly worried that Blake might confront Ryan and set him off. We’d already heard about Ryan’s temper and I would hate for something to erupt between them. Not that Blake was the jealous type but I knew that he was quite protective of me, and would not be pleased to hear about the weird notes from a creepy new kid in our grade.
When I reached the school gates on Monday morning, I found that the idea of simply ignoring Ryan was not going to be as straightforward as it sounded.
The sight of him standing by the entrance watching as I hopped off the bus, caused me to react in a way that I hadn’t originally planned. I was irritated and annoyed and I instantly lost all patience where he was concerned. Deciding right then that I needed to put a stop to his behavior, I paused at the gate to confront him.
“Yes?” I asked, in a rude tone. “Do you want to ask me something?”
Lowering his eyes, he stared at the ground, shy and awkward and all of a sudden unable to make eye contact. That in itself was really strange as he had never appeared to struggle in that department before. After mumbling a few words that I didn’t quite catch, he unexpectedly turned around and headed quickly in the direction of the classrooms.
At that point, I was convinced that he must have some type of disorder. It could
be the only explanation. But I did not want to be concerned with his issues and in fact, the less I had to do with him the better. I just hoped that my harsh comment would make him back right off and leave me alone. If he wanted to annoy other girls then that was their problem but I was not in the least bit interested.
Much to my dismay however, I soon found that my abrupt reaction did not have the impact that I’d originally hoped.
Unwanted admirer…
The following weekend was my birthday and I was so excited to be turning thirteen. I’d put the subject of Ryan out of my mind and was focusing on the fact that in a few days, I would officially become a teenager.
Millie, Blake and Jack were already thirteen, and I was the only one amongst our group who was still twelve years of age. I knew that I was one of the youngest in my grade and my friends had always teased me about it. Mom had said several times not to wish my life away, but I couldn’t wait to finally becoming a teen.
And as well as that, I was so excited for my party. I’d invited eight friends and the plan was for everyone to come to my house for pizza, movies and a sleep-over.
At first my mom had freaked out, saying that eight was way too many to have staying the night, But when I explained that the girls could share mattresses on the floor of the living room, and that we’d all clean up afterwards, I could see her begin to change her mind.
Also, because my brother, Matt, was not interested in being in a house full of twelve and thirteen year old kids, he was planning to spend the night at his friend’s house. So that meant Blake, Jack and another friend of ours named Alec, who I had also invited, would be able to sleep in Matt’s room. And this would create plenty of space for everyone.
So eventually both my parents were satisfied with the arrangement. All I had to do was count down the days until Saturday afternoon.
During the week, Millie and I used our spare time to organize games for the party so we’d have some fun things to do rather than just watching movies all night. It was shaping up to be a great birthday and everyone seemed to be almost as excited as me.
Of course I was also looking forward to any presents I might receive. Although I knew that my parents were struggling financially so I didn’t have my hopes too high in that department. I was just grateful to be having a party.
One thing was for certain though, I was sure that Blake had bought me something special. On a few occasions he had come close to telling me what it was and the suspense was killing me. I knew that he couldn’t wait to hand me the gift he’d chosen and it was a very special feeling to know how much he cared.
There was so much to look forward to and I found it hard to concentrate on school work or anything else for that matter. Even though I knew I still had projects to complete, the planning of my party was a major distraction.
Regardless of my efforts though, one other thing that continued to distract me was the constant staring from Ryan. Although there had been no more words exchanged and no further notes, each day during our lunch break, I felt his eyes directed my way.
Most of the time I ignored him as planned, but on one occasion I decided to glare back. That seemed to have an effect because he instantly looked away and pretended that he hadn’t noticed me.
“I think you have a secret admirer,” Millie laughed, with a sideways glance towards Blake. “Ryan is always staring at you!”
As expected, that comment caught Blake’s attention and he looked at Ryan and then back at me with a frown.
But I just shrugged it all off and shook my head.
“He’s just weird!” I replied, giving Blake a reassuring grin.
I could see however that he wasn’t convinced and I watched as he turned to look towards Ryan once more. Thankfully though, the bell went to signal the end of morning recess and the subject was forgotten.
Or so I thought.
We saw no further sign of Ryan at school for the remainder of the week, and I assumed that he must be away. Grateful for the break from his glaring presence at school, I almost forget about him altogether.
But that was until we were all confronted with something completely unexpected.
And if nothing else, we were given the opportunity to witness just exactly how weird he actually was.
Birthday surprises…
Finally Saturday arrived and I woke to find my bedroom scattered with inflated pink balloons. While I was asleep, my parents had sneaked in and spread them over my bed and all over the floor. It was an amazing sight and such a wonderful surprise to wake up to. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day and I knew instantly that it was going to be special.
As I lay there taking in the sight around me, Mom, Dad and Matt all burst through my bedroom door.
“Happy Birthday Julia!”
My brother’s shout was the loudest of all and when he dived onto the bed next to me, I felt the smile on my face grow wider than ever. It was not often that he showed signs of affection, especially towards me, and to get a hug from him was almost a miracle. But that morning, he seemed genuinely happy to celebrate my birthday and when he handed me the gift he was holding, I threw my arms around him in a huge embrace.
I really did love my big brother and even though the majority of the time we spent annoying each other and fighting, it was days such as that one which made me appreciate him so much more.
And when I unwrapped his present and found the gorgeous silver earrings that I’d been eyeing off at the local mall just the weekend before, I was overjoyed.
“I can’t believe you got them for me,” I squealed, as I quickly took them out of the little box.
Jumping out of bed, I raced over to the mirror and put them on, unable to resist the temptation to wear them straight away.
“Thank you so much, Matt!” I said as I titled my head in front of the mirror, admiring the sparkle of the little diamantes as they caught the light of the morning sun.
Turning to look at him, I could see his pleased reaction. But then, excited to see me open more presents, he stood back so that Mom and Dad could hand me the gifts they were holding.
A short time later, my bed was littered with torn wrapping paper, ribbons and bows, the remnants from the presents I had opened. And I sat in total delight admiring the beautiful things I’d been given.
I had been desperately hoping that I would get the white midriff-top and skinny jeans that I had tried on at the store. I’d later told my mom about the clothes in the hope that she might go back and buy them for me, and ever since, I’d been praying that she would. It was the outfit that I wanted to wear to my party and the cool high top boots that they’d also just given me, would set it off perfectly.
As well, I was given some really pretty summer pj’s and also a new pair of bikinis. They were all things that I had been admiring when I browsed the shops the weekend before but I had certainly not expected to be given so much.
I was thirteen years old! And I was so happy!
In heaven…
Blake was the first to arrive that afternoon and my heart melted when I saw his smiling face at our front door. To top it off, his arms were laden with an assortment of presents that were covered in shining gift-wrap and tied with colorful bows.
Excitement worked its way down my spine and made me shiver with happiness. It was the most wonderful sensation and I could feel the butterflies fluttering in my stomach when he put the presents down on the nearby coffee table so he could give me a birthday hug. That was definitely the best present so far.
Standing back to admire my outfit, his comment brought an even bigger smile to my face.
“Julia, you look so beautiful!”
Looking up into his gorgeous brown eyes, I thanked him. And he gently squeezed my hand, the smile on his own face growing wider than ever.
But then, unable to wait any longer, he directed my attention to the gifts sitting unopened on the coffee table. And I was instantly overawed at the sight. The first box was huge and it was surrounded by several
other smaller packages. I could not believe that he’d gone to so much trouble and unable to help myself, I squealed in anticipation over what they might contain.
When I opened the first parcel, I found that it had a smaller one wrapped up inside, and that contained another smaller one, also wrapped. He had obviously put in a huge effort and the joy inside me threatened to bubble over. I could not have removed the smile from my face if I tried.
Just having him there, made my day complete; so much so that I would have been content with an empty box. But when I finally came to the end and found the smallest box of all wrapped in pink tissue and topped with a beautiful pink bow, I held my breath, wondering what could possibly be inside.
On top of a layer of shimmering velvet cloth sat a delicate silver chain. On this was threaded a heart shaped locket that had a tiny green emerald embedded on the front. Instantly recognizing it as my birthstone, I shook my head in wonder at the beautiful gift I’d been given as well as the care taken to choose it. Carefully lifting it out, I realized that there was a small clasp allowing the locket to open. On one side was a miniature photo of Blake and on the adjoining heart was a photo of me.
I knew I would treasure that necklace forever.
Waiting patiently for Blake to secure the chain at the back of my neck, I glanced happily at the way the shining silver locket stood out so beautifully against the fabric of my new top. Then facing him once more, I stared into his gorgeous brown eyes and smiled.
“Thank you so much, Blake! I absolutely love it!”
The words came from my heart and when he wrapped his long arms around me, I felt as though I were in heaven.
The party…
Julia Jones' Diary - Boxed Set - Books 2 to 6 Page 25