Julia Jones' Diary - Boxed Set - Books 2 to 6

by Kahler, Katrina

  I glanced at Millie once more but she turned her gaze towards the floor and didn’t say anything in response. Blake stared at the two of us, his eyebrows raised curiously. He had obviously picked up on the fact that something was wrong, so I indicated silently that I’d fill him in later.

  Then, grabbing my guitar, I began to strum. I wanted to ease the tension and as well, get started with our rehearsal. We had graduation to think of and very little time left to prepare for it. However, my main worry was Jack. I just hoped that he wouldn’t make things too awkward. And with a sigh I glanced at Millie again.

  Why did things have to change? Why did Millie have to take a sudden interest in Alec? Or perhaps Alec was to blame. Thinking back, I wondered how long he had been keen on her.

  Jack was his friend. How could he do that? But then if Jack had simply asked her out when he had the chance, maybe this would never have happened. What a mess! It was all so confusing. And so upsetting!

  Almost the end of the year, we had graduation and our performance to look forward to, it should be the most exciting time of our lives. We’d all been such close friends for so long and I had previously assumed that our little group would be friends forever. Not to mention the possibilities for our band. Just the day before, they had seemed endless.

  With a determined sigh, I decided abruptly that I couldn’t let anything spoil it. Surely it would all work out fine. That was what I needed to focus on. And breaking into a wild rhythm, I strummed more furiously than ever. Smiling encouragingly at Millie and Blake, we turned up the volume and blasted out our latest song.

  But even with the loud music ringing in my ears, I still had a hard time ignoring the sinking feeling that some things would not remain the same.

  And if anyone had mentioned just a little of what was in store, I would have found it very difficult to believe them.

  Unexpected…

  When I climbed into bed later that evening, I thought back to the afternoon at Blake’s where to my huge relief, we managed to get through band practice.

  Jack had finally arrived, more than an hour late, and after mumbling an apology explained that he could only stay a short while. At first it was all quite awkward and I instantly felt the tension between him and Millie. Even though the issue was theirs, I felt very uncomfortable. I just couldn’t help taking it all on board. With a little effort, I managed to distract them both and draw their focus towards our rehearsal and the songs that we desperately needed to practice. When we eventually managed to get started, Jack was unable to resist the rush of adrenalin that automatically kicked in whenever we played together.

  That was something I had counted on. I was completely aware of how much he loved being a part of our band. In fact, he was the one who practiced the most. Every spare minute he had, he would learn new songs, ready to teach us at our next rehearsal. He was probably the most enthusiastic of us all which was why his excuse not to come to rehearsal was so unlike him.

  But it hadn’t taken long and we were all engrossed in what we were doing. It was clear that Jack enjoyed the band too much to give it all up. Regardless though, several times I caught him staring at Millie. She refused to make eye contact, her eyes focused on the lyrics sitting on the stand in front of her, she never once looked his way. All except a few very brief grins of acknowledgement over one suggestion or another, she concentrated on her singing, and avoided looking at the boy who stood to her side.

  In the end, Millie and I were the first to leave and when her mom came to pick us up, Millie raced quickly out the door. After a hasty goodbye, she headed directly down the driveway and hopped into the car.

  Following along behind, I said goodbye to the boys and left them, but not before noticing the bewildered look on both their faces at our sudden departure.

  “That was so awkward!” Millie moaned as she shuffled across the back seat to make room for me. “He kept staring at me. It made me so uncomfortable!”

  She rolled her eyes at the mention of the scene we had just left behind. At the same time, I thought she was definitely being a bit harsh. Surely her attitude was unnecessary.

  While I knew that she’d lost interest in Jack, I really couldn’t see why she suddenly felt that way about him. It was as though he were the most annoying person on the planet.

  And regardless of the way she now felt, I really didn’t think he deserved to be treated that way. I couldn’t understand how her feelings could change so rapidly; just because another good looking boy had all of a sudden shown some interest.

  Millie was my best friend and I would always support her, but I felt sorry for Jack who I could see was going to be badly hurt. I just hoped it wouldn’t affect our friendship and that we’d all still be able to hang out together.

  The scenario reminded me of my brother and his last girlfriend. They’d been so close but after breaking up with him, she had never spoken to him again. In fact, according to Matt, she hated him, although he had no idea why that was the case.

  I kept saying that he must have done something pretty awful to upset her, but he denied doing anything out of the ordinary and still does not understand why she suddenly changed her mind.

  I couldn’t imagine that ever happening between myself and Blake. We were too close and I knew in my heart that we always would be.

  Love was a strange thing though, and the Millie – Jack scenario was definitely one I had not expected.

  Conflict…

  Back at school the following day, I was sitting alongside Millie, Blake and several others, in the area where we usually ate morning tea. We could barely hear each other speak because of the deafening roar of torrential rain that pounded on the tin roof.

  It had started only a few minutes earlier when a light sprinkle abruptly became a heavy downpour. The group I was sitting with huddled together in an effort to hear each other speak. But when the rain began to blow at a sharp angle, directly towards the spot where we were sitting, loud squeals could be heard as everyone jumped up to avoid getting wet.

  Rushing over to a more sheltered spot, we joined a heap of other kids who were also attempting to stay dry. It was a miserable day that had turned quite cool and the heavy rain just added to the gloom. All we could do was wait impatiently for our teachers to arrive and give us permission to return to our classrooms.

  In my rush to find a dry place to sit, I hadn’t realized that Ryan Hodges had ended up right behind me. Whether that had been coincidence or he had taken the opportunity to sit nearby, I had no idea. But a prickly sensation caused me to turn around. It was a sudden urge to look that way and when I did, I found his dark intense eyes staring directly into my own.

  Without saying a word, I turned quickly back, but had the distinct feeling that he was still staring.

  Right then, the heavy rain stopped. It was sudden and unexpected and in an instant, the deafening roar on the roof was replaced with the sound of voices.

  Finally we could hear each other again but one voice was definitely louder than the rest. And I froze momentarily, unsure how to react.

  “What are you staring at?”

  The tone was abrupt and full of contempt and I knew immediately that Blake’s question was directed at Ryan.

  Not daring to look his way, I glanced at Millie, whose shocked expression at Blake’s tone, was a carbon copy of my own. A few others had also heard Blake speak and I could see all eyes looking from him to the boy sitting behind me.

  “Can you stop staring at her? And while you’re at it, don’t go near her place again. Just stay away!”

  An uncomfortable silence followed, where no one spoke. It was not like Blake to be so abrupt. He rarely became upset and never spoke rudely to anyone, so the scene had instantly caught everyone’s attention.

  Unable to resist, I spun back around. But the dark look that I had expected to see on Ryan’s face was not there. Instead, he looked awkward and uncomfortable and had turned bright red with embarrassment. His eyes darted from Blake’s to mine an
d all I could do was look in another direction; anything to avoid his look of humiliation.

  Then, a moment later, from the corner of my eye, I realized Ryan was standing, towering over the group of kids seated around him and I turned to watch him walk away. What I also managed to catch was his rapid change of mood and the evil glare that he directed towards Blake before disappearing around a corner. Thankfully, Blake hadn’t seen it. But it filled me with a sudden chill.

  Although I hated to see people humiliated and only a moment earlier, there had been a tiny part of me that felt sorry for Ryan, I just wanted him to leave me alone. And his sudden ugly scowl reminded me of how creepy he actually was.

  My dad had kept his promise to visit his parents the afternoon before, but had found no one at home. So I hoped that Blake’s confrontation would do the trick.

  However, I had to admit, I’d just seen a side of Blake that I had no idea existed.

  And I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

  When we returned to class and found our seats, Millie whispered quietly in my ear. “Well, that was intense! Did you see the look on Ryan’s face when he stormed off? He looked pretty angry!”

  “Yeah, I know!” I replied thoughtfully, as I thought about the scene we had just left behind.

  “He needed to be told though!” Millie reminded me. “The problem is, it’s hard to know how he’s going to react!”

  I was nodding in agreement when Millie paused for a moment, distracted by the person who had just entered the classroom. Following her gaze, I watched the smile appear on Alec’s face as he made eye contact with her before moving towards his desk at the back of the room.

  Noticing Millie’s own reaction, I could see that it was one of absolute bliss and that all thoughts of the scene with Ryan and Blake, just a short time earlier had disappeared completely from her mind. Sighing deeply, I realized once and for all that Jack didn’t stand a chance. Taking a quick glance back at Alec, I also caught sight of the wide smile that remained firmly fixed to his face. He was definitely very pleased with himself and I knew the reason for that was the girl sitting right beside me.

  Turning back to the sound of Miss Watson’s voice, I struggled to concentrate. Our exams were due to start the following day and she had insisted on some last minute revision. But all I wanted to focus on was the end of the week when all our tests would finally be over. After that we had graduation and our performance to look forward to. There was so much planned and I could hardly wait for the fun to begin. I just hoped it would all go smoothly.

  For some strange reason though, I could not overcome the uneasy sensation that continued to bother me. It sat deep inside and would not go away.

  Attempting to return my attention to the work on the board, I tried to ignore the sick feeling that persisted in the pit of my stomach.

  The passing of time…

  The week dragged by with endless tests one after the other. There had been no sign of Ryan and I guessed that he stayed away intentionally so he’d miss the exams. To me, it seemed hardly fair to make him take part in a bunch of tests when he’d only been at our school for a few weeks. While I was enjoying not having him around, I did envy his chance to skip the turmoil going on at school for everyone else.

  The constant groans from the kids in our class could be heard each time test papers were handed out. What made the whole situation even more stressful was the separation of our desks. The mere mention of the term ‘exam conditions’ just made me more anxious than I already was. And I was sure that most of the others felt exactly the same way.

  Miss Watson was always going on about cheating and keeping our eyes on our own work. Lots of kids used books and folders to cover their tests while others didn’t worry about it at all. Although, I definitely knew that there were a few kids in the room whose eyes were constantly wandering onto the desk of the person next to them.

  One boy, named Brandon, cheated during every test. He sat in front of me and I could clearly see him glancing at his friend’s work. Zac, who sat next to him, was really, really smart whereas Brandon wasn’t very smart at all. However, Brandon always seemed to do really well in each exam.

  Sometimes, Miss Watson would ask us to swap papers and mark each other’s tests. This was obviously to save her the effort of doing it. But I actually preferred this method, because she explained the answers as she went through, and if we’d made mistakes, we could see why. I often felt that I learned more by marking our tests that way.

  When the papers were returned to their owners, she asked each of us to call out our final score so she could record it in her assessment book. That was how we found out each other’s grades, and as many of us were very competitive and always wanted to beat each other, we always listened intently to the scores that were announced. Although some kids preferred to whisper their score in the teacher’s ear. Obviously, they hadn’t done very well and I could understand how embarrassing it would be to announce a low mark to the entire class.

  But Brandon’s results were always fairly high and I think Miss Watson finally realized what he had been up to because this time, she moved him to a spot near her desk where she could keep an eye on him. I also noticed a few times, how agitated he looked. I was sure that was because there was no one nearby for him to copy from. It made me wonder if he’d even pass and I was curious to find out how he went.

  The thought of my own report card was one I had mixed feelings about. Even though my parents still refused the idea of payment for any A’s, I was still hoping to do well, and had been picturing in my head, a report card full of A’s. It would be my final one for middle school and would help me to be placed into smarter classes for my first year of high school. I was actually even hoping for some type of scholarship to be offered. Not that it would mean too much in the way of money, but it would cover the cost of school fees and books for my first year at least, and possibly even uniform costs. I knew these were expensive and this money would really help my parents.

  Hearing their arguments over money issues, was upsetting and I knew that a scholarship would take a little pressure off. I’d worked pretty hard all semester and felt that I deserved good marks but there was the odd test that I wasn’t too sure about.

  However, by that stage, the week was over and the tests were all behind us and I knew there was no point worrying about something I no longer had control of. So I tuned into thoughts of the week ahead. It would be the last one we’d ever experience at Carindale Middle School and reminding myself of that fact, once again filled me with nervous excitement.

  Graduation was such a big deal. It was something I’d looked forward to all year and as I sat propped up by the pillows on my bed, my eyes wandered to the cap and gown that hung on the hook behind my door. The sight of that special outfit filled me with both joy and sadness. Visualizing the scenario where I would walk across the stage and collect my graduation certificate, I could see my friends dressed the same way. And then I pictured the moment we’d all been waiting for, when we could toss our caps high into the air. This was something I’d watched my brother do at his graduation, and ever since, I couldn’t wait to become a part of that very scene myself.

  All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, that day was less than a week away. How on earth had time passed by so quickly?

  My time at middle school would soon be a distant memory and although I was very excited for what lay ahead, at the same time, I was sad that so many special memories were already behind me.

  Glancing at the photo frame that sat on the little table beside my bed, I could see Blake’s smiling face staring back. It was the photo that had been taken the day of the school elections when we had both been announced as school captains. That had been one of the happiest days of my life. I’d been hoping and praying to be elected and when Blake and I were both chosen, it had been a dream come true.

  Wanting to browse through each memory in turn, I hopped off my bed and wandered thoughtfully around the room, stopping to glance at each i
ndividual frame that sat on the various shelves and surfaces; so many photos, so many memories that I would always treasure.

  The pic of Millie sitting alongside me, my arm draped around her shoulder and the beaming smile on both our faces painted the picture of how close the two of us had become. The caption, “Best Friends Forever” that was printed on the bottom of the frame was the perfect choice.

  Another of my favorites, which was taken not so long ago when our school had decided to hold a formal dance for all the eighth graders, sat in prime position on my desk. We had all dressed up in evening wear, with the boys in suits and ties and the girls in beautiful dresses. I remembered thinking that I’d never find a dress I was happy with but then, as is often the case, everything worked out perfectly and that lovely dress was now hanging in my wardrobe waiting for another occasion to be worn.

  The photo taken that night of Blake and I, looking so happy together, was possibly the one I loved the most. Blake looked so handsome in his suit. As far as I was concerned, he was the best looking boy there and that photo was a constant reminder of the special night we’d shared.

  One thing was for sure, being able to dress up the way we had, made the whole occasion more special than ever. Apparently, that was what the eighth graders at several other schools did for their graduation. But I was glad the custom at our school was a cap and gown. I really didn’t think it would feel like a real graduation ceremony otherwise.

  Then, unable to resist the temptation, I jumped off the bed and grabbed my gown off the hook. Throwing it quickly over my pj’s, I grabbed the hat as well and stood in front of the full length mirror attached to my cupboard. With a huge smile, I stared at my reflection and spent the next few minutes swishing and swaying and admiring the vision of the girl in the mirror in front of me.