“Juli?” Someone calls from above me. “Juli?” can hear the hesitancy in their voice, the pain. “Juli, please wake up.” They ask, but I just smile softly. Why should I wake up? I’m warm here, and I was just dreaming about being happy. I wonder if my dream was anything close to the real thing. “Please?” The voice continues pleading, and I realize that it comforts me. I gently hear them get up, obviously not talking to me anymore.
“Please… don’t go.” I ask, rolling over in the comfortable bed. I open my eyes and catch sight of Mar standing there, hands clasped, with a huge smile spread across her face.
“Juli!” She cries; “Juli, you’re awake!” I shake my head.
“No, Mar, I’m skydiving…”
“Whatever.”
“Mar, where are we?” Mar looks at me, and then grasps something.
“Oh, we’re in the hospital. Adam’s here too, but I got you on the other side of the hospital from him. Also, we can leave, now that you’re awake. Adam still hasn’t risen yet, so we can make it out without him knowing where we’re going.” My heart fills with gratitude for Mar. Only she would think of having us separated; oh, I love you Mar.
“Thank you so much, Mar. I love you.” She gives me a wink.
“I know you do, babe.” I let out a small chuckle, before covering my mouth, startled. Mar looks just as surprised as I am; I never, ever laugh.
But there’s always a first time for everything.
~*~
“Okay, let’s get you settled.” Mar declares, surveying her guest room. Out in the hall I had hurriedly dropped my rucksack, and am standing a bit behind her. First, she drags out the birdcage. Hamlet, her bird, squawks as she does so. “Oh, shut your trap Hamlet; I’m just moving you into my room.” I smile at her, because she knows I dislike Hamlet. As the bird passes me by, it gives me the evil eye.
“The feeling is mutual, bud.” I tell him, but he looks the other way. Three minutes later, Marie returns from resituating Hamlet.
“Next time, don’t intimidate the animal, Juli.” She shakes her head as I hold up my hands.
“Hey, Hamlet disliked me first!” I say, but she just resigns to find other things to fix up in the room.
“Oh- we should move this out of here.” She says, and heads toward a small dresser. But won’t I need a dresser?
“Juli, there are such things as closets,” Mar tells me, lifting one side of the dresser. That mind reader! “Now get your bum over here and help me!” Another great thing about living in good ‘ole England: you get to call butts bums. If you ask me, it sounds more attractive.
“Fine, Mar. However can I just remind you I got out of the hospital this morning?” She snorts.
“Julianna Sofia Moore, you were admitted for precaution! You had nothing more but a small cut on your pinky and a bruise.” She gives me a look that could kill Satan, but speaking of the devil, she used my middle name!
“Marie Evelyn Chase, how dare you use my middle name?!” I scream, getting ready to throw something at her. Immediately her face falls and she remembers something. Attempting to control myself, I count to three. Adam’s the destructive, life-ruining, abusing son-of-a-bitch here, not me. Mar’s done nothing wrong; she forgot. We’re all human, after all.
“Julianna- Julianna, I am so, so, sorry!” She cries, flinging her small body at me. “I forgot that- I completely forgot that that’s what he would call you!” I rub her back, and she lets out a sob. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Whatever, I’m not yelling or hurting her. Everything’s fine.
“It’s cool Mar, you forgot; we’re all human here, babe.”
“Hey, that’s my line, Jules!” I shake my head.
“Too bad love, I just took it from right under your nose,” Marie humphs, sitting down in a blue chair next to my bed, looking a bit dejected. But as her butt hits the seat, her face lights up. Following her gaze, I turn and look into the closet.
“No. Oh, no, no, Mar, that is not happening.”
“Julianna, you stole my line. You deserve it.” I look into her eyes with disbelief, but her demeanor is forever unforgiving. A sneer craws up onto her lips.
“That’s right, darling. I’m forcing you to be social.” I begin to shake as I think of the white dress in my closet.
“Please, Marie please, no--” She holds up her hand to stop me.
“No protests. One of my friends gave me two tickets to a movie premier tonight, and instead of Belle, I’m taking you. Besides, Belle will understand.” She flicks her hand up in front of my face. “So silence and help me finish this room.”
~*~
Four hours later Marie had me just where she wanted me- cornered in my newly redecorated room. Truthfully, the room had come out brilliant. My white linen sheets match the light blue walls perfectly, and we even went out and bought a books shelf that magically spelled the words “reading is life,” and I put what I had managed to salvage of my book collection on it. Other than that, my room was plain and simple, completely inexpensive; just the way I like it.
“Julianna, if you don’t put this on now, I’m going to put it on for you. And that’s not going to be fun.” Marie threatens, brandishing her flat iron. “I’m going to put on my dress, and by God if you’re not dressed by the time I come back you’ll get it!” She menacingly backs out of my room and I realize I have no choice; I have to wear the dress. I stalk over to my closet and pop it open, seeing the white dress again. It’s so innocent, pure… It doesn’t deserve me.
Oh, please Julianna; you’ve gone mental! How can a dress not deserve someone?!
I sigh, picking it up, feeling the silky fabric. I strip down, and then slip it over my head, gasping as I see the result in the mirror. Just as I begin admiring myself in the dress, Marie walks into my room.
“Oh, Julianna! You look even prettier than I thought you would!” She squeals, jumping up and down. I can’t help but agree with her more. The thin white straps accentuate my strong shoulders, and the dress emphasizes my small waist and womanly curves. The top part has some rhinestones on it, and it sparkles whenever I move. I can’t help but smile.
“Okay, now sit down, chica.” Mar orders me, and to my surprise, I obey. She pulls out her flat iron and plugs it in, beginning to straighten my hair. After my hair ordeal is done, she applies my makeup, smoothing the eye shadow onto my lid, and rolling the lipstick over my pale pink lips. Her eyes glint with victory as I see myself in the mirror.
“Wow.” I say, and she smiles.
“Okay, now we have to scoot if we want to be there on time.” She tells me, and then I realize she’s gotten dressed too. Her knee-length green dress makes her green eyes pop, and makes her light blonde hair look blonder. She’s also donned gold four-inch heels, and holds a pair of silver two-inches out at me.
“Oh, no, Mar, you wouldn’t--”
“Who made you wear the dress?” She asks, her eyes shining with joy at my agreement, even though I haven’t agreed yet. “Please, they’re only two inches, and they won’t make your feet hurt.” She shoots me a puppy dog face, and know my mind was already made for me.
“Gimme them, Mar.” She smiles widely at me before ripping her keys off the peg and dragging me out to the car.
The ride to the premier is fun and light. We live about thirty minutes away, according to Mar, so it won’t take us that long. Once we get to the beautiful building, and see the red carpet, I gasp. This place is absolutely magnificent! The cherry blossom trees are superbly spectacular, and add a dash of color to the green scenery…
“Earth to Julianna, earth to Julianna,” Mar jokes, waving her hand in front of my face.
“Oh- sorry Mar. But look at that outdoor setting!” I tell her, gushing about the beautifulness. Adam hadn’t even crossed my mind once.
“Who would’ve thought that the socially awkward Julianna Moore liked gardening!” Mar jokes, before opening her care door. “Come on love, we have to go get seats.” Sad to part with my garden scene, I follow Marie through the crowd of people, and we make it successfully onto the carpet. I move to go around it, on the sides by the rich fans that could afford to come here, but Marie grabs my arm.
“Julianna, we’re actually walking down the carpet.” A blush creeps up my cheeks.
“Oh.” She smiles kindly at me and releases my arms, and it falls limply to my side like a broken tree branch. We march onto the carpet, camera flashes nearly blinding me. Mar looks like she’s done this before, and I envy her. I wish I had the experience to act like this is a normal, everyday thing for me.
“Hey, Jules, sorry for the bright lights.” Mar tells me after we’re safely out of earshot of the reporters. “I should’ve warned you about that. But let’s go catch out seats.” Nodding, I follow her into the expansive viewing theatre. Once inside, she flashes our tickets at the tuxedoed person (would it be a butler? No. I’m so confused, I’m not into fancy, expensive things!) and he nods us in. We get to our seats and my stomach growls.
“Uhm, Mar, do they have food here?” She lazily points her finger to the stand on the side of the room. I stare at it lustfully, because it’s decorated in lavish foods. My stomach growls louder and I get some odd stares from people. An Irish voice calls out from the stand “Come join me and silence your stomach!” I let out a giggle before covering my hand with my mouth. Mar smiles widely and goes over to hug the blonde Irishman, so I saunter over, grabbing a plate of food as I go.
“Marie!” He yells, attracting the attention of some guests. “Mar-bear, it’s been too long!” He sighs, scooping her up in his arms.
“Yeah, what is the time apart count again, Niall? All of two days?” He gives her a cheeky grin.
“Two days and three hours.” Marie shakes her head.
“And I thought I hated being apart from people…” Niall’s face brightens when he sees me.
“You must be Julianna, right? I’ve heard so much about you!” He extends his hand and I back away a bit.
“Yeah, I’m Julianna.” Marie whispers something in Niall’s ear and his hand drops.
“Sorry, love, I have a habit of being a bit over-the-top.” Behind Niall I catch glimpse of an extremely attractive man with deep brown eyes and a tan complexion. He holds a slim finger up to his mouth, motioning for me not to tell Niall. I suppress a small giggle as the stranger shouts “boo!” behind Marie and Niall, who both jump up in surprise.
“Hullo there mate, I’m Zayn.” He tells me, extending his hand. Even though he’s not Adam, I cringe away like I did with Niall. Hi face fills with confusion but then he looks at my arms and stops. Instead, he drops his arm and flashes me a smile instead. I look down to my arms and realize that bruises trail up and down them.
“Hello, I’m Julianna.” I say, cowering backwards, carrying my food awkwardly. “I’m just going to go sit down now…” I find my way back to my seat, only to find Zayn sitting next to me, on the side that Marie wasn’t on.
“AH!” I shriek, nearly throwing my plate of yummy food in the air. “What the hell? Who told you it was polite to just sneak up on people?” I ask him angrily. His mouth turns upward into a wry smile.
“I’ve been here the whole time, love, you just haven’t seen me.” The way he speaks makes me shiver, as if I’m standing out in the cold winter completely naked. I feel completely and totally vulnerable.
“I don’t care!” I snap, getting some rude looks form eavesdroppers. In return they get glares from me. “You should make yourself more visible!” His smile jut grows larger in my agitation, although his eyes grow sadder.
“I’m sorry, babe, next time I will.”
Who knew that in six words that everything could change? Now I felt completely clothed, and protected.
But now I also want to snuggle up next to Zayn like he’s my big brother.
No.
Like he’s my boyfriend.
What?
Psh… I didn’t think that…
“Yes you did, love.” Zayn says from my right. My head snaps to him, and he laughs.
“Don’t worry, I think we’ll me an attractive couple.” What? Couple? What the hell? We just met basically three seconds ago! But before I can protest, the lights go down and the movie begins.

Notes

Hey there guys! This is an A/N, yes. I just want to say I really liked writing this chapter. And it's quite long. Anyway, love you all, please vote/comment! ~Mallery
P.S. my o key is sorta broken and if I just lightly press it it won't work... so please forgive me for any typos if the letter o isn't there? :)