Page 28 of Being Julia

She stepped into my room and walked up behind me, clasping my shoulders with her hands.

“I can’t believe my baby girl is graduating. It seems like it was only yesterday that I took you to your first day of preschool.”

“You’re going to make me cry,” I said as I looked at her through the mirror.

“Time goes by so fast, Julia. It’s important to cherish every day,” she said as she straightened my cap and patted my shoulders. She walked out of the room, and my dad walked in with a smile.

“My princess is graduating high school. It’s amazing how fast the time went. I’ll never forget your first day of kindergarten.” He smiled.

I turned around as he sat down on the bed.

“I had my arms wrapped tightly around your leg, and I wouldn’t let go.”

“That’s right.” He smiled as he reached for my hand and asked me to sit down. “You were so scared and held onto me as if your life depended on it.”

“I begged you not to leave me.”

“And I didn’t. I promised you I wouldn’t leave, so I sat in the back of the classroom to ensure you were okay. Just like I’ll be sitting in the audience, making sure you’re okay when you give your speech.”

The tears I tried so hard to hold back started to fall. My dad reached over and gently wiped them away with his finger. “No tears, baby. You’ll ruin your makeup.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said as I laid my head on his shoulder.

As I stood at the podium and glanced at my notes, I looked out into the audience and saw my parents sitting in the second row. My mom blew me a kiss, and my dad gave me a thumbs up. I was nervous and started to sweat. I folded the white piece of paper I had in my hand and pushed it to the side. I gripped the sides of the podium, took in a deep breath, and closed my eyes as I began to speak into the microphone. I spoke about the last four years, London, and her death. I could hear the sounds of sniffling as I talked about what an amazing student and person London was. A tear fell from my eye as I read my closing statement, and I received a standing ovation, not only for my speech but because my painting won the art competition, and I was the recipient of a $15,000 scholarship to Columbia.

I walked off the stage and took my seat with my fellow classmates as they wiped their tears. It was time for the distribution of diplomas, and when London’s name was called, I proudly walked across the stage and accepted her diploma for her. I kissed it and held it up the air, hoping that she was looking down and could see it. Once the ceremony was over, I met my family out in the lobby. My mom started to cry as she hugged me tight while my dad was grinning from ear to ear. As soon as my mom let me go and my dad wiped the tears from her eyes, Collin hugged me and told me he was proud I was his sister. After I made my rounds and hugged my entire family, Mason walked over to me with tears in his eyes.

“Princess, you were amazing up on that stage. I’m so proud of you.” He began to cry as he hugged me tight and had a full breakdown.

I looked at my dad, and he rolled his eyes. He tapped mymom on the shoulder and pointed to Uncle Mason. My mom smiled at me as she clasped his shoulders and broke our embrace.

We left the graduation and went straight to the Astoria for my birthday party. Around one hundred and fifty guests showed up, including family and friends from school. The room was decorated with balloons in pink and lavender, my two favorite colors. Beautiful candle-lit, floral centerpieces sat in the middle of each table. There was a DJ and a table that sat in the corner with a birthday cake representing my shopping addiction and tiers upon tiers of beautifully flowered cupcakes. I took in a deep breath as I put on my fake smile and thanked everyone for coming. My mom ran over to me.

“Here comes your dad. I know that look on his face, and it’s about your dress. I’m just giving you a heads up.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I sighed.

My dad walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek as he put his hand on the small of my back.

“Happy birthday, baby. You look gorgeous. Did you pick out that dress yourself?”

“Thank you, Daddy, and yes, I did. Isn’t it the most beautiful dress you’ve ever seen? I love it so much, and I feel like such a princess in it. Tell me you like it, Daddy, please.”

Yes, that was me putting on the innocent act for my father to try and distract him from telling me that my dress was way too short. He looked at me, paused, and then smiled. “It’s beautiful, Julia, and it looks wonderful on you.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled as I kissed his cheek, and he began to walk away.

He stopped, turned around, and looked at me. “Your mom said something to you, didn’t she?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I flashed him a smile. He turned around and shook his head. My poor dad. At least he had Collin.

CHAPTER 10

We packed everything we needed for the summer and drove to the beach house. As we walked through the door, I took my suitcases upstairs to my bedroom and laid them on the bed. The first thing I did, was open my window to let the ocean breeze blow through. I ran down the stairs, out through the door, nearly knocking my dad over, and down to the beach. The minute my toes hit the sand, I’d felt like I was home. The beach was my place of solace, like Central Park was back in the city. Collin came running down the beach with his surfboard and hit the water. I tried to surf once, but it was a disaster.

The water came up and soaked my feet as I stood at the shoreline. I ran back up to the house to grab my sketchpad and pencil. When I walked into the kitchen, my mom was sitting on the counter with her legs wrapped around my dad’s waist as they made out, and he had his hand up her shirt.

“You two seriously need to stop it!” I exclaimed.

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