Page 32 of Being Julia

“Columbia? I’m going to Columbia in the fall.” I smiled.

“Really? You’ll love it, and now you know someone who can show you around.”

“That’s great. Now I won’t feel so scared,” I said as I looked down and felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

“No. You won’t,” he spoke in a low voice.

I looked over at him, and we stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.

“Julia,” I heard Collin yell from a distance. “Dad said you need to come back now.”

“That’s my brother. I guess I have to go,” I said as I stood up.

“It was great to meet you, Julia Black. I hope to see you around.” He smiled.

I smiled back at him as I put my hand up and gave him a small wave. I started to walk towards Collin, stopped, and turned around. “Hey, Jake,” I yelled. “Would you like to come back with me so you can see the craziness of my graduation party?”

He smiled as he shouted back. “Sure, just let me take Mozart home and grab a shirt. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I’ll wait for you.” I grinned. “Collin, tell Dad I’ll be there in a minute.”

Collin walked over to where I was standing. “Who’s that?”

“Someone who just swept me off my feet,” I said as I laid my head on Collin’s shoulder.

CHAPTER 11

As I waited for Jake to return, Collin returned to the house. I stared out at the ocean and whispered, “London, did you see him? I’ve only known him for about thirty minutes, but I think he’s someone special.”

“Hey,” Jake said as he walked up to me. “Thanks for waiting.”

“Hi. No problem,” I said as we walked through the sand back to my house.

We could hear the music and the laughter as we walked toward the house. “My God, how many people did your parents invite?”

“About three hundred people.” I smiled.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. My dad and I tried hiding this morning, but my mom caught us.”

We walked up to the patio and made our way through the crowd. I saw my mom standing in the kitchen talking to my dad. They turned and looked at me as we stepped through the door.

“Where have you been?” my mom asked.

“I told Dad that I was taking a walk down the beach.”

“Yes, you did, Julia. But that was a long time ago,” my dad said as he looked at Jake. “Who’s your friend, princess?”

“Dad, Mom, this is Jake Jensen. We met on the beach.”

Jake extended his hand to my parents.

“Jensen?” my dad asked as he shook Jake’s hand.

“Daddy!” I exclaimed.

“You wouldn’t happen to be William Jensen’s son, would you?”

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