11 I Can't Believe The Bracelet Is Gone! (02)

The Millers were Eleanor and Darius, with Eleanor on the left and Darius on the right. Beth tried to make eye contact with them, yet her view silently diverged from their eyes and traced their silhouette instead. Being a fashion designer wannabe, she naturally picked up what they were wearing. Jules' parents are so fashionable. Just look at this woman. Her blue and white maxi dress with decorated check looks bohemian. Those earrings reflect shades of gold under the setting sun. Moving on to her husband...his purple suit looks classy and modern at the same time. Wow. Those pairs of quality leather shoes...where did he even get them?

"Sweetheart, we heard about your runway competition result. It's so amazing!" Eleanor reached out for Julianna. Then, she stared at Beth, trying to remember her name at the tip of her tongue.

"Oh, are you..."

"Bethany, but you can call me Beth. I am Julianna's friend, and we worked on the runway competition together."

"Oh yes, Beth! I remembered. Jules had been talking about you these days with us. You are a good friend to her." Darius grinned. "By the way, do you guys need something for the runway show? Eleanor and I have are both free for tonight so that we can take you guys to Laurel Space."

Laurel Space was the largest mall in the downtown of Laurel City, inspired by the symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural environment. From the outside, the buildings of the mall looked like several large silver water drops, with transparent parts on the surfaces constructed by glass panels. However, inside each water drop, various layered floors host different shops and entertainment facilities. In one of the water drops, people could stop by at an immersive dome that acted as a digital display area, showcasing movies and interactive games.

What's more impressive was that there were plants and trees in every water drop. It was even so on the first floor of one water drop, where people worked in glass 'bubbles' in a constructed park, filled with trees and flowers.

Adults loved to visit Laurel Space as well as younger customers. There was an indoor theme park with rides and a free-play area in another water drop. The tickets were not expensive either, so many people could come especially during the weekends and holidays.

With those said, it was not hard to imagine why Beth was stoked on hearing about going to Laurel Space. Her eyes were instantly lit up by the thought of exploring an advanced mall with all sorts of fancy stuff.

"I need a suit to go with Beth's dress for the runway show," Julianna answered.

"That sounds wonderful! Are we going to Laurel Space now?" Beth nagged Eleanor and Darius.

"We will all go there later. Before that, want to grab a meal together? It's a good day today, and we know somewhere that's cool."

Julianna laughed along with everyone, but she started to look a little bit uneasy. She wondered if her parents were overly friendly to people that sometimes that their nicety seemed fake. Surely she enjoyed Beth very much as a friend, yet her parent's enthusiasm baffled her. Didn't it seem a little weird to treat a person you didn't know that much to a fancy meal? What about putting on awkward videos to guests? That's intruding on my privacy. If that was the case, what will my parents even bring up to Beth about me during the dinner?

However, no one in the group asked how she was doing. Usually, Beth would ask her what was happening if she saw her looking this way. However, she was so engrossed in her joyousness that she unintentionally forgot Julianna by the side. She didn't even hesitate to accept the invitation from Darius. With everyone seemingly looking good, the group headed into the Miller family car.

Julianna's instincts were right. What's more, the dinner was extra hard for her since Eleanor and Darius brought up one of the hard topics of herself.

"You know, we are finally so happy that Jules finally had a friend. When she was in middle school, she looked kinda lonely, sitting at the lunch table all by herself..." Eleanor whispered from the side to Beth.

Gosh, that's going to be embarrassing. Julianna spoke to herself and tried to turn away from the conversation by numbing her ears.

"Beth, you need to take care of Jules. She always concentrated on her studies and never had that many of her friends when she was growing up." Darius murmured.

I don't need to be taken care of!

"To be honest, we were kinda afraid that she was bullied in school during her middle school years. She had not been talking to us about this problem with us for a long time, so we don't know what exactly happened. We panicked quite a bit when sending her to Laurel Prep."

✨

Wait. What did you say?

All of a sudden, Julianna stopped at Eleanor's mentioning "being bullied in school." Something seemed to have triggered her. It was her memories from primary school.

She was an outsider.

She always sat alone at a table while the other students gathered around and chatted within themselves in the group.

"See that girl? No one wants to talk to her." one student said in the back.

"I think her family has issues. Her family looks like a stitched-together one: they don't look like her at all."

"She's also doesn't behave like one of us as well. Just look at her mannerisms--awkward and uneducated."

Young Julianna walked towards the students, but they ignored her and carried on their own conversations. One of the students slipped into her pocket and dropped her a paper slip instead. As soon as she opened up the paper slip, everyone started making funny noises.

"Miller, are you an abandoned, unwanted child?" It was written with big, crooked letters.

"I wonder what her reaction will be!" other students were giggling inside themselves. "From the first time that I saw her, I could already see that she was not part of us!" "This is going to be a shitshow!"

"STOP THAT ALREADY!" She teared up the paper slip immediately. Her anger controlled her. She threw herself onto the student, grabbed her by the wrist, and pushed her to the wall. "Why did you do this to me?!!"

The student fell to the ground with tears and a frightened look on her face. Seeing the student cry, the other students rushed towards her, patting her on the shoulders, and soothed her.

She was just crying like this for attention, wasn't she? It was not my fault...

"All that hustle-bustle! What's happening here?" The teacher was quick to notice something wrong.

"Julianna got angry in front of me and tried to bully me..." the student's word was unrecognizable between her weeping sounds.

"Me...?" Young Julianna stood there, speechless. "No. It's not. You are the one who started this."

She took out the torn paper slip to the teacher, but the teacher dismissed her. Just some young children having fights, what could even possibly go wrong?

"Both of you have responsibilities. Come to my office after class."

Young Julianna was dragged into the teacher's office without having the right to speak for herself. The student who wrote the paper slip was greeted by friends after being released from the office. Meanwhile, the young Julianna walked alone in the hallway, with no one willingly by her side. The outside was dark, and all she heard was the intermittent rain sounds from the window.

"It was just a joke, why did she take it so seriously?" She could hear a girl talking about her as she walked away.

✨

"You know what, actually I don't think you guys need to worry about her." Beth was speaking to the Millers. "Jules...she is a great friend. I am not very good at academics but she offered to help me with my tests. She also made time for me to work on the project. I am lucky! Maybe other people had not really get to know her yet!"

"We are happy that she has such a good friend as you as well! Oh, I almost forgot! Shall we head to Laurel Space after everyone has finished?"

"I have been expecting going there the whole night!"

"I am okay with it. Please just drop us at the quad--I will be selecting my attire." Julianna popped her headphones on and started zoning out to her music.

"Beth, please don't mind that." Darius smiled. "Sometimes, sweetheart just feels a little bit awkward expressing emotions and opening up to people! You need to give her time."

"Oh, yea, I will!"

For the rest of the night, Beth and Julianna were busy making the selection of Julianna's suit for their runway show. It was Beth's first time visiting a large mall, so Julianna had to guide her from not being lost between all sorts of choices presented in front of her. At last, they picked a pastel yellow shirt with lace and an aquamarine suit set with dots. They also had a pair of short hazel boots and a hat that matches the color of the suit.

While Julianna tried all those things on, Beth took a selfie with her.

"Jules, I can't believe how it turned out! You really look like my partner in crime."

"Thank you, Beth. We will make a great team at the runway show."

"By the way, I want to tell you something, Jules."

"Emm?"

"No matter what happened in your past, you will always have a friend in me."

Everyone can say that. But can you keep your promise? Julianna felt better from her memories but didn't wholly believe Beth.

However, Beth didn't seem upset at all. "I am sorry for you if you were bullied in the past. You don't deserve to be treated like that--in fact, nobody deserves!"

She continued speaking. "Running several clubs while maintaining your academics...You have always been so tough compared to me. I am weak. I had already been bogged down by academics at Laurel Prep. If I have been bullied, I might just have broken down and afraid to face people again. I am glad that I learned more about you through Eleanor today. Please let me know anytime you feel unwell and confused. I want you to know that I am here for you."

Thanks.

Upon listening to this, Julianna smiled faintly.

Just then, a text message popped up on Julianna's phone from Paige. It was a threatening message.

It wrote: Julianna, your friend and you are both liars. Come and see us tomorrow.