17 There's More to Life than Work! (02)

Why am I told 'life is more than work' again? What a cliche that saying is.

Julianna walked out with confusion to Beth and Simone.

"That session was not helpful."

"What happened?"

"I told the counselor about my goals, and she diverted the topic. She basically asked me a bunch of questions about my personal life, like my childhood memory or insecurity...something like that. Then she told me that I need to slow down, that life is more than work."

"Maybe she just thinks that you need to have a rest," Simone said.

"Life is more than work? That's an alright attitude, but it indeed serves as an excuse not to have high goals." Beth grimaced.

"Right?! It sounds good on the surface, yet you will be left behind if you take that seriously. People at Laurel Preparatory are just very hardworking. Let’s take Hildegard as an example."

"Hilda Longworth? She is practically perfect." Simone said.

"Isn't she? She has perfect stats, awards, and a Ph.D. in social interaction. She will compete against me in our school choices. I probably will go for the museum opening then, if that's the case."

"Are you sure you can handle everything, Jay?" Simone was concerned.

"Ah, it's fine. I will think about that later."

“Okay, well. Shall we have a small gathering at my house this Saturday to discuss how we are gonna present ourselves, then?" Simone thought about a plan.

“Yea, it works!”

Just when Simone was thinking about the gathering and Julianna busy packing her things, Beth noticed a tall girl gazing at them from one end of the cafeteria, as if she had a déjà vu of meeting Beth and her friends before. A redhead with light eyes. She wore a high ponytail, a silver necklace, and black clothes throughout her body. There was a guitar strap on her shoulder connected to a bass guitar.

"Let's go, Fifi!" a girl shouted to her.

I don't know her. Why was she staring at us?

Before Beth could even think about those questions, she caught a last glimpse of the girl before she went away.

Saturday soon came.

Eleanor and Darius were both busy in the morning, so the whole house was Julianna's now. She dominated the couch in the living room and had her laptop in front of her. On the laptop screen, an animated film was playing. While she was watching the animation, the counselor's words appeared in her mind. Indeed, looking back on the month, she was stuck in a perpetual, packed cycle of working on her academics and projects, reduced to a series of running from place to place. There was no place for her personal life to squeeze in this tight schedule. In hindsight, She could have missed out on many things since her personal life was not entirely on her radar. Maybe she might find something more by shifting her focus a little.

Simone pulled up a friend squad chat for the three of them. Julianna glanced over the group chat and saw messages keep coming up. Apparently, Beth and Simone had already been crazy texting each other. However, they were not making plans for the afternoon. They were sending silly memes to each other.

Wow, that looks fun!

Suddenly a message specifically addressed to her popped up.

"We like you a latte! --Bee and Simmy."

"Damn! What are you guys doing!!" Julianna burst into a hard laugh and almost threw away her phone on the side as soon as she saw this message. In the meantime, she unwittingly glanced over her laptop and noticed something appear very quickly. An email notification with the title 'It's been a long time, Jules' popped up by the right upper corner of the laptop screen, as if the senders were already acquainted with her.

Huh? This email is addressed to me...

This was not the first time a stranger sent me something.

A sense of anxiety made Julianna's heart clench. A week ago, a similar thing happened to her--despite not giving Paige her number directly, Paige still managed to text her. Fortunately, it was just herself being careless. She was part of the 'Laurel Class of 2019' as well as Paige, but she forgot about the group since social media was never her thing. However, this time was different. While she participated in online forums, she was mainly a lurker and never leaked her email to anyone. Besides, there was no sign that the holder of this email address would have been a part of her daily life. Why did it seem like they had already known her? Was the email just a prank, a junk email, or did her personal information unknowingly got leaked?

Julianna opened the email and started reading it to see what it was all about. She started reading.

'It's been a long time, Jules. Do you still remember us? Eleanor and Darius had been sending photos of you to us. Just as we had imagined, you are a bright, inquisitive, and interesting child. We were so sorry that we couldn't be by your side when you grew up, but it's delightful to see that you had grown so much into an adult. We know that you might not have any memories of us. However, if you have the chance this year, we would like to reunite with you again. Take your time to think about it. If you decide to come, we would be glad to have you once again.

The email was not a spam or a personal attack.

It was from her birth parents, the two people that used to be the first once to hold and caress her, but no longer left their warmth on her.

They left Julianna to foster care when she was just out of the cradle. The only vivid memory that Julianna had with them was cuddling up with them in a dirty rug with things littered around. The neighborhood was noisy, and the honks of cars and arguments of people could be heard from afar. No matter how hard life is, we will always support each other as a family. She overheard one of her parents murmuring that to her when she was half-asleep. Except for that, everything in her memory about them was vague. When she tried to imagine their voice, their eyes, and their face, all she got was a dim image with already unrecognizable cues.

Who could have given them a way to contact her when she already stepped out of their life for so long?

The door cracked open. Eleanor and Darius came back.

'Jules, how were you doing at home today? Shall we get going to Simone's house now? Please wait for a moment as I need to change my clothes..."

"Why did I receive this email? Are they from my birth parents?" Julianna didn't directly answer Eleanor's question. Instead, she interrupted her and pointed to the email.

"What's this even about?"

Eleanor smiled. "I am glad that you received it, Jules! It's time to tell you this important thing, my sweetheart. Darius and I had always thought that it's essential that a person knows about where they are originally from. We had been sending your parents pictures of you growing up to let them know how you have been. Now, they just told us they wanted to see you again!”

Glad? Why should I be happy? Julianna stared at Eleanor with distressed perplexation. Those are my photos. You are sending them without my permission to people that never came back for me over the years!

"It's your sweet sixteen soon." Eleanor continued. "it turned out that they wanted to see you this year to witness your transition into adulthood. I know you could be puzzled, anxious, or angry. They didn't mean to lose you, they were just..."

"It's stupid! If they really wanted to see me, why hadn't they contacted in years? Throughout my life, Laurel City had been my home. I had been growing up here. What's this all about when you guys want me to return to claim an identity that is no longer connected to me?”

"Yes, but that had once been a part of you that you cannot deny. It's just a reunion. Nothing will change after this reunion with both of them and us. You will still be our beloved daughter." Darius added from the side.

You are right. It will not change between my birth parents and me. What's that 'we will always support each other as family?' It's just some empty promise. Now, you are asking me to go back to them, to my original home that I would never recognize as before. I never genuinely fitted as a Laurel resident as well. Could it be that you guys were just hinting that I don't truly belong to you like all those kids that kept telling me these years?

"Look, Jules. We have been collecting those photos and videos of you. Just see how adorable you once were." Eleanor took off a box of Julianna's photos from her shelf.

Unfortunately, the box of photos dropped to the ground. A picture with a small girl that looked similar to Julianna dropped out of the box.

That was Lilian. My 'sister' that I never saw. Julianna picked up the photo with her heart pounding and almost bursting. She knew this was all coming one day.

A year after her adoption, she overheard Eleanor and Darius weeping in the midnight, calling Lilian's name. Over the years, more and more cues about Lilian started piling up. However, the girl remained a taboo topic in the Miller household.

"Jules. Put that down at once." Darius had always been a tender man. Yet this time, he commanded Julianna with a harsh voice.

"No, I won't. Except for one thing: tell me about Lilian. Was her your real daughter? Over the years, had I been only a substitute for her? Tell me!!’

"Jules...what are you even saying?" Eleanor started trembling, and her voice shivered. "We never thought that way..."

"See? You are making your mom cry!"

"Why is this entirely my fault? What's this all about then?" an urge to leave home engulfed Julianna. Everything happened so fast that she needed to find an outlet to calm herself down. "I am not even your real daughter! Over the years, Lilian was the one that was in your heart. I'm leaving. Please don't come to find me now."

After sending a message to Beth and Simone, Julianna slammed the door behind her.

She wiped the nervous sweat from her head, and sprinted straight out of her house.

✨

Beth and Simone were lying on the bed in Simone's room, listening to pop songs together via a pair of shared headphones. Snacks piled up around them. It was a leisurely afternoon. Sunlight enlightened the room through the windows, leaving golden sparkles on the plants and photo albums on the window ledge.

Two guitars quietly lay in the corner on the side of the room. The guitar on the left was a bass guitar that had a lot of sticker decorations. The one on the right was more of a standard, classical brown guitar.

"It was so cool that we defeated the color blobs that day. I can't wait to see my magic coming to action again." Simone said.

"Right!" Beth chuckled.

"It also helped me see who was really with me. Paige and Jade were never my real friends. They were just using me. I miss the times that I had someone by my side."

Simone sat up and leaned towards the window ledge. She looked at the photos on the ledge with nostalgia. Most of the pictures were taken with her band members when she was in junior high. Everyone was squeezed together as they made funny faces looking at the camera. In particular, there were a couple of pictures of her and Felicity playing guitar on stage together. In the photos, she looked more timid and childlike, with her guitar held tightly around her. In contrast, Felicity stood by her side with her eyes closed, rocking her bass guitar like a pro.

"I used to grow up with these people in middle school." Simone continued speaking. "We came together because we wanted to express ourselves through our music. Among all the people, I especially missed Felicity. She was the one that encouraged me to be proactive, to be less afraid of performing in front of others, and inspired me to apply to Laurel Prep. Laurel Prep was her dream as well. If she is at Laurel Prep, I wonder how she had been. However, it's probably no use saying these anymore. We just left each other so suddenly without any word of warning."

Felicity? It sounds like Fifi. Beth took down the photos and looked at them. The girl on the right instantly reminded her of the tall girl that they saw in the cafeteria a couple of days ago. What happened to Simone and her? Shall I bring up the girl in the cafeteria to Simone?

'Hey, Simmy. I think I saw someone that looked like Felicity...'

Suddenly both Beth and Simone's phone chimed. It was the message from Julianna.

"Sorry guys, I have some family emergency today. I can't come to the gathering, although I will find a way to appear at the networking event."

"Family emergency?! Is Jules alright?" Beth looked worried.

"Maybe we should send her a text asking if she is okay," Simone said.

"Sure! Let's do that. If she doesn't respond, let's call her or ask her directly on Monday."

"Sounds right." Simone grabbed her phone and started typing a message to Julianna. After that, she turned to Beth again. "By the way, what's your dinner plan today?"

"Ummm...I am free. I am not sure yet."

"Why don't we go to West Park for a stroll, and then grab something to eat there? I know there's a pretty posh cafe."

"Good idea!"