Reckless Love

Chapter 32

Standing in front of me, wearing a blue knee-length dress was no other than Serra Hanes, our former best friend. 

Her hair color had changed to light brown and she was no longer wearing glasses, probably opting out for contacts. 

She looked the same as ever but I could tell from the way she was looking at me that she wasn't here to say anything friendly. 

"Serra?" I questioned, standing up from my seat to face her.

"Juliana. It's been a while," she said with a distant tone.

There wasn't a smile on her face. Just a plain old frown framed on her forehead. 

"What happened to you? Where have you been?" Tim asked from behind me in a worrisome tone.

Serra just threw him an apologetic look and bit her lips. 

"I don't have time to explain. I only came here to collect my belongings."

I frowned and stood silently in front of her. "What's going on with you Serra? You changed and-"

"I don't want to hear anything from you Julia. Our relationship ended a long time ago," she spat after she rudely cut me off.

I was taken aback by her brazen tone. 

"Is everything okay Serra?" Tim asked from behind me. Obviously he was also confused with Serra's harsh words.

Serra huffed and shook her head. 

"I don't even know why I bothered to come and see you two. I should've listened to Anna and stayed away."

I was starting to become really annoyed now. None of the words coming out of her mouth were making sense.

"Did we do something to offend you Serra? Because I really can't understand why you're being like this with us! We were your friends-"

"Were we really friends?" she suddenly spat, raising her voice. "Your father screwed my family over and dragged my fathers business down into bankruptcy. If we were really friends, shouldn't you have helped me? Because of your family, I lost everything Julia."

I was at a loss for words. 

"You're such a bitch. You could've warned me that your family was facing problems. But no, instead you kept it to yourself and found a rich boy to take care of you. Too bad I didn't have the same luck as you. I had no money to attend school or afford a phone. I lost a lot of friends and the only person who helped me through all this hell was Anna! So please, keep your ignorant remarks to yourself and don't ever talk to me. I'm done with your shit!"

She threw an unexpected slap to my face and immediately left. 

I stood there emotionless, a whirlpool of tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

Because of my family, so many others were suffering. And I didn't even know.

Who else did my father hurt?

How could I ever face Serra again, knowing what my family did to her?

Because of a big misunderstanding, I lost my best friend. 

"Julia? You okay?" Tim whispered from behind me.

"Honestly, no," I rasped out, wiping a tear from my eye.

"Don't listen to her. She doesn't know that you didn't know-"

"She's right," I quietly replied, cutting him off. "I'm hiding behind a rich boy. I don't deserve any of this. My parents escaped so they wouldn't have to face the consequences of their actions. And now they're trying to marry me off so Jared can fix their company and welcome them back."

I shook my head and inhaled a deep breath. 

"I won't let them do this. I'm not going to give in and marry him. I'll work and pay back everything, even if it takes forever."

"You're going to work?" Tim asked shocked.

I turned around to face him and nodded my head. 

"After graduation, I'm going to change everything. I'm done being the selfish bitch. It's time I grew up and faced my problems."

"What about the wedding? All the arrangements?" Tim asked as he stood up to meet my level.

I huffed and rubbed my temple in frustration.

"I don't know yet. Jareds mom doesn't even like me so it'll be easy to put off everything if I talk to her. It's the contract that really is the problem. I need to find some kind of loop hole so I don't have to pay the money for breaching it."

Tim nodded his head. "If you give me a copy of the contract, I can get my fathers lawyer to take a look at it."

"Thanks Tim. I really appreciate it," I said with relief. 

"Anything for you Julia. And don't think too much about what Serra said. You didn't even know that your families business was going bankrupt. You have no blame in this."

"Still, I should've been more responsible and checked in on them. I should've held on to Serra instead of letting her go."

"What's done is done. Let's focus on the future and try to fix the wrongs."

I nodded my head and gave him a weak smile. 

The bell rang at that moment, indicating that school was done. 

"I was supposed to meet Jared in the parking lot, but I really don't want to see him right now," I stated, picking up my bag. 

"I can go tell him you're doing an assignment with a friend."

I smiled and went along with the idea.

"Thanks dude. I'll go sneak through the back and head home to try and think of a plan."

"Sounds good. Text me later."

We both said our goodbyes and parted ways.

Time to change my life around.