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Chapter 01 Julie Lange slowly strolled along the beach with her best friend, Isabel Charleston, right beside her. Julie's normally bright eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her dark hair fell limply past her shoulders. "So what are you going to do, Jules?" Isabel asked gently for fear that her friend would break if she spoke too loudly. Julie sniffled and shook her head despairingly. "I have no idea," she confessed as a fresh set of tears poured from her tired eyes. "I just don't know." "No matter what - I'll always be here for you," Isabel said thoughtfully as she draped her arm around Julie's shoulder and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Thanks, Izzy," Julie whispered hoarsely. The two 17-year-olds continued walking along the beach in silence for a while longer. Julie's mind was spinning round and round. A little over a month earlier she had been a normal, happy teenager, but now her life had been turned completely upside down because of one fatal mistake. "What do you think Hadrian's going to say?" Isabel asked curiously. She already had a good idea of his response. She imagined he would deny getting Julie pregnant. Then he would accuse her of sleeping around. He would go on to call her a number of names - none of them would be nice. "I honestly don't know," Julie sniffled and then thought about it for a moment. "But I doubt he'll have anything good to say," she replied before breaking down once again. Julie had only been dating Hadrian for a few weeks before she made the mistake of having unprotected sex with him. "I'm so sorry, Jules," Isabel sympathized. "I better get home," Julie said wiping her tears away with the back of her hand as she tried to gain some sort of composure. "My mom and dad said they need to talk to me about something, so I'm sure they're probably expecting me home soon." "Well call me if you need to talk, okay?" Isabel commented thoughtfully as she gave Julie a comforting hug. "I will," Julie nodded as she brushed away the last of her tears and started walking in the direction of her house. Julie walked slowly along the sidewalk. She wondered what she would do now. Nothing in her life would ever be the same. She knew she had a decision to make, but she wasn't fond of any of her options. 'How could I have been so stupid?' she asked herself as she thought back to the night she had lost her virginity to Hadrian. She had thought that she truly loved him, but now she knew that that wasn't true. It was simply lust, and because of her reckless behavior she had a life altering decision to make. When Julie arrived home, she quickly went to the bathroom to make sure that there was no evidence that she had been crying. She splashed some water on her face and dabbed it with a towel before going into the living room where her parents were talking quietly. "Hi," Julie said casually, trying her best to act normal. "Hello, sweetie," Calvin Lange said with a smile. "You're home early, aren't you?" Julie commented as she sat down on the couch. "Well, like we said this morning, your father and I need to talk to you about something important," Kathie Lange replied. "What's up?" Julie asked. She wondered what could be so important that her parents had left work earlier. Both of her parents worked at the archeology museum in the city and were often at work late many nights during the week. 'They couldn't possibly know about me.' She reasoned. 'I just found out for myself.' "Well, your father and I got some very exciting news late last night. We are going on an archeological dig with the museum. There were some prehistoric bones found, and your father and I get to be part of the recovery and restoration," Kathie replied with excitement in her voice. "Wow," Julie said forcing a smile. She knew how much her parents thrived on this kind of thing, and she knew that they had wanted to be part of an archeological dig. "Where will we be going?" she asked. "That's the part we wanted to talk to you about," Calvin commented. "Your father and I will be going to Africa, and you will be going to stay with the Hansons," Kathie explained. "The Hanson? You mean, in Oklahoma?" Julie cried. "For how long?" "Honey, we're not sure," Kathie answered. "Well, is it just for the summer or what?" Julie questioned. "For the summer," Calvin nodded. "And a little longer." "Longer? How much longer?" Julie demanded. "Julie, we could be gone for up to a year," Kathie replied. "A year?" Julie exclaimed. "But that's not fair! What am I supposed to do about school?" "You'll go to school in Tulsa," Calvin replied. "Why can't I say with Isabel?" Julie asked. "Julie, you know that the Charleston's are busy now that they have the new baby," Kathie answered. "We couldn't ask them to take care of you too." "Mom, there's only five kids in Isabel's family. The Hansons have seven!" Julie argued with her voice rising. "Julie Arielle, this is not open for discussion," Calvin cut in. "You are going to stay with the Hansons. You have two weeks to get packed." "This is so unfair!" Julie groaned as she stood up and stalked upstairs. 'I cannot believe this.' She mumbled as she sat down on her bed with a thud. She picked up her cordless phone and dialed Isabel's number. "Hello?" "Hey, Izzy," Julie sighed. "What's up?" Isabel asked. "Well, my parents are going to Africa, and I'm going to Oklahoma," Julie explained with tears forming in her eyes. "What? Why? Oklahoma? For how long?" Isabel questioned. "Up to a year because my parents have been invited to go on some archeological dig," Julie replied. "Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse ..." she murmured as she broke down. |