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homerfreak2011

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On the tenth day, her seventh day with Ben, he left her alone in the apartment. He had been on ‘vacation’ from his job when she had arrived and because of that, he only left the place to run errands, and each time he had invited her to go with him. She had gone every time, but now he was gone. She would be alone all day.

She paced through the tiny apartment, trying to figure out what to do to occupy herself until she got home. She looked at the stove clock. 9:27. He had been gone a mere 27 minutes and she was already about to lose her mind. “7 hours… 7 more hours…” She kept pacing. A single thought raced through her mind… “Am I in love with him?” The thought scared her.

Her eyes roamed the room, searching for something to do. Then she saw a glint of light reflecting off of something on top of Ben’s TV. She walked over to investigate, and found that the sunlight was reflecting off of the letters off the spine of a book. ‘Mustangs’. The letters were in red. She picked up the otherwise white book. It was a yearbook. Ben’s yearbook.

She carried it to the couch and opened it, hearing the spine’s creak of objection. Ben obviously didn’t look at the book often. The first page made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. A picture took up the full page, was black and white, and had ‘In Memory Of’ across the top of it. The bottom of it had ‘Ben Lane’ in calligraphy. It was him alright… That was Ben. “What the…” She started to read the writing in the margins. “Ben, though you were so young, you impacted so many lives--”

“Cause we all just wanna be big rock stars…Live in hill top houses…drivin 15 cars…” The familiar tune of her cell phone caught her attention. She put the book, closed, on the coffee table and picked up her phone. ‘Mom’ flashed on the green glowing screen. Julia put the phone next to the yearbook and let it ring. She hadn’t had any contact with anybody from back home since she left and she wasn’t going to start now. She was doing so well… not wanting to go home, enjoying her stay with Ben, gaining more freedom… She wasn’t about to give it all up.

Julia flicked on the TV, which was on CNN. She sighed and was just about to flip the channel, when she heard…

“…ulia Barclay. For those of you who have just tuned in, the body of missing teen, Julia Barclay, has been found. She was found dead in the back of a Greyhound bus bound for New York. The body of the teen was discovered by the driver late last night, apparently found by the complaints of a horrible stench from the other passengers. The body was found in the storage compartment above one of the back seats. It seems she had been killed in her sleep by another passenger, and stuffed in the cargo hold to hide…” Off went the TV. Julia stood, took a deep breath, and went into the kitchen to make something to eat.

“There must be some mistake… That’s not me… I’m… I’m here…” The sharp ‘BRRRRING!’ of the apartment phone made her jump. She put a hand over her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat, and picked it up.

“H-hello?”

“Julie?” That voice. That drawl.

“Ben! Hey,” She tried to steady her voice as she spoke so he wouldn’t worry.

“Are you doin’ okay by yourself?” She nodded. There was a pause. “…Jewel?”

“Oh! Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. When will you be home?”

“I told you. 4:30. I might come home sooner though. You don’t sound too good… Are you sure everything’s fine?”

“I’m sure. Just a little jumpy is all. You know, dumb girl alone in an apartment… her mind’s bound to wonder.”

“Well, I’ll try to keep a check up on you, okay? Just relax… I promise, you’re safe there. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Okay, Benny. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Oh, and Jewel?”

“Yeah?”

“…” There was a long pause. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Ben-ny!” She made her voice as whiney as she could. “Please tell me.”

“You won’t freak?”

“Why would I freak?”

“Jewel… Julia… I think I’m falling in love with you.” She dropped the phone, letting it hit the floor and roll on its back a little. She could hear Ben talking, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying from so far off.

After about a minute, she picked the phone back up and held it to her ear.

“Ben?”

There was a sigh. “Yes, Julie?”

“I love you too.” Without waiting for his response, she turned the phone off and put it on the counter. Silently she sat down on the floor, then stretched out. Was she crazy?! Falling in ‘love’ with a guy she barely knew?! Was that possible?! “I love you too, Ben.” She was talking to no one, but her words still had meaning. “I love you too.”

* * * * * * * * * *

When Ben got home that afternoon, Julia was on the couch with her knees against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. He dropped his bags on the counter and rushed over to her. “Julie?” He knelt down in front of the couch, trying to look up into her eyes. “Jewel?”

She sighed and bent over to get the yearbook off the coffee table. Without a word. She handed it to him. “Explain.”

He opened the cover and looked up at her. “The logical reason or the truth?”

“The truth.”

“I’m dead, Julia.”