•Dedicated to≈ ariannebernard
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"If you're serious about change, you have to go through uncomfortable situations. Stop trying to dodge the process, it's the only way to grow."

-Kamoyrocks

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Julia's POV

I woke up in an empty bed.

My head was killing me. I know I drank more than I should have, I don't even remember half of what I did last night.

"Jace?" I don't hear him. Maybe he's downstairs. I quickly take a shower and head down the stairs.

"Oh, your finally up." I hear Nadine say.

"Yeah." I smoothen my hair that used to be a cornrow, now I don't even know what the flower chicken it is.

"Everyone is already out, you just woke up very late."

"Really? A what time?" I sit on the island stool.

"Two in the evening." She smiles and hands me a plate of delicious  pancakes along with bacon.

"Thank you."

"No problem dear. So, I was actually laughing when I saw the pictures that I took yesterday of you. You were so out of it." She chuckles, handing me a folder.

"Oh my god." I sigh when I see a picture of me licking the chocolate fountain. I also chuckle when I see a picture where it looked as if I slapped Jace on his butt.

"That ones my favorite." She chuckles with me.

"What ones your favorite?" Just then, Jace enters the front door with groceries.

"Nothing!" The both of us say together. Nadine motions me to put away the folder and I quickly throw it in the living room.

"Julia? Are you oka–"

"I'm fine! You know, I'm great, your great we're all great." I say rather too fast and Nadine does a face palm.

"Okay." He smiles.

"Where you did go? Mi never see yuh this morning."

"I went to get dome aspirin for you."

"He also was suppose to get a dozen eggs but no." Nadine chimes.

"Mom, its called multitasking, you know?" I chuckle as Nadine shakes her head at her son.

He comes over to me, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Good morning." He whispers, kissing my neck.

"Hi." I smile at him. When I look up to see if Nadine is still there, she isn't.

"Hmm food." In a swift move, his grabs my bacon.

"How dare you." We both chuckle at the same time as he takes a stool beside me. "You have the audacity to eat my food and pretend like everything is okay?"

"No, but I have the audacity to do this." He pulls me in for a sweet kiss and if he wasn't holding me, I would've fell. I simply melted in his arms.

"You don't have that audacity either you carrot monkey." I smile brightly at him.

"Julia, you have to promise me you won't get mad at me." He says, his tone now serious.

"Okay.." My voice has become extremely shaky. My mind starts to reel around all the possible things that he's about to say.

Is he actually a carrot monkey? Is he a girl? Is he sick? Or worse...is he...cheating on me?

"It involves your step mom."

I let out a breath. Not this again. But I make a mental note to have a talk with my brain about even thinking about Jace doing that later.

"What about her?" I knew what he was going to say, I just really hope that he wouldn't say it. I really really hope that he wouldn't.

"You need to talk her."

"Jace..."

"June, just hear me out. I know she did some really bad things to you but that's really in the past. Just talk to her. You know, try to talk to her. Try and forgive her. It doesn't have to be now, but at least try. Forgiveness is better than regret. The two of you don't have to be on good terms but let her know that you forgive her. Your not going to be able to move on in life unless you forgive, grudges will only eat you alive, believe me."

I take my time go over what he just said. Its true, forgiveness is the best way to live I'm sure. Holding a grudge against my stepmother will do no good but to hurt me.

"Okay, I'll do it."

............

"Deep breaths June." Jace says from his side of the car. We are parked in front of what used to be my home.

I'm going to talk to her. I'm going to try and forgive her. And maybe, just maybe we can be friends.

Sounds cliché I know.

I rub my bracelet in anxiety.

"Okay, I'm ready." I turn to smile at him.

"You can do this baby." He brings my knuckles to his lips and places a lingering kiss on them. I sigh in content when the gestures calms my nerves.

"Here I go." I open the car door.

"June?" I turn around to him. " I'm right here, okay?" I shuffle in and hug him tight.

"I know." I whisper. "Thank you."

I head towards the door and knock it slightly. When it doesn't open, I knock on it louder.

I can do this...

"The door swings open, revealing my stepmother. Her hair is in a neat bun, and she's dressed in what seems to be gym clothes.

"You." She says dangerously. "What do you want."

"Can we just...talk for a second?" I say calmly. She eyes me suspiciously before letting me in.

"What do you want to talk about." She says rather coldly.

"Okay, I'm just gonna say it." I sigh. "I want you to know that I don't like the way things have been going on between us. I don't think I'm going to ever forgive you for all the things you did to me, but I'm going to try. I hope we can put aside our differences and maybe become friends."

Seconds pass

Minutes pass

And what seems to feel like an hour.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" She tilts her head back in laughter. My eyes widen in shock. She's gone mad.

"You just don't get it! I hate you. I will forever despise you little ungrateful girl." She shouts, coming in my face. I try to hold my composure, but it slips in a matter of seconds.

"Are you serious? I try to be nice to you and this is what you do? You know what? Go to hell. You think I would find it in my heart to look to you as my mother after  my mom died you just suddenly came in the picture? You treat me like crap and I'm honestly tired of you now." I shout with everything I have in me. I'm must be fuming.

"Oh dear, your dad was always mine. That's why I did what I did. He deserved me. We were meant to be." Her tone is now low and deadly. I gulp.

Of all the things that she could've done, she did...

"What did you do?" I ask shakily. In a way, I knew what she did.

I knew.

"Your mother was a beautiful woman, too bad she had cancer. I loved the relationship your parents shared, but she had what I wanted. So I had to take it. Because I always get what I want. So that day when you were walked out the room where she was lying, I did it."

My throat has become try and my feet numb. The air from my lungs feel as if they were being knocked out.

She couldn't. She wouldn't have.

"I killed your mom."

And that's when I brake.

She circles around my figure that has now fallen to the ground.

"She could've lived you know. Her cancer wasn't that serious. Just one surgery could've made her been alive today. But I didn't want that. So, because she had lung cancer, I choked her. Her struggling was like music to my ears. Her eyes that were pleading for me to stop only made me smile. I paid the pathologist who was my brother to make sure that he didn't tell anyone that I choked her and made it look like her cancer killed–"

"Why?" My voice comes out hoarse and shaky as I continue to look at the ground. "What did we do? What did my mother do to you? What did I do to you?" I choke on a sob. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry okay? For whatever my mom and I did. I'm so sorry. But why? Why punish me like this? Do you really hate me that much? How much more do you want me to suffer? Why tear me down more than I already? What else could you possibly want to take from me?"

My chest is tight and I look at her hopeless. My face is drenched in tears and my hands are shaking from anxiety as I stretch them in her direction helplessly.

I was desperate for my questions that couldn't be answered.

"And the thing is, you don't know what you want. Because you say you want my father but yet still your screwing him with–"

"Shut up." She dares to take a step to me.

"How dare you." I raise my head to look at her dangerously. "How dare you tell me to shut up. I think its time you listen to me." I say coldly. I've had enough of this woman now. Its time for me to stop acting like I'm afraid of her.

"My mother, that cared so much for me, that I treasured with all my heart, you had the audacity to even touch her. You had the audacity to look her in the eyes as your demon possessed soul choked her to death. You had the audacity to walk away from her as if nothing happen and had the guts to look my father in the eyes from that day."

"She would've been alive. I wouldn't be here, suffering. I wouldn't have met you. I would've still had my mom." My breathing has began to accelerate. "And you took it all away. You took away everything."

I stand up, and it seems like everything has stopped. The figure before me isn't a stepmother. Its a direct demon from hell. A demon that came and ruined my life.

"I hate you!" I shout and in a split second, I grab her.

And I fight her with every last bit of energy that I have.

I can't believe that I didn't see this.

The nurse then came out of the room hands tensed but,when she came out,it was released. She came out disappointed and what she said shocked me.

"She's gone."

Its all clear to me now.

I choked her. Her struggling was like music to my ears. Her eyes that were pleading for me to stop only made me smile...

And now its her time to struggle.

I was on a rampage, kicking, hitting, screaming and crying. I wanted to do so much more but the scattering of beads on the floor and the arm wrapped around my waist stops me.

Its takes me a long to register what was really going on but when I do...

My mother's bracelet broken...

Linda had broken it...

And with that, my heart.

"Your crazy! You need some help! I knew something was wring with you. That's why I never loved you as a mother." She shouts from on the floor. I ignore the blisters and bruises that I have given her because all I wanted to do was to tear her apart just like how she did to my mother.

"Mother?" I scoff as Jace opens the front door, carrying me out. I'm sure my face is soaked with tears and room is filled with nothing but sobs. I looked her dead in the eye and said...

"You never were and you never will be."

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A/N: Alrightyy. Can I see my little detectives? For those who knew before this chapter that Linda killed Julia's mom, big thumbs up for you.

This chapter was kinda easy, kinda hard to write because I've never been in this type of situation before but I just let my mind take over. So what did you guys think? How did it make you feel?

God bless you my babies

-Kamoyrocks