Julia

My heart stopped working for a second before it came back to life. What the hell? Who could be the one who threw me this strange letter? What did he mean by "Ready?". I was sure that I didn't see anyone near our building when I checked the balcony. I folded the letter again and put it on the table. I was so terrified, especially because I was alone in the room. I thought about calling my friends and telling them to return, but I didn't want to rush them and ruin their time together. I decided to get my manuscript and some pens to write a new chapter for my novel. I hoped that writing could distract me and ease my stress for a little bit. I sat down on the bed, pressed my back to the headboard, and used my knees as a surface to write on. I distracted myself and kept thinking about different ideas for the end of my book. Almost half an hour passed while I was living in my own world of writing. I checked my chapter in the end as soon as I finished writing it. I was so proud of myself that I could write more than three thousand words in less than half an hour. I closed my manuscript and put it back in my bag. I couldn't think of anything else to do for more distraction. I grabbed my notes and books to study and do my homework. Just anything to distract myself. The idea that someone just threw me an eerie letter which I didn't understand what was written inside it, dreaded me.

I started revising my lessons and did all of my homework assignments. Thankfully, I was done by six-thirty. It didn't take too long to finish my studies. I frowned as I checked the clock on the wall to see that it was six-thirty and my friends hadn't come back yet. I checked my phone and found no missed calls from them. I just didn't want to stay alone for so long. Another hour passed and they hadn't returned yet. I gave up and went to bed. Maybe some sleep would diminish my fidgets and pass the time quickly. As I was just about to climb onto the bed, my phone rang.

"Oh, come on! Can't I just sleep peacefully without anyone calling me?" I barked to myself as I went back to grab my phone.

Dad's name appeared on the screen and I didn't hesitate to answer his call. I missed him so much and I really needed to hear his voice. It just frustrated me that he and mum didn't call me all day and chose to call me whenever I tried to sleep.

"Hey, Dad," I greeted him.

"Julia, how have you been, dear? I miss you," Dad pattered.

"I'm good," I simply replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that I haven't been asking about you for the past couple of days. I was just busy. I know that I'm a horrible father, but please forgive me," Dad sighed.

"It's okay, dad. I'm not mad at you or anything. Well, it's just that I wish I could spend more time with you before I came in Chicago, but you were busy all the time. The only time I talked to you was when you were driving me to the airport," I mumbled and couldn't fight my tears anymore, so they automatically found their way out.

"I'm really sorry. You have no idea how much I wish to spend more time with you too. I'm an awful father," Dad placated.

"No, Dad. You're not. You just don't know how to find time to spend with us. You're always busy. You never tried to take some time off your work. I'm concerned for mum who will spend most of her time alone, because you are always out," I sobbed.

"Julia, please. I hate hearing you cry. It's all out of my control. I am just-"

"You what, Dad? You what, huh? You hate hearing me cry for once? What about telling you that I spent every day of my life crying myself to sleep because of you. I never felt that I have a caring and a warm father like all my friends have. You always made me feel worthless and unimportant. Dad, when was the last time you spent a whole day with me and mum? Like, you even went to work last Christmas for God's sake! Who the hell goes to work on Christmas? You never try to find some time for us even on the holidays," as I started to cry harder and couldn't resist my tears anymore, I could hear dad sighing in sorrow from the other side of the phone.

"Julia, please listen to me," Dad begged.

"No, you listen to me. I have always been listening to your nonsense. It's your turn now to listen to me for once. I never felt that I had a caring and warm family. I never felt like I actually matter to you. I never felt that you care about me, Dad."

"Please, Julia. Don't overreact and listen to me-"

"Overreact? Overreact? Am I overreacting now for fuck's sake?" I yelled.

"Julia! Calm down!"

"No, I won't! Because I'm sure that by spring break, I will come back to San Francisco and spend the whole holiday season with mum alone. I'm sure that you will be busy as always. I won't be able to spend the holidays with my whole Goddamn family like all my friends would," I wept.

My friends finally came back. They opened the door laughing and talking with each other. I could see that their smiles disappeared and their jaws dropped as soon as they saw me crying. Sally threw her bag on the floor and ran towards me for comfort.

"Dad, please. Could you just hang up for now? I can't talk anymore," I said as Sally pulled me for a hug and rubbed my back up and down genially.

"But I want to talk to you. I want to-"

"You want to talk but I don't! I said what I wanted to say because I'm tired of keeping everything inside. Just think about my words and call me back ... if you even care," I quickly said and hung up before dad could say anything else.

I threw my phone on the table and buried my face more in Sally's chest. I just needed a long, tight, and warm hug after what I had said. I never expressed my feelings this way before. I somehow felt a little relieved after getting it all off my chest, but I was still disappointed. I never imagined that I could say all of this to my father. I didn't hate him or anything. I just wanted to feel his warm presence like all people did. I wish I had parents like Sally's or Nick's or Josh's. Oh lord! I wish I had a caring father like all normal people did, not just my friends.

"What happened? Did you argue with your dad?" Sally asked, tightening her arms around me.

I didn't respond by words. All I could do was nod against her chest. Sobbing so hard didn't give me a chance to speak.

"Calm down. It's okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now."

"As you wish. Just go wash your face," Sally said as she pulled away and wiped my tears for me.

I went to the bathroom and locked the door. As I stood in front of the mirror, I could see the messy me. Swollen lips, running nose, and red swollen eyes from crying. I haven't cried like this for ages. I turned on the faucet, then splashed cold water against my face, trying to remove every clue of sadness. I needed to freshen my mood. I didn't want to spend the rest of my day like this. Goddammit! I even forgot to tell Sally about the letter. I dried my face and fixed my hair, then exited the bathroom.

Sally was waiting for me to get out so that she could get inside and change her clothes. She gave me a sweet smile as soon as I opened the bathroom's door. I returned her smile and let her get inside.

"We need to talk about what annoys you," She informed me.

I only nodded in response and passed by her. I went to the boys to ask them about their day. I wanted to talk about anything other than dad. As I reached Daniel, I spotted him unfolding the letter and reading it.

"I was going to tell you about it. I was so scared when someone threw it to me through our balcony," I stated.

Daniel snapped his head up so that he could look at me. "Who threw it?"

"I don't know," I shrugged.

"Maybe it was thrown by accident."

"Maybe yes and maybe no. It was tied to a brick. I don't think that someone would accidentally throw a brick at our balcony."

"Ninety-nine percent of people now are stupid. I guess someone from that percentage threw it. Just ignore it and don't overthink about it," Daniel giggled.

"And who are those one percent of people who are still smart?"

"Me of course," Daniel winked.

"Absolutely," I rolled my eyes at him as we both laughed.

"Why were you crying by the way? Did anything happen?" Daniel asked in a worried tone as he got closer towards me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I just fought with my dad. Well, sort of. I don't want to talk about it right now."

"It's fine. What about doing something to cheer you up?" Daniel chuckled.

"Playing truth or dare," Nick shouted as he pulled his T-shirt over his head and changed it.

"Sounds great," Sally agreed as she got out of the bathroom.

We all sat down in a ring after grabbing a random empty bottle from the fridge.

"Come on. Who will go first?" I asked.

"Me," Josh said.

Josh rolled the bottle and it started to spin on the floor briskly. We waited on fire until it decreased its speed gradually, and now it stopped pointing at Nick.

"Truth or dare, Nick?" Josh asked.

"Truth."

"Okay, so let me come up with a good question for you," Josh smirked as he rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "When was your first kiss?"

"I was fifteen," Nick giggled.

"With whom?" Josh laughed.

"No, you can only ask me one question. It's my turn now," Nick laughed as he rolled the bottle.

It was spinning so fast and finally stopped, pointing at me.
"Julia, truth or dare?" Nick asked me.

"Truth," I replied and curled my lips between my teeth, hoping that he wouldn't ask me a ridiculous question about my virginity or something.

"Do you have a crush on any of us?" Nick winked.

Heat quickly rushed up my cheeks. I grabbed a cushion from beside me and threw it on him, laughing so hard.

"No! I don't crush on jerks like you," I teased. "Now, it's my turn."
I rolled the bottle and waited for it to stop and see who was going to be next.

"Daniel, your socks smell like shit," Josh shouted as he plugged his nose with his fingers.

"You challenged me and I accepted," Daniel smirked.

"God, Help us please! It was your fucking idea, Nick. What were you thinking when you accepted this challenge?"

We all laughed together at that hilarious scene. The bottle stopped spinning and pointed at Daniel.

"Truth or dare?" I asked him.

"Dare."

"I dare you to take off all your clothes except for your socks and boxer shorts, and I will record a video of you naked and post it on social media," I laughed.

"You must be kidding me!" Daniel shouted.

"Yes, we all dare you to do it. Let's go," Nick laughed, pulling Daniel up off the floor from his sleeve.

"Fuck off," Daniel laughed back as he tried to free himself from Nick's grip.

I quickly ran to grab my phone to record a video of Daniel. It wasn't a chance to miss. Dad called me several times, but I ignored him. I didn't want any more tears or sobs. I ran back to my friends and recorded a video of Daniel while being naked and cursing at us. Nick forced him to do some silly dance moves with his boxers on. We all laughed our heads off at him. The doorbell rang and made me pause filming. Ugh! It was such an amusing time to be disturbed.

"I'll open the door," Josh stated.

Josh went to see who it was. After a couple of moments, he came back with a confused look on his face.

"Who was it?" Nick asked.

"I don't know. I opened the door and found this weird letter lying on our doormat. There are no addresses or names written on it."

"Open it then," Daniel gasped.

"Yeah, but you have to put on your clothes first to take your words more seriously," Josh teased.

He unfolded the letter and read it loudly for us.

"Having fun?"