Being Julia (A Forever Novella) by Sandi Lynn Page A

don’t mind? You sort of look like you want to be alone.”
    “No, I don’t mind. I was just escaping the craziness of my graduation party.”
    He sat down next to me and all I could think about was running my hand down his torso, feeling every crevice and well-defined muscle he had. “Ah, I remember my graduation party last year. My parents went all out. By the way, I’m Jake Jensen.” He smiled as he held out his hand.
    “Nice to meet you, Jake Jensen. I’m Julia Black.” I smiled back as I shook his hand.
    The feeling of my skin heating up when I touched him was unreal. It was a feeling that I’d never felt in my eighteen years of living.
    “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Julia Black. So, why are you trying to escape your graduation party?”
    I felt instantly comfortable with Jake, and I didn’t seem to have any reservations about telling him my problems. “My best friend died a month ago from a drug overdose while she was in rehab.”
    “Wow. How do you overdose in rehab?”
    “I don’t know. Neither the doctors nor the facility could give us an explanation. She used to come here and stay with us every summer, and not to have her here, especially at my graduation party, is really hard.”
    “I’m really sorry, Julia,” he said as he looked down.
    “Thank you, but it’s okay. It’s all just a bit overwhelming. Enough about me. Tell me about you, Jake Jensen.”
    He laughed as he looked up at me. “My parents just bought the house down the beach. I have two sisters, and I just finished my first year at Columbia.”
    “Columbia? I’m going to Columbia in the fall.” I smiled.
    “Really? You’ll love it, and now you know someone who can show you around.”
    “That’s great; then, I won’t feel so scared,” I said as I looked down.
    “No, you won’t,” he whispered.
    I looked over at him and, for a moment, we stared into each other’s eyes.
    “Julia,” I heard Collin yell from a distance. “Dad said you need to come back now.”
    “That’s my brother. I guess I have to go,” I said as I stood up.
    “It was great to meet you, Julia Black. I hope to see you around.” He smiled.
    I smiled back at him as I put my hand up and gave him a small wave. I started to walk towards Collin, stopped, and turned around. “Hey, Jake,” I yelled. “Would you like to come back with me so you can see the craziness of my graduation party?
    He smiled as shouted back. “Sure, just let me take Mozart home and grab a shirt. I’ll be back in a minute.”
    “I’ll wait for you.” I smiled. “Collin, tell Dad that I’ll be there in a minute.”
    Collin walked over to where I was standing. “Who’s that?”
    “Someone who just swept me off my feet,” I said as I put my head on Collin’s shoulder.

Chapter 11
    As I waited for Jake to return, Collin went back to the house. I stared out into the ocean as I whispered, “London, did you see him? Jake Jensen? I know I’ve only known him for about thirty minutes, but I think he’s something special.”
    “Hey,” Jake said as he walked up to me. “Thanks for waiting.”
    “Hi. No problem,” I said as we walked through the sand back to my house.
    We could hear the music and the laughter as we walked towards the house. “My God, how many people did your parents invite?”
    “About 300 people.” I smiled.
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, me and my dad were trying to hide out this morning, but my mom caught us.”
    We walked up to the patio and made our way through the crowd. I saw my mom standing in the kitchen, talking to my dad. Both of them turned and looked at me as we stepped through the door.
    “Where have you been?” my mom asked.
    “I told Dad that I was taking a walk down the beach.”
    “Yes, you did, Julia, but that was a long time ago,” my dad said as he looked at Jake. “Who’s your friend, Princess?”
    “Dad, Mom, this is Jake Jensen. We met on the beach.”
    Jake held out his hand to both my mom and dad. “Jensen,” my dad