Chapter Text
Julia Mitchell has never had detention before Grade 11.
She’s supposed to be at the salon getting her acrylic nails re-done right now but instead, she’s still in school, walking into Room 210.
It’s only a week into the school year when Julia gets caught giving a nerd a wedgie and weirdly enough, can’t lie, manipulate, or blackmail herself out of trouble. Mr. Roy instructs her to write a paragraph about ‘what she did wrong’ while Julia considers kicking him in the groin.
There are only three other students in the classroom with her; none of whom Julia has spoken to before. Avoiding the other teen’s eyes, Julia briskly walks across the classroom and sits down at a desk closest to the wall in the front.
“What are ya in for?” Someone asks, and Julia turns her head toward the voice.
There are two desks between them, but the girl is close enough for Julia to have heard her. She looks about Julia’s age, maybe a little younger. A red jacket is hung on her chair, and she’s wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt with a green collar, blush-green leggings, and a navy beanie.
She’s leaning way back in her chair with her legs crossed and propped up on her desk. Her other arm is resting on the back of her head.
“Like that's your business,” Julia snaps, not bothering to put on her polite persona.
The girl seems unbothered by Julia’s rudeness. “I was just makin’ conversation,” she says.
Julia huffs, already bored. “Make it with someone else.”
The girl doesn’t respond to that and Julia slumps forward in her chair, folding her arms on the desk over the empty sheet of paper.
She mumbles, “I shouldn’t even be here.”
Julia hears the girl scoff before Mr. Roy tells her to be quiet.
Only a week goes by before Julia gets caught again.
This time it’s for tripping Bella Wilde during Trigonometry. Which, Julia thinks is absolutely ridiculous to get detention for. She said it was an accident! It’s not like Julia planned for Bella to sprain her ankle.
There are only a few people in detention, like before, and Julia recognizes the girl she spoke with last week. Her head is down, and it looks like she’s asleep, but when Julia goes to sit, she sees that the girl is playing on a Nintendo Switch from under the desk.
“This rots,” the girl says without looking up. It takes Julia a second to realize she’s talking to her.
Julia turns her head away from the girl to watch the clock on the wall. “Yeah.”
The first thing that Juila observes when she arrives at detention again is that the beanie-girl isn’t there.
There are more people this time; six, not counting Julia. They stare at Julia as if she has a contagious disease the second she walks in. Kicking the most popular guy in school in the groin will get you that, Julia notes.
About five minutes go by of Julia mindlessly staring at the wall-mounted clock when the door opens and the girl in the blue beanie comes in.
Mr. Bergeron glances up from his newspaper before returning to reading. “You’re late. That’s another fifteen minutes.”
The girl strolls up to her usual desk and drops her bag carelessly by her chair. “Give me a break. I was going to the bathroom.”
The teacher doesn’t say anything, having heard the same excuse plenty of times, and the girl sighs as she sits down and slides her jacket off her shoulders.
“Hey,” she says, and Julia freezes, realizing she has been staring.
Embarrassed, Julia quickly looks away and picks up the pencil on her desk to start writing on her assigned paper. “Hey yourself.”
The girl snickers and the room goes silent except for the rhythmic ‘tick tick tick’ of the clock.
“So, what are your thoughts?” The school counselor asks Julia before handing her a pamphlet.
Julia stares for a moment, eyes darting between the pamphlet and Mrs. Mckay.
“You want me to join volleyball,” she finally manages to say. “Is this a joke?”
Mrs. Mckay calmly hums and leans back in her revolver chair. Julia slaps the pamphlet back to the guidance counselor's desk without reading another word.
“I think it would be good for you to channel your anger in a more productive way,” Mrs. Mckay says, “instead of taking it out on other students.”
Julia scoffs. “By joining a sports team? Hard pass. Can I get back to class now?”
Just as she pulls out her phone and starts texting, Mrs. Mckay snatches it right out of her hands.
“Hey!”
“This isn’t a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ question, Ms. Mitchell. Either you join the class or the next detention you have will result in a day-long suspension. I’m willing to let that go if you just give this a try.”
Nearly half a minute of silence passes before Julia dramatically sighs. “Fine,” she snatches the pamphlet from the desk and stands up. “Are you happy?”
Mrs. Mckay simply smiles, hands Julia back her phone, and starts typing something on her computer. “You meet on Mondays and Wednesdays in the gymnasium after school. Just wear any athletic clothes for practice, you can buy a uniform when you have your first game. Show up tomorrow, and I’ll mark that you’ve started the course.”
The person at the front desk and several students turn to stare as Julia stomps out of Mrs. Mckay’s office, clenching the pamphlet so tightly it nearly rips.
Volleyball practice goes a little differently than Julia predicted.
For one, Madison Peters is the ‘team captain’ (and happens to be the girlfriend of a guy whom Julia kicked in the groin last week). Understandably, she hates Julia’s guts, and so does most of her team. The coach isn't very fond of her either.
“Is that all you've got, Mitchell?!” Coach Powell yells, walking up to Julia and Madison, who are practicing one-on-one. “I’ve seen girls half your age with better stances than yours!”
“I’m trying!” Julia yells back.
She yelps with surprise as a volleyball slams directly into her gut while she isn't looking.
“Oops!” Madison says with a smirk, watching the ball roll on the gym floor. “My bad, Mitchell! You really learn to dodge!”
Letting out a pained groan, Julia clutches her stomach and hopes she's only having a nightmare.
Mrs. Mckay stays true to her word, and Julia doesn’t get suspended the next time detention is assigned to her.
She gets sentenced the second day after practice for dumping a bucket of red paint on Alexa Campbell. The girl had it coming; nobody calls Julia a spoiled brat and gets away with it.
This time it’s Coach Halder who’s sitting at the desk, watching some kind of sports game on the computer. The only one else in detention is the beanie-girl, who is playing on her Nintendo Switch while sitting on her desk.
As Julia moves to her desk, the girl waves at her without taking her eyes off her game. Coach Halder doesn’t seem to notice, too captivated by the computer, so Julia takes out her phone and puts on some earbuds.
Half an hour goes by of Coach Halder exclaiming in victory (as well as ‘boo’ing and swearing) at the computer before Julia gets tapped on her shoulder.
The girl mouths, ‘Let’s go,’ and is already standing with her jacket on.
‘Will he know?’ Julia mouths back, pointing to the coach, and the girl shakes her head. Julia flinches as Coach Halder cheers, loudly, but the girl is completely unaffected.
She points a thumb back towards the door. ‘Come on.’
Not arguing, Julia nods and slowly stands up from her desk. It’s then when Julia realizes just how short the girl is compared to her, and Julia has to dip her head down to make eye contact with her.
If Julia’s height intimidates the girl, she doesn’t show it, and she briskly walks towards the exit. Julia watches the coach, still staring at the computer, while the girl slowly opens the door. The girl holds the door open for her, and Julia steps out of the classroom. She carefully shuts the door, and Julia lets out a heavy breath she had been holding.
“He watches the same hockey game whenever he does detention. I dunno anything about sports, but he has the same reactions every time, so I figured,” the girl casually explains, already walking down the hall.
With nowhere else to go, Julia follows her. “Huh.”
They slink by the school office without being noticed and head to the parking lot. The girl approaches a clearly pre-owned red Ford and takes her keys out of her jacket’s pocket. Julia only stands and watches as the girl opens the door to the driver’s seat.
“Are you gettin’ in or are you gonna keep staring at my car like it killed your grandma?” Julia blinks at the girl’s words before realizing she’s asking her to hang out.
Eyeing the car and the girl skeptically, Julia puts her fists on her hips. “How do I know you won’t kidnap me?”
The girl bursts into laughter and cackles. “Oh yeah, I’m a kidnapper who gets detention on purpose to nap unsuspecting teens.”
Julia’s eyes widen, and the girl shakes her head while maintaining an amused grin. “Relax, I’m kiddin’. It’s your call, though.”
Julia ponders for a time, her eyes darting between the car and the school.
Deciding to ignore common sense and ‘stranger danger’, she wordlessly struts up to the car and gets in the front passenger seat. She plays with the radio dial after the girl pulls out of the lot and filters through stations the entire 3-minute drive.
It’s cloudy and a little windy, and probably not weather-appropriate for ice cream, but the girl drives them to Dairy Queen and pays for both their treats, so Julia doesn’t mind (nor does she care that she uses cash from a stranger’s wallet that Julia witnesses her steal).
They eat their ice creams while sitting on the front of the girl’s car in a parking lot with their legs dangling off the edge.
Julia says out of nowhere, “I still don’t know your name.”
The girl scoops her spoon into her Mint Brownie Blizzard after taking it out of her mouth. “It’s not like you asked,” she points out.
Not knowing how to respond, Julia stares down at her Strawberry Sunday and stirs it with her spoon.
They finish eating without speaking, and the girl drives Julia back to the school parking lot. The girl waves goodbye before driving off, and when Julia gets in her turquoise-colored convertible, she thinks that this is the least horrible day in detention she’s had.
(It’s not so nice when she’s given an extra day of detention on a sunny Friday afternoon for skipping out. Julia plays rock-paper-scissors with the beanie-girl the entire time.)
By the time Monday comes around, Julia has to know.
“What do you know about that girl with the navy beanie?” She asks her friends, sitting at their usual spot in a mall’s Food Court. “Really short, horrible fashion taste, in detention a lot?”
Raising her head from her phone, Mia leans in toward Julia. “That’s Mary Kate Ngo, I would stay away from her. I’ve heard she’s on probation for theft.”
Charlotte, the girl across from Julia at the table chimes in, “She goes by MK, she sits behind me in English. She always cheats on every test.” She clarifies, "I mean, probably," after taking a sip from her iced coffee. “Just ask Evelyn, she knows everything.”
Evelyn nods while snapping a picture of Charlotte’s drink. “I had her in Geometry last year, and yeah, I wouldn’t talk to her, Jules. She seems weird.”
There’s a short pause before Evelyn cautiously says, “And… it’s not a bad thing or anything, but since you asked about her, she's a lesbian. She went out with Emma MacDonald last year.”
Mia’s eyes widen with curiosity. “Wait, what? Doesn’t Emma MacDonald have a crush on Chase Kim?”
“Oh no, Emma only dated Chase in Grade 8 but they're still friends. She's still friends with Mary Kate too, it’s pretty weird. Oh, and Chase is bisexual.”
“Ohhh.”
"I knew about that, I just didn't want to say anything," timidly says Charlotte.
Julia’s brows furrow as she takes in all the information that has just been thrown at her, feeling weirdly out of her own element. Maybe she should start paying attention to nerd-drama this year. Since when does Charlotte know more gossip than Julia does?
Looking up from her phone, Evelyn narrows her eyes at Julia. “Mary Kate didn’t try to talk to you, did she? Because you can tell us if she did.”
Suddenly, all three girls are leaning in and staring at Julia expectantly. Feeling torn, Julia covers her mouth with her hand.
“Well-”
“Hey girls, sorry I’m late.”
Julia’s shoulders drop in relief as another girl approaches their booth.
Charlotte smiles and says, "Hi Abby," while Evelyn’s attention returns to her phone as usual. Mia and Julia give her a wave and the girl sits down next to Julia.
(Nobody talks about Mary Kate for the rest of that lunch period and Julia is perfectly okay with that.)
MK almost drops her Switch when she walks up to Room 210 and sees Julia Mitchell blocking the door.
She looks impatient, tapping her foot on the floor, and immediately straightens her posture as MK approaches her. Before MK can ask if the teacher is there yet, Julia surprises her again.
“My friends said I shouldn’t talk to you,” Julia says, staring at MK like she's a bug to squash.
Feeling mildly stunned, MK manages to reply, “Good afternoon to you, too,” with a hint of confusion.
Julia pulls a phone from her shorts’ back pocket and practically shoves it in MK’s face. “Put your number in there.”
MK frowns at it, confused. “Why?”
Feeling strangely exposed, Julia does a half-shrug. She leans on her hip and looks down the corridor instead of into MK’s eyes.
A couple of seconds pass by before MK takes the phone from Julia’s hand and silence is replaced with the ‘tap tap tap’ of MK’s fingers on the phone’s screen. Once she’s finished, MK nudges Julia's arm with the phone.
Shoving the phone back into her pocket, Julia says, “I don't have detention today. Have fun in there.”
MK watches Julia strut away, leaving her alone and dumbfounded in the hall without another word.
Julia (12:49 p.m.): Hey. I’m bored
MK (12:58 p.m.): hi bored I’m MK
Julia (1:01 p.m.): God
Julia (1:01 p.m.): That was bad
Julia (1:01 p.m.): That was like dad joke level bad
MK (1:03 p.m.): i regret not giving you a fake number
Julia (1:04 p.m.): Anywaysss
Julia (1:04 p.m.): Wanna go to the eaton center mall after school
Julia (1:05 p.m.): If you don’t have detention
MK (1:07 p.m.): lucky for you I don’t
MK (1:07 p.m.): unlucky for you school is not over >:]
Julia (1:07 p.m.): Girl don’t you dare
MK (1:08 p.m.): erm okay
MK (1:08 p.m.): what’s in it for me
Julia (1:09 p.m.): Uh
Julia (1:09 p.m.): Going to the mall?
Julia (1:10 p.m.): Shopping?
Julia (1:10 p.m.): Food Court?
Julia (1:10 p.m.): Movie theater?
Julia (1:11 p.m.): Crimes?
MK (1:11 p.m.): Crimes.
Julia (1:11 p.m.): Crimes.
MK (1:11 p.m.): I’m game
MK (1:12 p.m.): ill send you my address and you pick me up at four (???)
Julia (1:12 p.m.): 👍
“Who are you texting?” Mia bumps Julia’s arm with her elbow while peering over her shoulder.
Julia shuts her phone off and sets it in her lap. “Just answering DMs. Why?”
Mia shrugs. “You were smiling, I was curious.”
“Get in butt-knuckle, we’re going shoplifting!” Julia yells from her turquoise convertible as MK steps out of her house.
Light blue star glasses sit on her head, and she’s wearing a light blue denim jacket. She has put on pale pink lipstick, peach eyeshadow, and has a large cross-body purse by her side.
MK, meanwhile, hasn’t changed anything from what she wore at school (except she has a satchel bag swung across her shoulder).
The car goes ‘Beeep beeep Beeeeeep’ as Julia obnoxiously honks the horn and MK fights the urge to flip her off.
“Dude, you are so lucky my parents aren’t home right now.” She walks down to Julia’s car. “Why can’t you just ring the doorbell like, y’know, a regular human being?”
Julia smirks. “And where’s the fun in that?”
MK scoffs, not bothering to argue. She gets into the front passenger seat and Julia pulls out of park once her seatbelt is on. They listen to music as Julia drives, comfortable without saying much to each other.
When Julia parks the car at the mall’s parking garage, MK pulls out a clothing tag remover gun from her bag and hands it to her. “You can borrow this if you want, I’ve got another one.”
Julia coos, “Aww, you know me so well already,” before taking it and sliding it into her purse.
They get out of the car and Julia locks it with her keys. “Let’s do this thing.”
The mall is busier than ideal, but they manage to maneuver their way through the crowds. It doesn’t take long for Julia to have snagged a few lip glosses and a mini eyeshadow palette and for MK to have pickpocketed a couple of wallets. Julia leads the way through the mall like she’s lived in it while MK follows, trying to keep up.
She tests out MK’s price tag gun on a white lace crop top (it works) before they head into Claire's.
“We have to get these.” MK waves a pair of tacky, fake silver matching necklaces in Julia’s face. They’re both halves of a heart; the left one has the letter “B” written in cheap rhinestones, and the right has “FF” on it.
Julia’s nose wrinkles in distaste. “I would literally rather lose both my eyebrows than wear that.”
“Oh, come on now, how else will everyone know that we’re besties?” She teases, waving the necklaces again.
Julia’s glare intensifies. “No.”
MK’s grin widens, and Julia watches her slip the necklaces into her sleeve like she’s doing a magic trick.
“I hate you,” Julia lies, walking out of the store.
MK laughs and follows her out. “We gotta make friendship bracelets next. Ooh, and we should start a podcast!”
Julia gives her a playful shove while MK snickers, swatting her arm back.
They go through another couple of stores and MK ends up lifting a pair of novelty socks (Julia reminded her they’re not just here to pickpocket) before they approach a clothing store, and MK’s face suddenly lights up.
“You wanna see something cool?” She asks, excitedly shaking her fists.
Julia says, “You don’t have to ask, just show me.”
Grabbing her wrist, MK leads her into the shop. “Pick something you want. Anything you want,” she instructs.
A little confused, Julia hesitantly says, “Uh, okay.” MK lets go of her wrist and Julia starts looking around like a kid in a candy store.
A few minutes later, Julia tugs on MK's sleeve and gestures to a pleated denim miniskirt. MK subtly nods and grabs the skirt. For ten or so minutes, they pretend to shop until MK slides the skirt; hanger and everything into the inside of her jacket. She bumps Julia with her elbow, and they start to leave.
Julia's stomach clenches as they approach the detectors near the exit.
“Wait, the-”
MK shakes her head and Julia shuts her mouth. Both of them walk out of the store without the detectors making a single ‘beep’.
Julia’s eyes widen in surprise and the corner of MK’s lips curves up.
Julia waits until they're five stores away before eagerly questioning, “How did you do that? I didn’t see you use a tag gun.”
“I cut slits on the inside of my jacket to make giant pockets and lined them with aluminum foil for electromagnetic shielding. It screws around with the radio frequency waves in the tag so the antenna in the detector can’t pick ‘em up. My ‘jacket’ is pretty much a wearable booster bag.”
Julia stares at her, trying to figure out if she’s joking. Julia looks down to see the faint outline of the hanger on the side of MK’s jacket and freezes in place.
“You’re a lunatic.”
MK just laughs and continues walking. “Let’s get a bite to eat, I’m starving.”
They head over to the Food Court and split up to order their meals. MK gets a slice of pizza and a scoop of gelato, while Julia gets raspberry tea and a crêpe with strawberries and chocolate spread.
Suddenly, while they’re eating, a Vocaloid song Julia has never heard of before starts playing and MK pulls her phone out of her pocket.
“My dad,” she says, “I’ll go take this.”
Julia nods and MK walks over to the wall near the Food Court bathrooms, leaving her bag behind. While she’s gone, Julia snaps a quick Selfie Gram of herself doing a peace sign next to her food and drink without thinking much of it.
“Man, I hate phone calls,” MK huffs, plopping back down in her chair. “What are we, cavemen? Texting exists now! Times are different!”
Julia laughs. “Is that why you looked like the world was ending when I asked for your number?”
MK sputters, “I did not!”
“You did!”
“I didn’t!”
They both laugh and after MK says her dad wants her to be home in an hour, they finish up eating and walk back to the parking garage. The sun is just starting to set when Julia drives, and by the time she pulls up to MK’s house, it’s already dark enough to see a couple of stars.
“This actually wasn't awful,” Julia remarks, sounding surprised as she’s saying it, “like, you’re pretty good company.”
MK chuckles and steps out of the car. “Don't you goin’ all sappy on me.”
Julia scoffs and looks away. “Oh ‘em gee, just take the win. You're so embarrassing.”
“At least I don't say ‘oh ‘em gee’ unironically,” MK teases, and Julia rolls her eyes.
Julia catches the denim skirt and the “B” half-heart necklace MK throws at her. “See you around, bestie,” she says and swiftly turns around.
Julia shouts, “I still hate you!” and MK laughs, giving her a back-handed wave as she walks to her door.
“Is that a friendship necklace?” Julia’s sister asks only a few minutes after Julia has gotten back to her mom’s place.
Bumping her shoulder, Julia briskly walks past her. “Go away, Meagan.”
“Soooo, who’s the guy?” Julia looks up from her phone as Abby sits down beside her in English; their first class of the day.
“What?” She asks, taking an earbud out of her ear, and Abby giggles.
“The guy you went on a date with yesterday!”
Julia quirks an eyebrow, not understanding.
Abby sighs. “You know, at the mall.”
Julia continues staring at her blankly and Abby explains it to her like she’s a child, “You posted a Selfie Gram of your food at the mall and there was pizza on the table and a guy’s bag on the seat across.” She squeals, “You were so on a hot date!”
Julia goes back to using her phone. “There was no guy.”
“Sure there wasn’t.” Abby winks and Julia sighs in exasperation.
“There really- Wait, why do you care?”
“Uh, hello? Did you really think I wouldn’t be curious when you’ve only had one boyfriend before?”
“Wasn’t really my boyfriend.”
“Exactly my point. This guy must be super special if he managed to get the Julia Mitchell to finally go on a date. Is he cute? Ohhh, or is he a bad boy? Did he get you that new skirt you're wearing?”
Julia snaps, “You know what, Abby, why don’t you mind your own business?”
Abby watches with widened eyes as Julia puts an earbud back in her ear and faces the front of the class.
The girl in the desk behind Abby’s asks, “What’s her deal?”
Abby shrugs. “Maybe she got food poisoning.”
“So, my friend thinks we’re dating now,” Julia says into her phone.
“Okay, I don’t know you that well so maybe you have a terrible memory but remember yesterday when I said I hate phone calls? I. Hate. Phone calls.”
Julia smirks, lazily kicking her feet as she lays stomach-down on her bed. “But you picked up anyway?”
There’s a short pause. “Touché. So what, did she dump you?”
“No, she doesn't think it’s you, she just thinks I was on a date with a boy at the mall.”
“Hah, that’s rich. So, since I’m your boyfriend now, does that mean we gotta make out?”
“Haha, hilarious.”
Julia’s door abruptly opens and Meagan yells, “Mom says dinner is ready!”
She shouts back, “Tell Judy I’m busy!” Meagan stomps away without closing Julia’s door.
Julia brings her phone back to her ear and hears MK snicker, “Mommy issues?”
Julia asks with fake innocence, “What makes you think that?”
MK laughs before Julia adds, “My parents are divorced,” and the call goes silent for a second.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.”
Julia gives a half-shrug to herself. “At least I only have to see one of them at a time. Anywayyy, there’s something else I wanted to ask you about.”
“Yeah?”
Julia twirls a lock of hair around her finger and swings her feet. “I know you were joking yesterday buuuut, uhm, would it be totally lame if we did a podcast together? Because it honestly sounds like it could be fun.”
“Oh, I’d so be down for that!” Julia’s shoulders relax and she lets out a quiet exhale. “We gotta pick a topic before we start, though. I mean, obviously.”
“Hmm… a podcast where we share shoplifting tips and tricks. We call it ‘Stealing hearts, colon, among other things.’”
“Tch, yeah, if you wanna get on Canada’s Most Wanted list. How ‘bout a true-crime podcast?”
“No way, there’s like a million of those.” Julia pauses for a second before suggesting, “A podcast where we interview famous people.”
“Like there aren't a million of those?”
They go back and forth between ideas, seemingly getting nowhere, until a lightbulb goes off in Julia’s head.
“I got it,” she announces with a wide grin. “Drum roll for me.”
She waits to hear the rhythmic taps of MK’s hands against a table before saying, “A podcast where we interview celebrities but only talk about ourselves.”
“Ding, ding ding, we have a winner! Ooh, we should call it ‘Get Over Yourself’.”
Julia gasps. “You are. A genius.”
“Juliaaaaa!” Julia groans loudly at the sound of her sister’s voice coming from downstairs. “Mom said dinner is getting cold!”
Julia sighs. “Gotta go, we’ll meet up sometime?”
“Heck yeah, dude! Just never call me.”
MK hangs up and Julia laughs, getting off her bed with a smile.
“Could you be any more embarrassing?” Julia asks Meagan once she gets downstairs.
Meagan rolls her eyes. “All I said was come to dinner. You’re such a drama queen.”
Julia is walking into school with Evelyn by her side when she spots a familiar red jacket among the crowd.
MK is standing against the wall and talking with a boy much taller than her. He has a ponytail and is wearing a plain v-neck shirt with long, peach-colored pants. Julia recognizes him the second she sees the soda in his hand.
Every single school day at Period 4 Health class, Julia gets sprayed in the back of her head with soda because that guy. Ruining her hair.
Julia is about to stomp over and give him a taste of his medicine when MK meets her eyes.
It’s weird that it’s Julia’s instinct to smile back.
MK gives her a wave and Julia is about to say hi before she remembers Evelyn is still by her side. “Why is Mary Kate waving at you?” Evelyn asks, looking up from her phone.
“Uhmm, how am I supposed to know? She's sooo weird,” Julia says, watching from the corner of her eye as MK starts talking to the boy again. “She’s probably like, obsessed with me or something.”
Evelyn seems to accept that answer and goes back to her phone. Julia lets out a quiet sigh in relief and starts walking faster.
Zee takes a sip from his soda. “Hey, why was that girl staring at us?”
MK shrugs, unable to stop smiling. “Dunno. Think she might be obsessed with me.”
“Ohhhh.”
“I can’t believe you did that to Zee,” MK says, walking out of Room 210. “Well, I can, but let me put this into a language that you can understand. Let’s say you have a mutual on Self Gram who has a mutual you have beef with. Your moot-in-law, if you will. You block your moot-in-law, not hang them up on a tree by their boxers.”
“In case you've forgotten, we don’t even follow each other, so none of this applies to me.” Julia follows her out the door and goes to walk by her side. “And we’re not even friends, so I can wedgie whomever I like.”
MK smirks. “Oh yeah? Why are you wearing that necklace then?”
Julia looks straight down the hall. “If you knew anything about fashion, you’d know that sterling silver and rhinestones are super in right now.”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure that’s why you haven’t taken it off.”
“You’re a stalker and a hypocrite? Pick a struggle already, weirdo.”
MK murmurs, “At least I don’t have jealousy issues,” with a smug grin, and Julia struts out of the school without looking back.
MK squirms uncomfortably in her seat, watching the girl in front of her cran her head back to peak at MK.
What is this girl’s deal? Charlotte Abouthé has been catching glimpses her since last Thursday but hasn't spoken to her once. All MK even knows about her is that she's wealthy, she's popular, she’s in MK’s Trigonometry class and that's it.
The bell rings, signaling the end of Period 3 and Mr. Chamberlin dismisses the class. MK catches Charlotte looking at her again before she blends into the crowd of students walking out the door.
Emma walks up to MK with her pink backpack being swung over her shoulder. “Is it just me or does Charlotte Abouthé keep staring at you?”
“Yes, thank you, the woman’s a total vulture!” MK gathers her stuff from her desk and puts on her backpack. “Her neck must be killing her by now, I bet she’ll be in a brace by the end of the week. And what did I ever do to her in the first place? Breathe the same air? Newsflash, it’s called ‘O2’, not ‘Charlotte Abouthé’s Oxygen’.”
Emma laughs. “MK, she probably just has a crush on you or something. You should totally ask her out, you would make such a cute couple!”
“Maybe in an alternative universe where she isn’t plotting my murder.”
(MK realizes the next day that Charlotte has been looking at her half-heart necklace. She makes sure to hide the pendant under her shirt from then on).
Despite Grade 11 being quite different than Julia expected, her birthday(s) go about the same as it does every year.
Of course, Julia would rather have her parties on school-free days instead of on a Tuesday and a Thursday, but it’s not so bad since she’s showered with gifts from her classmates. And at least her real birthday isn’t on Thanksgiving like it was last year, so everyone’s attention is on Julia and her special day.
She has two equally extravagant parties; one at Judy’s house (her mom’s) and one at Greg’s place (her dad’s). It’s always the same guests, same decorations, the same wedding-sized six layered cake from the same baker. But it’s not like Julia complains, just as long as her PO box is stuffed with fanmail and cards from family members are stuffed with cash or fat checks.
So, not much is different on this October 10th and Julia is perfectly happy with that.
It gets better when Julia gets a text from MK wishing her Happy Birthday.
(That is until MK jokingly calls her old for being seventeen. Julia ghosts her for 3 days after that second message, just as a warning.)
Julia lets out a grunt of effort as she spikes a volleyball over the net towards the other team.
She’s sweaty and panting and honestly feels quite gross in her oversized uniform, but it’s not so bad when she can imagine the faces of baristas who’ve messed up her drink orders whenever she hits the ball.
They lose miserably, and maybe it’s a bit of Julia’s fault for getting distracted.
(It’s definitely MK’s fault for showing up on the bleacher’s mid-game.)
Julia follows her team into the locker room to change and approaches MK near the gym’s exit as soon as she’s gotten into clean clothes.
“What are you doing here?” She demands, but can’t stop herself from smiling.
MK places a hand over her chest as if she’s offended. “Can’t a student of this fine institution show some school spirit without interrogation? It’s a mostly free country, jeezy kableezy.”
“Never say any of those words around me again, I think my brain just vomited. Can you just tell me why you’re here?”
MK rubs the back of her neck and looks away. “Okay, okay, you got me. I saw you walk into the gym after school and got curious. I didn’t think you were the sportsy type. Or the type to tolerate being on a team for that matter, hah.”
“Oh, I am for reals not. The guidance counselor said I need to ‘channel my anger in a more productive way’ or she’ll suspend me, I guess, because that’s the freaking answer to my problems.”
“Sounds like it’s been workin’.”
Julia’s eyes suddenly darken, and she leans in toward MK. She cups a hand on the side of her mouth and lowers her voice, “Don’t tell anyone about this, BTW. I don’t want people thinking I’m some kind of team player or whatever.”
MK raises her hands defensively. “Hey, I won’t. I may not be the most ‘moral’ person in the universe, but I am not a snitch.”
Julia leans away and gives a small smile, relieved.
MK smiles back and suggests, “So, you wanna get some Dairy Queen and sulk about losing?”
“I don't need to sulk, I’m not a loser,” Julia insists while crossing her arms but is already walking out of the gym.
Walking by her side, MK murmurs, “Uh, you lost the game, so you kinda are,” and cackles when she gets elbowed in the ribs.
It’s a sunny afternoon when Julia goes to meet with her friends in front of the school’s parking lot like any other day.
Instead of usually lounging around and on their phones, they’re all standing together in a circle, whispering to one another. As Julia approaches them, Abby perks her head up from their little gathering and whispers loudly, “Guys, she’s coming! Positions, now!”
Julia blinks, completely dumbfounded, as they arrange themselves in a line and straighten their postures. Nobody says anything until Evelyn nudges Mia, silently telling her to speak up. Mia clears her throat nervously.
“Julia, we have reason to believe you’re in cahoots with Mary Kate,” she says, and Julia’s eyes widen.
“Uh, w-whaaat are you saying about?” She manages before laughing. “I’m sorry, cahoots?”
None of the girls crack a smile and Abby decides to step up. “If you're friends with her, you can't be friends with us,” and all three of the other girls nod in unison.
“Okay, I have no idea what you’re even talking about.” Julia takes a step forward and the other girls take a step back. “But even if I was friends with her, which I am not, what does that have to do with any of you? You don’t get to decide who I do or don’t hang out with.”
They exchange worried glances between each other, and Julia’s brows furrow, anger beginning to spark in her chest.
“Where are you even getting this crud from, anyway?”
Charlotte rubs her own arm. “It’s just… you have matching necklaces.”
Julia immediately tenses and Mia chimes in, “And we asked you if she talked to you, and you never told us.”
Abby says, “And she was at your volleyball game and watched you play.”
Evelyn elbows Abby in the ribs, and she whines, “Ow! Hey!”
Julia freezes. “How did you know about that?”
Evelyn says, “Madison Peters told Scott Lachance who told Mason Baldwin who told Bella Wilde who told Alex Campbell who told Charlotte who told me.”
Julia nearly groans in frustration. I am going to kill Madison freaking Peters.
Charlotte takes a step forward with worried eyes and speaks softly, “Jules, we just worry about you. We don’t want her to… Well, you know.”
“What?”
Mia defends her, visibly getting more nervous along with the other girls, “Nothing, she didn’t mean it like that, r-right, Charlotte? We just mean that you don’t belong with people like them.”
Charlotte nods furiously and Julia narrows her eyes. She places her fists on her hips and steps forward.
“No, go on, say it. Who’s ‘them?’”
Each one of them goes dead silent and Julia scoffs.
“You’re all a bunch of butt-knuckles anyway.”
It’s worth it to see the looks on their faces and be the one to walk away.
(It makes spending the entire lunch period alone in her convertible more bearable.)
Julia (1:13 p.m.): Hey. Where do you eat lunch?
MK (1:24 p.m.): Princess Julia is at long last taking interest in my personal life?
MK (1:24 p.m.): it must be my lucky day
Julia (1:26 p.m.): My friends dumped me yesterday because they found out I hung out with you
MK (1:27 p.m.): nearest Tim Hortons from our school
Julia (1:28 p.m.): Ok
“Hey bros, just a heads-up, Julia Mitchell might be comin’ over here,” MK announces, and everyone at the table turns to look at her.
“To Tim Hortons?” Zee asks, confused, “Has she never been to Tim Hortons before?”
“She means to sit with us,” Priya clarifies, “which is a bad thing.”
Chase swallows a bite of his Grilled Cheese. “Why not? Doesn’t she have 300K followers on Selfie Gram?” He starts excitedly bouncing up and down in his seat. “Oh! Emma! We should ask her to collab with us for ‘Three Guys and a Girl in a Beach House’!”
Emma sighs. “Chase, you know we can’t call it that anymore. Besides, if Julia wanted to collab, she would’ve responded to all your Emails by now.” She grabs a potato wedge from her meal and takes a bite.
“She’s just doing a little something called playing hard to get.” He grabs a fist full of Emma’s potato wedges and lets out an ‘oof!’ when he gets elbowed in the ribs.
“I get what you’re saying, we can change the name. I just don’t see why Daniel and Leo moving away means we can never do wicked livestreams again.”
“I never said I don’t want to do another livestream, I just don’t think Julia Mitchell would be interested in doing crazy dares with us. She doesn’t even like getting her hair wet, imagine her reaction if we ask her to jump out of a helicopter.”
“Well, that’s-”
Priya stabs her plastic fork into her salad. “Did anyone hear me? It’s bad that she’s coming here, she’s a bully! Tell them, Millie.”
“I can still feel the wedgie she gave me in September. I will never truly recover from that day.“ Millie shutters and Priya gently pats her back.
“See! I don’t know how you talk to her, MK, she’s bad news.”
MK stirs her iced cappuccino with a straw. “Okay, you’re overreacting. Is Julia Mitchell a saint? No, and far from it. Farrrrr from it. But she just lost all her friends because of me, so if she comes here, can you people just be cool?”
Everyone at the booth goes quiet, and MK rubs the back of her neck, embarrassed. “Sorry. Y’know I don’t mean that, I just don't wanna get on her bad side. And she did basically commit social suicide for me, so yeah, I owe her big time.”
“I think we should give her a chance,” Emma says, speaking up, “if MK trusts her, then why shouldn’t we, right?”
Everyone murmurs among each other while MK says, “Thank you, Emma, at least somebody is on my side.”
Orange soda fizzes and splatters from out of Zee’s soda can as he sets it on the table with force. “I just don’t understand what the big deal is about some girl going to a Tim Hortons. We go to Tim Hortons all the time. We’re in one right now, dudes!”
Chase leans over to speak in his ear, explaining everything, and Zee says, “Ohhhh.”
He sips his soda. “Who is Julia?”
Millie sighs. “Zee, she’s in our Health class.”
He stares blankly at her so she says, “Dark blonde hair, beige sneakers, always wears short-shorts? You sit right behind her?”
“Oh yeahhh.” Zee grabs a cheese puff, throws it in the air and catches it in his mouth. “She’s cool.”
“She gave you a wedgie less than a week ago.”
“You gotta learn to forgive and forget, man. And when you’re me, forgetting is superrr easy.”
Chase says, “I vote she can sit with us,” before taking one of Zee’s cheese puffs.
Millie quirks an eyebrow. “Hot take, but I like your confidence. Tell us why.”
“She would be TOTALLY awesome to collab with! Emms, imagine how much dough we could roll in if we had another influencer in our livestream. We could so go viral again!”
Everyone at the table but Zee groan in frustration while Chase pops the cheese puff in his mouth.
Priya says, “I still don't think we can trust her,” and Millie nods.
“Yeah, why would Julia Mitchell want to be friends with us, anyway? She’ll probably just give us wedgies and call us dorks.”
MK sighs and takes out her phone to refresh her messages with Julia. “You can cool your jets, guys, she’s probably not even coming.”
As if on cue, the door to Tim Hortons opens and Julia struts into the restaurant.
Everyone at the booth watches with widened eyes as she walks over to them and stares down at them like they’re ants to be stomped on.
Wordlessly, she takes off her backpack and plops down in Priya, Millie, and MK’s side of the booth. They awkwardly squeeze close together so that Julia can fit while Zee, Chase, and Emma stare, speechless from the other side.
Julia slams her lunch box on the table and says, “I’m sitting here. Cope with it,” so everyone does.