The purpose of love

4

Julia POV

A huge smile stretched on my face as Lori drove us to the mall, I wanted to eat customised ice-cream and Lori agreed. She is taking me there, I can’t stop myself from smiling.

“I don’t understand why are you so excited about this?” Lori asked she stopped the car as the traffic light turned red.

“I have been asking my mom to take me there. She doesn’t have any time to take me there... that’s why I’m so excited.”

“You can take her car and drive there.” The red light turned to green now.

“My mum is very strict when it comes to me, she doesn’t allow me to go out.” Lori snorted shaking her head.

"What did you tell her now?" Lori asked me tilting her face to see my face.

"I called Chad to help me, he kind of lied to mum saying he is taking me to the ice-cream parlour." It's not that I had to lie to my mum about Lori.

Sometimes she just doesn't allow me to go out with friends and mainly if it's a working day she doesn't.

“I always had this doubt, if your name is Julia, why does everyone call you Julie?” Lori questioned and I chuckled.

“When I first joined this school, Mrs Simonau misheard my name and mentioned it as Julie everywhere. I believed people are calling me by nickname and felt so special. I didn’t correct them, from then on, the name Julie came.”

“Julia sounds better and it suits you.” She spoke smiling.

“I love your smile Lori, don’t hide it.” I tell her giving one of my own smiles.

“Haha, I will remember but honestly Julia... Happiness is rare, don’t culprit your innocence just because someone is making fun of it. Your innocence and happiness are precious. Don’t ever lose that smile off your face.”

I looked at her in shock, “Thank you, Lori, that’s so sweet. No one ever told me this. They always called me naive.” I tell remember the times when Mila and Peter made fun when I didn’t understand r-rated jokes they share.

They called me naive and told me to grow up, “That’s their stupidness, they don’t know the value of innocence and trueness. They are in a materialist fog which makes them blind.” She parked the car as I revised her words in my head.

“Materialist fog?” I ask her unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door. Lori locked the car as I waited for her.

“Materialist fog means they are so concerned about the outer looks and how much fame a person has. They are just gone cases in my mind, they don’t know what they want to do so they depend on others opinions and wants. If the other girl is wearing frocks and makeup then the other girl believes if she wants to be happy even she has to wear frocks and makeup... Which is complete stupidity...”

“I mean come on girl, if you want to be happy then do the little things what makes you happy why copy someone’s wants to show off that you are happy when you aren’t.”

"I don't want to sound rude but Lori, even you were like that..."

"I know, I wanted to be accepted by everyone in our school. I never had friends or any circle so I kind of believed that if I change myself for them they would accept me. Guess what they never did and it broke my heart."

A sad gasp left my mouth listening to her "I'm really sorry Lori, I never tried to know how you felt." I tell her sadly.

"Chill girl, you were going through the same s**t as me. You befriended me but your group didn't I understand. I stopped changing myself for someone else and I learned the lesson."

"I'm happy right now, I enjoy my own company and do s**t what makes me happy without any care of what others think. And you are here, my little innocent friend so it's all good."

"I'm so happy that you are my friend Lori." I tell her truthfully.

“But Lori, even I listen to my mum and do whatever she says.” I tell her walking towards the entrance. Lori chuckled.

"It's because we are still kids, we haven't seen the real world yet. Once we get the taste of real adulthood we will make our own decisions. So don't think much about it, we have a whole eight months in our hands. Once this highschool ends, you will know what you really need."

"That day when you know what you need... go after that." She says as

“Then what about love?” I ask. Most of the high schoolers date and fell in love.

“Love is love... You don’t know when or where or with whom you are going to fell in love. You can find your mate in middle school too but everything has a correct time to come out. If you act your age in your relationship and understand it you wouldn’t face problems. Honestly, girl, Love can either build you or break you.”

We reached the Papi’s ice-cream parlour, I was so busy listening to Lori that I just followed her to the parlour. “Good evening, regular or customised?” The server asked.

“Customised.” I tell him gently how I want my ice-cream as Lori took a video of it because she finds it cute.

“Stop...” I say with pink tinted cheeks. Even the server finds it amusing.

"Chocolate, with lots of chocolate syrup and sprinkle the choco chips and coconut?" She teased as I blushed.

"I like coconut." I tell her as the server hands me my cup. Lori took a regular strawberry ice-cream. Lori and I weren't seeing as we turned around, Lori bumped into a guy as they were standing behind us.

"Sorry." I tell them, luckily nothing happened. There were two guys standing wearing the same logo hoodie. My brows frowned in confusion as I studied their logo.

"Julie let's go." Lori spoke taking a step back. The guy Lori bumped into is looking at me while I looked away. Lori never called me as Julie...

"Let us sit there." Lori pointed the empty table in the back. I nodded my head walking there. Now I observed the girl and a tall guy who is quite chunky wearing the same hoddies like the guys for before. I didn't get his face as it is covered with a mask.

We sat down "Lori, do you know what does that logo on their hoddies mean?" I question.

Lori looked at their hoddies, her eyes shifted to the guy who is standing near the paying counter. "They are the professional gamers, the logo is their group's logo."

"Gamers?" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah, they recently shifted here. The guy who looked at you is Antonio. I don't know much about them but they are quite famous because of their gaming skills. The main guy or captain of their group is the fat guy sitting with the girl. He is a pro gamer as my dad said"

"Lori, he isn't fat... He is chubby." I turn around to see the captain. He is talking to the girl. The other two joined them with their ice-cream.

"Julia, don't ever think of crossing your paths with them. They are not just gamers, they are dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I ask in a whisper tone as I don't want them to know that we are talking about them.

"You probably don't know anything about it, heck no-one truly knows nothing except the fact that their group member or their best friend died which is why they have shifted here. They were caught doing stuff and were in juvie."

I eat my ice-cream listening to Lori. "But Lori, it's not the right thing to judge someone we barely know. They must've been in grief and did stuff to escape it."

I reason her as she nods her head, "It can be but better be away from them. Not that you are going to cross your paths with them. It's for your betterment if you stay away from the bad news."

"I will stay away, Lori." I smile at her and she cracks me a small smile in return eating her ice-cream.

"I really like this place, it's so peaceful and good." I gaze at the interior of the place. They have done a great job decorating the whole place, it's huge and you get to have so much privacy and space.

"Yeah."

"Lori, are you free tomorrow? we can go bicycling after school hours."

"Your mom will be okay with that?" She asks.

"If it's something which helps me lose my fat she will allow me to go out. You and I like cycling, its win-win."

"Point, I'm free after school. You have a bicycle?"

"Yes, I have two cycles. One belongs to me and the other belongs to my brother Chad. You can use mine or his, he doesn't use his bicycle any more."

"Sure, let's go to your home together." I nod my head. We finish of the rest of the ice-cream as Lori has to go to pick her younger sister from a friend's house.

Lori dropped me home and I hugged her tight telling her how much I love her company and her friendship. She smiled and gave me a salute before driving away.

I used my spare key to unlock the main door, I heard the sounds of tv playing in the background know that Chad is home.

"Hey, Chad." He is watching grey's anatomy. Kat is obsessed with this show and she made Chad watch.

"Hey, Julia." I take a seat beside him, watching it.

"You didn't go out with Mila or Peter?" He asked pausing the episode. Chad is trying to develop the sibling bond between us after he met Kat.

He asks me about my school stuff, friends and works. I'm happy that he is trying his best to mend the bond. Kat is the only one who would make Chad do all the stuff he never done.

"No, I went out with Lori, she is shifting to New York by the end of the month." I tell him sadly the whole story.

"Chad, there is a party tomorrow and I want to attend the party." He turned his head giving me a confused look.

"Are you talking about Shawn's birthday party?"

"Yes, how do you know about that?" I ask in surprise.

"His brother Daniel is friends with us, they throw the wild parties ever on their birthdays. I'm going there with Kat. I can take you there. You need to enjoy your high school life."

Chad explains as a happy smile spreads on my face. "What we will say to mum?"

"Mum is taking sleep pills to sleep, we can sneak out through back door and get outside by the back gate. Kat will be waiting for us."

"That's a cool idea, have you sneaked out before?" I question him in curiosity.

"Yes Julia, I did so many times that I lost count of it. I had to attend parties and knowing mom she wouldn't allow. So the only option left is sneaking out."

"Wow." I always believed my brother is not like other boys who attend the parties, I know he goes to very few parties. To top it he went to a different high school. Which concludes I never know what my brother is."

The next hour I spent watching the show then going to my room to finish off the homework so that I can prepare dinner. My mother doesn't like it if I don't prepare dinner on time or before she comes.

I remember one time I forget to make food as I got my periods and slept off the whole evening. She was very mad at me that I didn't prepare food, she let all her work frustration and everything on me.

I don't like it when someone yells at me or even when they raise their voice at me. I end up crying like a cry baby. I just can't hold my tears back when someone is upset over me.

Later at night, it's my most precious time of the day as I pull my secret diary from my secret place to write about today's event. I have been writing from two years now, it's not like I write every day.

My diary is writing is slightly different, I write it in a letter version addressing myself. 

I write when I feel like, if something really good happens then I write it down. If something bad happened I write it down. It's just the good, bad, happy and sad memories which I write.

'Dear Julia,'

I started writing about the events that happened, it mostly consists of Lori and me.