Who: Jules with Margaret and Edward (NPCs) When: After cheer practice, Thursday, October 26th Where: Their house in Overlook Status: Complete
“Jules?”
Jules was home and halfway up the stairs when her mom’s voice rang out from the kitchen. Closing her eyes, Jules sighed softly before leaning over the banister. “I’m home,” she called out. “Just going to shower and change.” There was a brief enough pause that Jules thought she was off the hook for having to talk to her mom and she made it up two more steps before Margaret spoke again.
“Can you come into the kitchen for a second?”
A second. Right. Like their mother-daughter chats ever took just a ‘second’. Groaning, Jules turned and headed back down the winding staircase. She found Margaret in the kitchen, leaning up against the large island with a glass of wine in her hand. Jules wasn’t thrilled to find Edward with her, sitting on a stool on the other end of the island, his laptop open in front of him. They were both looking at her.
Arching a blonde brow, Jules shifted her gaze impatiently to her mother. “What?”
Margaret eyed Jules for a moment, sipping a bit more wine before she reached over to tap her hand on the island, near one of the stools. “Why don’t you sit down. Talk to us for a bit.” An incredulous look passed over Jules’s face, and she didn’t move from where she was standing. This had all the makings of a Bad Conversation, and Jules wanted to nip it in the ass before it had a chance to blossom.
“Why?”
A subtle flash of temper darkened Margaret’s blue eyes, but it faded quickly. It was really a shame, because Jules would much rather fight with her mom than have some kind of meaningful conversation. Or what Margaret thought would be meaningful. “Jules.” The name held a hint of warning and Jules huffed, dropping her gym bag on the floor where she stood before walking over to sit down on one of the bar stools, away from Edward. She could still feel his eyes on her.
“How is the search going?” Margaret asked, watching Jules with careful intensity. “For that Lucas girl?”
Jules made a face, even though her stomach felt cold all of the sudden, now that she realized why her mom wanted to talk to her. She knew. Of course she did. It wasn’t like Jules was really hiding the relationship. Still, Jules didn’t want to have this conversation at all, but especially not now. “Do you really care about Amelia’s disappearance or are you just trying to get me to admit I’m going out with Jasper Lucas?” Jules asked snarkily.
“That tone’s not very acceptable,” Edward chimed in, earning a glare from Jules who was about to tell her stepdad to mind his own goddamn business, but Margaret spoke before she could.
“Of course I care, we care, about that little girl. It happens far too often in this town, honestly.” She sipped more wine before continuing, and didn’t sound the least bit concerned about anything at all. Alcohol always helped with that. “I just figured since you were… dating Gavin and Olivia’s son, maybe you heard some news.”
“Why do you have to say it like that?” Jules asked defensively. “Dating, like you should doing air quotes or something. And no, I haven’t heard anything. No one knows anything, not even Jasper or his family. If you want news, like, call the police department.” That would never, ever happen, because Jules loved her mom, but she doubted the woman cared about anything that didn’t directly affect her.
Margaret ignored Jules’s ‘suggestion’ and offered an incredulous look of her own, a soft snort escaping her as she set her wine glass down on the marble island top with a clink. “How else should I say it, Jules? I think everyone in this kitchen knows you’re not serious about that boy. Oh, yes, I was seventeen once, darling. I understand the appeal of a boy like that. Dark and broody and damaged and treats you terribly. But he’s trash. Do you know how upsetting it was to have to hear about this dalliance from Mara Jenkins’s mother, of all people?”
Mara was on the squad with Jules, and Jules made a mental note to give Mara a piece of her mind at school the next time she saw her. Deep down Jules knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault but her own, because she had stopped caring about keeping it a secret. She knew it would eventually get back to her mom, and maybe that was why she had kept putting off actually telling her mom. Let her hear it from someone else so she could delay this inevitable fight.
“I don’t give a flying fuck--”
“Jules!”
“--about Mara Jenkins’s boozy wino mom,” Jules said heatedly. “And I don’t care what you think you know about Jasper. You don’t know anything! And it’s super pointless to even tell you because you won’t freaking listen.”
“I know plenty,” Margaret snarled. “I know that you like to prance about in your little high school bubble, Jules, but the Lucas family have quite the reputation in this town. Alcohol and domestic violence and tempers. His sister goes missing, gone without a trace and you know what everyone is saying, don’t you? We all know what happened. Olivia Lucas is certifiably insane and she should be in jail for whatever she probably did to that little girl. I refuse to let you get caught up in that.”
Jules had never met any of Jasper’s family except for his dad, and Gavin had seemed just fine to Jules. Though it had only been for a few moments, and Jules could remember all those times in the summer when Jasper blew off wanting to talk about his parents. He had slept in his car because things had been so bad at home. She swallowed hard, hating that tiny sliver of doubt that creeped into her mind. Hating her mom for putting it there. But then she shook her head and moved to slip off of the stool.
“That’s cruel, mom. And stupid. His mom didn’t do anything to Amelia, and neither did his dad. They’re all devastated she’s missing. And for the record, I’m dating Jasper because I like him, and he likes me--” She ignored her mother’s loud snort of laughter. “-- and this is so freaking stupid. I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation right now. If you think I’m going to break up with him, you’re so wrong.”
“Boys like that want one thing,” Margaret said angrily, rounding the island to follow Jules, who had snatched up her gym bag angrily. “I know that sounds--”
“Cliche? Yeah, you’re right! But mom, every boy usually only wants one thing. That’s not like, surprising.” Jasper had only wanted sex when they first hooked up. So what? So had she. But things changed. Jules knew she couldn’t expect her mom to understand it, because Jules’s dad died so long ago and she had absolutely no idea what Margaret got out of staying married to Edward. They fought as much as a high school couple did… worse, even!
Margaret ignored her, crossing her arms against her chest. “He’ll use you until he’s bored. Then he’ll toss you aside and start in on the next girl, if he hasn’t already.”
Jules let her head fall back as she released a loud, frustrated shriek, her free hand fisting at her chest. “Stop! You are being so unbelievably ridiculous! You’re starting to sound like… like a Hallmark Channel mom. It’s driving me crazy!” She heard a scratch of wood against the floor and Jules could see Edward standing now, his eyes watching his wife and stepdaughter now, like he was trying to decide if he should intervene, or just stand there to see just how far this would go. A deeper sense of repulsion surged inside of Jules and everything she had ever wanted to say about their marriage was on the tip of her tongue. She could lash out and hurt her mom, if her mom was going to hurt her first. It seemed only fair. But then Margaret’s hands were on her face, forcing Jules to look at her, much like she did when Jules was younger and having a temper tantrum.
“I just want the best for you,” Margaret said, sound calm but desperate now, even though her cheeks were still flushed with anger. “Jasper Lucas is not the best. He’s a loser who will barely graduate high school, if he graduates at all. And then what? Do you think he’s going to go to college? Or follow you to college? Don’t you want a future, Jules? Some place away from here? If you get yourself tied down now, you’re never going to make it. You’ll end up just like Jasper’s parents. Pregnant, your future destroyed, raising a child with a man who will grow to hate and resent you. Everyone knows how that worked out for them. Do you want that for yourself? Or for Jasper? You’re so much better than that, darling? So much better.”
Tears of frustration began to burn behind her eyes and Jules found she didn’t have the energy to knock her mom’s hands away from her face. She wanted to defend Jasper and list all the reasons why he was amazing and not at all how Margaret was describing him, but she wasn’t sure her mom would even listen. And it felt kind of weird and gross doing it in front of Edward. She didn’t even like him being in the room for this conversation. “I’m not planning our future. I’m seventeen. And I’m not stupid,” Jules mumbled. Her vision was getting blurry but she was proud of herself for not actually crying. “I’m not breaking up with him mom. So just… freaking let it go. Please.”
Margaret sighed and Jules could feel her perfectly manicured nails press sharply into the sides of Jules’s face briefly before she released her. The warmth in her eyes was gone. “Are you still taking your birth control?” Jules rolled her eyes and huffed but Margaret grabbed her chin and tugged, snapping Jules back to attention. “Jules, answer me right this minute.”
“Oh my god, yes. Jesus, mom.”
“Does he wear condoms?”
“Mom!” Jules felt heat flood her entire body now and she could feel Edward’s gaze boring into her. Yeah, her stepfather really needed to be hearing details of her sex life. God, gross! It made her uncomfortable and she tried to convey that silently with the look she was giving her mom. “Stop,” she whispered, pleadingly now.
“Julia, answer your mother.” Edward’s voice was calm, but firm and Jules knew it was probably her own disdain and imagination, but she could have sworn she heard a hint of amusement in his tone. Or excitement. And god, she hated it when he called her Julia. It sent a shiver of repulsion down her spine, but she kept her gaze on her mom instead, refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking at him.
“Yes, okay? How fucking stupid do you think I am?” Probably really stupid, since they hadn’t used condoms in like the last… handful of times? But… they were careful. They were. And nothing bad had happened to them.
Margaret let her go abruptly. “You’re not the one I’m worried about. Boys like that… they can be persuasive.” She walked back to the island where she picked up her wine. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Jules. But don’t say I didn’t warn you when he breaks your heart, do you understand? I don’t want him in this house, either. Ever.”
Jules gripped her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder, turning away to storm out of the room without answering. She wanted to scream and shout and tell her mom of all the times Jasper had already been in this house. How many times he had made her come in her bed and slept naked with her between the sheets. But, no. She wasn’t going to stoop that low, especially not with Edward in the room. Jules would have stomped all the way upstairs, but she didn’t have the energy to be that childish. She did, however, slam her door and then lock it. It would have probably been too melodramatic to grab a pillow and scream into it, but that was exactly what she did. When she was finished purging the bad emotions, Jules lay there, staring off at nothing in particular until her eyelids drooped and she finally fell asleep.