Chapter 8: Excuse Me?

"Julian!"

"Yes? That's my name," he said with almost a mocking smile.

"Go away," I mumbled and began making my way back to the car. I didn't feel like partying. All the people were going to act like a bunch of snobs and/or idiots. Of course, adults were going to be there. No need to be the town's gossip.

The Evans' sisters are at a Crowell party?

I just shook away the thought as I waddled away.

"Wait up! Cassie, you can't leave. Come on!" Julian said, catching up with me.

"I don't care about this. Julian, I'm already pissed off so leave me alone," I snapped, looking at him directly in the eye.

"Well, you might as well be more pissed off because Lucas is infuriated. Something happened between you two," said Julian, indirectly referring to the bullying issue. "He claims he'll report the media about the face behind Bloody Mary."

Lucas could get reported for bullying too if he reported me. I stopped and thought for a second.

"Where's the proof?"

"Huh?" asked Julian confused.

"What proof does Lucas have that it was me not Bloody Mary herself?" I inquired.

Julian was quiet for a second before he piped up, "Piper and I. I'm sure your friend won't mind sharing your little secret if you decide to leave."

I snorted. "Piper wouldn't ever do that."

"Well, in that case, I'll be the sole witness," he said crossing his arms. "Oh and I still have to go through the deal we made. How can I show you family love when you won't even try to cooperate?"

"There's no such thing! So don't bother," I said sharply. My thoughts went back to the phone conversation with my mom.

"Oh come on. Stop being so difficult, darling. And it's really chilly out here. Let's go inside. You don't have to stay in any longer than an hour," he offered.

I ran a hand through my hair and ran through all the things that could potentially occur in that hour. I could probably just lay low or go hide in some corner.

Taking a deep breath, I stormed past Julian towards the front door.

"You're awfully rude and spontaneous." Julian was right next to me . . . again.

"Oh my gosh, really? I never noticed," I said sarcastically.

We made it to the large, metal front door of the mansion, and stood there. Julian was waiting for me to open the door while I was in a panic mode. I was never a fearful person but being this close to the Crowells scared me.

"What are we waiting for?" Julian asked behind me.

"Right now, the ground to split or maybe an earthquake to happen," I replied honestly.

His hand reached around, pushed the door, and then pushed me in. I stumbled a couple of steps. My head went down before anyone could have seen my face.

Quickly, I walked straight and looked to the sides.

No one had really noticed me. The adults, teenagers, and even younger children were all engrossed in their little conversations. I looked around slowly for Piper and Cate but had no luck locating them.

"Cassie, wait for me," Julian called behind me. What. An. Idiot.

He couldn't leave me alone like I asked.

"Shut up," I hissed over my shoulder.

I saw some navy blue curtains with lace hems. My saviors. Quickly, I walked over and hid behind them. I had to give it to the Crowells for being smart enough to have curtains. Perfect hiding spot.

Julian wasn't near me, anymore. I peeked around and saw him in a conversation with some old couple. He seemed to be searching for something or someone.

I laid back and scrutinized at the decorations. Dark blue curtains mostly made up the decor as well as some glittery snowflakes. It hadn't snowed yet, but who cared. The atmosphere filled with the odor of a variety of foods. I could smell the pizza, garlic bread, fried chicken, fried fish, and other good food. I looked around and found tables in a line filled with the deliciousness.

It reminded me of the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies. They had the long tables stuffed with all different kinds of food.

"Psst."

"Julian," I grimaced. He was so irritating,

"Hello," he smiled. Turning around, I banged my head against the wall behind me. "Are you alright? Don't hurt yourself, intentionally."

Promise me, Cass. You will never intentionally hurt yourself. Promise me, right now.

I promise, Brandon. And I will keep the promise.

Immediately, I stopped and stared at Julian before turning around. All the memories came flooding back. No, just no. Forget him, Sandy.

"Are you okay?" Julian asked again for assurance.

I merely nodded in response.

"Great. Let's go and meet some familias," he said with a huge smile.

"Let's not meet the familias," I said flatly.

"Cassie, stop running away from everything," he told me with a serious expression.

"Excuse me?" I said outraged. "Don't judge me when you don't know a single thing about me."

He raised his eyebrows and replied, "I'm not judging. I'm simply stating what I've observed so far about you."

I crossed my arms and pursed my lips, not in the mood to argue. In our judgemental society and with our judgemental people, I should've expected it.

"Shall we?" Julian asked as he offered me his arm.

I looked at his arm and then his face. "Where to?"

"I have to show you the families," he said almost frustrated.

"Fine. Just hide me," I mumbled as I pushed him away and hid behind him.

Sighing, Julian walked in front of me. He kept waving at random people which drew more attention to us. Once I "accidentally" kicked him in the shin, and he believed me. Talk about being naïve.

Suddenly, he stopped. I nearly ran into him like the idiot person I was.

I looked up at him for an explanation. He nodded his head towards the people in front of us.

There was a small family of five: mom, dad, two sisters and a brother. The girls were twins looking about fourteen or fifteen. The brother seemed about my age or even older. The parents looked quite old with their graying hair and wrinkled skins. The family was talking among themselves.

I looked back at Julian. "What's your point?" I asked finally.

"We are going to go talk to them. I'll help you see the love of that family," he replied with a dimpled smile.

"You know, Julian, you're going to fail," I said with a shrug. He grinned again which frustrated me a bit. "Hey, did you know that you have dimples?"

"Yes. Why?" he gave me a confused smile.

"I really wanna poke them with a fork right now. Just sayin'," I answered and left him standing there rubbing the place where his dimple was.

I pulled up a chair and joined the family. Julian followed suit. The group frowned at us as if we were some creepers. Not that I blamed them or anything.

"Can we help you two?" the mom asked politely.

"Ah yes," Julian said placing a charming smile on his face which made me want to punch him all over again. "We just have a couple of questions for you guys as a family. It's for a simple project and your names will be kept anonymous."

He was an extremely convincing liar. His British accent was also a bonus for him.

"Oh yeah sure," the mom said with a smile.

The kids groaned but nobody challenged the mother's decision.

"Brilliant!" said Julian excited, "Question one is simple. What are your jobs?"

I sat back in my chair and saw the family exchange looks.

The father looked at us and answered, "My wife, Janet, and I are both doctors."

Well, then, you probably never have time for your family.

Before Julian could have said anything, I asked, "How much time do you guys spend together as a family?" The kids looked at their parents with an accusing look. Guilt washed over the faces of the mother and father.

One of the twins replied for them, "The only time we're together is during these parties at the Crowell mansion. Maybe we see them very early morning at home if we're lucky."

"Being a doctor is hard, children," the mom said tiredly.

And they should be lucky that they, at least, get to see their parents once a month. Life was so unfair.

There was a moment of silence. Julian cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him.

"Well, you don't see each other that much pero--I mean but you guys still love each other very much," Julian said with a hopeful smile.

The twins snorted in unison.

"Yeah right! If they loved us, they would make time for us," one of the twins mumbled annoyed by Julian's statement.

I grinned in victory at Julian.

"We do love you children!" the father said fast.

Julian gave me a grin of triumph.

"No, you guys care for your children," I told the parents.

"Of course! Same thing," the dad said giving me a weird look. All his kids stared at him.

I shook my head at him and gave him a sad smile. So many people confused "care" with the L word.

The mom just sighed and said, "Can you guys just give us a family moment?"

In other words, leave us alone. Julian and I nodded and left them.

"Well, that was rude of you," stated Julian crossing his arms.

"What? I wasn't rude at all. They were just having family issues," I said defensively, "Oh, by the way, that was a failure for you." I nodded towards the direction of the family.

Julian grinned and replied, "Darling, there are many more families here."

The next family was weird.

"So, your parents really love you guys, don't they? Look at all these electronics you have," Julian pointed out.

There were no parents on the table, just two kids. The boys had the latest iPhones, iPods, and some other gadgets I had no clue about in front of them.One of the boys looked at us and said, "No, they don't. These electronics are to keep us busy and away from trouble. We only live with Dad. This is his only way of controlling us. Right now, he is somewhere hooking up with his latest slut."

That went well.

With that said, the boy turned his head back to his iPhone.

I gave Julian a grin.

I didn't even have to show him the hatred side.

¤》¤《¤

We went through other families who had many issues such as the parents never having time for the kids due to jobs. Some parents were divorced while other had remarried. Those things had a great impact on the children. The kids isolated themselves. Half of the parents had the excuse that they got their kids whatever they desired.

Materialistic world. I knew Julian was so going to lose.

"We don't have parents. Our Aunt and Uncle adopted us, last year," one girl told us sadly. She was about ten years old, and she sat alone holding her small baby brother at the round table.

"Where are your Aunt and Uncle?" I asked feeling bad for her.

"Somewhere here with their daughters," she answered with a shrug. She looked up and met my eyes. I saw the pain and the helplessness in her big brown eyes. She was only ten. The poor girl deserved better.

"Oh alright. But I'm sure your Uncle and Aunty love you very much," Julian insisted.

"No, they don't," she said flatly and leaned back in her chair. Just then, her baby brother started crying in her arms. She tried to hush him.

Julian tried to help her.

It was just our luck when two adults--one old man and an evil looking witch--joined our table with two pre-teen girls. Julian and I stood up. The small baby boy was still crying.

"Hello," the tall, lean woman said. She gave Julian and me a tight-lipped smile.

I looked at the girl with the baby who mouthed, Aunt. I nodded in understanding. The girl reminded me of Cinderella.

"Hi, I'm Julian," Julian greeted poking out his hand for the woman to shake.

Realization dawned on the whole family's face including Cinderella. The old guy shook Julian's hand instead of the witch.

"Hi! You're our special foreign friend. I am Clark," the man said taking his hand back. "Meet my wife, Charlotte. My daughters: Taylor and Hannah."

The girls waved at Julian with dreamy looks. I scrunched my face with disgust.

He was way too old for them.

"And who's that?" I asked pointing at Cinderella who couldn't shut down her crying little brother.

"A brat--I mean that's my niece, Rose. And the small boy's her brother, Jake," the so-called Charlotte said giving Cinder--Rose disgusted looks.

"I feel really bad for you guys," I said with a sad smile.

"Why?" Clark asked scrunching his face.

"You guys are stuck with someone like Rose and Jake," I answered.

Julian gave me a confused look. He started to say something, but I elbowed him to shut up.

"I know, right?" said Charlotte. Rose gave me a sad and depressed look.

"Yep. I mean, your family seriously deserves someone worse," I told her as a matter of fact.

"Excuse me?" Charlotte said as if she didn't hear me correctly.

"Cassie--" Julian started in a warning tone.

"Chill, Julian. Anyways, Charlotte, right?" I didn't wait for a response. "Your niece, Rose, and nephew, Jake, deserves to live with better people than someone like you."

"Who are you to make judgments on how my family works?" Charlotte asked narrowing her eyes at me.

"Well, someone had to speak up. And the way your family works is apparently ridiculous," I retorted.

Trust me, I could tell from experience.

"Oh and your family works better?" That shut me up. Charlotte continued satisfied, "What? Cat got your tongue? Teaching me how to run my family when your own might as well not even work at all. Hypocrite."

"Screw you," I spat back.

"Excuse me?"

"Cassie, let's go," Julian said next to me. He grabbed my elbow and tugged me.

"Let me finish this, Julian," I resisted. Julian didn't let go instead pulled me away. The witch was shouting something at me. Rose gave me a melancholy smile and waved. Her small baby brother had stopped crying.

"Ignore her, Cassie," Julian said once we finally stopped near the food table.

I pulled my arm out of his grasp and huffed.

"Julian, you failed again. All these parents and families are broken! They goddamn put on a façade on the outside to hide how broken they are. And I'm so done with this party!" I snapped.

I turned around, but Julian spoke up, "Tomorrow."

"Sorry?"

"I have something else to show you tomorrow. Meet me at seven outside the mansion's gate," he explained once I turned back around.

"Show what?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"How much parents are important. And how fortunate you're to have them. Some people are worse off and never encounter that," he told me with his head slightly tilted.

I gazed back into his sky blue eyes and saw a flash of pain. I raised my eyebrows at his sudden change in mood, but Julian didn't continue any further.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said quietly.

He nodded and a smile came over his face. Groaning, I turned back around shaking my head. Why was he so cheerful all the time? Didn't he get tired?

But it was just my luck when I ran into someone. Water splashed all over my arm.

"Oh, I'm extremely sorry. Are you alright?" The voice was unfamiliar.

I looked up and met warm brown eyes of a man with graying hair. He was way taller than me being about six foot two or so.

"No!" I said gruffly.

"Sorry, dear. I wasn't expecting you to turn so fast," he said apologetically.

How familiar.

"Of course not. No one likes to pay attention nowadays," I mumbled.

I wiped my arm with my hand.

"Here," the man said handing me a napkin. I took it without giving a response.

"Grandpa! I need your help!"

The deep, male voice of someone made me realize something. Slowly, I observed the man.

"Grandpa?" I said in a quiet voice.

"Oh yes," the man chuckled. "Joseph Crowell."

He introduced just as Lucas Crowell came, fiddling with the tie around his neck whole complaining.

"So Grandpa, I tied the knot like this, but it wouldn't work--Evans?" Lucas looked surprised as he stared at me. A small grin came on his face when he looked at what I was wearing. Men.

"Evans?" Joseph Crowell looked at me in disbelief.

The only problem was that there were a couple of people nearby who heard the name "Evans."

Soon, my last name echoed throughout the room.

I glared at Lucas Crowell who wore a decent black suit and held a red tie in his hand.

"You are so done for," I told him with a shake of my head.

***

OMG! Do you guys know where Julian's taking her?

Any plans on whats gonna happen? Anybody think Sandy is the one who is actually done for considering the fact that now, everyone knows she is there!

If you like the story, pretty please vote and/or comment.