TIME & TIED: ESCALATION

ARC 2.2 - To the Future

PART 34a: SHOTS FIRED 1

Julie stared up the driveway to her house. Despite her earlier assurances to Clarke, she realized she was feeling more than a bit anxious. "I'm being silly," she chastised herself. "Probably unsettled because of those storm clouds moving in.” Taking in a deep breath, she approached the front door and entered the mansion.

"I'm home,” Julie called out. “You'll never guess what happened to me today.” Her father came around the nearest corner, heading for the front door. "Hi Dad," Julie greeted. "Jeeves and Mimi already get the evening off?"

Her father didn't immediately reply. Instead, he glanced outside, closed the front door, and allowed his gaze to fall upon Julie. He looked upset, but then, that was normal when it was only the two of them. Finally, he spoke. “So what in the hell have you been up to?”

Julie swallowed. “Wh-What do you mean?"

"Jeeves has been informing us of your principal’s calls to the house,” he clarified, crossing his arms. “Damn it girl, can't you ever stay out of trouble at school? We're running out of places to send you.”

"What did you expect, dear?" came a new voice. Julie’s mother entered the hall, idly filing her nails. "She's your *daughter*, after all."

“Juvenile delinquent," her father spat out. "Well, you've forced the two of us to use your birthday as an excuse to come back here to handle things. I hope you're happy."

“N-Not exactly," Julie said, her confidence eroding fast. "And it’s been over two years since you last heard from any school administration."

“Meaning you haven't been caught until now," her mother observed, blowing on her fingertips.

Julie swallowed. "I guess," she yielded. She had done some rather terrible things. "But... but it’s fine now. I got everything resolved with the principal today.”

Her father turned. "Did you hear that, dear?” he remarked. "She got everything resolved. Everything. There was no need for us to come home after all, our daughter somehow accounted for every last little detail.”

"Your daughter," Julie's mother reminded. She finally put the nail file away and came closer, directing a look towards Julie for the first time. “But you’re right. It’s good that we came. She can't have any idea just how complicated things are in the real world, after all."

"No, I... I d-do,” Julie stammered. "I've been reading and learning and... and today, today I was running the whole school,” she blurted. “Look!" Julie fumbled within her sweater, pulling out the precious agreement. However, she was developing a case of the shakes, and it slipped through her fingers before she could hand it to her father.

He reached down and scooped it up off the floor before she had time to retrieve it, letting out a sigh of exasperation in the process. Julie bowed her head, biting her lip as he scanned over the paper.

This was it then, the moment of truth. The culmination of six - seven? eight? - years of effort. So many setbacks. But now - they had to understand. They had to see that she was capable, that she was worthy of being their child, that she deserved their love and attention...

"What damn fool stunt are you trying to pull?"

Julie snapped her gaze back up. "W-w-w-what?"

"Honey, have a look at this," her father remarked, handing over the paper. "She actually believes she was running the school today because the principal signed some agreement. Assuming it’s not forged.”

"Lovely. Something even more troublesome than usual to clear up," said Julie's mother dryly, scanning the paper herself.

“N-No, it's true," Julie assured them. "Mr. Hunt asked me about every decision today. I also kept other students from committing any violent acts. I was handling it, I was handling it all!"

Her mother sighed and pressed a hand to her temples. "Dear, you deal with this today, all right? It’s going to give me a headache, I’m sure of it. I'll see you back in the kitchen." She returned Julie's signed agreement to her husband and flashed him a smile, before spinning on her heel and stalking back down the hall.

Julie's father returned the smile before resuming his severe expression. "Now see what you've done to your mother?" he accused of Julie. "I hope you have a VERY good explanation as to why you did something so idiotic."

Julie felt herself getting lightheaded. Was this even really happening? "I did it for you," she said quietly. "Don't you remember? When I was young, you used to tell Mom that if I'd been a son, I would have been able to run an organization before even graduating from high school. So, even though I'm not a son, I... I did it. I ran the high school. So doesn't that document prove to you that I'm every bit as good as a son would be?"

“What?” Her father shook his head. "Leave it to a girl to take things too literally," he concluded. "I mean honestly, what WAS going through that empty head of yours?”

"I... I..." Julie swallowed, no longer sure what to say.

"Let me show you how important this little piece of paper is," her father concluded. With that, he tore the document in half.

Julie felt like she was being torn in two. “Dad, no!” she choked out, reaching out towards him. Her father simply stepped back, out of reach, and then he tore again, and again.

Julie fell to her knees. The document she'd signed with the principal that morning was soon scattered on the floor like so much confetti. A tear ran down her cheek. “No..."

"I will deal with this situation now," her father concluded. "Pray that it's not as bad as it sounds. You will go to your room. Make sure I don't see your face again tonight." With that, he turned and walked away.

Julie was left behind, a crumpled mess on the floor.

***

The ‘play room’ was a shambles. Her maps had been torn from the walls, file cabinets had been tipped over, electronic gadgets had been thrown against the floor, a couple of legs had even been snapped off of the central table.

In the middle of the room stood Julie, breathing hard.

Interestingly, she didn’t feel angry. Or sad. If anything, she felt numb. And not the happy, lightheaded numbness from earlier today, it was... well, nothing. Emptiness. Complete and utter void.

Julie sank back down to the ground. Destroying this room, it had felt like the right thing to do. Perhaps she should start a fire too, to burn up all of the useless information she'd accumulated. But no, such a blaze could prove dangerous. Dangerous.

The thought of her doing something dangerous struck Julie as funny, so she laughed. Later, she stopped. Then she fell back onto the ground in a completely prone position.

"All for nothing. All of it," the brunette whispered. She wondered if that was funny or not. Should she giggle? She couldn’t decide. Instead, she let her head fall to the side.

An item caught her eye, and she realized that during her destructive rampage, it must have fallen out of the lower drawer of the file cabinets. Julie crawled over towards it, then looked down upon the smiling faces of her mother and father. She traced her finger over the glass. A tear splashed down.

Then the glass covering the image cracked as the picture was thrown forcibly against the wall. "Should have stayed in that cabinet," Julie shrieked at the object, hands clenching into fists. “We were both better off!”

She curled up into a ball on the floor for a while.

Gradually, she became conscious of something poking her in the side. It was starting to get annoying, so Julie decided to see what it was. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small neatly wrapped package. That’s right, Clarke had given it to her earlier that day.

"Happy birthday to me,” Julie murmured. She decided to stop staring at the package long enough to sit back up and remove the wrapping paper.

Inside she found a silver brooch in the shape of a rose. “So pretty," Julie gasped. She pinned it onto her sweater. "He really shouldn't have though," she said sadly. "He's too good to me..."

“You’re not half as bad as you think you are.”

Julie spun. "Phil?" she breathed. When did he get here?

"You are SO strong, Julie. Stronger than I realized."

How could he be standing there behind her?! It didn't matter. Julie stumbled to her feet. "Phil,” she repeated.

“This conversation isn’t over yet, okay?” Clarke continued. "In the meantime, here's something to remember me by."

Julie reached out for him, but the image of Clarke faded from view before she made contact. She stumbled and fell against the wall. “Wow. Now you’re hallucinating, you idiot,” she breathed. Her fingers traced over the silver brooch. Well, at least he was going to call her.

"He'll call, that's right,” Julie gasped, head snapping back up. What had she done with her phone?! She’d left it upstairs before sneaking down here, so as not to damage it, or get it confiscated. She was making so many bad decisions today! "I've got to make sure I can answer the phone,” she gasped.

Julie sprinted out of her play room, back upstairs. She didn't know if talking to Phil Clarke would do any good. She didn't even know if the phone had already rung that night - was it even night yet? It seemed to be raining outside. She found her phone. Less than two hours had passed. Clarke hadn’t phoned yet. Should she phone him? No. Too needy.

She waited, her finger over the button to accept the next call. Her hands were shaking. She made them stop. It was fine. He would call. He had to call. Please, he had to call. He had to know she was waiting for him now. Right? Please?

When the phone rang, Julie hit answer before seeing who it was. "Phil?" she breathed. "Phil, are you there?"

It wasn't him.