Royals

Part 23: Heartbreaks and Goodbyes

I sit on my bed, well for one more night as Gladys instructs her assistants on what of mine to pack.

"Julie, darling. Are you wanting to keep the dresses? Like the ball dresses and such"

"Umm I don't even know what I would do with them" I say, staring at the dresses they hold. Each one of them has their own memory.

"They're custom just for you. They are quite special" Gladys says.

"You know what, sure. Maybe I can wear one to prom or something" I say. She smiles and continues to have them pack for me. Soon everything except for pjs and clothing for tomorrow is packed. My whole summer shoved into suitcases. Wow.

"Would y'all mind giving us a moment" Gladys ask, motioning for them to leave. They nod, putting the bags down and closing the door after they leave.

"Julie, may I talk to you?" She ask and I nod. She sits on the edge of the bed beside me.

"You are a lot to handle you know" she says and I nod again.

"My parents tell me that. Even though I'm the simplest, I'm still a lot" I tell her.

"I've literally never met someone like you. You are such your own person and it's quite an incredible thing to see. I'll be honest, we tried to smother your personality here, well at least try to hide it but there was no way to hide it"

"I'm sorry I caused so much drama and told off the queen"

"Don't be. You have an opinion and an actual personality. Better than that, you gave others a voice. You caused people to speak up for themselves and show their personality. I'd say that this summer wasn't wasted by far. Maybe after you leave, your words will help changes some things"

"Thanks Gladys" I say, a small smile playing at the corners of my lips.

"Your a sweet girl with such a string voice. Don't be silenced, okay? You have so much ahead of you, I can tell. I just wanted to let you know that before you left" she says, giving me what I think is an almost genuine smile. She gets up from my bed and leaves the room.

I start to tear up a bit. I'm actually leaving this place.

Late that night
I'm woken up to something hitting my window, over and over again. I open the window and look outside, it's Luke.

"Well this is very Romeo and Juliet of you" I joke. He laughs quietly, before coming closer to the window.

"Julie, can we talk? Not here though, I don't wanna wake someone up" he says.

"You already did, me. But of course, I'll be right down" I say backing away from the window. I consider my choices.

If I got out my door, Carrie could catch me. She would be mad at me for sneaking out. So window it is. I pull on my vans slides and slip out the window.

"Julie, what the heck?" Luke says panicked as I climb down the side of the wall. I jump to my feet and walk over to him.

"Chill Lucas, it's like ya know easy to get out. You wanted to talk?" I say. He nods and grabs my hand. We walk to the garden and sit on the bench surrounded by flowers. I smile, looking at the flowers soaking in the moonlight.

"So your leaving tomorrow morning" He starts. I look at him, but I then at my hands. I know what's about to happen and I can't bring myself to look at him.

"Yep"

"What does that mean for this.... I mean us" he ask.

I don't know. But I'm going to be in LA and he'll be in England trying to fix everything I ruined in the process of being here. It's not fair to him or me to trying to put ourselves through something that isn't even a thing.

"I'm gonna be in LA, you'll be here" I say.

"I know that Julie. I'm talking about us, together"

"I don't know Luke. I mean, how do we even know what we're feeling is real? And if it is, will it stand the distance?" I say, my voice trembling.

"Don't we owe it to ourselves to at least try?"

"I think we should leave what happened here, well here. I'll be in LA, at some poor highschool and you'll be in some rich tie-wearing school with douchebag attendees who spit on poor-people. We won't work and I don't wanna break your heart like that" I look up at him and watch as a single year slips down his face.

It's too late, I already did break his heart like that.

"Okay, well the thats that. I'll let you get back to sleep.

"Luke, I'm so sorry" I say, tears running down my cheeks.

I want so bad to make things work out but I can't. We can't be together.

"Don't be, your right" he says and leaves me in the garden. I stay there for a while, savoring my last night here.

The next morning
We stand outside, everyone saying goodbye one final time. I put my last bag into the trunk and close it, joining Carrie and Dylan infront of the doors. Alex walks over, his eyes already watery with tears.

Great, if he cries then I'll cry.

"Julie, even if this summer was totally terrible, weird and crazy. You were the bestest best friend I could ask for" Alex says, tears slipping down his face. I hug him and he squeezes tight.

"Oh Lex, this was the best summer of my life" I say, pulling back and smiling through my own tears.

"Just don't forget about me, okay?" He says.

"Forget about you? I'm gonna message you as soon as I'm home" I say snd we hug again. Once he finally lets me go, Reggie comes over.

"Thank you Julie for teaching me how to be an actually good person. I'm gonna miss you"

"I'm gonna miss you too Reg, it was actually pretty fun being around you" I say with a laugh. He smiles and hugs me. Then Kayla comes over.

"Jules, it was the best thing ever to get to know you. Your just like the kindest person I've ever met and I loved getting to know you. It was like having a sister, but better" she says with a smile.

"Thanks kay, you are unbelievable. And I know your gonna do greats things" I tell her.

"Here, take this. A little Souvenir" she says, handing me one of the many novels I read this summer. I smile and hug her.

Now the one, I'm not at all prepared for. Luke.

Carrie and Dylan give their last goodbyes as I walk over to Luke. He's sitting on the edge of the steps. I don't say anything, I just beside him and lay my head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around me and I cry against his chest. This is way harder then I thought it would be.

"Thank you for the best summer of my life" he whispers and I hold him, pulling him closer to me.

"Julie, we have to go" Carrie says.

I let go of him and stand up, wiping my cheeks.

"It was the best summer of mine too Lucas" I aay, leaning towards him. He looks up at me and I lean down slowly, pressing my lips lightly against his. I pull back and kiss his head.

"Bye Lucas"

"goodbye Juliet, at least for now" he says, standing up and giving me another quick kiss. I pull away and go straight to the car, trying to keep myself together.

As we drive to the airport, Carrie ask me something.

"Are you gonna be okay Julie?" She ask.

"Yeah, no goodbye is permanent" I say, looking out the window and watching the scenery change as we drive.

A/n: awww, that was sooooooooo sad.