Julia stared at the plane ticket in her hand. For such a
small piece of paper it felt so heavy in her hands.
She sighed for the fourteenth time that morning. This wasn’t going to be easy and Julia knew that, but now that she was sitting here it seemed even harder. She was leaving for a whole year to go live with her Aunt in California. Julia was what her family liked to call “The black sheep”, which is exactly what they used to call her Aunt before she got her act together. Somehow they thought sending her to the other side of the states would help fix her problem. Part of Julia was excited to see the sunny state of California and adventure, but she didn’t want to say goodbye to her friends. But most of all she didn’t want to say goodbye to Holden. Holden was her best friend growing up, and when he was thirteen he was killed in a car accident. Julia visited his grave every Friday and she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him and going so far away. Everyone kept telling her she needed to move on and that it was time, but Julia couldn’t because if she forget about Holden and moved on, the rest of the world would too. Who would come visit him every Friday? Who would bring him one single flower? It frustrated Julia to no end. She knew she could just run away of course, but where to was the question. She couldn’t run away with Holden because he was stuck in the cold hard ground and gone forever.
So she got on the plane and she flew out to California to finally meet her Aunt Izzy. Her Aunt lived in the small town of Petaluma California. When her Aunt saw her for the first time she actually cried. “Come here sweetie.” She said and hugged her tightly. Her Aunt was tall and had long red curly hair. Her eyes were a mix of hazel and green and Julia couldn’t help, but think she was the most beautiful women. “Aunt Izzy, you’re..so pretty.” Julia laughed. Her Aunt made a funny face before saying
“Did everyone tell you I was ugly or something?” They instantly became great friends.
Her Aunt gave her the tour of the city and took her to her favorite bookstore: Copperfields.
“Okay Julia I want you to pick out 12 books today. You are going to read one book each month, and I know I sound like a teacher or something, but trust me on this okay? I’ll even read some of them with you. They can be almost any book you want, but I have to approve of them first okay?” So Julia roamed the store, picking out six books in the young adult section that her Aunt said was okay. She wandered over to the Fiction section and picked out three more books. Her aunt picked the same three as well and followed Julia to the poetry section where she picked out two more books. She had one more book left and as she roamed the classics section her eyes came across Catcher in The Rye. Immediately her heart plummeted to the floor as she thought of Holden back in Massachusetts. Tears sprang to her eyes and she sat down on the floor. Her Aunt was right by her side asking her what was wrong and trying to comfort her. Julia told her the story about Holden and how it was so hard for her to let go. Izzy sat down next to her on the floor. “Let me tell you a story okay? When I was eighteen I married a man I thought I loved. I moved here to California to be with him. Everyone In the family judged me so harshly for what I had done. They told me time and time again that it was a stupid mistake. Turns out it was, because a week after our marriage he ran off with some bimbo. We got a divorce of course and I didn’t know what do with myself. I couldn’t handle it, it came to the point where I wanted to end my life. But then one day my friend lent me a book, and it wasn’t even that great of book mind you, but it changed my life. I became so enthralled in books and reading that eventually I got better. I promise you, if you read all 12 of those books this year, you will feel better. It will be hard, but I promise you..it will get better.”
So each month Julia picked out the book she would read and took her time reading them each month. Some of the stories weren’t that great and others were the best she had read in her life. Page by page she began to heal. Holden would still be gone, but Julia knew she could keep him in her heart forever. The year was almost over and Julia saved Catcher in The Rye for last. She read it in under a week and talked to her Aunt about it. Together they discussed the book, and discussed other things too. Her parents called her a week before the year was over and told her they were going to be buying her plane ticket back. But Julia shocked them by telling them no.
“I want to live here with Aunt Izzy for a couple more years. I realize now that this is where I’m meant to be.” Her mother was furious, telling her that she had to come home and that her friends were here and all her family. But her father told her to stay, knowing that Julia was right. Izzy and Julia were almost like the same person and that Izzy had more to teach Julia. So she stayed and read more books and finally felt like she belonged.
She sighed for the fourteenth time that morning. This wasn’t going to be easy and Julia knew that, but now that she was sitting here it seemed even harder. She was leaving for a whole year to go live with her Aunt in California. Julia was what her family liked to call “The black sheep”, which is exactly what they used to call her Aunt before she got her act together. Somehow they thought sending her to the other side of the states would help fix her problem. Part of Julia was excited to see the sunny state of California and adventure, but she didn’t want to say goodbye to her friends. But most of all she didn’t want to say goodbye to Holden. Holden was her best friend growing up, and when he was thirteen he was killed in a car accident. Julia visited his grave every Friday and she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him and going so far away. Everyone kept telling her she needed to move on and that it was time, but Julia couldn’t because if she forget about Holden and moved on, the rest of the world would too. Who would come visit him every Friday? Who would bring him one single flower? It frustrated Julia to no end. She knew she could just run away of course, but where to was the question. She couldn’t run away with Holden because he was stuck in the cold hard ground and gone forever.
So she got on the plane and she flew out to California to finally meet her Aunt Izzy. Her Aunt lived in the small town of Petaluma California. When her Aunt saw her for the first time she actually cried. “Come here sweetie.” She said and hugged her tightly. Her Aunt was tall and had long red curly hair. Her eyes were a mix of hazel and green and Julia couldn’t help, but think she was the most beautiful women. “Aunt Izzy, you’re..so pretty.” Julia laughed. Her Aunt made a funny face before saying
“Did everyone tell you I was ugly or something?” They instantly became great friends.
Her Aunt gave her the tour of the city and took her to her favorite bookstore: Copperfields.
“Okay Julia I want you to pick out 12 books today. You are going to read one book each month, and I know I sound like a teacher or something, but trust me on this okay? I’ll even read some of them with you. They can be almost any book you want, but I have to approve of them first okay?” So Julia roamed the store, picking out six books in the young adult section that her Aunt said was okay. She wandered over to the Fiction section and picked out three more books. Her aunt picked the same three as well and followed Julia to the poetry section where she picked out two more books. She had one more book left and as she roamed the classics section her eyes came across Catcher in The Rye. Immediately her heart plummeted to the floor as she thought of Holden back in Massachusetts. Tears sprang to her eyes and she sat down on the floor. Her Aunt was right by her side asking her what was wrong and trying to comfort her. Julia told her the story about Holden and how it was so hard for her to let go. Izzy sat down next to her on the floor. “Let me tell you a story okay? When I was eighteen I married a man I thought I loved. I moved here to California to be with him. Everyone In the family judged me so harshly for what I had done. They told me time and time again that it was a stupid mistake. Turns out it was, because a week after our marriage he ran off with some bimbo. We got a divorce of course and I didn’t know what do with myself. I couldn’t handle it, it came to the point where I wanted to end my life. But then one day my friend lent me a book, and it wasn’t even that great of book mind you, but it changed my life. I became so enthralled in books and reading that eventually I got better. I promise you, if you read all 12 of those books this year, you will feel better. It will be hard, but I promise you..it will get better.”
So each month Julia picked out the book she would read and took her time reading them each month. Some of the stories weren’t that great and others were the best she had read in her life. Page by page she began to heal. Holden would still be gone, but Julia knew she could keep him in her heart forever. The year was almost over and Julia saved Catcher in The Rye for last. She read it in under a week and talked to her Aunt about it. Together they discussed the book, and discussed other things too. Her parents called her a week before the year was over and told her they were going to be buying her plane ticket back. But Julia shocked them by telling them no.
“I want to live here with Aunt Izzy for a couple more years. I realize now that this is where I’m meant to be.” Her mother was furious, telling her that she had to come home and that her friends were here and all her family. But her father told her to stay, knowing that Julia was right. Izzy and Julia were almost like the same person and that Izzy had more to teach Julia. So she stayed and read more books and finally felt like she belonged.
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