Chapter Seven

"I'm a thief," I announced softly, dipping my toes into the cool lake water. Trevor and I were lounging down near his house, and it had taken me a moment to speak. Just do it, I told myself. Let it all out.

"Um... okay," Trevor replied, still not completely sure what my statement meant.

"Let me explain," I said. "It all started with Jeremy. He had a real knack for shoplifting. His motto was, 'why pay when you can get it for free'? He'd always get me gifts, stuff he had stolen. I didn't want to accept them, but he'd always say, 'What's your problem? You can't have someone do something nice for you?' Then he wanted me to steal stuff for him, to return the favor. 'If you love me, you'll do it,' he would say. He made it look so easy... and I really did like him. Besides the whole shoplifting thing, he seemed like the perfect guy. It was so cool to have a boyfriend who was almost two years older than me. I thought that if I didn't do it, he'd lose interest in me. Still, I have morals, you know? It's one of the 10 commandments, thou shall not steal. Jeremy had no idea all the turmoil I was going through. Being a thief was second nature to him."

I paused and took a deep breath. "Are you following all this?"

Trevor looked me in the eye and nodded silently. I continued.

"So I started stealing stuff too. Stuff for him, and stuff for myself to prove to him how cool I was. But I never used the stuff I stole for myself. I'd hide it all in a small suitcase underneath my bed-makeup, earrings, hair accessories, CD's, candy... everything. Then one day at a drugstore I was caught. I had lifted a few CD's and a pair of cheap blue earrings. The drugstore manager called my parents, who later found the stash of stolen stuff underneath my bed. The drugstore manager didn't press charges and left it to my parents to discipline me."

Another deep breath. I was approaching the second part of my story. "My mom decided that a perfect punishment would be to send me here all summer. She knew how much I'd hate it, being all alone in the middle of nowhere with only the company of an eccentric aunt. I'm so used to city life, the change would be dramatic. But there's a deeper reason why she chose this place."

"And that would be...?" Trevor prodded when my voice trailed off.

"My aunt is a kleptomaniac. She feels the desire to steal things where ever she goes. She's gotten in a lot of trouble in her life because of her... disease. It is a disease, because she can't control her needs to steal. That's why she bought this house in the middle of nowhere and stays inside most of the time. When she's inside, she can't steal anything. She doesn't want to steal things, but it's so hard for her to go into stores and not give in to the temptation, so she doesn't leave her house much anymore. I think my mom thought it would be great for me to stay with her, as a visual lesson: 'Don't steal or you'll end up like Aunt Nora.' Of course she never outright said it like that, but I knew that was her intention."

"So that's why you're here this summer," Trevor said. "I understand now."

"Wait, Trevor," I breathed. "There's more."

I looked at my toes, which were painted in chipped red nail polish. I swirled them around in the river water, no longer afraid of what may live in there. "When I was 5 years old," I began, "Aunt Nora ran into some trouble with all her stealing. She had to go to jail for awhile. She had a daughter at the time and didn't know what to do with her. And Trev... that daughter was me."

Trevor swallowed, finally understanding it all. "So I was right," he said. "You were Juliana Baker."

"Yes, I was. Aunt Nora decided that what was best for me was a stable life with a married couple, so she picked my aunt and uncle, the Morrises, who I know now as my mom and dad. The Morrises legally adopted me and it was decided that I would be told that they were my real parents. It seems a little strange that I don't remember ever living with Nora, considering that I was already five when I left her, but my mind has literally blocked out my past. I guess the trauma of leaving my real mother was so hurtful that forgetting it helped me adjust to my new life faster. I dunno, Trev. I don't know."

Tears were slipping from my eyes. It had been a rough day. It's so hard learning the kind of things I did. It's so hard to let out truths that you've kept secret such a long time. It's so hard to cry in front of people you really care about. Life isn't easy.

Trevor reached over and put his arm around me. "It's okay," he said softly. "That's an amazing story, but you know what, Jules? I'm so glad you told me."

I was glad that I told him too, as sappy as that sounds. “I’ve got some things to tell you too,” Trevor said.

“Okay,” I responded, preparing myself for all the earth-shattering things that he might say.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the acting thing,” he said. “I know I should have mentioned it sooner. It’s just that… I dunno. As soon as girls find out who I am, they love me, but it’s a superficial love. They only care about my celebrity status. Suddenly all they can talk about is my acting and it’s like, my whole life isn’t acting, but they don’t care about the real me. They just care about how cool it is to be in movies and on TV. I didn’t want to tell you that I was an actor because then I’d know that if you liked me, you’d like the real me, and not my celebrity status.”

How could I be mad at him? What he was saying made so much sense. I rested my head on his shoulder. “I do like the real you.”

“And, Jules, there’s one more thing.”

Oh, no. We couldn’t just leave it at that. There always had to be that one more thing.

“I came over this morning to say goodbye,” he said. “My agent called yesterday. He told me that I got a part in a movie that I thought I didn’t have a shot at. I’m serious, Julie. I was completely shocked when he told me I got the role. I had expected to be here all summer. But now…

”I finished for him. “But now you have to leave to shoot the movie?”

Trevor nodded. “Yeah.”

We were silent for a moment. “Well,” I said. “This sucks.”

Trevor and I laughed. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It does.”

“Congratulations on getting that part though,” I told him. “I mean it. I’m proud of you.”

He looked away. “Well, I’m glad somebody is.”

I turned his face toward mine and brushed my lips against his. “Hey, Trevor,” I said after, “Let me ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“That day you splashed me with the water…that wasn’t an accident, was it?”

He smiled. “Of course it wasn’t.” He pulled me up to my feet. “Come on, I want to show you something.” He led me to a tree where I could see the message “TM and JB BFF” carved into its trunk. “I found this the other day after you had gone home. You see?” Trevor said. “The truth was here all along.”

This time I smiled. “For once, I’m not surprised.”

Suddenly an alarm went off on Trevor’s watch. “Shoot,” he said, looking at the time. “I have to go. We have a plane to catch.”

I nodded. “Okay.” We hugged, and I didn’t want to let go, but the clock was ticking. “We’ll have to keep in touch,” I informed him.

“Definitely. You haven’t heard the last of Trevor Mitchell.” He laughed. “Say hi to Booger for me when you get home.”

“I will,” I promised. We bid goodbye to each other and suddenly the thought came to me that I as already home. Home, in the greatest sense of the word.

“So,” Trevor added. “I’ll probably be back next summer.”

I thought about my newly found birthmother and how I had re-found an old best friend. “I will, too,” I said, knowing that nothing could keep me from this place I once hated.

Watching Trevor go back into his house, I realized that there was nothing left to do but start following the river home. And after tracing my fingers over the tree carving once, I did.