Julia

Julia "Jools" Amanda Van Helden (née Cowan) is Tariq's ex-girlfriend and friend of Charlie in the KateModern series. She previously worked at an Orange Mobile Retail Shop and JustIncredible.TV, but left both positions due to conflicts and opportunities that arose.

Background
Julia is introduced when Gavin and Tariq go to her work to buy a Wifi Transmitter to replace the one Gavin broke. She was very confused as to why Tariq has a video camera, and found it very bizarre. Gavin attempted to flirt with her, but was reminded by Tariq that he was already in a relationship. Afterwards, she and Tariq went on several dates, and the relationship became fairly serious. Tariq praised Julia for being "different" and "relaxed", which he found refreshing after his last girlfriend's drama.

Part of the Drama
Julia was very understanding about Tariq's conflicting feelings towards Kate. She was there for him after he, once again, put himself on the line for Kate's sake, only to find that she didn't want his help in the first place. Julia then assisted Gavin and Tariq after their software was stolen by Lee, but ultimately fails after the software ends up in the hands of the Order. Julia and Tariq are seen only a few times during the following holiday season, usually celebrating and decorating. However, Julia leaves Tariq shortly before New Year's, unable to deal with the way he wouldn't let anything go.

Julia sets up a bebo profile when she gets a job at JustIncredible.TV. She loved her job until her boss, Justin, made her presenter. To be on the show, called "Late Night Boob Cast" she had to wear a bikini, which understandably upset her. Along with Tariq and Lee she filmed the interview of Rupert. In Group Hug it was revealed that Justin promoted Julia to producer as an apology. Julia was not very happy when Gavin got the job that Tariq was really looking forward to getting. She was even more upset after learning that Tariq was leaving for India to clear his head. Julia, along with Charlie, Gavin, and Lee then left on a tour of University communities to promote JustIncredible.TV. She gets frustrated by Gavin and Lee's contant bickering, though they end up reconciling when Gavin saves Lee after he has an allergic reaction.

Once they return from the trip, Julia and Gavin begin to suspect that Justin is hiding something, and discover that his office is actually a restroom and contains several pictures of Julia in the bikini. No long after, Julia is promoted again to the position of programming director, which doesn't thrill her when the employees come to her after their pay-checks bounce. After Gavin discovers that Justin is running some sort of scam, a walk-out is staged, and Julia and the other employees go on strike. However, when they go back to the office to demand pay, they find Justin gone, and everyone besides Julia steals equipment as compensation.

Around this time, Julia reveals that she has become involved with someone, but refuses to reveal who it is, only that he is away a lot on business. She accompanies Charlie to Lauren's flat to try to convince her that she is in danger, but Lauren gets spooked after Steve and Terry show up also, and she attacks the group with a bat. Charlie becomes upset with Julia after she tries to distract her from protecting Lauren and go out partying. As Julia leaves, she runs into Lauren, and the two go back to Charlie's office and talk with her.

Wedding Bells
After Steve and Terry kidnap Lauren, Charlie goes to Julia's house in order to upload the video and get her help. Instead, Charlie walks in on Julia and Rupert in bed together and, feeling betrayed, leaves. Afterwards, Julia posts a video attempting to justify the relationship, explaining that she is falling in love with Rupert and has felt more comfortable with him than she has with anyone else.



Because their relationship is now known, Julia decides to help Rupert organize a lecture hes giving on The Day of the Eternal Song. Julia is surprised by how friendly the members of the Hymn of One are, but the experience turns sour when Steve arrives and accuses Rupert of being a pawn in a cult. Julia receives a present from Rupert and is told and is told not to look at it right away. She is unable to resist, and unwraps it, discovering a new book by Rupert entitled "I Have Found The One". Upon opening it, she finds an engagement ring, and Rupert enters the room and asks her to join him in an eternal unity bond (similar to a marriage). Julia is surprised by the speed at which the relationship is going, but eagerly accepts.

Julia has since posted an invitation for the wedding on her Bebo page with the date of May 17th, 2008. Almost a month later, she and Rupert recorded a video extending the invitation to anyone watching, including Gavin, Charlie, Meryl, and Lee. Strangely, Rupert does all the speaking in the video while Julia stands by silently.

Charlie posts a response video to Julia's invitation where she depicts Rupert as a demon and Julia as the damsel in distress whom Ninja Charlie saves at the alter. The real Julia, however, is appalled by the video, and is annoyed that Charlie posted a video online instead of talking to her. Despite her emotional distress, Julia re-extends the invitation to Charlie, and says that she will be really disappointed if she doesn't attend.

Charlie attends her hen night and apologizes profusely to Julia for posting the animation, and Julia quickly forgives her. While the others become wild, Charlie's drinking leads her to release the pent-up emotions she has over Steve rejection, leading Julia to have to comfort her in the restroom. Charlie bounces back once Gavin arrives, and ends the night making out with him, much to Julia's annoyance. Julia is surprised when a stripper arrives, but he doesn't stick around long as Alice pulls him away for herself. The night ends with Julia admitting in a confessional setting that she understands why her friends are worried about her, and Lauren puking in the background.

Less-Than-Perfect Marriage
The next day, Julia is walked down the "circle" by her father, who expresses his concern over his daughter's decision. As the vows are being read, it is revealed that the cloaked man was not Rupert, but Steve, who had hijaked the wedding in Order to trash talk the Hymn of One and play up the Celestial Network. Livid, Julia smacks Steve and turns to her father for comfort, but tells her that he thinks that what she is getting involved with is strange too. Steve's rant is cut short by Rupert, who finally arrived after being hindered by Steve slashing his tires. Rupert comforts Julia, and scolds Steve for trying to ruin Julia's big day. Stunned, Steve is led away by Charlie, which upsets Gavin, resulting in him drinking the vodka he had bought as a wedding present. In the meantime, Julia and Rupert become eternally bonded, but don't bask in it for long as Gavin begins throwing a drunk tantrum.

Julia and Rupert go on their honeymoon directly after the wedding, and are not heard from apart from Julia posting a message thanking everyone apart from Steve and Gavin for attending her wedding. It is implied that Julia and Rupert may have returned early from the honeymoon, as Charlie seems genuinely surprised to see her. However, that surprise turns to shock as Julia is sporting a nasty bruise on her eye, and claims that a coconut fell on her. Her behavior suggests otherwise, and lead to the impression that Rupert might have hit her.

After speculation on this began running rampant, Julia posted a video expressing her annoyance with the situation. She reiterates that it was, in fact, a coconut, and she conveys her frustration that people don't believe her simply because they don't like Rupert and she didn't catch it on camera. She informs everyone that she will be away for a few days, and promises to bring back footage as proof. Upon her return, Julia apologizes for being away during the Lauren crisis, but announces that she and Rupert are going to be traveling abroad. She points out that Rupert has gotten a stable job, and stability is what she needs. She wishes everyone farewell and the best of luck.

However, her reassurances go unheeded. Fans spot Michelle Clore's Shadow reflection in a mirror in Julia's video, and alert Charlie and Lauren. The duo decide to scope out Bill Cowan's flat, and they discover that the man was, indeed, Michelle Clore's Shadow. However, he doesn't act particularly threatening towards Julia, and doesn't seem pleased when Rupert comes home in a bad mood. Julia begs Rupert to postpone the trip because she needs to see her father and he won't get back from a trip of his own for a few more days. Rupert denies her request, and tells her she needs nothing, assaulting her in the process. After Lauren posts the footage online, Rupert becomes enraged and forces Julia to accompany him to Paris on business.

The Paris Deception
The rest of the K-Team follows Julia to Paris with the intent of rescuing her from Rupert. They spot Julia's bodyguard and begin to follow him. However, Lee's brother Anthony gets fed up with the charade and confronts him. For some reason, he willingly follows her bodyguard and disappears. Not long after, Steve is separated from the group and Charlie and Lauren watch as the bodyguard makes a phone call. They take the booth once he leaves, and press the redial button. Julia answers the phone, but when Charlie greets her, Julia claims that there is no one there by that name and hangs up, but not before saying the phrase "Catbags". It was later figured out that "Catbags" was an anagram for "Gabcast", and community members located Julia's account on the website gabcast.com, which contained a message for Charlie instructing her to meet her outside of the building where Michelle Clore's Last Work was being unveiled to the art world, adding that she will make a break for it while Rupert gives a speech. Charlie and Lauren meet up with Steve and wait outside the building for Julia, who exits the building calmly and slowly with her bodyguard and pays no attention to Charlie's car.

They follow her downtown, where they are accosted by a group of city dwellers who play keep-away with their camera. Ironically enough, Julia's bodyguard comes to their rescue, and takes them to an apartment Toe and Julia, the later of whom believes Toe to be Lee and is confused by his behavior. Julia explains that her bodyguard decided to help her after seeing the way Rupert treated her, and the group leaves after thanking him. The next day, They begin the drive towards the coast to get back to London, only to get pulled over by a police officer. They find Michelle Clore's Last Work in the trunk of the Argo, and arrest Charlie for the robbery, much to the shock of her friends. Initially, Julia believes it to be the work of Rupert, but the group realizes that the only ones who could have done it were members of the group. A barrage of finger pointing and accusing follows, and Julia suggests several times that they go back to London and just put an end to the drama. Steve gets angry at Julia for this, and reminds her that she is the whole reason that they are there in the first place. Julia tells him to piss off, and begins to cry, swaying Toe to side with her. Julia, Lauren, and Toe look over the videos and conclude that Steve is the one responsible, and call him out on it. Steve is furious and Julia points out that he was missing for a good chunk of the weekend, and Steve reminds her (again) that he was looking for her, and calls her an ungrateful cow.

Back in London, Sophie and Lee decide to do some sleuthing of their own, and discover that Julia was the one responsible for Charlie's arrest. While they wait at the train station for the group to come back to tell them the news, they spot Julia leaving the area with Rupert and Michelle's Shadow in tow.

To the Dark Side
Though Julia's motives for betraying the group are never explicitly stated, it is implied that Julia acted out of a desire for revenge. Julia never felt like she was truly part of the group, as her only real connection was through her short-lived relationship with Tariq. As a result of associating with the K-Team, Julia faced several challenges that made her life much more difficult and hectic. When she began seeing Rupert, she threw herself into the relationship, and was upset by the lack of support from her friends and the way they treated her as a result. Though she tried to forgive and forget for her wedding day, she was only further enraged when their presence in her life caused the wedding to be hijacked and her decision to marry to be scrutinized. Feeling utterly betrayed, and desperate to improve her life, she eagerly agreed to help Rupert stage a sting operation to frame Charlie for stealing Michelle Clore's last artwork by planting a fake on her while they made off with the real one, which contained information on how to access the bank accounts of the artist.

After Charlie is released from jail, she and Lee meet the rest of the K-Team at the train station as they finally return from Paris. While the others are distracted by the revelation that Toe had scammed Steve for a ride home, Lauren grabs the camera and takes off to Bill Cowan's house. Once there, she attacks him and tells Julia via webcam that she'll learn what it's like to loose someone precious to her. Charlie and the others see the video, and rush down there to stop Lauren. Steve takes Lauren outside, and they hide behind a bush when Julia, Rupert, and the Shadow arrive. Julia is relieved to see that her father is okay, but demands that Charlie tell her where Lauren is. Charlie refuses, and Julia threatens to beat the information out of her. Charlie is appalled by Julia's behavior, and asks her point blank why she is acting this way towards her friends, and asks her why she is staying with Rupert after the way that he's treated her. Julia laughs and tells her it was a set up, and to grow up. However, Charlie points out that the incident they filmed through the window couldn't have been staged, and reiterates that Rupert doesn't love her. Rupert lashes out at her, and Charlie and Lee leave. As Julia heads out, she attempts to justify her behavior to her father, but he refuses to hear it and looks unhappy when she leaves with a clearly hostile Rupert.

Not long after, Charlie and the others come across Rupert's car and find him inside bleeding and Julia gone. They find out later that the Shadow had turned on them and kidnapped Julia, and he posts a video saying that he is tired of being treated like dirt and wants Michelle Clore's financial information in exchange for Julia's safe return. Rupert, in a state of panic, reveals to the K-Team that Julia is pregnant, which convinces Steve to help him. Rupert and Steve go to where she is being held, and try to barter with the Shadow in order to save Julia. During the conversation, the Shadow reveals that he has slept with Julia, and that the baby might be his. However, Rupert corrects him, and tells everyone that the baby is his and Michelle Clore's, and that Julia was the surrogate. Everyone is shocked, especially Julia. The Shadow then attacks Rupert, and Steve leaves, having enough of the chaos. The Shadow kills Rupert before heading off with the bank statements.

Julia sends Charlie a video message on her phone, and blames them for the misfortune that has befallen her. She says that she will raise the baby and that they'll be sorry for what they've done to it's parents, she'll make sure of it.

Etymology
Julia is the latinate feminine form of Julius. Julius comes from a Roman family name which was possibly derived from Greek ιουλος (ioulos) "downy-bearded". Alternatively, it could be related to the name of the Roman god Jupiter.