cherry [fezco]

0.0

italicized text is rue narrating

| all for us - labrinth |

I met Juniper Riot the day she moved into this shitty little town. She moved in across the street from me. The house was old, rooted to the ground by growing vines and moss that forced the once pearly white paint to twist green. But hey, at least I wasn't the only one living in this shit hole anymore. Sure , it was a nice neighborhood,until you realize that all the other inhabitants are gross, old lonely men that peep through their curtains at night. Having someone my age around was honestly one of the best things that happened that summer.

Normally I don't really pay attention to people moving into my neighborhood, but the Riot case intrigued me to say the least. It was just Juniper and her mom. I would learn a little later that her father left them when Juniper was three years old to pursue life with a new woman. She was younger. Blonder. Happier. Her name was Angie Hunter. She was Juniper's babysitter. Let's just say Juniper's mother didn't take the news too lightly. She took Juniper and moved out of her hometown, then had been living in Washington until Juniper's mother was relocated to East Highland.

I saw her through the window in my kitchen, and decided to do what I do best-- snoop around.

"Are you looking at the girl that just moved in?" Gia asked, leaning against the kitchen counter behind her sister. Rue jumped a little, and quickly twisted. "She's pretty, right?"

"Jesus Gia," Rue sighed, hanging her head a little as she blew out a sigh. "Don't just go around sneaking up on people."

"But you were looking at her," Gia smirked a little, wandering up to the window to look out of it herself. "Weren't you?"

Rue shrugged her shoulders and started to shuffle away from Gia. "I mean, it's someone who doesn't look three days away from meeting the grim reaper so," Rue grabbed her hoodie that was draping over the arm of the couch. "Yeah, I was looking at her."

"Where are you going?"

Rue pulled the front door open. "I'm gonna go see if she needs help."

Gia smiled and hopped up onto the kitchen counter. "Have fun."

Rue pulled her maroon jacket closer to her torso before jogging across the street. She noticed the moving van immediately, but noticed the lack of people outside more. "Um," she paused and looked around the lawn. "Excuse me?"

A girl a few inches shorter than Rue rounded the corner with a medium sized, brown moving box balancing on her hip. Kitchen was written on it messily with sharpie. The girl had an earbud dangling down her neck, dancing around the cotton of her green tank top as she walked. Rue starred, not for a long time, but long enough to take in some of her features.

She had dark red hair-- burgundy almost-- the color only boxed hair dye could achieve, that reached her ribcage. It looked soft, though it was tangled at the ends from fingers constantly running through it. She was a little paler than Rue, with olive undertones, and still had a decent summer tan-- it brought out the constellation of freckles that were painted on her legs and shoulders. Rue couldn't really tell her eye color, and she frankly didn't want to stare any longer. She didn't want to creep her out.

She seemed delicate, just by the way she moved. Her feet shuffled in small, carefully placed steps and her posture was nearly perfect. Rue wouldn't have been surprised if she only dressed in overalls, tennis skirts, and summer dresses. Was it rude to assume that about a girl who hadn't even noticed Rue standing there in front of her? Yes. But since she was wearing a cropped tank top with a white tennis skirt, Rue didn't think she was wrong.

"Oh--" She turned to Rue and nearly dropped the box she had been holding. "Can I help you?" She asked quietly, shifting her weight between her feet. 

Juniper was shy, and really fucking hated new people.

"I live across the street," Rue pointed behind her then rested her hand on her neck. She licked her lips. "I uh, saw you moving in."

"Yeah," Juniper answered back, going between staring at Rue, and the sidewalk.

"I'm Rue," Rue could feel the awkwardness filling the air as she kicked at some pebbles with her feet.

"Juniper."

Rue looked around for anyone else, but there was only Juniper. She felt her eyebrows stitch together. "Is anyone else here?"

Juniper slowly shook her head. "No, it's just me."

"Do you uh," Rue looked into the moving van. There were still a dozen or so boxes scattered in the van, some stacked on top of each other still. "Do you want help?"

Juniper opened her mouth with every intention to politely decline, but with the overflowing boxes in her side view and all the organizing to do before sunset, she sighed. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" Rue echoed back, disbelief on her tongue.

"Some help would be nice," Juniper smiled gently as she adjusted the box onto her other hip.

"Oh shit, alright," Rue walked toward the van and grabbed onto a small box. "Lead the way," She murmured to Juniper as she stood back up straight.

Rue ended up staying all night at Juniper's house, helping her move in and take things out of boxes. They talked to fill the time and distract them from the boring tasks they were doing. Rue told her everything she possibly could about East Highland High school to prepare her for the upcoming week. It seemed like the pair talked forever, but at the end of the night when Rue walked back across the street to her house, she realized two things.

The first thing was that Juniper reminded her of someone she was close to: Fezco, her dealer and long time friend. She assumed that's why they clicked so fast. Both Juniper and Fez were soft spoken at times, and were always off in their own little world.

The second thing, while not nearly as important as the first, was that Juniper's eyes were hazel.