june and the blond boy

Perfectly Timed Interruptions

ᴊᴜɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴏɴᴅ ʙᴏʏ

I swung the front door open to my house, instantly piping up,

"Houston, we have a proble—"

"Welcome home!" a crowd of voices spoke cheerfully. I doubled back in shock, my eyes darting up to find my aunt, uncle, and a few of the neighbors smiling at me.

"Oh, hi." I grinned, moving my hair out of my face just as I was shoved forward, and Hayden was dragging James through the front door, quickly disappearing somewhere into my home.

"Hi, Tracy, uncle Taylor." I smiled at them, panning my eyes over to the unfamiliar faces. "Mister and Missus Wilson..." I greeted the old couple, not having seen them since daycare on Saturday's in 1976.

It was understandable why they were here, considering I had no friends besides the two that were probably banging in my bedroom.

And as my mind drifted off to that place again, my smile faltered a bit as I turned serious. "It's really nice to see you all, and thank you for coming, but I'm not feeling all that great... I think I'll just lie down for a bit."

They all strayed off to the kitchen to eat whatever food my aunt had set out as I trudged up the stairs to my bedroom that I'd missed so badly. I expected Hayden and James to be in there, but they weren't. I'd caught a glimpse of James helping her out my window and onto the roof just as I'd entered. I ran over to the open window, leaning on the sill to see outside.

"What are you guys doing?" I half expected them to be sitting on the roof waiting for me with a "Welcome Home!" cake, but it appeared that they were ditching me.

"Oh—" Hayden looked back at me from the edge of the roof where they sat. "Sorry— um, yeah... there's some parties and stuff going on around the neighborhood since everyone's getting home, and..." she trailed off.

"Oh.." I nodded. "Am I not invited? Or..." I trailed off, genuinely asking.

Hayden glanced at James. "Um, yeah! You can come... if you want." she said slowly.

Stupidly, I agreed.

And that's how I ended up third wheeling the entire fucking night. It felt like we were trick or treating, the way we'd walk from party to party to see what booze they had.

I still had so many questions about Hayden and James. Are they dating? If so, for how long? Is it serious? Did he take her virginity? Did she take his?

I was sulking on the couch while James was probably taking shots off Hayden's body when his friend Daniel took a seat beside me, handing me a red solo cup of whatever cursed liquid they were serving at this party.

I wasn't sure if he and James spoke much anymore.

"Hey, June, right?" he sent me a charming smile. I nodded, returning the smile. "Danny." he introduced himself.

"I know," I giggled softly. "You used to hang around James all the time."

"You too." he chuckled deeply. "You guys still talk at all?" he asked, sipping on his drink.