June In May

Chapter 2 - A Consideration

Chapter 2 - A Consideration

June Wolez

I stepped out of the school bus once it stopped at the turn in my lane.

I only took the school bus only when I had no one to give me a lift home. Usually, Ella was my ride home unless she had club activity after school, which was today's case. As for going to school, if Camilla couldn't drive me to school, Michael would pick me up—which was one of the reasons I found myself wishing almost every morning that Camilla would get some urgent work, causing her to leave the house early. But that happened very rarely.

The rain had stopped by then, so I didn't have to take out my umbrella. Though I wouldn't use it, even if it was raining because I liked drenching in the rain. Camilla would scold me to hell if she found out, but she was always busy with her work and got home late at night, so there was no way she would find it out. Now, if only I had a partner to get drenched with, every rainy day would be just perfect. Sigh.

I was walking towards my house, looking at the street to avoid getting splashed with mud by cars. All of a sudden, my eyes went to the house right beside mine, a smile automatically forming on my lips.

There was my other crush, playing basketball on the basketball court of his house. The late afternoon sun reflecting on him made his messy blonde hair look more attractive than usual. It was Troy Brian, who was a junior in a different high school. He had been my neighbor for five years now, ever since I turned ten. When his family first moved in next door, and I saw him carrying one of the cartons from the rooftop, from that moment, I had a huge crush on him.

I had two crushes in real life; one was Michael, while the other one was Troy; the others were my celebrity crushes. I couldn't choose one of them over the other. I know it wasn't exactly right of me to fawn over two boys at the same time, but hey, those were my crushes. They were meant to be admired from afar, so I couldn't help myself. Besides, Camilla told me that it was okay to crush on multiple people at this age—as long as it didn't get serious.

I watched Troy as he dribbled the ball. He looked really hot while playing. He was the basketball team captain of his school. He was great at sports, whereas I was just average. I even had quite a few falls during my gym class. The scars on my knees were a testament to them.

I never used to have the courage to talk to Troy properly. Ever since the first time we met, I would literally forget my voice. That's why every time we would meet up, I would automatically become mute. It was actually a miracle he didn't actually assume I was already mute. Instead, being the charmer he was, he always tried to initiate a conversation with me. I found his gesture really heart-fluttering, but I always ended up running away from him.

That was until middle school. Now, I could make small conversations with him. It was an improvement.

Anyway, I was happy to see Troy play today. He hurt his legs when he went to the spring championship game one and a half months ago in Colorado Springs, that's why he couldn't even practice during that time. I was really glad to see he was recovering, and now he could even play basketball like before.

I wondered how one could look that handsome while playing, getting all sweaty and hair sticking messily to their forehead. Troy wasn't even the bad boy type, full of piercings with a mean look. Rather, he was a nice, cheerful guy, who was respectful to everyone he met. He always talked with an adorable smile. I only wished I had enough courage to talk to him properly, without cowering away.

But was it just me or were his movements a little slower?

Watching him from my big window almost every night made me quite precise about his movements. Heck, I could probably even predict where he was going to step foot on the court next. He was going to aim for the hoop in about three seconds and the ball would definitely go in—