drowning

xv

" the memories just won't seem to let me go "

-

JUNE

[two years earlier]

"Hey! Juney!"

I stumbled at the sound of my name being called across the hallway, so loudly that multiple people had turned to look toward the voice following after me. It was his voice, and I couldn't help but feel my face heat up, before even laying my eyes on him.

"Hey," he said, and tugged at my arm to turn me around. I held tighter onto the books I had in my arms, careful not to make a fool of myself by dropping them. "Running away from me, huh?"

"What? N-no! No, I just, uh, didn't know it was you," I lied. I knew it was him, because how could you not recognize the sound of his voice that was so famous around the school? He was like a small-town celebrity, but for some reason, he was talking to me. "Hi, Parker."

"Where're you headed?" he asked, and flashed me a bright smile. I was starstruck, to say the least. I could hear multiple conversations surrounding us, of who I was, and why Parker was talking to me.

"Oh! Uh, I'm just going toward the, uhm, the library, to return these," I stammered. The girls whispering around us had a point- why was Parker talking to me?

"Cool, I'll join you," he said, and took half the books from my arms, and quickly began to walk in step with me, toward the library, and away from the large crowds of people talking about us. He seemed unfazed my it all, which I envied.

Parker and I arrived shortly, and I returned my books quickly, before turning back to Parker, who was looking at the 'new arrivals' case at the front. I walked back toward him, unsure what his attentions were. He probably was going to ask for help in our economy class. It was usually a senior-level class, but I opted for a type of class schedule that could help me graduate early, so I got approved to take it now, as a freshman.

"So..." I trailed off, unsure of how to carry a conversation with someone like Parker. He was popular, and well-liked, known for his impressive baseball skills, and his even more impressive way with girls.

"Where do you normally eat lunch, Juney?"

I was puzzled by the nickname he called me, seeing as how I'd never heard someone call me anything other than Juniper or June before. I realized I was simply staring at him without responding, so I quickly choked out an answer. "Uhm, usually here, actually."

"That's no fun! Come on, eat in the cafeteria with me, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team," he said, and grabbed a hold of my wrist, beginning to pull me along side him out of the library, and toward the cafeteria.

It was a bit of a unspoken thing that the juniors and seniors ran the cafeteria, while the freshman and sophomore ate outside in the courtyard. I felt a bit out of place when he pulled me to the table of tall, lean baseball players all talking and and doing a bit of roughhousing. There were also plenty of beautiful, older cheerleaders peppered in between, making me feel even more intimidated by it all. I was just a freshman, who barely just got boobs last year, and couldn't understand makeup to save her life, and usually ate alone in the library because I had never been good at making friends.