Last Kiss Goodbye • Teenage Juice Ortiz

90 - Birthday Presents

For the first time, June celebrated her birthday two times. Yesterday, she turned seventeen, which she celebrated with her sisters, Juan, and her mother; today, she used Juan and Mateo's apartment. The latter wasn't around, although she was sure he would show up later. He had paid for the drinks and snacks, and he had ignored her objections.

All in all, she had more visitors than over the past years. Jordy and Shawna had been at earlier birthdays too, but Beth's place was taken by Erik, and Emilio, Riley and Armando where there too. She'd wondered if Erik would come at all, given his history with Emilio and Mateo, but he told her he had to face Emilio every day anyway, and that he would go home if Mateo made him feel too nervous. June hoped he would really do so, even though things were different since Mateo had helped to save Erik's life and had put his tormentor behind bars.

A hand gliding across her knee distracted her from her thoughts, and she looked to the side. Juan looked at her with a searching glance in his eyes. She smiled at him, showing him that she was alright and that her thoughts had wandered off. Putting her hand on his, she squeezed. A few days ago, she had finally managed to have peace with everything that had gone wrong between them in the past weeks. There hadn't been a specific conversation; one morning, she woke up in his arms, watched his sleeping face, and realized she loved him dearly. Despite their differences, despite the mistakes they both made. However, his insecurity and anxiety still made him search for affirmation the whole time, and she knew it was up to her to increase his confidence.

"Did you really like it?" he asked softly.

It was the third time he asked her that question, and for the third time, she leaned into him and kissed the corner of his lips. "I did, baby. It's a fantastic gift."

And it really was—although he had been so nervous that even a goldfish would have made her happy. He had given her a course in comic drawing. Something she had never considered, but it sounded super cool. She had been drawing for a long time, but she was never taught by a professional. It was a very personal gift, and warmth filled her heart at the thought that he knew her so well.

His warm brown eyes caught her glance, and she was drowning in them, forgetting all the others in the room. Absently, she toyed with his fingers. She loved him so much — she was so happy they'd found each other. She felt like a completely different person than she was a year ago.

June startled as something hit her head. It was a ball of wrapping paper that—judging from the smirk on his face—came from Armando. "If you two want some quality time, just send us away. Or you two could do a quickie; we'll turn up the music a little louder."

June felt her cheeks glow.

"If I were you, I'd wait a lil longer," Emilio said with a grin. "The presents Mat and I bought will come in handy."

Her stomach turned to knots, and she didn't dare to look at Juan. Instead, she headed to the kitchen to fill bowls of crisps. Hopefully, it would take a while before Mateo came home.

But unfortunately, she heard the key in the front door right after refilling all glasses. She scolded herself; she shouldn't let their words get to her. Emilio was only trying to get a rise out of her, as he had done ever since he discovered that his friend liked her.

"Hey Junie." Mateo came to her and kissed her cheek, even though it wasn't the first time today. "Happy birthday, girl."

The words barely left his lips as Emilio showed up next to him, still with a wide grin on his face. June swallowed nervously. Suddenly, it felt like two hungry vultures were watching her.

The two boys exchanged a look, then Emilio nodded to the chair, telling her to sit down. She did what he wanted; the sooner this was over, the better. It couldn't be that bad, right?