001

June had already been awake for what she estimated must be around 45 minutes when she heard her parents' car park outside her garage. They were loudly talking about the previous day's football match outcome, she could hear their voices become louder and louder as they opened the car doors, then closed them back as they continued their conversation. Moments later the sound of the back trunk door being opened and paper bags being handled followed before the trunk door was closed back. The voices' volume descended as they walked away from June's bedroom window and a minute later they could be faintly heard, coming from inside the house this time.

It took a strong resolution from June's part to finally open her eyes, the warmth of her bed was just too exquisite, though something that had been there just a few days before was missing. The other difference was that it must be near noon now, and June relished in the peace of mind provided by having finished and e-mailed the final review of her last novel to her editor. She loved the feeling of a story finally letting her go, freeing her from its grasp, as if it took hold of her from the very moment of its conception, ruling everything in her life, altering her sleeping times along with the rest of her habits until she was, in the end, by putting it into words, able to liberate herself from it, as if it were some kind of exorcism.

As she lay on her stomach with her face half buried in her pillow, she heard the subtle and distinct ringtone. She smiled and rolled over to lay on her back, then let her hand explore the space under her covers in search for the device, and after easily finding it due to its rather important size, pull it from under the covers and place it in front of her face. With the base of her idle hand palm she scratched her eyes and then pulled out the curtain of hair that had covered her face after the previous movement. She read the message written on the green backlight display and smiled sleepily.

“Rise n’ shine beautiful! It’s a lovely day. Miss u”

She thought about her answer for a few moments, she felt like teasing a little bit, so she chuckled and bit her lower lip as she hastily typed.

“Screw the day, I’m thinking about a way of sneaking you into my bed”

Then a few moments later her phone rang again.

“You can organize a farewell party on the other side of town and then we could both be late. Really late, how ‘bout that?”

“Smart idea, I’ll work on it and let you know, but it may take some time…and I want you in my bed right now”

“There ain’t no other place I’d rather be right now, babe”

She sighed and typed again. “Miss u too, handsome. Have a nice day”

“You too, beautiful”

More than twenty minutes had passed since the first message had arrived, and the wonderful smell of June’s mom’s cooking was creeping all the way into June’s room, causing her stomach to rumble loudly, inciting her to get up and face the day. She pulled the covers to a side and lazily jumped off the bed, then put on her robe and walked towards the window. Using her index and middle finger she separated two slats of the Venetian curtain and brought her face closer to peek at the world outside. The sudden exposure to the bright sunlight made her pupils contract so quickly it stung, but then they adjusted as quickly. It was true, it was a gorgeous day indeed.

Once in the bathroom she undressed herself and almost inadvertently her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror. June wasn’t a fitness maniac and didn’t care about her diet besides just watching the portion size, and that had worked pretty well so far. She acknowledged that she’d been genetically blessed with a well proportioned and harmonious body that proved to be fairly low-maintenance and she’d always looked and felt healthy. However, now the mirror was indicating that she might be a couple pounds heavier. June couldn’t care less. She opened the hot water tap and observed how the steam swiftly invaded every corner of the room as she thought. It was that time of the month when she usually felt a little bloated and she’d indulged perhaps a little too much these past time, in many pleasures. Oh yes, flashes of the past weeks cleaned away any unwelcome thought.

…

“So how’s packing been?”

June’s mother’s strong voice snapped her out of her hang-up with the newspaper. She took a sip of coffee from the cup she was holding in the air in front of her, right above the sheets splayed on the kitchen island counter.

“Haven’t started yet”, June answered with a tone that acknowledged that even though she still had time to spare, she’d been postponing packing more than she should. She placed the cup of coffee on the counter, straightened her back and stretched her arms in front of her without moving from her stool. Seeing her mother look back over her shoulder with a surprised expression on her face, she lifted both her hands in the air in a surrender gesture as she spoke “I know, I know, but I’ve been so busy with the book. Today’s the day. Besides, I want you and dad to take the boxes back to K with you, I don’t want to leave them here with strangers”.

Her mother silently nodded and turned around to continue her chopping and cutting work, giving her back to June. She continued speaking casually. “You shouldn’t worry too much about your things, sweetie. Chris is not a complete stranger after all, she’s a good girl, she’ll take care of them”.

It was more than perfect that she had been able to rent the house with furniture and all to the daughter of one of her mother’s friends. “Yeah, of course, that’s not what I worry about, there’s just some things that I do mind other people laying their hands on”.

Her mother, knowing her daughter’s reserved character, had no choice but to agree. “That’s true,” she admitted.

Sunset found June standing in front of the bookshelves that completely covered one of the walls in her room and that contained those volumes she appreciated the most, the ones that inspired her. Naturally there were plenty more in the library itself. At her feet already lay 4 medium-size boxes that contained other objects she considered precious and private to her, mostly things related to her travels. What was laying ahead of her would be a fresh start, and correspondingly, her baggage needed to be as light as possible.

She took pride in being an unattached person and had absolutely no trouble in leaving things behind, but parting from her book collection had proved to be a psychological challenge. Starting from the top left hand corner, her eyes scanned each one of the books’ backs, and each of them brought a different set of memories to her mind. About three thirds of the way through to the bottom, her eyes lingered on the back of one specific volume: Umberto Eco’s “The name of the rose”. It had meant so much to her way back when, marking the start of her interest in alchemy and hermetic arts.

The memories of those times made her feel like a teenager all over again. Maybe that one she could take with her, as an ambassador of all the others she’d be leaving behind. After all, it contained more or less a little bit of everything.

June bent over and pulled it out from its tight location amongst other books of the same author. She took a deep breath before opening in order to take in the delicious smell of old books, which also carried a subtle cloud of dust that made her sneeze. After recovering from the spasm she opened the book and clipped all the pages in her right hand so she could quickly brush through it. She usually left something stuck in between the pages of the books she read that would later remind her of that specific time, as some sort of time capsule. It could be anything from a small flower, a bill, a receipt or a concert ticket. The memory of herself buying it on the afternoon of the day she’d started the new school popped up in her mind. She’d started reading it in the library and thought it was too good not to have it for herself. On page 141 she found a Backstage pass from the following day’s concert, she’d put the card there after coming back home and opening the book late at night to continue reading it.

05.26.1987. She brushed her index finger over the date and slid the card down just enough to uncover the paragraph hidden underneath it.

A rush of adrenaline ran through her body as she read the lines. “You’re so silly”, she whispered sarcastically to herself, then shut the book down and held it in the air in front of her between the palm of her hands, in an attempt of preventing the book from speaking to her any further, her fingers unconsciously tapping on both covers.

As she stared at the book she was holding, her heart suddenly squeezed inside her chest, followed by a lonely tear that escaped from her eye as she blinked and ran down her cheek surprising her. Well, maybe if she cried a little bit-

“Sis!” John’s powerful voice could be clearly heard from the other end of the corridor from June’s room, then his equally powerful steps approaching the open door of the bedroom.

“Just a sec!” June replied as soberly as she could, forcing a loud voice to conceal the lump that had formed in her throat. She hastily wiped her cheek against her shoulder before numbingly placing the book back in the shelves and managing to regain composure just in time to lift her face up and see her brother grasping the door’s frame and sticking his head inside the room with an impossibly white grin.

“Pasta doesn’t wait for anyone!”.

“’Course not!” replied June as she made quick steps towards the door and closed it behind her, then silently followed her brother towards the kitchen.

000

Being a teenager is always an awkward thing and everyone experiences it in a different way. For June Cohen, it was a weird stage she had to endure in order to cross over to the other side, to adulthood, when all her dreams would come true.

Maybe it was the outrageous amount of fairy tales she’d read as a child during those long afternoons in which her grandfather had confined her in the library – “One hour of reading, one hour of playground”, he used to say – or maybe it was just the way she'd been raised by a father that treated her like nothing less than a princess – altogether with its rights and duties – but she knew that Kalamazoo, MI, just wasn’t where she’d end up. The books had always told her that there was so much more to see, so much more to live than just what life put in front of her eyes. She didn’t even remember when or why she started liking them, but it had happened, she’d fallen head over heels in love with them, and those alternate universes had become part of her reality.

Her father’s business had been doing really good in the recent years, so despite her reluctance, at the age of 16, she was transferred to a private school – “It’s the best school in town, you’ll get used to it really fast, I promise. You can see your old friends after classes, right?”, her parents repeated every time she found an excuse to object their verdict. None of them worked. It was nothing but starting all over again for June.

That’s why she wasn’t very impressed when she first entered the new classroom, wearing her new school uniform, which she hated - of course – and consisted of a grey skirt, white blouse and burgundy tie. God, she felt hopeless.

Taking that fact aside, it was a fresh start now, and to make it even more evident (and to her mother’s dismay) she’d cut her waist-long light brown silky straight hair to a pixie-cut. She was almost unrecognizable, but she felt fresh, renewed and comfortable, there was nowhere to hide now.

For the first class June took all the necessary measures to keep control of the situation and she started by arriving late and sitting on the back of the classroom. That way she could observe the dynamic of the class and it would be easier to catch in the act anyone who would turn their heads to look at the newly arrived. Some did, in fact and, at meeting her gaze, quickly turned their heads back to the front.

Then June sat back, relaxed, and listened to the Philosophy class, which - despite her rather uneasy state of mind - caught her attention anyhow, since it dealt with ancient mythology - one in her long list of favorite subjects which included medieval history and everything that had to do with alchemy and secret arts.

One of the girls in the class, however, turned her head and held June’s stare, smiled and mouthed a gentle “Hi”. June couldn’t help but mirror the curly-haired girl’s action and replied with another subtle smile. As soon as the bell rang, June stormed out of the classroom and headed for the bathroom, staying there until the whole break was almost over. She would socialize later, first she needed to evaluate precisely where she was standing.

On her way back to the classroom she passed by the girls in her new class standing around in a circle outside the door, heatedly discussing what hair spray brand had the longest staying up power. June smirked and looked at them sideways as she walked past them, then pushed her short fringe to one side of her forehead with her index finger, glad that she didn’t have to care about that now.

She didn’t make it through the door, though.

“June!...Right?” the curly haired girl asked, causing June to come to a halting stop and turn her back to face the group. As she did so the circle immediately opened up to welcome her.

June couldn’t feel anything but good vibes from this girl, her dark brown eyes were all honesty and welcoming, she opened her mouth to reply but the curly haired beat her at it once again.

“I’m Adrianna”, the curly hair girl added as she placed the palm of her right hand on the middle of her chest.

“Yes, June. Nice to meet you Adrianna”, she couldn’t help but to reply in an equally friendly and sincere manner.

“It’s such a pretty name, were you born in June by any chance?”, Adrianna asked in a teasing manner, evidencing that she knew it wasn’t the case but that she wanted to start a conversation.

“Nah, too easy, my dad’s a Johnny Cash fan, there was no choice for me I guess”, June replied with a shrug. She was proud of her name, Johnny Cash’s music was her strongest link to her father, she never knew and probably would ever know if she just liked the man’s music for itself or for her dad, but the fact was that she was crazy about it.

Adrianna felt like adding more comments but quickly checked the clock on the wall and proceeded to introduce June to the rest of the girls, introduction that was interrupted by the bell ringing again, indicating for them to go back to their seats inside the classroom.

By the end of the morning they’d already arranged for lunch together and June had met most of the other girls and boys in the class. No one particularly interested her so that also would make things much easier. June felt relieved, Adrianna had made things so easy for her. Everything felt easier now.

During lunch June was the center of all the questions and attention, reason for which she had barely been able to put any food inside her mouth. She didn’t mind, though, they were a really nice group of girls, contrary to what she had expected from the daughters of the best families in town. As soon as they emptied their trays and put them back at the service station, the girls started making their way for the door. June, however, didn’t follow them.

“What? You’re not coming with us? We’re playing handball, it’s fun!”, said Adrianna enthusiastically, though it came out a little more anxious than she had intended.

“Yeah, I know…maybe some other day?” June replied, and tried to be as honest as possible in her explanation when she saw Adrianna’s slightly furrowed brow “It’s been a long day, I need to put my head back in order”. By that, naturally, she meant going to the library, that wonderful, quiet place where time stood still and she could have access to any universe that she chose to go to in order to clear her mind a little bit.

Adrianna, on the other hand, didn’t want to push the new classmate, she sounded sincere after all, it must have been a stressful thing for her starting a new school and everything, Besides she didn’t know June too well yet, she must have her reasons.

“OK, tomorrow then?”, the furrow in her brow disappeared, or was dwarfed by her charming smile and sparkly dark eyes.

“Sure” replied June with enthusiasm to make up for her turning down “Tomorrow, then”

“Oh!” Adrianna opened her eyes wide and slapped her palm against her forehead. “I forgot to tell you, um…we’re going to Detroit for a concert, wanna come with us?”

“Sounds good” said June automatically, but immediately remembered that she was extremely picky when it came to music, and for the sake of the potential friendship that lay on her and Adrianna’s future, she hoped that it was at least a band she didn’t really hate. She quickly asked “Who’s playing?”

“It’s Bon Jovi, you know them? They’re so hot right now”, Adrianna grinned.

Well, June barely knew them actually, but had heard of them, and all those other bands that seemed to be coming out in mass production those days. It would probably be just the usual, harmless stuff. She shrugged and nodded carelessly, “OK…sure”. Then nodded and frowned again when she started blurting out an unstoppable flood of questions. “But what about the tickets? Were can I buy them? What if we are seated separately? And…how are we going to get there?” her brain started wandering and her rambling didn’t allow her to notice Adrianna’s carefree face and smile.

“Don’t worry about that” Adrianna said reassuringly and bit her tongue, “my dad’s catering, so he’s taking us and…he’ll sneak us in, so no tickets!” she added, the last syllable in such a high pitch that it turned into a squeal of excitement.

“Ha, that’s great!” June couldn’t help but adding to Adrianna’s contagious excitement. It really was, actually, it almost sounded too good to be true. Out of habit she did the gesture of pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, but there was no strand to be pulled, so she pressed her earring free earlobe instead, a gesture she did when she was genuinely excited about something.

“Awesome then” Adrianna added clapping her hands in a cheery manner, and hastily returned to the group of girls that waved back at June.

June, in turn, waved back at the group of dark silhouettes drawn against the bright daylight coming into the building through the double-width doors.

As soon as the girls turned their backs and resumed their walk out of the building, June spun on her heels, the soles of her shoes producing a squeak against the granite floor of the hall. She chuckled and smiled as her head hung from her neck, hooked her thumbs on the straps of her backpack, and headed for her mothership.