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.