Some of June’s friends were more dangerous than others. Justin had fallen in with a bad crowd, and June had fallen in with him. To try and keep herself distracted from thinking about Mercury, she started dating Justin instead.
He was kind at first—very kind—and she called and clung to him often in her loneliness. She would would go out drinking with Justin and his friends to parties that her own parents would normally forbid her going to. She was thankfully never harmed, but the parties were scary to her, and she didn’t know why she kept going. The smells at the parties were acrid, the sights were putrid, and the music hurt her head. They smelled of smoke and vomit, she saw many people having sex with no privacy (even being egged on), and the music seemed to have no melody and hammered into her head tunelessly.
There was something about the risk that made June feel alive, however.
June always felt like she was her mother and father’s daughter—a respectable, smart, well brought up, rich girl--but she didn’t now. She never took unnecessary risks and was always involved in the “right” activities and the “right” people. She always looked down on people who went to parties like Justin’s, and was shocked that she had seemingly become one of them.
She felt invigorated by the thudding of her heart and the electricity in the tips of her fingers when she danced with Justin at those parties. She was no longer her parents’ daughter, instead, she was now Justin’s girlfriend—a girl who loved to take risks, drink beer, and smoke.
But, one night came, however, and June found out that she was not Justin’s girlfriend.
Justin showed up at a party he had invited June to with another girl.
June had arrived in a separate car, feeling giddy and excited to start drinking and to kiss and touch Justin. The house where the party was was a big, two-story home with a pruned and well-kempt yard--June assumed that parents of the student who owned the house must have been rich like June's.
June hummed her way into the house, and when her senses were assautled by the sights and sounds of the party, she felt her heart leap a beat--and was addicted to the feeling. She walked through the house, looking for Justin--shoving her way past the crowd of students who had filled up the room.
Eventually, she saw Justin at the opposite end of the living room, with another girl. June was devastated. She approached Justin and asked awkwardly, “Who’s this?”
He replied without a considerate thought for her feelings, “My girlfriend.”
“But I’m…”
“You won’t be my girlfriend until you’re ready to do more than just hold hands.”
June was in tears, her cheeks turned beet red. Every student around them appeared to have heard them. June said desperately, “I… I… Please let me be your girlfriend!”
Justin just ignored her, turning his back on her and walking away, hand-in-hand, with his new girlfriend.
June charged after and grabbed his shoulder. “Please! I have to be your girlfriend!”
The crowd was whispering and jeering at her, their voices closing in on her, suffocating her. She was sweating from the heat of so many bodies being packed together.
June looked down at her feet. She whispered, “In two days?”
Justin looked thoughtful, and then he nodded. His ‘new girlfriend’ left his side and June took it instead. She let Justin wrap an arm around her, and she felt like her new, risky self again.
***
After the party, however, anxiety washed over her as Justin dropped her off back at her home. June fell to her knees in front of her front door. She sobbed bitterly. She didn’t want to have sex, but she also didn’t want to go back to being such a boring girl with a boring life.
In a moment, she took a deep breath, gazing up at the starry sky and letting the cold wind turn her tears cold.
She didn’t want to go inside; she would just be greeted to her mother, lying depressed and unsleeping on the couch. She decided to take a walk and ended up about two blocks away from her house. She turned a corner and was surprised to see Mercury standing alone, looking up at the moon and smoking. June rubbed her hands together, feeling cold, trying to warm up. She could finally be face-to-face and alone with him like she always wanted.
Mercury turned towards her and flicked away his cigarette. There was nowhere else to look but his bizarre eyes, which seemed to be so vast that they opened the door to another world.
June cleared her throat and then she said awkwardly, “Hello…”
Mercury regarded her with a frown for a moment, but then he smiled and said, “Hello.”
June wondered what to say, and then she found the words. “Why are you always alone?”
He answered her question with a question, “Why are you always staring at me? See something you like?”
June smiled sheepishly. “Maybe…”
Mercury smiled quizzically at her honesty, and then looked up at the moon again. “I’ve never met any girl who couldn’t take their eyes off me.”
June looked down at her feet nervously. “I’m always thinking about you—even when I shouldn’t be.”
Mercury snorted. “If I were a woman, I don’t think I’d like you saying that to me.”
June blushed a bright red, ashamed at her own supposed perverse honesty. “But you’re a man. Besides, I didn’t mean it like that…”
He shrugged. “True.” He thankfully left it at that, and to help her not feel terrible he added, “everyone has thoughts like those, anyway.”
June was silent, but elated for a moment—just gathering her thoughts. This was her chance. “Do you live around here?”
Mercury chuckled. “Do you want to stalk me or something?”
June was guilt-ridden; it was almost as if he knew she tried to look up his residence. At the look on her face, Mercury looked simultaneously a little disturbed and sympathetic. “Are you that in love with me?”
June honestly said, “I… I don’t know. I have so many things I want to ask you…”
Mercury raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Like if you truly have the psychopath gene,” June said carelessly. She hoped he wasn’t offended.
“If I did, would you not love me anymore, baby?” He winked humorously at her.
June’s fingertips went electric at his wink; her knees went weak.
Suddenly, June got a text. Her hands were trembling. Justin was reminding her of her promise by way of text.
Mercury tilted his head to the side, noticing her trembling. “Are you okay?”
June broke down, because, for whatever reason, she felt like it was okay to do so with him. She sobbed. “I don’t know what to do…”
Mercury put a gloved hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay… don’t cry…”
She had been looking at the ground, but now she looked at him. “Are you a virgin?”
Mercury bristled a little. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because… If I don’t have sex with my boyfriend he’ll dump me.” June wiped away her overwhelming tears.
Mercury nodded understandingly. Abruptly, he asked, “Are you cheap?”
June was offended. “No!”
“Is your body worth so little to you that you would sell it just to appease your boyfriend?” Mercury pushed her.
June stared at him unblinkingly, enthralled by what he had to say.
“You have to live in that body your whole life. You might as well treat it well.” He explained.
June chuckled, wiping another tear away.
Silence reigned for a moment, and in that moment, June felt as if her fears had been swept away.
Mercury dusted his clothes off and then said, “Well... I’ll see you around. Take care of that body.”
June called after him, “Do you want to go out with me?”
He chuckled and replied pithily, “No.”
Comments (2)
See all