June closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss, but after just a short moment, Moira drew away, cupping June’s face in her hands. June opened her eyes, her heart fluttering again. She had never been looked at like Moira was looking at her now.

As she leaned forward into what she hoped might be a second kiss, June felt a sickening lurch and gasped. June saw Moira’s eyes widening with surprise as she disappeared.

June sat up in bed, in her bedroom, in the twenty-first century of the waking world, with no pretty woman who wanted to kiss her anywhere nearby.

She expelled a heavy breath of disappointment. What a dream! Glancing at the pillow beside her, pondering returning to sleep, she sighed dreamily. 

She glanced at her phone, which was lying on the bed beside her. It was six-thirty a.m.; just about time to wake up to get ready for work. June would have to take the bus to work as her mom had the car today. She sighed, recalling the dream and the kiss again.

She gazed at her pillow. Moira’s lips had been so soft and pleasant to kiss. The memory sent shivers down her spine. She shook her head, tossing the blankets off and hopping out of bed to brush her teeth and get ready for the day.

Not only was June’s bus ten minutes late because of traffic, but her manager gave her a warning—it was the third time she’d been more than five minutes late that month—and then had accidentally tipped over a cart full of cherry tomato cartons on the ground when having to fill in stocking the produce section this morning. As she stood at the bagging station of “Shopping Market”, a large grocery chain, June had to force herself to remain pleasant to her coworkers and customers. When her mind wandered in boredom to the kiss from her dream, her face flushed at the memory of it.

“Ooh, someone’s blushing,” her friend, who was currently working the cash register, sang. “Who is she? Do I know her?”

“My dream girl,” June murmured with a note of irony, quietly enough so Amy wouldn’t hear. She began bagging the items that Amy sent down the conveyor belt.

“Ooh,” Amy sang again. “Finally bag a girl?”

“I’m trying to bag these groceries, if you could stop being so nosey,” June muttered, trying to ignore the raised eyebrows the middle-aged woman who was checking out sent her at “she” and “Dream Girl”. Apparently, she did say it loud enough. 

She didn’t want to admit to Amy that she meant the ‘dream’ part literally. As much as the two had been friends since they were in diapers, there was something oddly embarrassing about having to admit the most action she’s had since high school was in her dream or imagination.

Amy, none the wiser to June’s discomfort, continued, “I want all the details later.”

June finished bagging and placed the bags in the customer’s cart. Before she could catch her breath, however, the next customer’s items were being sent down the belt. “What’s her name?” Amy asked, when they were done with their next customer.

June wished she had just kept her mouth shut. “Uh… Moria.” she answered.

Amy sent her a quick, concerned look. “She’s not, like, old, is she?”

“Yeah, she is, actually,” June said, flatly. “Like, at least two hundred years old.”

Amy laughed. “Okay, for real though—is she some kind of cougar or something?”

“No, it’s not like that,” June said. “She’s…”

June thought back—Moira was Fae… imaginary or not—and she was at least two hundred years old. She looked, however, maybe thirty or so. Or a bit younger. Just a few years older than June herself. “She’s around thirty,” she said, finally.

“That’s not so bad,” Amy admitted. “What’s she like?”

“A good kisser,” June couldn’t help but mutter quietly under her breath.

“Oh my god, you already kissed, and you didn’t tell me about her till now?” Amy asked, pressing a hand against her chest in a display of hurt.

“We just met,” June defended herself, shrugging.

“Nice,” Amy said, grinning widely, her voice drawing out the word as if June had somehow managed to nab a celebrity.

June rolled her eyes in mock indignation.

“Is she hot though?” Amy asked, as they walked out the staff exit of the store, heading through the parking lot towards Amy’s car after their shift was over.

Luckily, the rain had just stopped before their shift was over. The parking lot was littered with puddles, and it looked like it was about to rain again. The sun was setting, bright colors illuminating the sky, and casting long shadows across the parking lot. They waved at a coworker who got off shift at the same time as them.

“Super-hot,” June answered. She felt guilty for lying about Moira being real. As much as the dream had felt real—and certainly that kiss had felt real—there was something icky about lying to her friend about kissing someone. Almost as icky as pretending to have a girlfriend.

Oh God… did she wake up today with an imaginary girlfriend? Twenty-five and a complete loser in her career and personal life, apparently. June sighed. “Actually,” she said, deciding it would be better to just come clean to Amy then let the lie get any bigger. “I’m kinda joking—”

“Babe!”

They looked up, and June resisted heaving a breath. Amy squealed and ran forward, jumping into the arms of a man, who had gotten out of Jeep Wrangler to approach them. He was tall, with a stylish haircut, expensive clothing, and a kind, friendly looking face. 

Amy’s boyfriend—soon to be fiancé (if Amy has her way)—Jason Hickly. The man had been popular in their high school, with wealthy parents, a scholarship to an ivy league school, and was now in his last year of law school. He was, simply put, “Mr. Perfect.”

He had also dated Darcy Kinnens in High School. A girl who had been popular in their class, his ‘equal’ on the social food chain, and the girl that June had an unfortunate crush on from middle school until junior year of high school. Partway through Junior year, the day after taking June’s first kiss behind the bleachers at a lacrosse game, Darcy had started going out with Jason.

Neither Jason nor Amy knew about that kiss though, as far as June was aware. And she was going to keep it that way, for Darcy’s privacy, if not for the fact that June felt like she would die if anyone found out that Jason’s high school girlfriend had specifically chosen him over June.

She hung back, looking away as Amy and Jason kissed. Competing in trying to suck each other’s faces off was more accurate. Annoyance filled her as their kiss lasted far longer than seemed appropriate, given they technically had an audience.

The other cars in the parking lot, the crows perched on the phone lines by the road, the truck unloading crates into the store, the puddles of rainwater on the ground… June looked everywhere but at the couple as she waited for them to finish.

“Want to go to my place tonight?” Jason asked as he and Amy drew apart. He held her close to him, rocking them back and forth. She giggled, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling close.

“Sure,” Amy said, wrinkling her nose as she grinned at him.

“Sup’, June,” Jason said, giving June a pleasant nod as if just noticing her. “Work treating you alright?”

“Hey, Jason” June said, feeling more awkward than she did when the two were kissing. “Work is…going okay,” she lied, forcing a smile and a cheerful voice.

Jason’s smile lit up his face. “That’s great, June,” he said.

“Oh, wait, June and I were going to see a movie tonight,” Amy said suddenly. She turned to give June a pleading look, pouting her lips.

June quelled her sigh. “The movie will be in theaters for a week or two longer,” June said, shrugging a little too nonchalantly. Sure, they had planned to go see this movie for half a year and Amy kept postponing it once it hit theaters, mostly in favor of hanging out with her new beau. Sure, it was only in theaters for a few more days…

“Yay!” Amy danced some exaggerated steps and tossed hand-hearts towards June. “Love you, bestie. Do you still need a ride home?”

“Nah, I’ll just take the bus,” June said, shrugging. It was getting dark out, and at this rate, it would be well past sunset by the time she reached home. The bus would be full of people returning home from work, and she’d be lucky if she managed to get a seat. 

“You sure?” Amy asked, sobering slightly.

“Yeah, positive,” June said. She didn’t want to stick around their lovey-dovey displays of affection any longer than she had to.

Amy gasped suddenly. “Oh my god, Jason, guess what? June has got herself a date!”

“Oh, no, that’s not—” June began hurriedly, her heart suddenly in her throat. 

“Nice!” Jason said, sounding way too excited. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

June’s gut squeezed as she realized she was stuck in the lie she had started earlier with Amy.

For some reason, admitting to Amy that she had an imaginary dream girlfriend was nowhere near as horrifying as admitting it to Jason.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the humiliating awareness that she was about to dig herself deeper into a very big lie. “Her name is Moira,” she said, finally. “And I doubt you two know her—she’s not from around here."