Page 43 of June First
“Thanks, Aunt Kelly.”
She moves in, giving me a strong hug. She always holds on to me a little longer than anyone else who hugs me, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s trying to soak up the remaining remnants of my mother.
Aunt Kelly says the rest of her goodbyes, and the party guests trickle out one by one, until the sun starts to set behind the clouds. Wendy sends me a coy wave as she leaves, Monica trailing behind her, texting furiously, and Theo smacks his girlfriend on the butt before he darts inside the house.
It’s just me and June now. She digs her finger into what’s left of the raspberry frosting on her birthday cake, then licks her lips. “This is so good, Brant. You’re the best cook ever.”
I still feel rattled, but I force a smile. “Only the best for you.”
“You don’t love Wendy more than me, right?”
“What?” Her question takes me off guard, so I turn my body until I’m fully facing her. “Why would you ask me that?”
She shrugs, her hair starting to dry beneath the setting sun. “You looked at her funny. You always look at her funny when she comes over.”
“I don’t…” My mind races with a proper response. “I don’t love Wendy at all. I could never love anyone more than I love you.”
“You mean it?” Her eyes widen to sky-like orbs, looking even bluer outside in the natural light.
“Of course I mean it.”
“You went to sit with her today instead of playing with me.”
A tinge of guilt ripples through me. “I’m sorry, June… I didn’t mean to upset you. The older we get, the more friends we’re going to have, so my time will be divided. But you have to know that you’ll always be the most important thing in my life. Theo’s too.”
She throws her arms around my neck, burying her face against me. I hug her back as she mutters into my shirt collar, “I have the best brothers in the whole world.”
I tense in her embrace, loathing that word.
Truthfully, I don’t know why I loathe it. She’s my adopted sibling, after all. There’s a legal document to prove it. But I’ve never felt anything familial for the Baileys, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I have always just felt like I’ve grown up in a home with my very best friends and nothing more. Not for lack of love or connection—not at all. I can’t really explain it. Maybe it doesn’t feel that way for other adopted kids, and that’s wonderful; it’s a beautiful thing to feel like you’re being raised by blood, but for me, it’s simply felt…different.
June pulls back, planting a kiss to my cheekbone. “I’m going to change into my pajamas. Can you watch the new Hannah Montana movie with me?”
“Sure, I—” I cut myself off, remembering my mysterious park date with Wendy. I swallow, backtracking. “Well, not tonight. I’m sorry.”
“But it’s my birthday.”
“I promised another friend I would see them tonight, but I should be home in time to tuck you in and sing you the rainbow song. Would that be okay?”
She scowls. “Are you going to see Wendy?”
I frown, pursing my lips together. I’m not sure why she’s acting so defensive about Wendy. “Yes.”
Tears rush to her eyes, causing a dagger to pierce my heart. June leaps from her chair, nearly tipping it backward, then stomps her bare feet into the house.
She doesn’t say another word to me.
Even after I freshen up and traipse downstairs with Theo in an attempt to say goodbye, June just watches the television screen in silence, burrowing beneath her fuzzy blanket on the couch, ignoring me. I sigh. I realize she’s only nine, so it shouldn’t hurt me…
But it does.
“You made it!”
Wendy glides back and forth on a swing, her reddish hair separated into two low-hanging pigtails. Monica swings beside her as Theo and I approach from the edge of the playground. Wood chips crunch beneath our sneakers, and I ruffle my hair, clearing the tickle from my throat. “Hey.”
“Lookin’ good, ladies.” Theo spins his baseball cap front to back. He always knows the right things to say. He’s only a year older than me, but it feels like decades.
Monica hops off the swing and darts toward her boyfriend, leaping into his arms and wrapping her long legs around his middle. Her ashy-blond hair glitters beneath the lamppost. “I missed you,” she squeals, leaning in to him.