It seemed to June that she and Luke would never run out of things to talk about. They had quite a few things in common. They laughed at all the same jokes. She was in heaven. Paradise walked towards her in a faded brown t shirt wearing a spaghetti bowl full of brown curls on his head.
"Good news," he announced. "I finally used the nail cutter!"
"Oh my god, you should get an award!" June exclaimed with mock excitement. "Girl, your nails look fabulous. You have got to give me your salon's number!"
Luke could practically smell the sarcasm in the air. He scrunched up his face at her and imitated her voice. "Well at least my nails don't look like a witch gave birth to them."
"Oh, you did not just say that, Mr. Rat's Nest Hair."
"Yes I did, Ms. Rat's Nest Hair. And I don't look like my head's on fire." Luke countered.
"Oh well, I'm just a girl and I'm on fire." June half sang.
"But you sure as hell aren't hotter than a fantasy, June." Luke laughed.
"Hey, I could be if I wanted to!"
"Sure." Luke said with a fake thumbs up.
"Hey! Shut up!" June finally said, after she couldn't think of a comeback. There is just no winning an argument with you, is there? She thought.
This kind of playful banter was so different from the kind she used to have with Layla. With her, it was all, 'Have you eaten?' or 'What time will you come home tonight?'. 'Will you come home at all?' or the most popular, 'Wanna play truth or dare?'
Out of these, the first three questions were always asked by June, and the last one always asked by Layla.
Will you stop that already? June scolded herself. You have the opportunity to forget. Use it.
"You know what, Luke? We should do this again sometime."
"What, look like ugly hags?" Luke asked.
"No, you idiot. Have fun like this. Just... Fill our heads with laughter. I really enjoyed it."
"I really enjoyed it too, June. Alright, so that's all I'm going to say before I start to get sappy." Luke laughed.
Hey, do you remember the necklace that Layla gave you? The one that you threw in the ocean like it meant nothing to you? And now you found yourself a new friend, and forgot about your best friend. Who died. Way to honor her memory. Forgetting the one person who you could truly call yours in this world.
June stopped laughing.
Why did this always happen to her? Just when, just when she was almost completely happy, her thoughts protested her happy hormones.
She tried to slowly stop her laughter so that Luke wouldn't notice anything amiss. But on more than one occasion, he surprised June with his keen eye for detail.
"What's the matter, did I make things too sappy for you?" Luke asked.
That earned a tired laugh from June. "It's not that," she answered. "My mind's just... Playing tricks on me."
Luke knew exactly what that meant. Layla. He didn't even know her, but he still formed opinions about her. June made her out to be the best friend that anyone could ever have, but Luke knew that there are always two sides to a story. Who knows what Layla's true intentions were?
Would you stop that? He scolded himself. You don't know what she was like. In fact, now you'll never know. There's no use trying to speculate.
YOU ARE READING
The Heartwarmer
RomanceA woman, whose heart, home, and everything else in her life was wrecked along with her boat. She was alone on an island when her sanity and her life-force were buried six feet beneath the ground in the form of her best friend. Nothing tied her down...
