Because You're Different ✔

27. Suction

June

I thought nothing could be more insensible than dropping a book on your head to impress a girl.

Turned out I was wrong.

Even more unbelievable was that it had worked.

The image was still horrifying. Mom had given me a lift on the way to her shift, and mindlessly, I had entered the living room, not expecting anyone else than Sam.

He hadn't been alone, though. Jennifer was there too, stuck to him like glue, and it looked like she was eating his face. I supposed they'd call it kissing. It was a lot more gracious in the movies though, or when Nathan and Charlotte did it, and in those cases, it also didn't sound like two people were slurping spaghetti.

"What the fuck?"

It'd just escaped me, I hadn't been able to hold it in. This was a sight I'd never wanted to see.

They'd broken apart, Sam avoiding my gaze, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Jennifer had grinned at me, chest out, shoulders back. "My boyfriend and I are a little busy here, June," she'd said, using my real name for possibly the first time in months. "You can come back later."

I'd snorted; I hadn't been able to help it. "I think your boyfriend's concussion is a little more severe than we initially thought."

She hadn't even understood the insult. Sam, on the other hand, instantly turned red. "June, come on... Can't you just... go make something or anything?"

I'd burst out laughing. His face... I was so going to tell Nathan about this. "As long as you two don't make something, I'm not going to be in your way." And snickering uncontrollably, I'd left for the kitchen, dying to text Nathan about his little brother having his first girlfriend. I hoped Sam wasn't going to think the book thing actually worked, though. Maybe it did, but only on empty-headed girls like Jennifer.

In the beginning, their relationship was funny. Both of their Instagrams were filled with pictures of them locking lips while sprouting dog ears or bunny snouts, all equally awkward, the descriptions showered with red and pink hearts. Jenny&Sam 4ever!!! <3. I teased him with it constantly, which meant that most of the time, he was as red as the hearts in the posts. I didn't think this had been what he really wanted, but I also thought he was going to go along with it as long as she kept kissing him.

Then, when school started again, the situation lost most of its charm and turned into a constant source of annoyance. I'd expected Sam and me to brave the year together, side by side, spending our lunch breaks underneath Lena's beautiful mural, as a sort of tribute. Last year, we'd still only been among freshmen, since they had a different building; this year, we had to survive amongst the older students, and I'd figured we would get used to it together. Instead, I was following Sam around as he was walking the hallways hand in hand with Jennifer, sitting behind them in class and being irritated by the fact she giggled a lot. Her behavior had improved somewhat in the past months, but I wasn't sure if that was because she was spending more time sucking Sam's face than actually talking, or if he'd genuinely made her a better person.

The worst about the whole thing was that I didn't have Nathan to share my disgust with. He'd started his last year this semester, and he'd decided to move to campus as the workload was getting intense. He tried to return home most weekends, but he usually brought Charlotte along with him, and with Sam and Jennifer there as well, I suddenly felt very lonely at the house.

There was one bright light in this messed up world, though, and that was that I wasn't the only one being pushed aside. Hayley was as well, and while I initially didn't want to put up with her because I really didn't like her, I later found out she wasn't actually that bad.