Remembering June | TEASER

Chapter one

"It's crazy really." Caroline lifts her sunglasses up on her head as she tilts her face up, exposing her freckles to the warm, early September sun.

A summer heatwave in Stockholm had decided to stick around for a little while longer than many had expected, and Emma wasn't one to complain. She hated the cold and the snow with an intensity that was unlike any other.

"What?" she asks her best friend, her interest piqued.

"You anxious people," Caroline continues. "You believe yourselves to beweak, while I'm still trying to figure out how you even manage to be at war with your own head, every minute of every day."

Emma looks at her friend in shock. Caroline pops another green bubble of her apple chewing gum into the air, unaware she had just said something that would most likely keep Emma up all night. While some people were good at math, had an eye for interior design, or could cook up decent food without burning it - Emma's talent was undoubtedly, overthinking. It was the one thing she could have earned a master's degree in by now, since she could twist and turn things into oblivion.

"What?" Caroline asks, feeling Emma's stare in her side-eye.

"I guess I haven't thought of it like that," Emma says. "But that's exactly what it's like."

"Duh." Caroline pulls one of her infamous eye rolls. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out, Em."

"Oh. Right."

It was typical Caroline; first offering something deep and meaningful, reminding you why she was your friend to begin with. Then always following it up with an insult, reminding you why she was your bestfriend.

Pop.

Emma laughs as Caroline picks at a piece of gum now stuck on her face. After a few seconds of scraping her nails into her cheek, Caroline was losing her temper and a bright, red mark was appearing. Emma leans down into the grass, letting her long, blonde locks spread out freely around her face.

"No, but seriously, Em," Caroline says. "Something's off with that boy of yours."

'That boy' - or Adam, as everyone else calls him - is the sole reason Emma's mind was occupied with ghosts lately.

Emma and Adam met three months ago, not too long after Emma had left the north for the city life, and all it took was one night until he had taken over her entire headspace. At least, according to Caroline.

"Oh, lay off him, Car," Emma scoffs. "He's just not ready for anything serious... yet."

That was the thing, lately that 'yet' had been the only thing keeping her from losing hope he'd ever come around.

"I wouldn't hold my breath, girl." Caroline murmurs out the words, aware she was walking on thin ice, but still loud enough for Emma to hear anyway. She lets out a long sigh, clearly tired of having the same discussion.

"All I'm saying is that if he's yet to figure out what a fucking catch you are..." Caroline sits back up, lifting an eyebrow. "He's an idiot."

She flips her sunglasses back down as Emma gives her a warning glance. Caroline holds up her hands, declaring defeat.

"Fine," she says. "I'll stop."

"Thank you."

What Caroline didn't know was that her sunglasses weren't dark enough to hide her 'guess-it's-just-time-to-expect-the-horrible-heartbreaking-explosion-instead-then' look. It's enough to make the knot in Emma's stomach grow even bigger.

Why hasn't he invited me over to his place yet? Why is he only showing up on Wednesday nights, just to leave every Friday morning? And why is he ignoring my calls and text messages for days, only to reappear at my door when it suits him?