spoken word. (gxg)

three.

"Are you coming?" She quirked an eyebrow, motioning to the small bit of space left on the couch. I walked over stiffly, seating myself. I let out a gasp of surprise when I fell further into the couch than anticipated. When I looked at June, her eyes were alight with humor. Her stony demeanor seemed to vanish temporarily, and my voice suddenly came back to me.

"So," I said.

"So," she mimicked.

"You know Mrs. Limp?" I started, forgetting her name again.

"Mrs. Lee," she corrected, putting the book aside and giving me her full attention. It was electrifying to be regarded by her deep amber eyes. They seemed like they could see every part of me, deep into my soul, down to my darkest secrets.

"Mrs... Lee." I squinted, "right, Mrs. Lee" It must have been funny, because she smiled a bit. I felt my eyes widen-- her face transformed when she smiled. She was breathtaking.

"Yes," she teased, "Mrs. Lee. I've known her for a couple of years. I had her for Honors English both freshman and sophomore year." So she was intelligent. I felt slightly inferior to the smart, beautiful person in front of me.

"Oh, nice" I said lamely. My reaction must have been disappointing because her smile slipped. I scrambled, trying to think of something to say, but couldn't. We sank into an uncomfortable silence.

She adjusted herself so that she was sitting, leaving the entire couch between us. Neither of us moved to fill the gap. The space seemed bigger than it probably was, the energy between us tense. I stared at her out of the corner of my eye, noticing that she wasn't paying attention to me at all. Eventually, she pulled out her book and began to read. The tightening of her expression betrayed that she was frustrated, and I felt my heart clench.

"So," I said quickly, an attempt to remove the frown from her face, "I'm supposed to help you catch up?" She continued to read, and I wondered briefly if I was bothering her. But would I be Mia Wilks if I didn't open my mouth at the entirely wrong time?

"Well, to be completely honest, I don't think I need your help. Mrs. Lee already gave me all of the lessons of the past few weeks."

"Oh," I said, scolding myself for feeling hurt at her words. A few beats passed. "You said you used to like to read. What changed?" I pressed, curious. "You don't have to answer," I tacked on at the last minute to avoid being too nosy. She glanced at me out of the side of her eye, searching my face. I tried to school my expression. Eventually, she spoke.

"I used to love reading, but I guess I drifted from it. Now I can't sit still long enough to read a page. I'll reread the same paragraph over and over, which sucks." She looked away, worrying the corner of a page between her thumb and forefinger. I understood. When I was younger, the same thing happened to me.

"You could try an audiobook," I suggested. She glanced up, and I was shocked by how vulnerable her expression was. I noticed how small she was, really, when the intimidating aura was turned off and she didn't seem as tall. I felt a pang, and then a boldness that I seemed to develop regularly when it came to her manifested in the form of butt-scooting sideways toward her.

I closed the distance between us, reaching out to take the book. She let me grab it. "I used to struggle with the same thing. Here, let me show you." I opened to the page she had left off on, reading the first paragraph aloud, then the second. Her eyes stayed on me the whole time, but she never spoke, so I continued. I couldn't help but peek at her occasionally. The proximity betrayed that her eyes were a bright amber color-- they were beautiful. I found it hard to tear my gaze away, my face heating when I realized how close we were. I schooled my focus on the page, willing myself not to look at her again. Pages passed, and I became aware of her soft breathing and sweet scent.

Eventually, she laid back, closing her eyes. I trailed off.

"June?" It felt weird to say her name aloud.

"Continue," was all she said.

We stayed in the classroom like that, her with her head tilted back, me reading aloud, for hours, until she said that her parents were expecting her and she should probably get home. I laid across the couch when she left, breathing in the scent that she left behind on the cushions. Vanilla. It was comforting.

When I woke up, it was past 8 pm. The drive home was difficult.

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A/N:

It's happening!! :)) Any predictions?

(I'm trying to make June all mysterious and cool, but avoiding cliches is hard.)

Feel free to leave comments/suggestions/edits!

(we're just going to ignore the fact that I described June's eyes as amber and blue in the same chapter shhh I promise they're amber)