// for Max, who made the AMAZING cover in the multimedia section //
You know me, I like making things sad so expect that in this chapter. I don't have much to say other than this chapter involves Dimitri and June and while they aren't the most brightest pair, I love writing about them. I don't quite like their friendship because of how wrecked it's become but their friendship is so great to write! So I hope you enjoy this chapter. You'll love the next chapter ;)
E N J O Y !
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Unplanned Apologies
Ever since Dimitri Remirez got back with Amanda Obereen he never left her side. No, he wasn't clingy. He was just trying to stay well away from Juniper. However, when Juniper's and Amanda's friendship was reignited, it got harder and harder for Dimitri to avoid Juniper. Every time he saw her he would think of what she'd done but over the week he had a lot of time to think to himself and he realised what Juniper had accused of his father's monstrosity was true.
Juniper was sick and tired of the cold shoulder she received from Dimitri. She'd often laid on her bed as she stared at the ceiling and mulled over their good times together. Why had she kissed him? What on earth was she thinking when she did that? She had known how Dimitri felt yet she let her emotions get the better of her by thinking that in all this sadness he might respond. She scoffed at herself as she thought of how desperate Dimitri must have thought she was. She couldn't be more embarrassed of herself.
And even though she was tired of taking all the blame, she couldn't bring herself to confront Dimitri and ask for forgiveness like she had done Charlie and Amanda. She had overstepped her limits with Dimitri and asking for forgiveness from him was not only frightening but it didn't seem right after all she had put him through.
So she waited. She waited until he realised what sort of person his father was and if her action against his father was for the better or for the worse. After all, Juniper had done all this for him because she cared for him more than a friend should.
It was two weeks before graduation when Dimitri finally accepted the fact that his father was locked up for his benefit and decided that he needed to fix things with Juniper - or at least talk to her.
"Hey," he said somewhat awkwardly as he stood behind her as she exchanged books through her locker.
She turned around hesitantly and looked at him for a few seconds, her heart beating rapidly within the confinements of her chest. "Hello," she replied.
"We need to talk."
She nodded and a smile easily slipped onto her pink lips. "What's up?"
"How about we head for ice-cream. School's over so, um, we talk over ice-cream..?"
"Sure," she said without thinking twice. She couldn't help but think about how Amanda had suggested the same thing. Had Dimitri and Amanda talked about Juniper and all the horrible things she was trying to make up to?
"Great!" He sounded relieved. "Can we take your car? My car-"
"Existed centuries ago," she finished, nudging his shoulder teasingly.
An all too familiar smile slipped onto his adorable features. "Oh, shut up," he groaned rolling his eyes. He was trying to give some sort of annoyed vibe to Juniper but his smile didn't help his situation.
"That's something the Great Juniper Stauff is incapable of doing," Juniper smiled deviously as she put her hands on her hips and thrust her chin up in mock pride.
A laugh erupted from Dimitri's mouth and it wasn't until he laughed out loud did she realise that she missed his laugh. "Come on," he said and slipped his hand into hers before pulling her out the school doors.
Juniper didn't understand how one minute they were fighting and the next moment conversation flowed easily between them. Maybe it was because they were once best friends and that gave them all the more reason to converse with the other but maybe it was also a longing for the relationship they shared; a friendship so unique and beautiful.
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"Oh my, this chocolate fudge ice-cream is amazing!" she moaned as she closed her eyes and let the milky, soft ice-cream dissolve and do wonders in her mouth.
"Vanilla tastes so much better," Dimitri argued.
Before Dimitri could do anything, Juniper leaned over their table and nipped at his ice-cream, letting the flavour dissolve on her tongue. This was something she and Dimitri had always done but it had become a lost tradition. A milky moustache had formed on her upper lip as she beamed at Dimitri, victory written clear across her face.
"Nah, I beg to differ," she smiled. "This chocolate fudge tastes much better than plain vanilla."
Juniper thought Dimitri looked rather weird as she took a look at his reaction. He had his lips pressed tightly together, his face growing a little red. Then it hit her. He was trying not to laugh.
"Oh no," she said as she removed the tissue from around her wafer cone and wiped her lips with it. "Why does this happen to me so often?"
Dimitri burst into fits of laughter, his face more red that it almost matched the colour of the jagged scar that ran down his cheek to the tip of his lips. "Oh God, that was priceless," he chuckled, his shoulders bouncing up and down in the process.
"Shut up," she blushed.
"I got to say," Dimitri smirked, "you look handsome with that moustache."
"Oh my, will you just shut up!"
Soon they finished eating their ice-creams, Juniper's embarrassment slowly dying down as they both ate their ice-creams in peaceful silence. The silence had allowed both Dimitri and Juniper to think of a way to approach the subject that had driven a huge rift in one of the most beautiful friendships in Sereneigo.
They both paid for their ice-creams and headed out of the shop. the door giving out a light jingle as the bell sounded off as the door opened and closed. The summer days were drawing to an end, the heat had simmered down and this made Juniper excited. She had always preferred winter to summer. Autumn was her favourite season.
"I had a lovely time," she smiled as she faced Dimitri, pulling her cardigan tighter around her body. "You could come over for dinner tonight if you like! Mum has somehow got it into her head that you're deviously handsome and a ridiculously funny guy. Where she got that idea is beyond me."
Dimitri tucked his hands into his pockets, the heavy air weighed down on them as he stood over Juniper, his lanky body casting a shadow over her figure. "Am I not?" he asked, feigning a hurt expression.
"Yes, mister, you certainly are not," she smirked, amused as raised a teasing brow at her friend trying to fake this as long as she could before the storm was to hit. Enjoy the calm. Face the aftermath later.
"Really? That's not what you thought of me before we got arrested."
His tone was light and humorous and Juniper knew he was only enjoying the calm like she was and avoiding the storm like she was. She knew he didn't mean it anyway that would offend her. But those words. They reminded her that no matter what she tried she could not erase the past; one futile mistake that managed to twist her life.
Juniper had stiffened, the smile slipped off her face. She tried to find a distraction, anything that would help her to stop looking at him.
"June, you know I didn't mean it like that. I was just..." Dimitri sighed then and ran a frustrated hand through his brown, tousled hair. "Oh God, I'm sorry."
Juniper looked up at her supposed best friend. She shook her head and placed her hands into the pocket of her jeans not quite sure of what she should have done with her hands.
"You shouldn't be sorry. I should. Reporting your dad..." she said, looking up at the broken boy. "I was overstepping my boundaries but you got me pissed and I...I couldn't see you like that anymore despite only getting to see you looking like shit only twice. Call it love or care. Call it whatever the hell you want. I just wanted to see my friend happy so I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries but I am not sorry for reporting your father. Admitting him to a rehabilitation would have been a better idea. I was consumed in my anger that I didn't really give what I was doing a second thought."
Dimitri had refused to look at Juniper as she talked. Then he said, staring down at the gravel ground, "I hated you for what you did. Well, I thought I hated you. I just didn't want you to be right so I made myself hate you for what you did. Mr and Mrs Helburg took me in. They were close with my dad once upon a time. You know, before my dad became a drunken arsehole."
Juniper gasped and that's when Dimitri looked up at her. He smiled faintly but his smile held no humour or amusement. "Yeah, my dad's an arse. It's just... I know I have family. I have you and I have Amanda. But my dad was the only blood family I had left in Sereneigo and I couldn't afford to lose that so I did whatever it took to keep him. First day at the Helburg's house was quiet. I wasn't used to it. I guess, over the week I came to terms with the fact that I liked this; not having to come home worrying about what my father was doing to do to me or what mess I'd have to clean up or a reminder of what I had to live up to."
He smiled again except this time Juniper could see the sincerity behind the smile. "I sat Mr and Mrs Helburg down yesterday and came clean. I told them everything. They even wanted to see my scars but I told them that was for another day. So thank you, June. Thank you for making me realise who my father is; a monstrous arsehole."
They both chuckled a little at Dimitri's last proclamation and Juniper nodded. There was a quick silence before Juniper sighed. Better now than never, she had thought. "After all the shit that happened, I realised that I didn't love you," she said, biting down on her lips nervously.
"Ouch. An arrow right to the heart," he said, shaking his head in fake sadness.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I did like you, Dimmy. I kind of still do. I mean, you don't get over someone in a week's time. Putting our friendship in jeopardy was not worth it. You're my best friend, Dimmy, and it sucks arse that we don't talk anymore. And when we do talk, we ignore all the things that drove us apart."
This time she spoke the truth. Not a single lie was uttered this evening and in all honesty, she felt that she deserved a pat on the back for that. She wasn't lying to anyone. But she was still lying to herself about the letter that still lay on the kitchen counter, beneath the other piles of letters that her parents had received.
"I wish I hadn't kissed you. I wish that we could go back in time to kindergarten when we first became friends, when everything was nice, peaceful, happy and not chaotic... A time when everything made sense."
Silence had settled upon them. Juniper's ragged breaths as she tried to recover from her little rant, as well as the hustle and bustle of the evening, was all that could be heard.
Then Dimitri broke the silence, his gaze turning warm and caring. "We can," he said.
"We can?" she asked slightly confused.
"It's called starting over, June. Do you not watch those sappy chick flicks or cheesy movies?" Dimitri asked with a small smile on his lips.
Juniper smirked. "No, but I know someone who does," she winked at him.
Dimitri rolled his eyes at her. "That's not the point. The point is that you and I are a lot alike. We both want things we can't exactly have yet we try to get it and in the end, we destroy. So how about we put the past behind us. I would say forgive and forget but going to jail is not something that I can easily forget." He smiled. "We can both forgive and move on."
Juniper smiled. She liked the sound of that. "Forgive and move on, huh? How?"
Dimitri's lips tilted up, half amused by the situation. Then he held out his hand. "Hi there," he said, "I'm Dimitri Remirez. My dad's half Italian and my Mum is British." He chuckled as he awaited Juniper's response.
That's how Dimitri introduced himself in kindergarten. Juniper remembered that this was almost the same introduction he gave her when they met in kindergarten. So she slid her hand into his and gave it a firm shake, just like she had in kindergarten, and decided that she should make the same introduction.
"Hello. My name is Juniper Stauff but please do call me June. I'm a native American, though I can imitate a British accent and can totally pass as a Brit. And I'd like to be your best friend."
Except this didn't change the fact Dimitri's and Juniper's friendship wasn't ever going to be the same. Even though Juniper had gotten all the forgiveness that she sought out, from Charlie, Amanda and Dimitri, nothing was going to remain as it once had been. Charlie still kept an eye on Juniper because now his brother had taken an interest in her. Amanda was always cautious around Juniper, making sure not to smile too much and analysing Juniper when she wasn't looking. Dimitri was probably the sincerest of the three but still their friendship wasn't ever going to be the same.
Juniper couldn't mend the things she had broken.
She was no superhero.
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(omg, what are your thoughts?! don't forget to comment them!)