𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐎, fezco

04.

Nate made a long mental checklist of the things he liked and disliked about women. He liked tennis skirts and jean cut-offs, but not the kind so short you could see the pockets.

He liked ballet flats and heels. He hated sneakers and dress shoes. But was fine with sandals as long as they were worn with a fresh pedicure. He liked thigh gaps, hated cankles. He liked tan lines, long necks, slender shoulders. He liked good posture and fruit-scented body mist.

He liked full lips, and small noses. He liked chokers, but the lacy ones with flower cutouts or delicate patterns. He hated girls who sat like boys, talked like boys, acted like boys. But there was nothing on planet Earth he hated more than body hair.

When he first met Juno he noticed how she always looked good. I mean, who really had the time to dress up nicely all the time. But she did, she was the type of person to have perfectly ironed clothes and if there was even one crease she would fix it.

They met when they were 9, Juno had just moved next door and she had a tree house in her back yard.

Nate was jealous so he pushed her out of it and she broke her arm. And they were best friends after that. Juno turned 15 and Nate finally saw her as something other than a friend, she got boobs, nice legs and a nice ass, what wasn't to like.

And so they dated, Juno and Nate were infatuated with each other, touching each other in every spare moment they had, hands all over each other. Then Nate moved, he tried to see Juno as much as he could until they grew apart romantically. They loved each other but they decided to stay friends, it worked, sex occasionally until he met her.

Of course, whenever Nate and Juno weren't together, Juno was with Maddy. They were the best of friends, getting drunk together or even just gossiping.

One of the first things Nate noticed about Maddy was she was basically hairless. He'd walk her home from school every day. Made him feel good to know that he was there to protect her.

He knew the world was full of men who wanted to hurt Maddy. Men who hang out the windows of their cars and scream obscenities at her. College guys who wouldn't think twice about drugging her.

Lonely guys who'd spot her at a mall. Men who'd rape her, torture her, sell her into sexual slavery. He didn't even like to think about it. He did, however, like to think about the things he'd do to protect her.

He sometimes imagined marrying Maddy and starting a family. He knew he didn't want boys, though. But he also didn't like the idea of having girls. Plus, Maddy could be a real bitch. Like that night at McKay's party, something just flipped.

And he knew he had anger issues, but, I mean, so did every guy. It's not like that was anything in his life he could trace it back to. It was just... who he was, and who he'd always be. And Juno was okay with that, even though there really was part of her that wished she could be with Nate, she still thought about him at night, about if he never met Maddy.

But alls well that ends well right? Wrong.