curiosity

Ten

juniper couldn't get avery off her mind. she knew she was being selfish and jealous but her and ollie had been together for a few years, it was weird seeing him showing affection to someone that wasn't her. and she felt worse when she was with emerson. she felt like she was using her, to figure out herself. even though deep down the feelings she felt were growing for emerson, she couldn't help but feel bad for her two friends.

this led to her not meeting with the group. oliver and avery were now coming to meet ups and so was archi. he was excited for the group to meet finley but he wanted him to meet everyone at the same time. emerson was worried about juniper. she knew how draining finding your sexuality could be and she was worried this was what was happening to juniper.

juniper was curled up in her bed, for the third time today when she felt her phone ringing. she had been essentially ignoring her phone but this time she picked it up. it was emerson.

"hey." she tried to sound happier, like she hadn't been in her bed all day.

"put something on, i want to take you somewhere." she groaned while sitting up.

"emmie i'm relaxing today." emerson groaned at the name.

"yeah, well you've been relaxing for the passed two weeks.. i promise to have you home by 9:30." june groaned but stood to go to her closet.

"yeah okay... where are we going?" emerson smiled.

"i can't tell you that, beautiful." juniper sighed.

"well then how am i supposed to know what to wear." she flipped through her dresses and rompers.

"it's just gonna be me and you.. we're gonna go exploring."

"so, no dresses?" juniper flipped around to look at her t-shirts.

"a dress could work, it's not like.. hiking." emerson shrugged while parking in the driveway.

"i'm here by the way." juniper paused, remembering how messy her house was. she hadn't cleaned up at all in the time she hadn't been meeting with them.

"oh, uhm i'm almost ready." emerson scoffed softly.

"i can't come in?" juniper shook her head.

"no, it's a mess." she pulled on a random romper then rushed to her bathroom.

"okay, well i'll be here when you're ready." they hung up and juniper brushed her teeth while looking at her hair. it wasn't terrible just poofy and messy. after she finished brushing her teeth she wet down her hair a little bit and brushed through it. she parted it halfway down the middle and braided it down until her hair look good enough, she hated making people wait on her.

she grabbed her purse and shoved her phone and wallet into it. she grabbed her keys from the counter and walked out of her house, locking the door behind her.

"hi pretty." emerson smiled, stopping herself from kissing the girl. she didn't want juniper to feel pressured into anything.

"hi." juniper smiled, leaning over to peck emerson's cheek. the older blushed and began driving.

"can i know where we are going?" juniper begged, grabbing onto emerson's hand.

"no, that would ruin all the fun." she glanced to june with a smile before turning back to the road. juniper held emerson's hand for the thirty minute ride, arriving to seemingly the middle of nowhere.

"alright, we're here." she smiled, walking around the car to help her out.

"we are.. where, exactly?" juniper asked with a soft laugh, hugging onto emerson's arm.

"you'll see in a second." emerson's smiled. juniper just mindlessly followed emerson through the clearing.

"woah." june muttered. the water in the pond seemed to sparkle from the sunlight that beamed through the tall trees. emerson's continued walking down the peer and sat at the edge. juniper sat down besides her and looked down at the water, softly laying her head on emerson's shoulder.

"how did you even find this place?" she asked, swaying her feet softly above the water.

"highschool, my old friends house is that way..." she pointed ahead of where they were and you could make out another clearing.

"stumbled into here on accident." juniper hummed softly, fiddling with her hands. emerson's looked over to juniper and carefully intertwined their fingers.

"are you doing okay?" she asked, rubbing her thumb against the back of junes hand.

"yeah, i'm fine." the darker haired girl smiled, but emerson wasn't pleased by this answer.

"honestly?" junipers smile faded a little bit, darting her eyes away from emerson's.

"i'm so confused." she muttered, pulling her knees to her chest and laid her head down. her hand slipped from emerson's and she hugged onto her legs.

"why's that?" emerson asked while turning to face her.

"i feel, jealous.. and like i'm using you, it's all so confusing."

"i don't feel like you're using me." emerson said softly, though the thought that it was possible scared her.

"but i don't even know if i like girls, it feels wrong to experiment with you if i end up not like girls." the lighter haired girl lifted onto her knees and bought juniper in for a hug.

"if you don't end up like girls it's okay, there won't be any hard feelings." emerson smiled warmly, softly cupping the girls cheeks.

"but i don't want to hurt you." she whimpered, her eyes glossing over. emerson hugged juniper tightly to her chest.

"it's fine, i'll be fine... i promise." juniper finally returned the hug. giving into her seemingly stronger emotions. lately her emotions were set off very easily, and she wasn't sure why, but sometimes it was irritating.

"i'm sorry." she sniffled into emerson's shoulder. she hugged her tighter, pulling the girl into her lap. emerson brushed her fingers though her dark hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"it's okay june." emerson cooed, kissing her cheek again. they stayed like this until juniper calmed herself, and when she did she had fallen asleep. emerson wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for her heavy breathing and very light snoring.

she stood from the peer and carried the girl back to her car, buckling her seatbelt and closed the door softly. she knew something about juniper was off, she wasn't one to show emotions in front of people.

"em?" she said softly when noticing she was back in the car.

"i'm right here." emerson's said softly, resting her hand over the armrest and held the dark haired girls hand. june drifted back off to sleep, holding onto emerson's hand securely.