When I Knew You - jtk

four

June grunted as she dragged the ice cream scoop across the fresh and untouched surface of the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Usually, it wasn't this hard to scoop, but since it was new, it was frozen solid. Today was hell on earth at work. Since school was finally out, it felt like June had been scooping nonstop since the shop opened. Plus, Sam wasn't working today so she was on her own for this shift.

It's been a couple of days since the party at Sam's house and that very interesting encounter with Jake. They haven't talked and normally, June would be drowning in anxiety because of that. However, she had dived into working to avoid thinking about him and that night altogether. She took any shifts she could get her hands on. Plenty of people wanted to skip town for vacations, so that was making it a lot easier for June to be distracted by ice cream. To make matters worse, Alli was consumed with Josh. They spend all their free time together and since Josh is home from school, he has a lot of free time.

When the last person in the line got their cone, June sighed and stepped away from the ice cream display for a moment. She looked over to the clock on the wall and saw that there was only half an hour left of her shift. Half an hour could feel like ages though, so she went ahead and cleaned the counters. June could feel herself physically cringe when she heard the bell on top of the door ring, and she hesitated before she looked up.

The hair was what June noticed first, caramel brown and a tangled mess cascading past his shoulders. He was wearing just a simple white T-shirt and faded blue jeans and he had a medallion hanging from his neck. She met his eyes and immediately felt defeated. Here he was, looking so fresh and wonderful and she was covered in sticky dried ice cream and her own sweat. June's hair was wrapped up, stuck underneath her ball cap and her apron was an atrocious, dirty mess. Annoyance washed over her as he approached.

"Don't you know I've been working non-stop to avoid you?" she thought to herself, but she took a deep breath before he came closer.

He walked up to the counter and flashed a toothy smile, "Well, hello there."

"Hi, Jake," she pushed herself off the counter and approached the ice cream display, "What can I get ya?"

He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands up into his armpits, "Actually, I'm not here for a frozen treat, June."

June chuckled, "Then why are you here?"

He smirked, looking over the flavors in the glass case and shifting his weight onto one of his feet, "Well, I was wondering what time you get off today."

"You could've just texted me, Jake."

He shook his head, only smiling wider, "Actually, no! I was already around."

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read him, which she already knew was close to impossible.

June sighed, "Well, now it's about twenty minutes 'til freedom."

He brought his hands out from where he hid them and clapped loudly, "Perfect! We're going to the lake!"

June widened her eyes and laughed, "We?"

"Well, Josh, Alli, and I so I wanted to ask you to come along."

He placed his hands on the counter and leaned closer, looking at her over the display case, "What do you say, Juni?"

"When?" she asked.

"Whenever you are ready of course," Jake smiled again, and she could feel a million things tingling across her skin. The hair on her arm rose and small goosebumps made themselves visible. He made her so nervous, but she could look at his smile for hours. She cleared her throat, trying to stand her ground.