Junie & Jackie - A Love Story

5

Wes and Jada were my best friends, and I was happy that they were happy in their relationships, but Jesus, it was nice when they ditched their partners for the night and went out with me.

I wasn't a girl who went out a lot. Between my babysitting/borderline daycare job, school, and my much needed introvert alone time laying in bed staring at the ceiling, there wasn't much time for me to go out. Plus, most of the money I made babysitting went towards school and getting supplies to take care of the kids that came over. And weed, obviously.

Still, once a month or so, Wes and Jada and I planned an outing to catch up and reunite. My favorite meet ups were when someone was mad at their significant other, mostly because I liked the drama and I needed to live vicariously through them.

I didn't have time or energy for a relationship. Plus I never put myself out there in fears of getting hurt or betrayed, so hearing about their relationships and watching romantic comedies were the only things that satisfied my romantic needs.

Wes was actually my first friend out of the group. I was a loner through most of elementary school since I was getting teased by almost everyone, and in middle school, I had had enough of having no friends. I was addicted to those little teen magazines that were completely toxic, and they made me come to the realization that in order to make friends, I needed to be skinny.

Which was not true, but in the mind of a chubby twelve year old, it made complete sense.

I had started running at a park near my house nearly every day, which is where I ran into Wes being picked on by some high schoolers.

Wes has always been very open with himself. Though we went to different elementary schools, he told me that he came out in his fourth grade class by asking one of his friends to be his boyfriend. He was so innocent that he didn't even realize he was "coming out"—didn't even know what that meant or that other people would see it as "wrong"—he just knew that he liked that boy and wanted to be his boyfriend.

It was very wholesome, but not everyone agreed with that statement. So I'm running—at this point, I had been running for a couple months and was pretty fast—when I spot two older kids shoving poor little Wes into the park bathroom.

I couldn't tell you what came over me. I had never been in a fight. I was short and still kind of chubby and would be virtually no help to the situation, but I sprinted toward that bathroom faster than I've ever ran before, bursting through the door just as one of the boys was raising his hand to punch Wes.

I yelled, "Stop!"

All eyes were on me. The two older boys seemed shocked to see me standing there, out of breath but standing tall. I said, "Get off of him."

"Get out of here, bitch," one of them replied with a snarl. I held my chin up higher, unable to back down or show fear.

If this had happened to me, I would want someone brave enough to help me too.

"Leave him alone, or I swear I will call the cops on you."

I didn't mention that I didn't have a phone, and they didn't question it. They shoved him one more time into the wall and then stormed out, bumping hard into my shoulder as they left.

Wes turned to me, tears in his eyes, then walked over and wrapped me in the tightest hug I had ever felt. He said, "Thank you. Thank you."

"It's alright," I finally hugged him back. "They can't hurt you if you don't let them."

We had been friends ever since. He introduced me to Tyra and Jada and the rest was history.

I arrived at the Blind Pig Tavern ten minutes late since I missed my bus and quickly spotted the pair at a table in the corner. Wes jumped up as I approached, wrapping me in a hug. "Junie B Jones!"