Junie & Jackie - A Love Story

6

"I am not getting on your fucking death trap."

My tone was definitive, and I hoped I wouldn't have to say it twice. But Jackie kept walking towards the door of McCollum's, sending a halfhearted wave over his shoulder to the angelic bartender who had given me a free drink. I chugged the rest of my too-strong drink and almost gagged. I quickly stomped behind him, sending a much more pleasant wave to the bartender, who called out, "Hope I see you soon, darlin'!"

"Same!" I lied, because hopefully I would never be back in Jackie's bar. If I saw her at the grocery store, then I would be happy to see her.

I followed Jackie—at a distance, of course—to an alley near the bar and suddenly began questioning why I was trusting him not to murder me in the first place. I only knew him from rumors, really, and what I could see through his bedroom window from mine. He could take me into the alley, rape me, murder me, and leave me there to be found by a homeless person. I decided in that moment that I needed to stop watching so much Dateline. It was fucking with my brain. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe this was a perfectly reasonable thought process, and my brain was trying to warn me of something serious, and I needed to run screaming from Jackie all the way home.

"I'm not going down there," I stopped underneath the streetlight at the end of the alley. Even under the bright light, I didn't feel safe.

"I'm not going down there," he sassily mocked me under his breath.

"I heard that!"

"I was hoping you would," he sarcastically smiled at me, exiting the dark alley with his motorcycle rolling next to him. He grabbed the helmet hanging from one of the handles and said, "Here, you need this more than me. Put it on."

I stared at him. "I'm not getting on the bike. I have too much to live for. I've still never eaten at that fancy sushi place downtown everyone talks about."

He raised his eyebrows, "Zen?"

"Yes! Zen! Oh my god, it is so expensive, but it looks so good. Don't tell me you've been, Jackie. I will be so offended that you went without me."

"You are funnier when you're drunk," he couldn't help but chuckle at me. Then, he grabbed me by my wrist, yanked me closer to him, and shoved the helmet on my head.

"Jackie, I'm serious," I wobbled, then steadied myself. "I'm not getting on that thing. If you wanna kill yourself, be my guest."

He just laughed at me again, sliding down the little face shield for me and climbing on his bike. "I don't have all night, princess, and you've already pissed me off enough. Get on the back."

"I didn't piss you off," I grumbled. "You chose to get pissed at me for no reason. That's, like, completely different."

"No, you pissed me off," he countered, losing the smile. "You can't fuckin' walk alone and drunk, especially in this part of town. That pisses me off. And your shitty friends letting you walk alone also pisses me off."

"First of all, I had a knife until you confiscated it. Second of all, I missed the last bus, so no one knew I was gonna be walking alone. And third of all, how do you know I was with my friends?" I asked, sliding the visor back up. "I could've been on a date."

"You weren't," he replied with a definitive tone, pushing the visor back down. "On the bike."

"How do you know?" I frowned, pushing the visor back up.

"I haven't seen you with a boy since Schultz used to sneak in your window," he slid the visor back down and kept his hand on it so I couldn't move it. "Get on, June. It's cold, and I'm tired, and I'm annoyed."