Noted

TWENTY-FOUR

a/n: you know that moment when you're writing and you go, "Ah." I've hit that moment.
6 more chapters left! xx

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June pauses at the locker with the dusty bible and decides to wait until the hall is empty before flipping through it. Disappointment crushes her hope. Why she would think Christian would send her a note is utterly stupid on her part. He obviously didn't mean anything he said in the library.

With a defiant slap of the bible, she storms out of the school and waits for the bus. Maybe she can convince her parents to let her stay the night at Phoebe's—it wouldn't be the first time, especially if it involved studying. So long as they get the proof.

Her mum's number flashes before she gets the chance to call herself. Bringing the phone to her ears, she answers with a light-hearted, "Hey, Mum. I was just about to—"

"Can you please explain to me why I just got off the phone with your teacher telling me you weren't in detention this week?"

A cold shudder warms down June's spine. "What—what detention?"

"That's what I'm calling you for. June, why did you need to be in detention?"

"Wait, wait. Who called you?"

"Mr Thomopalus. He said you were supposed to finish off your remaining time in detention since you violated a student. June, I will not ask you again."

Her heart races in panic as she clings to her blazer. There went the notion that Mr Thomopalus wasn't a strict teacher. But June didn't think he'd take it upon himself to call her parents. June didn't think it was possible considering her detention sentence stopped the moment Mrs Nilson agreed.

"There was a misunderstanding," is all she has time to say before her mum demands she comes home immediately before they take this discussion further. This means any ounce of a chance to ask to stay with Phoebe has gone out the window.

When she arrives home, both her parents are in the kitchen. Her dad is cooking steak on a pan and her mum is sitting on the table, a mug of steaming coffee beside her and piles of paperwork lying in front of her. June doesn't want to make any judgment calls. She knows she's in the wrong for not mentioning her detention to her parents, but seeing her mum's face with worried lines and dark circles under her eyes only makes the discussion far more serious than it has to be.

No one says anything. June places her bag down by the table and is about to take a seat near her mum before her dad speaks up. "Go put your bag in your room and get yourself sorted for any homework that needs to be done. We will call you down for dinner."

June nods at her dad's instructions. Her skin grows more sensitive and her heart rate drops and rises inconsistently as she flurries her mind with possible outcomes. She hopes the ground beneath her collapses and the sky above her breaks away into iridescent flames so she can avoid whatever awaits her.

Putting her phone on silent mode, June gets straight into her math homework, completing the series of tasks within a short amount of time. It puts her mind at ease and releases the tension in her shoulders. She moves on to her biology assignment. Sometime soon she'll need to convert her research into a well-presented presentation.

By the time she reaches her English essay, a knock appears at her door.

"Yes?" she answers, sitting straighter as her mum comes into her room. She swallows as she takes a seat at the edge of her bed.

"How's your homework coming along?" she asks, brushing a piece of her fallen up-do from her face.

"I've completed half of it. I'm working on my essay for English at the moment." She will go into the homework if her mum asks, but June knows it's just a conversation starter.