Declan glanced up as he saw a girl storming up to him in the parking lot. He barely had time to register anything when she was directly in front of him. Her eyes blazed with anger as she stood facing him, challenging him, daring him to ignore her again.
'Who the fuck do you think you are?!' she said, her voice dripping with venom.
His eyes scanned her face carelessly. 'What do you mean?' he sighed.
His offhand tone did not seem to impress the fiery whirlwind standing in front of him.
She pushed him back and he rolled his eyes at her childish behavior. 'Why have you not replied to any of my texts Declan?'
He pushed away from her and narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed now. 'Because I didn't want to June!'
June was taken aback by that answer. She didn't expect him to be so- distant. Her plan had been simple. Scream at him till he apologized for not talking to her for a week. Then apologize for the screaming. All the screaming. Then tackle him with a hug and let the past be in the past.
Declan, however, was not following the damn script.
June crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'So that's it then?'
Declan sighed and ruffled his hair with his hands. 'June, why are you here?'
June stared at him for a second before her composure completely shattered.
'Why am I HERE? I am HERE Declan, to make things right! I've been fucking apologizing for a week! And you never once bothered to reply. THAT is why I am HERE Declan.'
Declan looked at her amused. 'Why are you getting so worked up sunshine. I didn't reply. So what? It's not the end of the world, is it? Loosen up.'
To say that she was shocked, would be a gross understatement. June, for the first time, felt scared talking to Declan. He didn't look like he wanted to have a serious conversation with her. She felt like he was- laughing at her. That was a little more than she could bear. She took a few step backs just so she could attempt to soften the harsh blows dealt by the guy she thought she could trust with her life. She didn't want him to hurt her. But he was. With every shrug, with every careless sentence flung to her face, with every word- he was hurting her.
June looked away for a minute, trying to ease the pain in her chest. Alarm bells were ringing in her mind. She anxiously tried to rebuild the walls he had so carefully torn apart over the last month.
She hugged herself for warmth. Ignoring the heaviness in her gut she said,' Declan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you and ask you to back off. Please just-'
Declan groaned,' June! Get over it! I've practically forgotten about it. It doesn't matter to me anymore. You made your point that day. You asked me to back off. Now I have. So what is your fucking problem?!'
June flinched. His eyes didn't soften in the least. Somebody called his name from across the parking lot.
Previously Declan would have ignored them. But now..
'YEAH HOLD UP. I'M COMING!' He shouted to them, ignoring June's crumbling expression.
He sighed exasperatedly. 'Sunshine, are you done?'
June stood back. Who was this standing in front of her? She couldn't recognize him anymore. She couldn't understand him. She fought for a little bit of clarity. A little bit of sense in this goddamn situation.
June looked at him. Really looked at him. The green in his eyes held no familiarity at all. They were cold and strange and distant. She couldn't recognize his eyes.
She struggled with the growing pain inside of her as she choked out. 'Are we not friends anymore then?'
He looked away, not quite meeting her eyes. 'You'll always be my friend.'
June screamed in frustration. 'Stop it Declan! Why are you being like this?! Friends fight all the time! And then they become okay again! Why are you talking to me like-'
Declan glared at her. 'You know what?! I'm done with this shit. I can't do this with you anymore June! I'm fucking done.'
June gulped. Done?
Declan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. 'You've been a good friend. But after what you said I guess I kind of- wanted to back off, you know? You obviously need a little space-'
No.
'- and I guess I want to try and make other friends and see how that goes for a while. It may not be such a bad thing, you know,' he finished, still not looking at her.
June couldn't breath. The pain was so absolute that she found herself shaking slightly. She couldn't trust herself to speak. She felt that if she made a single voluntary movement, she would crumble. And Declan wasn't going to help put her back together again. He wasn't going to.
Declan looked at the guys waiting for him at the end of the parking lot, he glanced at her briefly.
Don't cry, June gritted her teeth and resolutely looked down at the ground.
She heard him sigh again. 'Truth is sunshine, I can't spend the rest of my life worrying whether you've bled to death or not. I tried June but I- I - Sunshine, I can't!'
June looked up sharply. 'Then why are you still standing here? Leave.'
Declan's face held zero emotion as he turned around and started walking away. 'I was asking myself the same question.'
June watched him cross the parking lot and walk up to a group of guys. They gave each other high fives. One of them nodded in her direction. Declan glanced back briefly. He shrugged his shoulders causing a few of them to laugh. Still grinning they got into a red sports car and drove off.
June stood there watching them go. Gripping her backpack over her shoulders she turned slowly and turned to leave.
For her, though, her feet did not know where they were headed.
YOU ARE READING
June.
Short Story[COMPLETED] Dear June, Deep breaths. Count to ten. Take a step. Take another step. You can do this. You've got this. Just breathe. What happened to you? Was it the pressure? Was it the depression? Was it the loneliness? What was it? Do you know, or...
