love is strange. » eyeball chambers. [HIATUS]

five.

saturday. june 13th, 1959.

    it was 9:30 in the morning when eyeball chambers came stomping down the stairs. his jacket was discarded in junes room and his hair was going in fifty different directions.

following the sound of humming, he found a girl sitting at the dining table, her feet propped up and a book in hand. she was engrossed in her book but the sound of the boys footsteps made her snap up her head.

"who the fuck are you?" the girl asked, snapping her book shut.

"i could ask you the same," he shot back, an agitated look on his face.

"as i said, who are you?" the girl asked again.

"eyeball chambers. where's june?" the boy asked. the girls eyebrows shot up her forehead as she stared at him, a judging look on her face. the girl finally just smirked at him and pointed to the back door hidden in the corner of the dining room.

as eyeball went to go out the door, she propped her legs back up and continued to read. stepping outside, eyeball grunted as the harsh sun beat down on him. it was doing nothing to help his raging headache.

    glancing into the large backyard eyeball spotted june, she was kneeling in front of a vegetable garden off to the side. her brow was furrowed and she was ripping weeds from the grass as well as pulling fresh vegetables and putting them in a basket.

as he watched the girl tend to the ground below her, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit a match. as he smoked, he kept his eyes on her. in the morning sun and covered in dirt she still looked beautiful. eyeball had never seen anyone like her.

as the boy reached down to stub out his cigarette, the girl suddenly looked up. her concentrated features slowly morphed into a smile. june got up from the ground and wiped her hands on her legs before running up to the boy. her braids bounced around and the small curls at the top of her head moved like a halo.

"are you aware there is a weird fuckin' girl in your house?" was the first thing he said.

june's grin widened. "i see you've met carrie. she's my best friend. she wanted to stop by for a bit and maybe go somewhere but i wanted to make sure you and charlie hadn't died in your sleep or something," the girl rambled on.

the corners of eyeballs lips quirked in a small smile. 'so she was worried about him.' he thought.

"anyway, since you're up you can help me finish up out here. follow me," june said before walking away from him and back into the yard again and grabbing the small basket filled with vegetables. eyeball slowly followed after the girl as she went to the edge of the yard.

when she stopped, a large apple tree loomed above them. "i've been dying to pick some since they became ripe. let me get on your shoulders." she said.

"uh- what?" eyeball said. june rolled her eyes and dropped the vegetable basket on the ground. "crouch down, richie." she said.

"if i drop you it's not my fuckin' fault." the boy said before crouching down. june went behind him and jumped up so she was sitting on his shoulders. eyeball gripped her thighs securely and stood up. the two teetered slightly and june grabbed his hair in fear they would both go down.

eyeball quickly regained his balance and moved closer to the tree. the girl on his shoulders kept one hand tangled in his curls as she reached up, picking a ripe apple. "okay, im going to drop this down to you and you'll catch it and drop it into the basket. just- just keep one of your hands on my leg so i know you won't drop me." june said.

"i won't drop you, beautiful. i promise." eyeball said with a grin. although earlier he joked about dropping her he knew he wouldn't let that really happen.

for the next few minutes the duo worked together to pluck some of the best apples. when eyeball bent down again to let the girl slide off of his back he wished they could have stayed like that a little longer.

"okay, let's go back inside and i can make everyone some breakfast." june said as she grabbed the vegetable basket and began to walk.

"wait!" eyeball said suddenly. june stopped and looked at the boy in confusion.

"come out to the old phoenix bridge tomorrow with me. just you and me." he asked quietly. the girl in front of him smiled softly and nodded. "okay," she whispered. eyeball grinned and began walking with the girl to the house.

when the two got inside, carrie was still sitting at the table, still deeply engrossed in her book. "jesus, i thought you two would never come back in." she mumbled. it was at that time that charlie came stumbling down the stairs. he made his way into the dining room and immediately brightened at the sight of carrie.

"carrie, hi, you look great," he said with a grin.

"shut up, charles." the girl mumbled in boredom.

    june bumped her hip against eyeball to get his attention and winked at him before whispering, "they're in love but won't admit it." eyeball chuckled quietly and followed june into the kitchen.

    "so, that girl and char? huh." eyeball said as june set the vegetables in the sink.

    "mhm, they are together almost all the time. i have a bet going that within the next two years they'll probably be married." the girl said with a wide grin. eyeball was leaning against the counter, his smile was getting larger just by looking at her.

    june forced eyeball to wash vegetables her and by the time they were done and went back to the dining room, carrie and charlie had disappeared. eyeball shot june a questionable look while she only responded by pointing above her. the two had gone upstairs.

    "let's sit on the porch, i don't want to hear this." june said with a laugh, referring to the sex about to take place just above them.

the girl grabbed a book off the front table before making her way to the porch swing outside. "sit," she told eyeball who obeyed. june say next to him and laid her legs over his lap before pulling out her book.

"want me to read out loud?" she asked, looking at the boy beside her. he nodded and laid his hands on the girls calf. softly but loud enough for him to hear, she began reading fahrenheit 451 from page one to him.

his eyes were closed but she could tell he was listening and they got quite a chunk into the book before the front door opened.

"c'mon! one more round?" charlie yelled from inside with a laugh.

"in your dreams, you idiot!" carrie yelled back before closing the door. the brown haired girl turned and looked at the duo on the porch swing.

carrie walked over and kissed the forehead of her redheaded best friend. "i'll see ya, junie. call me tonight." and with that, she walked to her beat up car at the end of the driveway and drove away.