June's eyes were deadly green slits. She observed the scene around her with interest. Currently, she was standing in a gaggle of girls all about the same age as she was. In addition, all of them, June included, wore blue dresses framed with white lace. It was a uniform of some kind. On every arm was a red circlet of cloth with golden angel wings upon them. They were all applicants of Heaven, awaiting instructions from their leader and king, God. Among this group was a brunette who seemed to be particularly shy. June knew this because, while all the others were chattering excitedly with each other, this girl was standing off to the side. Her eyes did convey a sense of wonder, but she wasn't speaking and seemed cautious around all the others. At last, one other applicant brushed against the shy brunette's chest and the girl jumped like she had been stung.
"Sorry about that!" the guilty applicant patted the brunette on the arm.
"Oh, it's ok," the brunette mumbled back, staring up at the girl in wonderment. After that little exchange, the guilty applicant skipped away and forgot all about the brunette in seconds. The brunette, however, continued to stare after her. Interesting. And June wasn't sure if the girl knew this, but she had since placed her hand on her chest, right where the other applicant had brushed her. Very interesting.
"Hi," June walked over to the shy applicant with a pretense of nervousness. "Do you know when this thing begins?" she asked.
"Oh! Uh, no. No I don't," the shy girl stuttered in reply. June fought back a grin as she tried to keep up her own act of being scared and shy.
"I'm June Freeman," she said, trying to make her voice sound shaky and timid.
"I'm Cora Stein," the brunette replied, ducking her head. She offered her hand shyly and June shook it gently.
"That's a pretty name," June said.
"Really?" Cora asked her, open-mouthed, but then she realized how silly she might've looked. She straightened up at once and corrected herself. "I mean, I mean, thanks. Uhh, thank you very much. I like your name too!"
"Thanks," June pretended to look down shyly. Cora smiled at her, but this time, it wasn't laced with nerves. Instead, June had succeeded in putting the brunette at ease by pretending to be just as shy as she was. The two were best friends from that moment on.
Over the next few months, Cora proved to be a valuable ally. Despite her outward awkwardness, a true beauty, allure and intelligence lay beneath. Best of all, though, it was all for June to control. See, Cora possessed a great many traits that would prove useful to her in life but she didn't know it. Her esteem was so low that she had a hard time understanding just how influential she could be. June, however, saw it. She knew exactly what Cora could be capable of the right hands. And who better to help Cora use those gifts than June herself? It wasn't like anyone else was willing to give the brunette a chance. So June decided to pick up the slack and swoop in and take Cora for her own. It wasn't selfish! It was opportunistic. Besides, Cora had never given her any grief for it. On the contrary, June could practically feel Cora falling in love with her. Every loaded glance, every flinching touch, all of it! Cora's infatuation was even more obvious the fact that God was in charge of Heaven and, given all the propaganda going on about God, that was saying a lot.
So June used Cora. She used Cora for a good many things too. She used Cora for pleasure, entertainment, and power. Once again, Cora was very smart and very alluring. June took full advantage of it, calling upon Cora whenever she got in trouble for something. Without fail, Cora had helped get her out every single time. Now, perhaps this "puppet-master" shtick was cruel, but Cora didn't mind and June wasn't entirely dismissive of the brunette. June actually did harbor some feelings for Cora as well. In fact, the whole reason either of them slept together at all was because June decided it was high time to repay Cora for all of her loyal service and she knew just what Cora wanted...
