𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 → the society

→1.05←

After the girl's finished up at the grocery store, June and Allie parted ways. June felt it was finally time she returned home and faced the emptiness that remained. Some part of her held on to a glimmer of hope, knowing Grizz and a team were out in the woods at that moment, searching for help. All she had to do was keep telling herself they'd be back soon and they'd all be rescued.

As soon as she entered her home, she regretted not going back with Allie. The quiet solitude that surrounded her sent chills down her spine that she couldn't ignore. Normally, when she would arrive home from school, the house would be filled with the smell of burning food, at least in the last six months. Her dad had no clue how to cook, but that never stopped him from trying for her. Now, all she wanted was to remember the awful smell, and hug her dad for all of his efforts.

She dropped her paper bags of groceries down on the kitchen table, deciding she could unload them in a bit, then walked around her house. For some reason, despite everything being exactly the same, it all felt so foreign to her. This didn't feel like the home in West Ham she had grown up in, but rather a weird replica. Perhaps her parents were what made it feel like a home all along.

She crossed the distance from the kitchen to the hallway then took the stairs up to her room, entering it slowly as if she were intruding. She looked around at her posters on the wall, at her vanity with makeup, and at her bed. She went and sat down in the middle of the bed, hands folded in her lap as she took everything in. Slowly, she found herself bending down and reaching below her bed, searching for a familiar shoe box she kept hidden down there.

Once her hands found it and pulled it up, she brought the box into her lap and drew in a sharp breath. She removed the lid from the box and placed it aside, letting her eyes drift over its contents. There was a copy of The Awakening, or the first book she had ever read where the woman realized she didn't need, or want, a man. Then, her ticket to an upcoming King Princess show, that she had bought herself with her birthday money. She had planned to tell her dad she was visiting relatives, despite how much she hated lying to him. Then, there was her diary, or other wise known as the first place she came out. The rest of the box was filled completely with little miscellaneous items that had something to do with her sexuality. It seemed as though every piece of who she truly was lived within that tiny shoe box, and it was now overflowing.  She couldn't keep all of who she was tightly packed away, and the overflow reminded her of that. She was more than the contents of the box, she had so much to her that no one else got to see. She deserved to live as herself, not as a secret under her bed.

Overcome with the emotions the box stirred up, June was glad when her phone buzzed and interrupted her thoughts. She quickly tried fastening the lid back on and shoving it under her bed. She reached over for her phone and unlocked the passcode, a smile settling onto her face when she realized it was a text from Allie. It had informed her to get to the church for a meeting, and she happily sent back an affirmative text, thankful for the distraction.

June shoved her phone in her back pocket then made her way downstairs. She hurriedly put away the groceries she had neglected before then was out the door, prepared for whatever the meeting was about to hold. She hoped that they had got word back from Grizz, and that they would be saved from wherever they currently were. 

Those hopes were soon crushed when she entered the church and saw the solemn faces sitting around. Everyone was either on their phone or whispering quietly, but it was clear there was no good news going around. June bit down on her lip and scanned the faces, letting her eyes linger a bit longer on Elle before spotting Allie and making her way to her. She sat in one of the pews while Cassandra and a few of the others sat at the front of the church.

Allie gave her a brief, tight-lipped smile when she saw her, that soon disappeared when she went into fill-in mode. Apparently, Luke had texted Helena they were on their way back, but had said nothing else. Helena had tried reaching him, and Grizz, since then but had heard nothing from both. While Kelly suggested perhaps it meant they had found something and were coming back with good news, Helena was quick to suggest the opposite. As the mumbles grew and it was clear kids were beginning to really worry, Allie sent Cassandra a death glare that June would have rather died than received. The glare's purpose must have worked, though, because Cassandra then jumped into leader mode.